Call It Karma

Elliot Grant stood up straight, her collarbones protruding. Her formerly dark brown hair falling down her back in caramel waves and her golden eyes scanning a crowd. It had been four years she had stood in this very spot waiting for her little sister. Her heels propelled her five inches taller than she was which gave her an advantage to see over the crowds. She held her black handbag in her elbow, she could’ve been a movie star with the poise she had, but alas she was a French girl now. She had shed the last ten pounds, by walking and taking the metro. She had perfect skin from divulging in the food culture. She put a pair of black oversized glasses on over her face as she exited the airport and pulled out her cellphone until she saw a redhead calling out her name and waving.

“Elliot!” Gabrielle called out, Elliot was amazed, she had seen her sister last christmas, but she seemed so much older now. Dressed in a tank top, denim shorts and a pair of flip flops she had embraced the west coast lax style.

“Gabs!” Elliot smiled, hugging her little sister tightly. They quickly caught up, speaking at a million miles per hour. Elliot smiled at her old car which had been passed down to Gabrielle when she turned sixteen. “How are Mom and David?”

“Ugh, good. They’re so much more parental now that you and Kennedy are gone. Like the realized I’m the last one to atone for absent parenting,” Gabrielle laughed.

“How’s Maddie?” Elliot bit her lip, the guilt of being thousands of miles away while the rest of her friends and family kept going through good and hard times here without her.

“Uh, not good,” Gabrielle admitted quietly, looking awkwardly towards Elliot. “She tried getting in touch with you a couple of days ago. I guess you were on vacation? You look like a golden goddess by the way,” Gabrielle added on with a nerdy accent.

“Thanks, you look like a grown up. It’s so crazy. Hey, would you mind driving straight to Maddie’s?” Elliot asked realizing she hadn’t heard from Maddie since she had e-mailed her about her return. She was starting to worry about her. Elliot traded her black heels for a pair of flats and removed her navy blazer, just leaving her in a pair of leather high-waisted shorts and a white oversized tank top.

Gabrielle nodded affirmatively and clicked on her turn signal and turned on the radio. Elliot looked around with a raised eyebrow, she barely recognized the neighborhood where Gabrielle was driving them through. She watched Gabrielle’s identical shade of gold eyes scan the road and after glancing in a mirror, it was strange how much they really did look alike. Soon Gabrielle parked behind another car on the curb and Elliot grabbed her purse, practically running to the door. Gabrielle was only a couple of steps behind her.

As they got closer to the door, they could hear shouting between two people. Elliot couldn’t make it out but it only made Elliot more concerned. She rang the doorbell and knocked and suddenly the arguing stopped, the silence seemed more eerie.

When the door opened she saw a tired face of her best friend, but smiled and hugged her tightly without saying a word. Her eyes bulged open as she looked down to see swollen pregnant belly on her best friend, masked under a loose t-shirt. Elliot’s head tilted, Madison had never even mentioned being pregnant again.

“Hi Kennedy,” Elliot waved awkwardly as Gabrielle said hello to both of them, both girls realizing they were interrupting a fight.

“Hey Elliot! You look good! Sorry, this is just a bad time…” Kennedy drifted off, not sure of how to explain it.

“He’s leaving me AGAIN! That’s why!” Madison explained with tears falling down her cheeks as she rubbed her stomach to relax her. Elliot felt empathy in her heart for both of them. Kennedy rubbed his face and sure enough had a duffle bag on the la-z-boy next to him.

“I’m not leaving you, I’m just going to John’s for a little bit, so we can both have time to think! Why are you always so fucking overdramatic Maddie?!” Kennedy responded with an agitated tone, but maintaining his volume. Gabrielle met eyes with Elliot and both of them were awkward.

“I don’t know, why do you always have to leave every fucking time something gets shitty?! Why do you leave me alone here for 9 months out of the year?!” Madison retorted, her voice getting higher as her eyes watered up. She began rubbing her stomach again and sitting down on the couch to calm down.

“Wow, okay…” Elliot muttered until she saw a three-year-old brunette with bright green eyes and a big smile and equally cute dimples. “Hi Sophie!” Elliot changed the subject with such excitement.

