Time: Present Day

Location: HereAfter

His movie did a kind of slow fast forward as Carter watched himself on the screen as he attempted to get Layla into bed. He was used to succeeding within a week of actively courting a girl. It had now been four weeks and he hadn't gotten past a good night kiss. He convinced himself that it was his idea to go slow out of respect for Mal's feelings for Layla but he knew deep down that this girl was dangerous. She had the power to hurt him like no other had, to hurt him even beyond the hurt that he had caused many other girls, the scary thing for him was that she could hurt him even beyond the hurt he saw in Mal's eyes each time Mal saw them together.

He endured a string of scenes in his movie that were joyous and at the same time loathsome as his relationship with Layla grew and his relationship with Mal soured. It took him three months but he finally got his way with her. It wasn't until after he had accused her of being a virgin. She told him she wasn't a virgin but only slept with men that respected her. It always took her some time to trust a new man in her life. She had been badly hurt before when a boy she was dating fell in with the wrong crowd and started taking drugs. He also started bashing her. She had stayed in that abusive relationship for 2 years thinking she could change him back to the boy she once knew.

At last her mother had convinced her that it was never going to end well so she had broken it off with him. She was sad to have found that he was so into the drug scene that she endured eighteen months when it was impossible to begin any new relationships as her former boyfriend harassed her, asked her for money to feed his habit, then finally began stalking her until she had to take out a restraining order. He had broken this order twice before he was finally sent to prison for drug related offences.

She said she was telling Carter all this, opening up hausedvhimntontemperbhuscseductionneffortsvcim, in an effort to explain her reluctance to b new relationships. She didn't trust men now, even nice ones like Mal, let alone lady's men like him. She explained that this reluctance was the reason she hadn't made the first move on Mal even though she knew he was a bit shy, and she thought he may have had a thing for her. He grew increasingly uncomfortable whenever she talked about Mal. It had caused him to temper his seduction routine and concentrate more on making her happy rather than himself. Carter had to admit that it was Layla changing him that led to their intimacy not his seduction techniques. He had become a much nicer person since he started dating her. His Mum, Amanda, had been so pleased to see the changes in him.

Carter looked to his right again and there was Ken. They watched their deaths together. His death had dashed all his plans for a happy and settled life with Layla, no more screwing around, having the son he always dreamed he would have, taking him away with his Grandad to their holiday house and fishing on the Hawkesbury River.

He was disappointed beyond belief and angry that his life had been disrupted so violently. He wanted to know why he was killed, and by who. He sensed that Ken felt the same way.

So Ken and Carter watched their deaths together in concentrated silence. Carter was astounded when the movie jumped again back to the girls watching the CCTV footage. This time however Carter and Ken were watching a different version to the girls. They could hear the girls talking in the background but the view they had was of them at the table. Carter had come back from paying the bill, downed what was left of his coffee and joined Ken who had stood up to leave. They went to the front entrance of the restaurant when all hell broke loose. Since Carter knew the restaurant he had gone ahead of Ken to lead the way out between the alfresco tables.

The sound of bullets flying past them made him look back at Ken in time to see the left side of his head explode in a puff of blood and white matter. He was still smiling as he collapsed to the ground. Carter looked in the direction, left of Ken. He was stunned to see a priest turning towards him a large pistol with a silencer attached spat at him. Once, twice, three times. He was close enough to see the shooter had a skull ring on the middle finger of his left hand. The finger he had extended to steady the gun. Diamonds or similar stones sparkled with reflective neon lights as his hands recoiled from the shots. He remembered looking down at his shirt as it filled with blood before he went down like a sack of potatoes. A myriad of random thoughts entered his head, at least he hadn't been hit in the head like poor Ken he thought and then began postulating that it must be the hand of God to be shot by a priest!

Then he was star gazing for what seemed like an eternity until the stars were replaced by the concerned countenance of an ambulance driver.

He had passed out to concerned whispering the last thing he remembered was someone calling out for the priest, didn't they realise that was the last person he wanted to see right now, he thought just before oblivion.

He looked around and Ken had gone. "Where's Ken gone now?" he said out loud. With that Teacher appeared in his place. Teacher smiled at him and said, "You've come through rather well Carter Cheval. Ken too, he has progressed well, you won't be needing his assistance anymore."

You mean I won't be seeing him again?" Carter said with a little sadness. "Oh, don't worry yourself, you'll be seeing him again, anytime you like, you'll see, you just don't need to anymore, and you are both going to be busy with your separate tasks."

He looked up at the screen again, it had taken on a different hue, like someone had turned up the contrast and intensified the colour.

Amanda rewound the CCTV footage again and froze it when the priest appeared. The others were startled when Amanda said, no, no it couldn't be, could it?"

