CATASTROPHE CAREN (Completed) ✔

41: Friend or Foe

It's been 2 weeks since Caren got fired from the job she very much loved. It was bad enough that she had to spend the weekends without working and now that she had no job, it felt super weird staying home all week.

At least, it wasn't entirely boring. This period that she wasn't doing much enabled her to spend more time with Dylan and get to know him better. Though he offered her a job at 1 of his other companies, she didn't think it twice before turning the offer down.

It's possible that this whole incident needed to happen in order for her to reconsider certain things in her life. It could have been the universe trying to tell her to slow down. She somehow believed destiny played a role in all of this and now more than ever, she was willing to let go of the steering wheel and just move with the wind.

Caren was still in her thoughts when her phone began to ring.

"Hey, Olivia! How's it going?"

"I should be asking you! You have refused all of my invitations to the club ever since you lost your job. Do you you want to remain locked up forever in that house?" Olivia asked. Her voice was loud and stern.

"Well I haven't been locked up the entire time. It's just that I'm not really in the mood to be in a loud environment these days, that's all. I know you understand."

"I do! But I'm you're friend and I want the best for you. I know that a lot will be going through your mind when you're alone unlike if you were here spending time with me."

"You're very sweet! I promise I'll come around one of these days." She smiled.

"I'll hold you to that promise!" Olivia chuckled.

"Tell me, was Jake able to find out what those thieves stole from him?"

"Not at all! He said that he went through all of his stuff in the basement over and over again but couldn't find anything missing."

"That's strange! So they risked getting arrested just to mess up someone's stuff? How dumb is that?"

"Super dumb! Now that we're on the subject, Jake said the footage is available and that we can come over at anytime to see it. Don't know if today is a good time for you."

"If it's a good time? It's a wonderful time! I'm going to get ready and meet you up at your place."

"Great! See you soon then." Olivia hung up.

***********

Caren and Olivia arrived at Jake's place 2 hours later.

"Great to see you again, Ladies." Jake said as he opened the door for them.

"Great to see you as well. I hope you're doing fine after everything that happened." Caren asked.

"Oh, I've gotten over it really. The police are taking care of everything so I have no reason to worry about anything." He smiled. "I hope you've been able to forgive me as well?"

"It wasn't your fault. You're fine." She assured him.

"How come you never asked for my forgiveness? And how come you're at home on a Friday?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"I did but you don't remember because you kept talking over me!" Jake chuckled. "Thank goodness Caren is here to hear it this time. Queen Olivia, will you forgive me?"

"I will but you've got to invite Caren and I to your next show. Don't care whether it's in the United States or outer space."

"Deal!" Jake smiled.

"Yes! Love it." Caren giggled and gave Olivia a high five.

"A man can never win." Jake shook his head. "Anyway, I hope you're ready Caren. Before you see the footage, I want you to take a deep breath."

"You're scaring me." She replied. "Are you sure I really want to see it?"

"I think it's for the best that you do." He faced the laptop to them and pressed play.

The video started playing and Caren could see everyone dancing and having a good time. She spotted herself in the crowd together with Halle and some other people dancing and drinking. Then it got to the interesting part. A couple of keg stands were set up and some people were challenged to compete against each other. Caren saw herself accepting the challenge and she shook her head and shared a laugh with Olivia.

Before the competition started, Caren noticed something odd. Halle whispered something into her ear and then walked away. Though she was too drunk to remember what she said to her, she watched as Halle left walked over to where Jake was standing. While talking to Jake, Caren noticed that halle kept pointing her hands towards her as if she was complaining or something.

Jake nodded his head and Halle left him and walked to the dining table. On the table was a red basket containing everyone's cellphones. Halle went through the phones carefully and took hers out of the basket.

She walked back to where Caren was and started filming her. From the time the competition started to the moment when she stripped off all her clothes and started running around naked, Halle stood there with her phone pointing towards her. She finally stopped recording when Caren grew tired of running around and began searching for her clothes.

"Oh my God!" Olivia gasped. "All this time... It was Halle?" She looked over to Caren whose eyes were filled with tears. "Oh Dear, are you okay?" She put her hands on her shoulders.

"I can't believe this! I can't believe she's been playing me for a fool this whole time and I couldn't see through it all."

"I'm totally speechless right now!" Olivia covered her mouth. "This must be why you refused to tell us the name of the person behind the camera." She said to Jake.

"Yep! The whole thing seemed a little bit strange after Caren explained her side of the story at the restaurant. At first I thought it was a joke but then I remembered what Halle said to me at the party and it left me a little bit puzzled. I just didn't want to get myself in the middle of it."

"What did Halle say to you at the party?" Caren asked.

"She came up to me and said that you asked her to take a video of you while you carried out the challenge so that you can remember the moment forever. She begged for my permission to take back her phone and when I said no, she kept on pointing over to you in order to remind me that the competition was about to start. I looked at you and saw that you were having a really great time and I thought to myself... 'hey, maybe this is something she would like to remember forever,' and so, I told Halle to go ahead. I'm really, really sorry Caren."

"It's fine! This is not your fault." She stood up. "I think I have to pay someone a visit!"

"Caren wait!" Olivia called out but Caren stormed off and slammed the door behind her.

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