Tipping Point

by Maisie Johansson

  The moment Caroline saw her, she felt her heart skip a beat. Even after a delay and a long-haul flight, Rhetta was the most beautiful sight that Caroline had ever seen. Beautiful and sad. She could see it written in the slouch of her shoulders and the dimness of her eyes. It told Caroline that the last few days had been just as rough for Rhetta as they had been for her.

  Yet still Rhetta stood, frozen in place in the doorway. Unable to make the first move, not out of stubbornness but out of fear. So Caroline made the first move, as she always had, and offered Rhetta a small smile. One that said that she was sorry and that she wanted nothing more than make all of the pain of the last few days go away. For the both of them.

  When Rhetta saw that smile, she ran. She dashed across the distance between them and threw herself into Caroline’s arms.

  “I’m so sorry!” she sobbed, her words muffled against the warm safety of Caroline’s neck.

  “Me too.” Caroline pulled back and wiped the tears from Rhetta’s cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry that I hurt you and maybe Perinnel too. I’ll make it right. I promise, Princess.”

  At the term of endearment, Rhetta melted into Caroline’s embrace, her forehead falling to rest on Caroline’s collarbone. Caroline pressed a kiss to the top of her head and the heavy empty feeling that she had been carrying around for the last few days finally faded away.

  “I love you so much, baby,” Rhetta swore.

  The back of Caroline’s fingers brushed across her cheek and Rhetta looked up into Caroline’s beautiful hazel eyes just in time to receive a soft, deep kiss.

  “I love you too,” Caroline promised. “Just never promise me that we’ll never go four days without talking again, deal? I don’t think I could take it.”

  “I promise,” Rhetta mumbled as she settled back into Caroline’s arms.

  Over Rhetta’s shoulder, Caroline saw Annie smile at her and wave goodbye before disappearing into the crowd with her son at her side.

  Caroline smiled and pressed another kiss to Rhetta’s temple.

  “That’s settled then. Now, why don’t we find a cab and we can snuggle in the back on the way to the hotel. Sound good?” Caroline asked, though she already knew the answer from Rhetta’s tight hold on her.

  Rhetta was always clingy after they fought or when she was tired, so both of them together made for an Rhetta who unlikely to stop snuggling her until she had a good sleep in Caroline’s arms. Caroline couldn’t help but find it adorable.

  “Mmmm, yes please,” Rhetta mumbled, her eyes already closing.

  As soon as they were in the cab, Rhetta snuggled into Caroline’s side and promptly fell asleep.

  …

  “So,” Caroline asked as they sat on a cliff watching the sun set over the sea that evening, “how did it go with Perinnel?”

  She had been afraid to bring up the thing that had made Rhetta so upset with her, but she couldn’t ignore it. Ever since Rhetta’s cutting words to her over the phone, Caroline had felt guilty. She hadn’t meant to do any of the things that Rhetta had said. Perinnel always seemed happy these days and Caroline had assumed that she had found peace with whatever had troubled her. But she knew more than anyone that someone could seem to be happy and carefree to the world when inside they were struggling.

  Rhetta sighed and leant back against Caroline’s chest. “She didn’t turn up. She messaged about ten minutes before we were supposed to meet and told me that she had to take one of her dogs to the veterinarian.”

  Guilt flickered cold in Caroline’s stomach. “D’you think that she was telling the truth?”

  “Probably not. I mean, I think we’d have heard if one of her dogs was sick don’t you?” Rhetta reasoned. “And do you have any idea how many times I chickened out of telling my brother that I was starting to think that I might not be straight before I actually started talking to him about it?”

  “Actually no, I don’t think you’ve ever told me that,” Caroline answered, surprised that this was the first she was hearing about this.

  Rhetta laughed softly. “It was you that made me do it, finally. I was so giddy after our first date that I Skyped him the moment that I got back to my hotel room.”

  “You did?” Caroline asked with so much wonder in her voice that Rhetta tried to turn around

  “Yeah. I told him that I’d just had the most amazing date and I told him that it was with you,” Rhetta said casually, knocking her knee against Caroline’s.

