In which things start to unravel
As soon as Carla spies Talie coming in, she knows that a confrontation must happen. She cannot keep Addison above the despair line much longer. The tension is exhausting her. If she snaps now then they are both lost.
‘Take the pram,’ she hisses to Helen. ‘Park it at the side over there and come back quick. Go on.’ Carla is gratified to note that the surprised woman does as she is told for once. She’s a good friend.
‘Talie, hi,’ she calls over pleasantly.
The greeting has the required affect and Carla neatly manoeuvres the two of them towards Helen who is returning from her mission of depositing Dinah safely out of the way to sleep.
It’s not as difficult as she imagines to challenge Talie about Seb’s activities. It’s not as though she is accusing Talie herself of throwing a brick or writing a note.
‘He obviously got the idea from somewhere, though,’ she tells Talie.
‘Well it’s true,’ comes the oblique but sharp reply, with no sign of remorse, from which Carla deduces that she did indeed allow it to happen.
‘I was Addison’s friend long before you came along,’ Talie says defiantly. ‘He might have agreed to marry me, but he got hooked up on what a great rescue act he was doing for you.’
Carla sucks her breath in. ‘So this is what it’s about.’ She is sickened. ‘Can’t you find it in your heart to be happy for Addison and me?’
‘He’s still seeing other women. You can’t deny it. You saw with your own eyes.’ She looks round as if afraid Addison will approach. She ignores Helen altogether.
Carla is suddenly incensed. ‘Natalie Robertson, you are disgusting. If you really want to know what was going on, I’ll tell you. He was helping Helen retrace what went wrong in her childhood when an uncle made her do foul things on his knee. That is the truth. Now are you satisfied? He ended up holding her and crying with her because he’s sensitive enough to feel her pain – he’s worth twice of you any day. I never want to have you in the house again.’
Talie turns her head with a defiant flourish and stalks off into the meeting room, barely glancing at Addison who is still welcoming the throng of incomers. Carla, exasperated, turns to Helen – then sees the pain in her face.
‘Helen?’
