Hi. This is my first publication on this site, and with the upcoming departure of Alison King and Carla Connor I wanted my first piece to be about this scenario. I believe there are a variety of different endings that could have been selected for her exit, and I am not entirely sure what will be the end result of her leaving. This is a small story of something I would have personally like included, Carla and Michelle's friendship is one of the strongest and most interesting on the show ever in my opinion and whilst I am sure Coronation Street will do a leaving scene with these two, I wanted to attempt my own version which will definitely be longer and more detailed than anything that will be shown on screen. So I hope anyone who chooses to read this does enjoy it.

*This does not follow any storyline or spoilers, all ideas are just from my own imagination*

Alone, all alone in an eerily quiet space, it was dark with only a small dim light radiating from a tiny desk lamp, this is how she likes it though, although it gives her time to think about everything, all the demons inside her head, the struggles and trauma she has suffered throughout her life. Despite all of it, the attacks, near death experiences, suicide attempts, she felt more pained now than ever before. She had always told herself she didn't deserve a happy ending; that it didn't happen to people like her. She had tried, but never managed to succeed in finding it, all of her life she had been desperate to be loved, there may have been a cold front put on but behind her walls was a vulnerability and fear that not many ever got the opportunity to see. No matter how hard she tried there was always something that destroyed her happiness, normally one of her own acts and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't stop herself. After losing her first two loves, Paul and Liam she had believed she would never get another shot at happiness, the ordeal she endured at the hands of Tony Gordon had been torture for her, but nothing she didn't feel she deserved for some strange reason. She would then proceed to have disastrous relationships with the many men that followed but could never compare to Liam. If things had been different and she had been brave enough to admit her feelings sooner, maybe show some of that vulnerability her whole life could have followed a completely different path to the path of destruction she seemed to be following now.

Trevor, Frank and Peter were her next attempts at love and happiness, all of which failed, and caused her yet more pain and heartache. Just when she was giving up, she found Nick, a relationship that she herself, could not have ever imagined happening, he had never been her type, they were complete opposites just a few years previously, she had always wondered what Leanne had seen in him, she just presumed it was cash orientated but now she understands more, underneath the slightly arrogant business man persona is a normal guy, with a very caring side, he was extremely intelligent which was always an attractive quality to her, she needed someone who could compete with her mentally too. How could she have messed this one up so badly? Just one moment of stupidity and her entire life was in ruins once again. Maybe this is fate; just maybe this is how life is supposed to be, all alone for the rest of her days.

Her head pounded and she wiped her stinging eyes as she clicked away on her computer, pausing for a moment before pressing the confirm button on the airline website. It was done, she was out of here, enough was enough she needed to flee from the place that has slowly destroyed her, encouraged her demons to bring out the worst in her and allow her to destroy her life. As much as she loved Nick, it wasn't the thought of leaving him that broke her heart, it wasn't the family she had recently discovered, which she would have longed for a few years ago, and she now had a father once more, along with brothers and sisters, some of whom weren't or never had been to prison! But no, the one she would miss the most was the only person who had always been a part of her life, despite a rocky start they could not have been closer, and this was the only positive to come from all the heartbreak that they had suffered over the years, they had suffered together and built a relationship built on mutual pain and loss. She had always been there from then on, built up her business for her when she was unable to, and built her back up from being at rock bottom and being the voice of reason through every situation. You don't get many good people in life, but Michelle was definitely one of them, the thought of not being able to see her every day or share a glass of wine and a chat whenever she needed a pep talk made her question her decision to leave. She shook her head, Michelle was amazing but she couldn't stay here any longer. It was time to move on for good.

She couldn't face the pub at that moment so instead she retrieved her phone from her handbag and tapped away a text that would be sufficient enough to bring Michelle over so she could explain properly.

"Are you free at the min? Need a word, just at the factory if you can pop over xx"

A moment later the text tone startled Carla from her thoughts once again and she glanced at the screen.

"Give me 5 mins babe, just waiting for Sean to get in and start his shift, shall I bring wine? Xx"

Carla smiled, she knew her too well, and then it dawned on her that this was going to be much harder than she thought.

"You know the answer to that ;) See you soon love xx"

She grabbed her handbag again and searched inside for her makeup bag, realising she really needed to refresh her makeup before Michelle arrived, grabbing the compact mirror she looked at her reflection carefully, she looked tired and worn down, the stress of the past few days truly taking its toll on her now, the sleepless nights and long days.

As she finished applying the last lashings of mascara to her eyes, she grabbed her lipstick, quickly swiping it over her lips, rubbing them quickly to even out the product, she prayed that this would help her to look more like her usual self, a stronger Carla than she had been the past week, just at that moment she heard the creek of the factory door and the echo of heels walking across the factory floor, then she saw the silhouette of her best friend, wine bottle in hand appear. She sank into her chair and smiled as she walked into the office closing the door shut behind her.

"So come on, out with it, what's on your mind?" Michelle asked with a forced smile, she knew well enough that this was serious, and she just dreaded what was to come, she worried every day about her best friend.

To be continued...