Chapter 72

~Eliana~

I had taken Ian along to see Carrie, since I hadn’t set my eyes on her since I returned to Los Angeles. After lying that I had spent the night at her place during the full moon, I felt that I owed her a visit. Besides, if Alistair was still in good terms with Garrett, who was now her husband, it only meant he had probably informed them that I was back, and I knew it was going to take a whole lot of explanations and apologies for her to forgive me for not reaching out to her all these years, or coming to see her first when I returned.

I opened the door of the clinic, and stepped in with Ian by my side, who was busy looking around curiously.

“Yes, how may I help you?” She asked, slightly raising her head from the cat she was treating presently.

She put her head back down, then suddenly raised it again, fully this time around. Her mouth widened into a gasp when she saw it was I who was standing at the door, and not a regular customer like she had guessed earlier on.

“Carrie,” I said, swallowing hard.

“Eliana, is that you?” She asked, looking so surprised.

“Yes, Carrie. It is me,” I responded, wearing a small smile.

She abandoned her equipment and taking off her hand gloves, she walked quickly towards me, and in a twinkle of an eye, she was standing right before me.

“Oh, Eliana,” She said, touching my cheek, as a drop of tear fell from her eyes.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, her arms were encircled around my back, as she pulled me into a tight hug. I let go of Ian’s hand, and hugged her tightly as well, till we were almost suffocating each other.

“I guess that’s more than enough hug for one day,” She said, letting go of me.

“I guess so, too. I have missed you so much, Carrie,” I told her.

“I sincerely doubt that. If you really did miss me, you would have called,” Carrie said.

“I’m sorry, Carrie. I wanted to call you, I really did, but I didn’t want Alistair to know of my whereabouts, and that’s why I ignored the urge to call you even in the moments when I really needed a friend to talk to,” I told her.

“All I wanted was to just hear your voice and know that you’re okay. I was so worried about you, and scared that something might have happened to you. When I met Elvira, she said that you’re fine, but you didn’t want to speak to anyone. I just had to accept what she said and believe that you’re okay, even though hearing from you would have been more than enough to be sure that you were just fine,” Carrie said.

“You’re right. I should have called you, I was just feeling unnecessarily paranoid. I felt that you’d be able to track my number if I did, and like I already said, I didn’t want Alistair to find me,” I explained.

“Well, I wouldn’t have told Alistair about it if you didn’t want me to,” She said.

“I couldn’t be so sure. I texted you when I was leaving this city, but you went ahead and told him about it. I wasn’t sure that you wouldn’t do the same thing all over again,” I told her.

“I understand, Eliana. Really, I do. Permit me to ask though; how did you know that I told Alistair that you were leaving?” She asked.

“I saw him that day at the airport just before I left Los Angeles, and he kept on screaming my name. The only people who knew of my intentions to leave were my sisters and you. My sisters hated Alistair back then, and they still do up till now, so, I knew they hadn’t been the ones to leak it. It was quite obvious that the only person who had done that was you,” I explained.

She heaved a sigh, and licked her lips. “I’m sorry, Eliana,” She apologised.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad that you told him that I was leaving. I just want to know why you did that knowing fully well what he did to me,” I said.

“I recognise love when I see it, Eliana, and I knew for a fact that Alistair truly loved you, even though he did something terrible to you. I just felt that he had made a big mistake and he deserved a second chance,” Carrie said.

I shook my head. “Some people deserve to be buried and forgotten. You know the thing about giving people second chances? At the end of the day, you’ll sit and wish you hadn’t given them a second chance,” I said.

“You may be right, but I don’t think it’s right to forget the good parts of someone, and concentrate only on the bad. None of us is perfect, Eliana,” She said.

“It will be nice if we could just forget about this topic,” I said, not willing to engage further in this discussion. I came to see my friend that I hadn’t seen in six whole years, and I was in no mood to start our reunion with a silly argument.

“I don’t think it’s a topic you should be running away from...” Her statement was interrupted by the loud uncontrollable meow of the kitten she had been treating.

“Did you abandon its treatment halfway just to talk about why I should give Alistair a second chance?” I asked.

“Of course not. I was already done with its treatment before you came in, and I was just checking to see if it was getting better,” She explained, then turned to look at the kitten.

It was there she noticed the kitten in Ian’s hands, and it was meowing, without stopping, and trying to wriggle free from his grasp.

“I think you’re hurting it,” I told Ian, while Carrie immediately took the kitten from his hands.

“I promise, mum. I wasn’t hurting it,” Ian said.

“How come I didn’t notice this little cutie until now?” Carrie asked, pinching his soft cheeks in a manner which wasn’t going to cause him any form of pain.

He chuckled, and muttered a greeting to her.

“How are you doing, cutie?” She asked, smiling at him.

“I’m doing just fine, and you?” Ian asked.

“I’m okay, my dear. My name is Carrie, I went to college with your mum, and she’s my closest friend. You?” She asked, in a very friendly manner, and I could tell at once that Ian had already taken a liking to her.