  “And what did he say?”

  “Mostly he teased me and called me giddy teenager in love. And then he offered to be there when I told Mom and Dad, if I chose to tell them. Which I did.”

  That, Caroline remembered. It had been Christmas Eve and she had waited up to hear how it’d gone. It had been almost 1am when the call had come and Rhetta had given her the news that her parents were thrilled that she was seeing someone and that Caroline was invited to the famous Morsten New Year’s party. And that she should take the invitation as more of a summons than a suggestion. She had met the Morsten clan 7 days later and had considered them her family ever since. She had been lucky. They had been lucky.

  “Do you think that maybe we could talk to her together?” Caroline asked tentatively, thinking back to Perinnel and the possibility that she might be going through something alone. “Not to corner her or anything, but to let her know that we’re there for her, at least? Let her know that she can come to us when she’s ready?”

  Rhetta turned around in Caroline’s arms and looked into her fiancée’s soulful eyes. She had such a big heart and maybe that was why Rhetta had been so angry when she had found a fault in it, even if had only been unintentional and temporary. The all-encompassing love in Caroline’s heart made Rhetta proud. She knew just how lucky she was to get to see that heart and learn from it.

  “I think that’s a good idea, baby. And I think that I’m very lucky to have such a wonderfully compassionate fiancée.”

  She leant up and kissed Caroline gently, pouring all of the love that had backed up inside her over the past few days back where it belonged.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  As the elevator set off from their floor the next morning, Rhetta snuggled closely into Caroline’s side. She smiled as Caroline’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, bringing her in even closer.

  “Remind me again why we’re rooming apart?” Rhetta sighed dejectedly.

  “Because it isn’t fair on the rest of the team and it complicates room allocations,” Caroline said blandly, reeling off the reasons that they had agreed on at the end of the last camp.

  As much as Rhetta appreciated the reasons behind it, she didn’t like it. Not when it meant weeks of seeing Caroline but not being able to fall asleep in her arms at night or giggle at her singing in the shower in the mornings.

  “If we had a baby we could share,” Rhetta grumbled.

  Caroline smiled down at her, loving how grumpy she was in the mornings when she’d had little sleep and had yet to wallow in coffee.

  The elevator stopped with a jerk and Rhetta’s grip on Caroline tightened, her face turning into the safety of Caroline’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Princess. I’ll protect you,” Caroline whispered in her ear, chuckling softly.

  Rhetta rolled her eyes but leant up to kiss Caroline anyway. Despite Caroline’s teasing, she really did feel safer.

  The elevator doors opened and they turned to see that Perinnel entering the elevator, her attention firmly fixed on her cell phone.

  “Hey, Peri,” Rhetta greeted sleepily.

  Caroline tried for a safe topic of conversation, wary of scaring Perinnel off after the missed coffee date incident. “So, you manage to get much sleep in the dreaded first night in a hotel bed?”

  Perinnel smiled. “I think jet lag helped in avoiding that curse. How about you guys?”

  “Well I’m exhausted,” Caroline exhaled, deflating a little to emphasise her point.

  “Caro surprised me with the honeymoon suit
e for the night, so we didn’t really get much sleep,” Rhetta explained, smiling up at Caroline and patting her toned stomach. “It’s a good thing we have travel recovery this morning, huh Stud? I don’t really think I’m in any shape for a fitness test. Or running at all, really.”

  Caroline’s eyes widened and her attention immediately snapped to Perinnel’s pink cheeks and surprised, parted lips. She could not believe that Rhetta had just said that.

  With another jerk, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal Lavender grinning at her cell.

  “Kids these days and their cells phones, I tell yah!” Caroline drawled, glad for the opportunity to break the tension before their teammate entered the little box of awkwardness they were travelling in.

  Rhetta giggled and swatted at Caroline’s arm. “Like you don’t spend half your time with your head bent over that phone of yours. I swear that you and Sam are planning something. Like world domination or a new YouTube channel or something.”

  “R!” Caroline hissed. “That’s supposed to be a secret!”

  “Don’t worry,” Lavender stage whispered, “I won’t tell anyone.”

