Tension

It had been a long and busy week at Underworld, with everyone stressing about one thing or another, especially the deadline of latest order, an order crucial in maintaining the factory's livelihood.

However, for Carla the tension was amplified, not only did she have to deal with keeping the factory alive but she also had the upcoming rape trial worrying her to no end and keeping her affair with Peter a secret seemed to be a lot harder than she had originally imagined especially considering Stella's eagle eye.

She sometimes wondered if it was really worth it bearing in mind the repercussions it would have on her court case if they were found out, after all having an affair with a married man would hardly make a brilliant character reference particularly since Frank's defence centred around the accusation of her of having started the affair while they were still together and saying that she'd cried rape as a way to get rid of him without losing part of her business.

Michelle had been Carla's backbone ever since she'd returned from the cruise ship and helped her attempt to piece things together again, she'd been a lifesaver and Carla couldn't thank her friend enough.

But for the past couple of days she'd been acting strangely, while Carla had always known Michelle to have a bit of a temper, Michelle had been practically avoiding her for days and when they did have to converse Michelle exchanged as few words as possible, what she did say bordered on cold and seemed brimmed with intent.

Since Kieran's departure Michelle had been staying in Carla's flat and so that had made the past few days even more awkward for them, even if Michelle had tried to keep her distance as much as she could, spending time in the pub and then going to bed as soon as she got home.

At work, however, there was only so much that Michelle could keep away from Carla, taking into account that they worked in a small office together and that Carla was her boss.

It was Friday morning, they'd been in the office for nearly an hour without saying anything to each other, Carla was getting fed up but she really didn't know what she could do. Michelle shuffled through her drawers desperately looking for some sort of paperwork.

"For fucks sake, where the hell are you? I know you're in here, because I put you in here yesterday" she muttered to herself while wildly rummaging through the drawers.

Carla laughed and tried to break the ice "What you looking for?" she asked.

Michelle looked up from the drawer momentarily to look at Carla sternly, "Nothing." She responded frostily before going back to her search but Carla interrupted her again.

"Michelle, would you stop stropping like a baby, you're becoming really unpleasant to work with."

"Fire me then." Michelle replied flippantly not even bothering to look up this time.

While earlier she'd shrugged off and laughed at Michelle's behaviour, she was now becoming aggravated as she really didn't understand what it was that had caused it. "For God's sake 'Chelle. What the hell has gotten into you? You're acting loopy!"

Michelle kept her head down and breathed in deeply, trying to hold back her emotions, if she was honest she wasn't really sure what had gotten into her either and if she was going to explain to Carla she would have to explain everything. Missing out some of the details would mean it wouldn't any make sense at all, she wasn't sure if the whole truth made much sense anyway.

She needed some fresh air and some time to think "I'm going to pick up the pink satin order" she announced to Carla, this time in a slightly kinder tone of voice, grabbing her coat and her car keys, quickly rushing out the door before Carla had time to reply.

It had all started Tuesday morning when Carla had, whilst adjusting her makeup, casually dropped that she was about to go to a meeting in town. "She's in an oddly good mood" Michelle had thought to herself while watching Carla applying her lip-gloss to those luscious lips. Michelle thought back, she was sure Carla hadn't made any note of it in the office diary and even though Carla always looked great, it seemed odd that Carla was making this much effort to meet a potential client, Michelle wasn't convinced.

It had barely been 5 minutes since Carla had left when her phone began to ring in the office, "Damn" Michelle thought to herself, Carla had forgotten to take her mobile with her; quickly she grabbed to phone, ready to pick it up in case Carla's client was desperately trying to contact her. As she picked up the phone she saw Peter calling flashing upon the screen, "What does he want?" she wondered, promptly putting the phone down again allowing it to go to voicemail.

She carried on with her work, but when Carla's phone beeped a moment later to show she'd received a voicemail, Michelle could not contain her curiosity about what it was that Peter wanted any longer. Michelle was not a naturally nosey person, she felt guilty doing what she was about to do and yet, there was something inside her which couldn't stop her fingers pressing the keys to reach Carla's voicemail inbox.

"You have one message" the automated voice said "Message one - Hey love, sorry I'm going to be a little bit late to your flat but I'm on my way there now, was held up in the bookies because Leanne wanted to talk and it was hard to make excuses ... you know how it is ... well you can imagine anyway ... but yeah I haven't forgotten, been thinking about you all night, see you in a tick." Next Michelle heard a beep and the automated voice again announcing "End of messages".

She put the phone down, realising that her hands were now all clammy, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Carla and Peter were having an affair, how had she not realised this sooner, was she stupid? Why had Carla not told her, were they not good friends? She tried to convince herself that she was purely upset because she had not been told, because their affair was wrong, he was married to Leanne after all. However, as she started to well up and to feel queasier by the minute she knew at the back of her mind that this wasn't the real reason behind why she felt upset, why she felt devastated in fact.

There as a knock at the door "Come in." she said briskly wiping the tears from her eyes and brushing strands of dark hair away from her face. It was Sean.

He looked at her puzzled "Michelle ... are you alright?" he asked seeming concerned.

"Fine" Michelle lied while feigning a smile. "What is it you wanted Sean?"

"Well I was wondering when we could go on our lunch break ..." he looked at her with a glimmer of hope.

Michelle rolled her eyes, "Fine, you can go now if you want, tell the others."

"Thank you soooo much." he said before hurrying out the door.

Michelle was then left alone in the factory, she cried for a good few minutes about the whole thing before telling herself to get a grip, this sort of behaviour was pathetic, she would not be sad about this, she would not be weak, but she couldn't help but feel angry, she had to channel her emotions somehow.

As Michelle drove to collect the material she thought back to the incident that had taken place earlier in the week, feelings began to rush back to her as she began to feel nearly as sick as she had that afternoon. Deep down she knew she was more upset than angry at Carla and it wasn't for any of the reasons she kept convincing herself it was either.

She wasn't sure of anything anymore, except for the fact that ignoring and being a bitch to Carla at every opportunity had not made her feel any better at all, in fact it had made this week even worse. She loved chatting about nothing with Carla, having a giggle at the expense of the factory workers from time to time and gossiping about their clients. She knew she just had to get over it, this thing that had built up inside her. It wasn't worth ruining everything for.

She mulled it all over in her head, she would just collect the pink satin and drive back to the factory and when she got back she'd make them some coffee, crack some bad joke and everything would be back to normal again. It would all be fine. It was the right thing to do. It was what she should do. It was what she wanted to do?

She thought things over again before deciding what she would do; there was no going back now, she had made her mind up.

This is the first piece of fan fiction I've ever written, so I'm not really sure how it is. It would be great if people could review and give me a little construcive criticism on how to improve. I will write more / put another chapter up if people want me to. xxx