“I am Ian,” He said.

“Nice to meet you, Ian. Now, see if the kitten doesn’t mind playing with you,” She said, extending the cat towards him.

He smiled broadly, and stretched forth his arms to receive the cat. However, it snubbed him, and began to meow at him, like he was trying to shoo him away.

“Guess he doesn’t like you. I wonder why, it’s friendly on a normal day,” Carrie said.

“Maybe it’s in a bad mood, or it needs to rest,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess. You know what’s funny though? Cats are also not fond of Alistair and Garrett, and I wonder why,” She said, disappearing behind the curtain, with the kitten in her hands. Apparently, Garrett still hadn’t informed her of who he truly was, as she seemed to still be in the dark about what was really going on.

Well, I didn’t need to wonder why because I knew exactly why. “Hey, you don’t need to look so down,” I told Ian, whose mouth had squeezed into a pout.

“Cats loved me back in Canada, but ever since I came here, they all hate me,” He said, looking really sad.

I stroked his hair. “That’s because animals are more sensitive than us, and can recognise us for who we truly are. Did you know wolves are the cousins of dogs?” I asked.

He nodded his head. “Yeah, I watch Nat Geo Wild all the time,” He responded.

“Good to know. Now, tell me. Are cats friendly with dogs?” I asked him.

He shook his head, and looked like be finally understood the point I was trying to pass across. “Cats aren’t friends with dogs, which means they’re also not going to be friendly with wolves, and since animals are more sensitive that humans are, it means the cat can recognise that I am a wolf, and it doesn’t want to be my friend because of that,” He said.

“Exactly, sweetie. Now, on the bright side, dogs will love you so much, and will be loyal to you. You can count on them to always come to your aid at any given time, and they’re the best friends you’d ever have,” I told him.

A smile appeared on his face. “Thanks for all you do, mum,” He said.

“Now, where were we?” Carrie asked, coming into view.

“You were just about to offer me food,” I said, grinning, as I sat on a stool, while Ian walked around, looking at everything with curiosity, like every other child of his age would.

“You still love food so much. I hope your son isn’t like that,” She said.

“Just give him ice cream, and he’ll be fine,” I told her.

“Let me guess. Vanilla?” She asked.

“Yes,” I said, and we both burst into laughter.

“Hey, Ian. Did your mum tell you she always craved vanilla flavoured ice cream when she was pregnant of you?” Carrie asked, in a louder tone, so that Ian would hear her.

“She says that when we go to get ice cream all the time, which is practically almost everyday,” He responded.

Carrie giggled. “He seems so smart,” She noted.

“He is actually very smart. He was the top student in his class back in Canada, and I’m presently trying to enrol him into a good school, in order for him to continue from where he stopped,” I told her, feeling proud of my son.

“That’s so nice. I can’t wait to have my own kids,” She said.

“What’s stopping you?” I inquired.

“We have a medical condition, and we’ve been undergoing treatment. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get pregnant soon enough,” She said.

I smiled, and placed my hand on her stomach. “I’m sure you will take in soon,” I said to her.

“Hopefully, I will,” She said, smiling.

“Is it true that Jennifer was responsible for what happened?” I suddenly asked.

Carrie nodded her head, in the affirmative. “Yes, it is true. I always knew that she was up to no good. Turns out that she had always loved Alistair, and poisoned his heart against you,” Carrie explained.

I clicked my tongue. “Tch. You know that’s still not an excuse for what Alistair did, right?” I inquired.

“I know. He should have trusted you no matter what, or at least, asked you about it before jumping into conclusion,” She said.

“Exactly. So, where is Jennifer now?” I asked. It was a question that had been on my mind ever since, but I didn’t know who to ask that question.

Carrie shrugged. “Honestly, no one knows. Alistair threw her out, and we’ve never heard from her since then. As for Sam, her accomplice...”

“That backstabbing bastard,” I swore under my breath.

“He’s a douchebag. Well, Alistair beat him up to the point where he almost died, but there was no evidence that he was responsible. After everything quieted down and he got healed after almost a year, he went back to school. Presently, he’s one of the directors in his father’s company,” Carrie said.

At first, I chuckled, then, with time, I began to laugh out loud, in a hysterical manner.

“What’s funny?” Carrie asked, looking befuddled.

“Isn’t it funny that the ones who made my life a living hell, are somewhere, living their best lives, while I am here, with my life in shackles? Life, truly, is cruel,” I said.

She shot a small smile in my direction, and gave my hands a reassuring squeeze.

“Everything will fall into place soon. The wicked will never go unpunished,” She said.

I smiled back at her, hoping that what she had said was actually true. Although I was glad that we were free from Jenny and Sam, I still wanted them to pay for all they had caused me. At least, now, I could understand why Alistair had been so keen on revenge.

It was hard watching the same people who made you suffer enjoy without being punished for their wrongdoings, and because I was understanding Alistair’s reasons more and more each day, I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave in and forgave him.