You've carried on so long
You couldn't stop if you tried it.
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it.
But I'm gonna try
Michelle's hands shake nervously as she watches her from across the factory floor, anticipating the insults she is sure will be hurled at her. For a second she is thrown back to a few years ago, when she had been the one fueled with anger, standing probably not far from where she is now. She raises her eyes from the floor to finally look up at Carla and the reaction she receives isn't quite what she expected. She can see the tears in her eyes even from this distance and she thinks maybe she'd have preferred her to shout, throw things, fire her. She never could bare to see her best friend cry.
Michelle had always prided herself in her ability to see straight through Carla's harsh facade and into the depths of the real person she hid away. But never had it been so easy, never had she seen her quite so.. Broken.
It's a long while before the silence is broken, and Michelle is surprised by the vulnerability Carla is showing, maybe she has been pushed too far this time?
"How could you?" She whispered, dragging her eyes up to look at her, "How could you do this to me, 'Chelle?"
Michelle stayed quiet, sinking back into the leather chair behind her, her head resting in her hands, trying to think of any words that might excuse her. Sweeping her hair off of her face for a final time she forced herself to respond. "Carla, it wasn't like that, I was put in a really difficult position!" She was cut off before the ending of sentence had even left her mouth, "But this is us, this is me and you! You were the one person in me whole damned life I could depend on Michelle, or I thought I could anyway."
Michelle stood up at her words, shaking her head firmly, "If I told you, Carla you'd have gone to the police! Rob would have gone back to prison! I never wanted him to do this, I swear."
Carla wiped her eyes with with her sleeve, her mouth tripping over her words as she fought to get them out coherently, "So you'd rather sit back and watch him screw me over? Your best mate?" She sniffled back her tears, shaking her head. "Eh, I really missed you, y'know. I thought ya might have missed me too. I even thought we could spend New Year together, like we did when we were kids. How stupid was I?"
Michelle tried to reach out for her hand, blinking back her own tears as Carla pulled away, "It wasn't like that Carla, I didn't know what else to do, you know what Rob's like!" She took a deep breath, "Spend tonight with me, let me explain. You can come back to mine, I'll send Steve out. Just me and you, eh?"