I Don't Think About You Anymore, But I Don't Think About You Anyless

i

She always does this. Buries things to the point where she finds it difficult to locate them in her brain later on, when she's ready to deal with their consequences, when everybody else has moved on and she feels like she's standing still.

It's a Tuesday. The season is changing into autumn, her coat buttoned up to her chin. She intends on grabbing a coffee on her way out of Roy's (still not hers, despite the welcome she has long overstayed), dashing into the factory, sitting at her desk, and getting to work. Because losing that place, albeit momentarily, made her realise that she doesn't really know who she is without it, not when she's in Weatherfield.

She's in a rush. She's not paying attention. And Carla is caught so completely off guard that breath is stolen from her lungs and she is stood by the door of Roy's with wide eyes and a fake, beaming smile and a, "Oh! Sorry. Didn't see you there."

Didn't see you there, Nick.

Nick and Carla stare at each other. She can't quite believe what she's seeing, that he's here, in her space, on her street; she hasn't seen him in years. He looks older and she's sure she does, too. She doesn't recognise his coat – it's definitely his style, it definitely suits him – but then why would she? She doesn't know him.

She takes a breath.

You don't know him anymore.

"It's alright." His voice sounds unsure, like he hasn't used it since the moment she left him... or did he leave her? But that's not true. He'd been chatting animatedly before he entered the cafe. To the woman with a grip on his arm Carla avoids eye contact with at all costs. She can feel her cheeks burning.

"Excuse me."

They are blocking the exit, Nick and this woman. She's pretty, Carla thinks. Blonde. His type. Maybe she's a relative. A cousin, a wife. It doesn't matter which. It makes no odds to her.

They move in an instant. Nick's smile is as fake as Carla's and she is out of the door before she's rended incapable of moving, before she decides that she never wants to let him out of her sight again, and fuck. Her chest is heaving as she makes her way out onto the street. Her hands are shaking because she's in shock and she's angry and he's here. And she had no idea. She still has no idea why, but she intends to find out.

Somehow.

Hi. I don't even know where this has come from, but I am so looking forward to Nick's return that I couldn't wait any longer! I have no idea if anyone will be interested in this. Please let me know if you are and I'll be sure to continue with these little snippets!