“Auntie Ellie! Mommy told me you wewe comin’!” Sophie smiled running into Elliot’s arms and even though they had only met once at her birth, they had skyped practically every week since Sophie could speak. Sophie looked at Elliot’s hair and compared it to her hair, “you have bwown haiw too!” She smiled, struggling to pronounce her R’s.

There was an awkward lull as Sophie explained that she woke up from her nap because Mommy and Daddy were fighting again. Elliot cleared her throat and tried to think of something, “Really? Well if you want, we can bake some cookies and have tea with your mommy and my sissy!” Elliot proposed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” Sophie bounced up and down with stuffed giraffe under her arm. “Aunt Ellie, you have to come see my tea cups! I’ll get them for you!” and just like that she took off again.

“Hey Kenny,” A man’s voice broke the silence, both Madison and Kennedy completely guilty about fighting in front of Sophie. Elliot turned around and felt her stomach turn into knots as if she had never left. “Elliot… hey…” John spoke awkwardly.

She stared at him, absorbing how much he had changed, but time does that to everyone. His face was sharper, but his eyes were tired. He looked as if he had lost weight as well. Elliot smiled awkwardly, “Hey John…” She immediately tucked her hair behind her hair and straightened her posture.

“Ken, we better get going-” John began until a little girl interrupted him.

“Uncle John! Auntie Ellie is gonna have a tea pawty with me and mommy! Do you wanna come?!” Sophie yelled excitedly, jumping up and with a quick reaction, he caught her and swung her around, making her giggle loudly. Elliot was unable to contain her smile, something about John being so good with Sophie made her… well she wasn’t sure what it made her, perhaps nostalgic for when they were together.

“No, Sophie, I have plans with your daddy,” He said before scanning Elliot and felt a tightness in his chest. “Maybe next time, okay?” John said while staring Elliot right in the eyes and her cheeks turned pink. Sophie butted out her bottom lip and John put her down as she crossed her arms hoping it would help, but John just let out a raspy laugh.

Kennedy bent down and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “I love you baby girl, you know that right? I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye, Elle, Bye Gabby.” He went around in a circle until he saw Madison and all he did was give her a knowing smile. Elliot kept a smile on her face until the door closed and she turned to Madison, giving with her the what-the-hell-face.

“I think we’re separating” Madison broke down into tears.

“Gabby, can you take Sophie for a bit? What happened, Maddie?” She sat next to Madison on their red couch, she rubbed Madison’s back hoping to soothe her.

“Maddie, I don’t think so. You’re probably going through a little rough patch, a lot of couples go through them! I mean if Kennedy is gone a lot that means you don’t have enough time to sort out your problems and they just gather,” Elliot tried to explain. She couldn’t bear to think of Sophie growing up how she had with her mother and father constantly at each other’s necks or traveling to see them.

“He just… won’t talk to me and I get so mad. I feel like we just rushed into this, I hate to say this, but I didn’t think about how long forever is,” Madison explained, clearly guilty about feeling that way.

“You guys should talk, just sit down and talk. I can watch Sophie for as long as you need, but do it. Don’t let this things bunch up, that just makes it worse. I promise, don’t give up on your marriage,” Elliot spoke staring her directly in the eyes with a seriousness Madison had never seen before. Elliot wasn’t sure if she was talking about Madison and Kennedy anymore.

“Come on,” Madison grabbed her hand as she wiped mascara from her eyes as she stood up and went up to get Sophie. Gabrielle still had to be home for dinner, so the sisters said goodbye and Sophie sat in Elliot’s lap, mimicking her behavior.

“Where are we going?” Elliot asked, pulling up her long carmel hair into a bun at the top of her head. She had forgotten how overwhelming the heat was during the summer time in Arizona. Madison just grabbed Sophie’s hand and walked her to the car seat, without answering Elliot’s question. Elliot climbed into the passenger seat, sure that Madison would drive off without her if she wasn’t in the car anyway.