  Perinnel’s bright eyes fixed on Lavender for a moment before she immediately began busying herself with her cell, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.

  Rhetta watched her curiously, wondering whether it was her choice of small talk or something else that was making the usually smiley girl so quiet and bashful.

  “You guys headed down to breakfast?” Lavender asked. “I hear we get steak and eggs this morning to help stave off the jetlag.”

  “Awesome!” Caroline grinned.

  “So,” Lavender began, trying to break the awkward silence, “how did you guys-“

  “Please, please don’t ask how we slept,” Caroline pleaded jokingly, finally earning a shy smile from Perinnel.

  Lavender looked at them each in turn, eyebrow raised. “Oookaaaaaay.”

  “Rhetta was oversharing,” Perinnel explained, a little giggle lighting up her eyes.

  Lavender laughed awkwardly. “I really don’t want to know, do I?”

  “No, you really don’t,” Caroline deadpanned.

  “Did you – err – did you get my text?” Perinnel asked Lavender hopefully.

  Lavender winced.

  “Sorry Peri, Moe made me promise to hang with her tonight. She’s rooming with Megara and I think she’s a little bit intimidated. Maybe tomorrow?” Lavender offered, sounding almost as hopeful as Perinnel had.

  “Sure,” Perinnel said dejectedly. “Only if you have time.”

  The words made Rhetta cringe and she knew that she had to get them out of this conversation before it got even more awkward.

  “Hey, if you’re up for it, Caro and I are going hiking later,” Rhetta offered cheerily. “We’ll even let you do yoga when we get to the top!”

  “Of course Rhetta and I will use that time to be the social media goddesses that you all know and love,” Caroline quipped. “I want to take some photos on the beach. Wanna join?”

  “What Caroline means to say is that we’d love it if you showed us some of the relaxation techniques you use. We’re going to need all the de-stressing we can get with the World Cup coming up.”

  “We have to do yoga?” Caroline whined. “Aleeeeeeeeeeex.”

  Perinnel giggled. “Sure, why not.”

  “Sounds like you guys are gonna have a blast,” Lavender chuckled as the doors of the elevator opened on their floor and Rhetta finally found herself able to relinquish her tight hold on Caroline.

  “Oh yeah. Wild yoga fun. I can’t wait,” Caroline grumbled.

  …

  “So…” Caroline drawled as they waited outside the hotel entrance for Perinnel. “When does the fun, fun yoga start? And will it ever be able to live up to the world’s most awkward elevator ride? Thank you so much for that, by the way. That was my favourite ever way to start a camp.”

  Rhetta looked up from her cell and peered over her very expensive sunglasses to give Caroline ‘the look’. “Stop it.”

  “Well she’s fifteen minutes late, so we know she’s a princess,” Caroline sighed, feigning annoyance. She knew that she’d be in trouble for that one if Rhetta wasn’t in the mood to play, but sometimes she couldn’t help but tease her girl. “Maybe she really is Morsten 2.0. We should probably start warning people.”

  “Stop it!” Rhetta giggled. “You’re so bad, you know that? You better behave when Perinnel gets here.”

  “Or you’ll spank her?”

  Rhetta turned around so fast that her phone tumbled from her grip. Only Caroline’s lightning fast reflexes saved them from yet another trip to the Apple store. Rhetta’s clumsiness had them on first name terms with the ‘geniuses’ at the Georgetown store.

  Perinnel watched Rhetta fumbling and blushing with a

  “That’s for trying to embarrass me this morning,” Perinnel smiled, folding her arms across her chest with a wide, satisfied grin.

  “Dang, the kid’s got claws,” Caroline whistled, a laugh bubbling up from her belly as Rhetta snatched the phone from her grasp. “Maybe this hike won’t be so boring after all.”

  Rhetta rolled her eyes and set off, leading them out of the hotel carpark and out towards the hills, trying to hide her grin. “Just so you know, you’re both on your first warnings. So you better watch it!”

  Perinnel’s eyebrows shot up as she fell into step with Caroline. “Our first warnings?”