Monique looked concerned, "What is it darling?"

Then Carter said, "I missed that, hey why can't I wind it back?"

"It is no longer your story, Carter Cheval, now it is Amanda's."

Then it dawned on him why the picture had changed in intensity and colour, "You mean, This is happening, now, live?" he said in awe.

Teacher laughed, "Live indeed Carter Cheval, you have come a long way, indeed yes, you are ready."

"Ready for what?" he asked.

"Ready to discover the answers to your two questions, and more, ready to fulfil your destiny. You didn't think this was over did you? No, no, no, this is not over by a long shot," Teacher laughed again.

"You're not pissing off again are you?" Carter liked to think he was winding Teacher up by swearing occasionally.

Teacher winked at him and said "Remember, just call when you need me, and you will soon enough."

Carter's attention was grabbed by the girls in the room, he didn't even bother to watch Teacher disappear.

"It's Andre, but it can't be, he hasn't aged at all. He would be older, older than me!" Amanda said astonished.

"Who the hell is Andre?" Layla asked. "No one, no one important anyway," Monique said.

"Don't you think it's time we told her?" Amanda said.

"Told me what?" Layla asked.

"Nothing dear, Amanda is having trouble coming to grips with Carter's passing is all, isn't it Amanda?"

"Yes mother whatever you say," Amanda said.

"You think this priest is this Andre character don't you?" Layla postulated.

"No,no, Layla, Andre is someone from the past. This guy just looks like him I guess, but it couldn't be him. Andre is someone Amanda told me about a long time long ago."

There was a knock on the door and Tony came into the room. "You girls finished, we're about to close up here?"

"Yes, we're finished, thanks Tony," Monique said with relief.

"Hope it was worth it, you find anything?" asked Tony.

"As a matter of fact, ouch!" Amanda began to say then stopped herself when Layla kicked her under the table.

Layla got up saying, "Gee, is that the time. I've got to go, theatre rehearsals. I'll see you both at work tomorrow. Bye Tony," she said as she left the room.

"We'd better go too, need to shop for dinner, you're still coming over aren't you Amanda?" Monique asked.

"Ahhh, yes, yes of course we'll be there, wouldn't miss one of your home cooked meals Mum," Amanda replied,

"Thanks Uncle Tony for everything."

"Anytime gorgeous. You both go on I'll put all this aw," Tony seemed relieved.

After rehearsal Layla pulled Mal aside and said, "I need to talk to you, want to walk me home? Mal never needed persuading when it came to seeing Layla home. They talked about the wedding of David and Layla's best girlfriend Trish. David had asked Carter to be his Best Man and Layla was to be Matron of Honour. Mal now tells Layla that since Carter's unfortunate accident David had asked if he would step in and he had accepted.

"How does your friend feel about that? Hope they put her on the table with Mark and Trevor then," Layla remarked.

"I wasn't going to bring anyone, no one to bring."

"What about your girlfriend, Carter said her name was Sue?"

"No, that was his girlfriend years ago," Mal explained.

"Maybe he got the names mixed up. The girl that you fell for at your work, the one Carter said you met on the bus."

Mal blushed, "No, you're the girl on the bus. It's always been you, Layla! Ever since that first time we spoke to each other. It's always been you, no one else, ever.

It was Layla's turn to blush. There was an awkward silence until they finally arrived at Layla's flat.

"Why would Carter tell me that, if it wasn't true?"

"I don't know. I just know that Sue was his girlfriend, he met her at Whisky a Go-Go. We all went there one night to pick up girls. We all left without even a phone number. Carter left with one of the dancers. That's the way it was in those days. Carter the Romeo and us picking up the crumbs so to speak," Mal said sadly.

"Did you ever ask him to find out how I felt about you?"

"No, but he did it anyway off his own bat. He knew I had a thing for you, but I was too shy to ask you out, afraid you'd say no. And I was right you liked Carter not me."

"That's not true. I liked you. I liked you a lot. I even asked Carter . . . she left off, then said, "Oh, no, Carter how could you?" She said elevating her eyes to the sky.

"What, do you mean by that?" asked Mal, although he guessed what was coming.

"Mal, I think Carter green anted you with me. I told him how much I liked you, and he agreed to suss you out. He told me you were only interested in being friends, that you had a girl you met on the bus, Sue, who worked with you on the buses in head office. I often wondered why we never double dated, went to the movies or out to dinner sometime. He just said you were busy and that you two worked different shifts. Shit, Mal I'm so sorry," Layla said touching his arm.

Mal started to cry, "Let's get you off the streets eh?You want to come up?" Layla asked with a devastating smile. There was no other answer now than . . . a simple Yes.

Chapter 40 - Paths Paved with Guilt.

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