“To talk to Kennedy, you and John can watch Sophie and we’re going to talk, not argue…” Madison recited as if it was a mantra. Elliot sputtered trying to find a way to avoid John while still supporting her best friend. “You love your Uncle Johnny don’t you Soph?” Madison smiled with a maternal tone in her voice. Elliot frowned and sat back in her seat, knowing there was no way to get out of this.

“Yes, he’s so silly,” Sophie giggled from her car seat, holding onto her ankles. Elliot sighed, at least she’d have Sophie to use as a buffer between them. The rest of the ride, Madison was reciting exactly what she was going to say, often correcting and editing her speech until she pulled into the driveway. All three girls got out and Sophie decided she wanted to ride on Elliot’s shoulders, which of course Elliot obliged.

Elliot looked around the yard as Sophie played with her hair and Madison rang the doorbell. She looked around at the house that was apparently John’s she wondered if he lived here with his new girlfriend or if he still lived with Jared, she couldn’t help, but be curious. “Helloooo, Aunt Ellie!” Sophie giggled, waving a tiny hand in front of Elliot’s face.

“What baby?” Elliot asked, snapping back into the present.

“We can go inside now!” She laughed pointing forward. Elliot marched forward and ducked so that Sophie could make it safely through the door without a head injury. “Uncle John!” Sophie screamed upon seeing them, “I wanna see Uncle John now, please,” She added on, using the word please, but not really sounding like it was a request. Elliot sighed as she saw John staring at her with a smirk and picked her up off Elliot’s shoulders.

Elliot looked up and saw Madison and Kennedy talking on the back porch, Kennedy already had a beer in his hand, but it looked civil enough. Five minutes must have passed as Elliot and John sat in silence, Sophie busily pretending to give John a hair cut.

Elliot cleared her throat and looked around the house with relatively empty walls and a couch, guitar, television and coffee table barely filling the room. She looked around for pictures of a girlfriend or some girl that might have replaced her, but if John had gone back to his old ways there wouldn’t be just one girl.

“Auntie Ellie, let’s play house,” Sophie said climbing off John’s lap, clearly bored with that game. Elliot smiled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll be the mommy and you can be the daddy and Uncle Johnny can be the baby, okay?” She smiled patting John’s shoulder. Elliot and John both let out laughs.

“How ‘bout you be the baby Sophie?” John suggested, clearly uncomfortable with being the baby. Sophie nodded, but clearly uncomfortable, she jutted out her lip and started crying. “Soph, don’t cry! I’m sorry,” John struggled, trying to comfort her, but in classic style of kids who didn’t get what they want, she immediately made a b-line for Elliot. Elliot picked up the crying girl and started swaying and softly singing a lullaby her Grandmother Jeanne-Marie used to sing when she was crying. Full proven to make any child stop crying. She soon heard a soft and steady breathing on her shoulder and quickly sat down on the couch, her arms starting to feel weak.

"That's some trick," John muttered, clearly jealous or just upset that Elliot had comforted Sophie after he had made her cry.

"Yeah, I actually got my degree in Early Education," Elliot smiled, trying to turn her head without getting Sophie's hair in her mouth. She kept rubbing the girl's small back. They sat in silence for a while, watching Kennedy and Madison talking. "How long have they been fighting?" Elliot asked softly.

"I don't know they were fine after Sophie was born it wasn't until Madison got pregnant again. Then it's just back and forth," John said with the same amount of concern Elliot was feeling. Both of them wanted their best friends to make it through this.

"I'm glad, at least they're trying to work it out instead of just quitting," John remarked snidely. Sophie's eyes fluttered open for a while until she yawned and readjusted her head. Elliot turned to look at her and waited until Sophie was sleeping again until she turned to John with an upset look on her face. Even though four years had passed and they have both matured, John noticed her face was still the same. The same cute angry face that made him crazy when they were together, but they weren't together.

"Real mature John," She said before turning to face the other wall. They both sat on the couch in silent as Madison and Kennedy tried to work through their problems. Elliot softly hummed, trying not to let the silence bother her. Truth was John was the one she had always thought about on silent nights alone in her apartment. When her thoughts drifted to what could've been.