  Caroline winced. “We get three a day. Me, Fenton, Chaya, Tamara, Rhetta’s best friend, her brother Sam, my brother Peri, her Dad, Sadie Sanduchi and some more of her college friends, a bunch of her Frankfurt teammates – including Guarduo – and, apparently, you.”

  Perinnel laughed, not at all surprised that Rhetta had a hit list. “Should I be worried?”

  “Well… Sam’s been on the list since Rhetta was about four, according to their mom, and I’ve been on the list since our third date, so I’d say that the survival rate is pretty good.” Caroline stopped and stage whispered behind her hand, “Just as long as you don’t get to three warnings.”

  “What happens then?”

  “Punishments range from melting the face off of Sam’s action man”, Caroline began, smirking when Perinnel’s eyes widened in genuine shock, “to making me sleep on the floor after I told her that she snored when she was sick.”

  “Stick to two warnings, gotcha,” Perinnel said loud enough for Rhetta to hear.

  In front of them, Rhetta turned around and rolled her eyes. “How’s the weather back there, slowpokes?”

  Caroline shook her head and ran to catch up. “D’aww, you lonely Princess?”

  As much as Rhetta wanted to play at being mad at Caroline, she couldn’t stop herself from giggling when Caroline’s arms went around her waist from behind and lifted her up into the air.

  “Stop it! Put me down!” she shrieked, her body buzzing with the thrill of how easily Caroline had yanked her off of her feet and was now marching up the hill with her cradled like a baby in her arms. Caroline had always been strong, but lately it seemed like she could lift Rhetta up like she weighed nothing at all. And Rhetta liked it. A lot.

  But today was about Perinnel. Swooning over Caroline could wait.

  “We have company, Stud,” Rhetta reminded her quietly.

  Caroline chuckled. “I know that. I just thought I’d show her what it’d be like to have someone sweep her off her feet.”

  Rhetta giggled. “Oh, so that’s what you’re doing?”

  Caroline’s mouth fell open in mock offence. “I’m carrying you up a hill aren’t I? That’s fucking romantic! She’d be damn lucky to have someone with this much game.”

  Rhetta giggled again as she rolled her eyes and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Caroline’s nose. “I’m not even going to comment on that one.”

  “Because you know it’s true.”

  Once she was back on her feet, Rhetta turned and gazed back down the hill to
where Perinnel was slowly walking towards them, giving them space.

  “I need to call you a slowpoke again to get you to catch up?” Rhetta sassed. “Or are your feeble forward’s muscles too tired already?”

  The look in Perinnel’s eyes told Rhetta that she would live to regret that one, but sacrifices had to be made.

  …

  By the time they reached the top of a cliff that was three times further away than their agreed endpoint, Caroline could only collapse onto the ground and pant.

  Rhetta, her own lungs burning from the workout, bent over to rest her hands on her thighs. “Damn, I think you broke her. Impressive.”

  “I died,” Caroline panted. “I’m dead. Tell my family that I love them.”

  Perinnel rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that bad!”

  “No,” Caroline disagreed, rolling onto her side and pulling her knees up to her chest, “it was. It really, really was.”

  “Poor baby,” Rhetta teased, crouching beside Caroline and holding out a bottle of water. Caroline opened her mouth and gave Rhetta a piteous look, begging her fiancée to pour the liquid into her mouth. Rhetta rolled her eyes and made to give Caroline her way, only to change course at the last moment and pour the water over Caroline’s face instead.

  Caroline thrashed about in shock and Rhetta jumped to her feet and sped off to hide behind Perinnel, shrieking in anticipation of Caroline’s revenge. Caroline got to her feet and glared at Rhetta, her dripping wet hair sticking to her cheeks and neck.

  “I’ll give you ‘till the count of three, Princess. One… Two…”

  She lunged towards Rhetta before she could get to three. Rhetta screwed her eyes shut and braced herself for impact, grinning at what she knew would be a tickle attack. But just as Caroline was about to grab her, she heard the slosh of water and opened her eyes to see Perinnel holding her own now half-empty water bottle and a very, very wet Caroline frozen before them in shock.

  …