Chapter 111 - Reconciliation

We continued to chat, the more I spoke to Carol, the more I realized what an amazing person she was and how much her personality and Evelyn's personality fit together in a perfect combination. Where Carol was lacking, Evelyn was filling the gap. I always considered Evelyn a very free spirit who acted with her gut and instinctively rather than thinking if what she was doing was the right thing to do or not.

Carol was strangely the opposite, she was more reasonable just like me, and from what I deduced she overthought her own decisions. She worked in the same place for over 5 years and she even mentioned she was very loyal to that place. Contrary to Evelyn, her entire family and friends knew about her true self, and she cut off her life all the toxic people who dared to judge her or disrespect her.

She seemed an amazing person who I genuinely already liked even if we just met for a few days. 

I couldn't wait to get to know her better and to introduce her to Joanna and Cameron. I was sure we all would get along so well.

"The food was delicious," I exclaimed, helping them to put the dishes on the silk.

"I didn't know you could cook," I said to Evelyn who hinted at a giggle and then shrugged.

"Carol taught me, but I can only cook a few things."

Well, those few things were still better than what I learned to do in years so anything was bewildering to me.

Evelyn took out of the fridge some ice cream and I offered to help to put the ice cream in the bowls.

I cleared my voice to mentally prepare myself for the forthcoming question I was going to ask.

I just felt the urge to ask her even if I hope I wouldn't offend Evelyn with my curiosity.

"When..." I dropped my gaze to the ice cream to hide my nervous facial expression, "When did you discover you liked females?"

I wanted to answer some of the doubts I had because I needed to have a clear vision in my mind. I wanted to get to know her more and I thought only by asking more questions I could break the ice between us.

She took a brief pause, probably to think or to proceed how to answer me. 

"I think I always knew, I just never realized. I realized when I was 15 and I began to feel a strange urge for physical touch with my best friend Grace. I thought it was normal, until one day she kissed me and I liked it. Since that day all the other boys I kissed never felt the same. There was no spark there, it was like if I was kissing a relative." 

I appreciated her honesty, I remembered Grace, she was one of the first best friends of Evelyn but I never noticed anything between them. I just thought they were very close and never suspected a thing.

Maybe that was a positive thing as I wondered what would have happened if I had got in the middle of her business by then, maybe we wouldn't be here now.

"What about you?" Evelyn switched the same question to Carol.

Carol chuckled, "I was 7, I told my parents I had a crush on one of my classmates and wanted to marry her." 

"That's a weird wise way of doing come out," I commented giggling.

She shrugged, taking a mouthful of ice cream, "at least I made my life easier." 

We all joined in a laugh, then I cheered them both and hugged them tightly telling them how much I appreciated and how grateful I was to them for having them.

I drove back home with my heart about to explode in joy and happiness, I was finally feeling part of my family for the first time in my entire life. I felt like my piece of the puzzle fit to form the image of a family, maybe not the perfect one but still a family. More than I had in the last years.

Maybe my fall wasn't an inevitable withdrawal but it was only a rise of a new beginning where I had the chance to fix the mistakes of the past and become a new version of myself.

I smiled as I drove in the darkness of the night, I turned the stereo on to put on load music to embrace the atmosphere and celebrate the great moment I had of reconciliation with Evelyn.

I took a different turn and drove to Cameron's house to surprise him and end the day in the best possible way.

I honked him to call him but he didn't get out of the door. So I decided to walk down and knock on the door.

Cameron finally opened the door, with his eyebrows knitted and his forehead creased. He probably thought it was someone who wanted to prank him. But when he saw me he took a brief of relief and smiled hugely.

He hugged me tightly squeezing me as if he needed that hug. Then when I tried to depart he pushed me back closer in another hug, not willing to let me go.

"I needed to see you," his voice creaked and I noticed a weird smell as if he had drunk too much.

I departed from the hug struggling a bit and when our gazes met his eyes were red and bloated.

"You're my only certainty." He whispered, his voice creaked and trembled.

He looked devasted as much as I had never seen him more, he was also slightly pale as if he had cries too much. 

He swallowed down the palpable sadness. 

"What happened?" I asked, he never smelled this much about gin and other alcohol mixed, something must have happened.. He seemed too wrecked to tell me more so I only limited myself to hug him one more time.