'I had my chance with somebody far better, and I blew it'
Those words resounded in Carla's head for hours after. It had only been a matter of months since her wedding to Nick ended disastrously, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't shake him off. She sat with Michelle in the Rovers, lightly sipping at her orange juice, having made another excuse for not drinking alcohol and grunting in all the right places so her friend wouldn't realise she was mentally miles away.
"Earth to Carla" Michelle said in a louder, sharper tone, knowing her friend well enough to know she wasn't paying attention.
"Sorry, I was miles away" she apologised with a smile.
"Are you ok?" Chelle asked, her irritation turning quickly to concern.
"Just something Daniel said earlier, been playing on my mind, that's all"
"Has he upset you, I'll wring his flamin' neck if he has" Michelle shot back, she had always been protective of Carla, as a friend and as the sister she had never had.
"No, no, nothing like that, it's just" Carla broke off, not wanting to sound pathetic.
"Just what?"
"He asked if I wanted Peter back" she replied.
"He did what?" Michelle fumed "I hope you told him where to get off?!"
"Yeah, course, it's not that, it just got me thinking about Nick that's all" Carla finally confessed.
"Ahh Carla, do you still miss him?"
"Yeah I do, I miss him and I still love him and I know I have no right to after what I did to him but he was special you know, he wasn't like all the others, he really loved me, he put up with me, he accepted me and I hurt him, so badly" Carla said, her breathing becoming more audible as she fought the tears back. "I wonder if he's happy, if he's found someone else, he deserves it"
"Don't beat yourself up over it darling, it was a long time ago, and you know, there is someone out there for you, somewhere, just be patient eh?" Michelle comforted while rubbing Carla's arm. "Besides he must be happy to not come back after everything his family has been through, even you would have come back if your relative had gone through what Bethany has, poor cow"
Carla was oblivious to the full extent of Bethany's ordeal so Michelle filled in the blanks to her horrified mate. Carla jumped up and grabbed her bag, heading straight for the door.
"Carla?" 'Chelle called, confused and worried.
"Just something I've got to do, I'll be fine love, I'll come find you later" Carla replied, knowing exactly what she had to do. No one else was going to get through to Bethany but she thought she could, she knew it wouldn't be easy, she knew she probably was the last person on earth she would listen to but she felt she had to, maybe out of some misplaced loyalty, maybe because she saw herself in Bethany or maybe she was trying to make amends. She didn't know, she didn't care, her mind was made up as she headed for the Platts.