Introduction
It had been a hard night for Carl at work in the kitchen. Everything was as usual disorganised and no one got along with anyone. It was a Saturday so of course it had been busy and it seemed like everyone else was going out and enjoying themselves. Everyone except for Carl of course. It never used to be like this but this was the way things had been for a while.
When he finally left the kitchen after what seemed like hours with a mountain of washing up he noticed a few familiar faces. He saw his one time friend Russ with a couple of other people that he did not know except for Russ's girlfriend Natasha. Carl felt disappointed as it took him back to how things had been a few years before. As he walked passed them Russ completely ignored him despite Carl giving him a nod although Natasha did at least have the decency to smile at him.
Once Carl got home he decided to go online for a while. He had sent a few friend requests to a couple of girls online trying to get some dates but as usual his inbox was empty. Perhaps not having his own place and a car was not going to be too attractive and neither was the fact that he was in a low paying job. He spoke to one of his remaining friends named Duncan for a while and complained about Russ.
'He knows full well that I walked passed him,' complained Carl 'but he does not care,'
'Well that is just Russ being his usual self then,' agreed Duncan 'is he still with Natasha?'
'Yes he was,' replied Carl.
A few years before things had been completely different. Carl and Duncan where part of a group of guys who always went out together and had some of the best years of their lives together. They had been outcasts at school but as they grew older they got more confident.
Things started to change when one of the guys named Jake got a new girlfriend named Kelsey who seemed specialise in causing dramas and friction between people. Rumours had been going around that Kelsey had been cheating and when she saw a message from Carl to Jake on Jake's phone warning him about her she decided to try and turn people against Carl. Things had kicked off at an engagement party and the group had been divided in two.
A few weeks later Jake and Kelsey had invited a few people to their own party and Russ had been invited along with Natasha who both Carl and Russ liked and Natasha had stopped talking to Carl completely. Carl was convinced that Kelsey had been involved and Russ then ended up seeing Natasha. Prior to this Carl had thought that he was going to have a chance with Natasha as she had seemed interested in him but Russ had managed to get in their first.
Eventually Kelsey ended up leaving Jake for another guy anyway but she had left unresolved conflict within the group. Carl never forgave her for what she had done and he had not spoke to Russ that much since either. A while after the incident at the engagement party Carl had been invited to another party and Russ was there with Natasha and was showing off all night. He had gotten a new job and was bragging about everything. After that everyone started to go their own ways and things had not been the same since. Before this time Carl had been though a rough patch after a breakup with another girlfriend and was only just getting back on track but the incident with Kelsey had thrown him off balance.
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He still thought of Natasha at times but he hated the fact that she was still with Russ. He had wondered that if Kelsey had not been there then things might have been different. There was only two other girls that had been loyal in the group and that was Katie and Amy but both of them had boyfriends during the time of the incident and they also seemed to have moved on as well.
'It is a shame that things are not what they used to be,' said Duncan in another message.
'I know,' replied Carl.
'We should do something again soon,' suggested Duncan 'maybe get a few people together?'
'I could ask around,' said Carl. There was not many people that they still spoke to but they had decided to get a few people together in the week. Carl seemed to be at work most evenings of the week but he was lucky to have Tuesday night off and was able to arrange a night with Duncan, George and Liam. Both George and Liam normally worked during the week but by chance Liam had the week off and was up for a drink while George had no problems getting the night off.
The next few days had not been that eventful but Carl had taken a look at Natasha's Facebook which he still had her as a friend on and noticed that she had added some pictures from the Saturday night out in an album called 'dinner party' which featured her, Russ and a group of seemingly comfortable people of happy couples. There they were going to a dinner party while Carl was left to clear up after them. There was something about the whole thing that made him uncomfortable and he felt that there had been a lack of justice.
On Tuesday Carl met up with the others at a local pub and made conversation about the previous weekend.
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'I wouldn't worry too much about Russ,' said George 'The odds are that Natasha might get bored of him eventually,'
'Well they have been together for a while now,' replied Carl.
'Well you never know,' replied George 'things do go the full circle eventually,'
'have you spoke to anyone else from back then?' asked Liam.
'Not really,' replied Carl 'everyone has gone their own way now,'
'I heard that Amy split up from her boyfriend,' added George 'she has moved away as well and living with her sister,'
'Really?' replied Carl.
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'I was talking to her sister's friend the other night,' said George 'it turns out that the guy had been messing around with someone else,'
'Where is she living now?' asked Carl.
'She has gone to Simbourne I think,' replied George 'her sister lives there,'
'I remember when we all went to Brighton that time,' said Duncan.
'That was a good week,' added Carl glumly remembering the good times that everyone had.
'Yes, with Katie and Amy at that house party where her sister lives,'
'And of course Russ trying to get on Katie while he knew that I liked her,' added Carl.
'Things never changed much then?' said Liam.
'It was always like that,' said Carl 'any time that there was a new girl on the scene then Russ was straight onto them,'
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