Alstroemeria [COMPLETED]

Chapter 25 - Old Habits Die Hard

When Carrie arrived in the bedroom, her hands rested on her stomach protectively as she leaned against the head board of the bed I had slept in so many times before. Now that I studied her closely, I was starting to notice the little changes due to her pregnancy. The thought of her child could easily distract me from this mess of a conversation but I knew I had to say something before it did. Carrie deserved to hear about Wendy.

She shuffled in her place and then sent me a glaring eye. "Tell me everything."

I did.

I left out the parts of the conversation with Gail because I knew it was personal and private. However, I kept everything else in, right down to kissing Gail and feeling awful about it and then arguing with Benny about Jessica.

"I knew something had shifted." She said as she shuffled closer to me. "Benny was all agitated and wouldn't keep still and Gail just kept staring off into space and gripping the sofa. I had a feeling Benny had pissed you off somehow by the way he was so nervous but I had no idea that Gail..." She clapped her hands together excitedly and I frowned at her, not understanding what she was going on about.

"Why are you clapping? This is a disaster!"

Carrie rolled her eyes and poked me in the leg. "It's not a disaster. Benny screwed up. You forgave him. Yeah, okay, you kissed Gail. I'm amazed you managed to get close to him, and twice! God, Gail is hard to open up at the best of times. Ginny, you have to remember that you're not technically seeing anyone. You can do whatever the hell you like."

"I can't!" I thumped my fists against the bed in a tantrum. Why didn't she understand? "Carrie, what if I no longer feel towards Benny, if I did at all? What if I feel more towards Gail now? I can't feel anything for Gail!"

She threw her hands up in amazement. "Why the hell not, Ginny?! You're young, single and free. You can do whatever the hell you like. Screw what Benny thinks. He screwed up. That's his fault."

"I can't, Carrie." I groaned as I put my head in my hands. "What about Jamie? I feel so guilty."

There was a pause and I looked up to see Carrie frowning at me in confusion. "What the hell has Jamie got to do with this?"

"She's his girlfriend, Carrie! You know that!"

Carrie stared at me in disbelief. I waited for her to say something but instead, just as I thought she'd understand what my problem was, she burst into hysterical laughter. My eyes widened at how loud she was as she rocked on her bum, wiping her eyes with her fingers. "Oh god, Ginny, you do amuse me." She fanned herself for a moment before her sparkling eyes found my baffled one. "Jamie isn't Gail's girlfriend, Ginny."

I opened and closed my mouth, lost in thought. "But...Benny said..."

"Benny said? Oh wow, that lad really does like you. Oh Ginny, you poor sod." She leaned forward and took my hands, clasping them between her own. "Gail doesn't have a girlfriend. Jamie is his sister. Don't you see the resemblance?"

I stared at her, unable to comprehend what she was saying. "What?"

Carrie chuckled and leaned forward to move a strand of hair from my face. "Jamie is Gail's older sister. She's practically the spitting image of him. They're stuck together at the hip most of the time. In fact, when he's around here it seems to be the only time he's not around her. God, no wonder you felt so guilty. Ginny, Gail is a single pringle. He's not cheating on anybody. It seems to me that he has a massive thing for you and the only reason he hasn't acted on it is because he's feeling guilty that Benny got to you first. You know men and their whole bro code thing. He must be pissed that Benny is messing up so much and he can't just step in and take you for himself."