Bittersweet Love

Chapter 17

Kendall's point of view:

When Mom, James and I arrive at the elevator, Camille is already there. As Mom begins a fairly intense discussion with Bitters, James and I walk over to Carlos, who is sitting on the floor next to Logan and Camille. We help him to his feet and while James pats him on the shoulder, I ask him, "Are you all right?"

Carlos nods. "Sure. It takes more to get me off track."

Something isn't right. Carlos says he's fine, but his expression doesn't fit. I know that expression, but that doesn't make things easier. Jealousy. But who or what should Carlos be jealous of? Maybe it's because he doesn't have a girlfriend who comes to him and asks him if everything's okay … No, there's something else. It's the way he looks at Logan and Camille. But that would mean that Carlos might have had a crush on Camille … No, that's impossible. But the other possibility would be that Carlos … Wait. Carlos and Logan? No, that's nonsense. Logan is with Camille. Maybe Carlos is in love with Logan, but Logan isn't in love with Carlos. Logan probably doesn't know about it, otherwise he would behave very differently to Carlos. So it's just Carlos who … Oh man, what's going on here? Okay, maybe that's just my imagination. I take a deep breath. Mom ended her discussion with Bitters and kneels down in front of Logan. "Is everything okay, honey? Shall we call a doctor?"

Logan shakes his head. "I don't need a doctor. Just … rest …"

Mom looks worried and unsure. She finally accepts Logan's request and turns to us, "Could you please help him?"

"Of course," James and I reply at the same time. Carefully, we help Logan to his feet.

"We'd better take the stairs," I say, and James agrees. We finally made it and put Logan on his bed. Mom and Camille approach and James and I go into the living room where Carlos is sitting alone on the couch. Nobody speaks in the next few minutes. Then Camille comes to us.

"How is he?" I ask her immediately. She shrugs. "He's exhausted. Your mom will give him something to sleep."

I nod, then she turns to Carlos. "Thank you, Carlos, for helping him so well. I don't want to imagine how bad that must have been."

Carlos waves off. "Everyone would have done that. Besides, I didn't help him that well. I bet you could have done better."

I'm not sure, but I believe I heard at the end of his sentence that his voice sounds slightly bitter. Camille smiles forcedly. "I don't believe that. I'm not really good at comforting other people."

"But with Logan you manage that pretty well," Carlos replies, and this time, I even think I hear some anger in his voice.

"The problem is that I don't know why I have such an effect on him."

"Probably because he loves you," Carlos replies, and now I'm sure: he's jealous! But James and Camille don't seem to notice, and before Camille can respond, Mom enters the room. She talks quietly to Camille, who looks very relieved. Mom nods to her and Camille disappears into my and Logan's room. I look at Carlos again. He stares thoughtfully at the closed room door. Okay, that's enough. I want to know if I'm just imagining it or not. And I already know how to find out. I just have to talk to Jo. But she is still working. I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and send her a message asking her to call me as soon as she has time.