Part 2
As I pour her freshly made coffee into a mug, my mind begins to wonder. I start thinking about how less than a year ago, Carla meant very little to me. She was just another resident on the street; the only thing significant about her was that she had history with my ex's past, and her business was successful – like mine. How much things have changed… Now, I can't imagine my life without the presence of that mesmerising lady. She leaves me breathless. Her eyes are enough to make anybody melt - if her adorable smile doesn't get you first- her laugh is infectious, and the way she looks at you in such a devilish manner, always at the most inconvenient times! It gets you all flustered and makes you love her just a fraction more every single time… "Shit!" I gasp. The boiling coffee has overflowed and spilt onto my hand, causing an immediate patch of redness to appear. I attempt clear up the mess before Carla becomes aware of what I have carelessly done, but it's too late. She comes into room and instantly acknowledges the sore on my hand. Guiding me to the sink, Carla turns the cold tap on, and lets it run for a few seconds before holding my hand under it. "Hold it under there for a while, it looks quite nasty." She instructs me. "Let me find you a bandage, I will sort you out Nicholas, as you clearly can't take care of yourself!" Carla teases, as she looks in the cupboard under the sink. "There really isn't any need…" But she is already pulling out a first aid box, feeling proud to own such a wise item. "I didn't have you down as the type to own such a thing," I say, attempting a laugh through the pain of the water hitting my hand. She looks up at me and raises her eyebrow again – that's twice in one morning. "It's one of the many perks that come with having a friend such as Roy," Carla explains. I smile at this, Roy is such a loving friend to her, he takes an interest in what she's doing, and her wellbeing. He is a good person - through and through. She requests that take I take my hand away from the water, and hold it still in front of her. It's a change for her to take control of a situation, it feels as though the old Carla is slowly coming back - I like it. She dries the burn with a special material pad, and then wipes a layer of antiseptic over it. I wince at the pain, but Carla just laughs at me for being such a wimp. As she wraps the bandage tightly around my hand, I look behind me to see the cup of coffee spilt all over the surface, and the mug that has become all sticky. "I'm sorry; I'll make you another one." I say. Carla finishes applying the bandage, and reaches under the sink to put the medical box back. "It's alright; I wasn't really feeling coffee anyway." She smirks, and pours herself a glass of refreshing water, before adding ice from the dispenser. I look at her with a poker face (pardon the pun), but we both know it's only banter. "You should probably tidy that mess away though." I agree, and mop up the mess I have created. Carla flounces over to the sofa, turns on the TV, and begins surfing the channels.
When I finally join her, she has decided on watching a spot of Netflix, but has yet to choose what film to put on. I sit down next to her, and she manoeuvers herself to lean on me. We get comfortable, and Carla relaxes her body into mine, whilst she sips on her fresh water. "So, come on then, what distracted you so much that you practically scolded your hand off?!" I can feel my cheeks starting to fluster. She looks away as if she hasn't noticed, but she has. I pause for a moment, trying to think of a more realistic reason as to why I was so preoccupied, but I can't. Carla ushers me on, "come on Nicholas, I'm intrigued!" I turn my face towards her and pull an awkward smile. "I'm not sure; I think my hand just slipped…" The look of disbelief on Carla's face is obvious, who am I kidding? "Promise you won't laugh?" I say, cringing at the thought of telling her. She nods her head quickly, eager to find out.
"You."
There's a moment of awkward silence before Carla begins to splutter on her drink, nearly choking in the process – I've never been more embarrassed. "Me?! Are you having me on?" She exclaims. Of course I'm not; I can't stop thinking about her. She notices my face, and puts her drink down on the glass coffee table in front of us. Looking into my eyes, she turns her full body to face me, still appearing entertained by the fact I had foolishly burnt myself because of her. "I'm sad, right?" I say, trying to make fun of the situation. "Just a little bit…" she jokes. "Seriously though, you must be careful with hot water Nicholas," I'm glad she sees the funny side of it and doesn't think I'm a complete weirdo. "I do, however, think it's extremely cute…" She places her hand on my face, it's chilled from where she was cupping her drink. "Yeah?" I say, shocked at her finding such soppiness attractive. "Yeah… and I do feel bad that I made you burn your poor hand." Her tone has changed to seductive, with a hint of sarcasm. "So, I believe I must make it up to you." The need to have her all to myself is overpowering, but I realise she has work today, and I'm not sure she's spotted the time. "You'll be late for work!" I inform her, but she's already figured it out. "I'm the boss Tilsley… Anyway, you've got the day off today, so it's only fair for me to have one too!" Carla sniggers, I'm glad she's taking the day off - she deserves it after recent events, but I'm not sure Aidan will see it like that. "What will Aidan have to say?" I enquire. "I'm sure he can hold the fort for a day, he's used to me not being there… So, how's about it?" I nod my head, "only if you're sure?" She gives me an enthusiastic nod back. "I'll drop by there this evening, and tell him I've been working from home if I have to! I just thought it would be nice to spend the day together, treat you – rather than you waiting on me." There really isn't any need, but I know Carla wants to do this to make herself feel better. If it's going to help get the old Carla back, it's definitely worth it. "Ok…" I agree. Her face lights up with joy, she gives me a light peck on the lips before retrieving her phone from the arm of the sofa. "I'll drop Aidan a text, and then I'll run you a nice, relaxing bath Nicky – how does that sound?" It sounds perfect, but I try and keep cool. "If you insist, just none of that over powering fragrance stuff, yeah?" Carla sighs and rolls her eyes, then begins typing away on her phone. She doesn't take long, so the message obviously didn't contain many characters. "What have you said?" I ask. "That I'm busy." She bluntly replies. "You can't just say that Carla, I don't want to get you in trouble..." She leans forward so our noses are practically touching. Her eyes briefly meet my lips, and then flicker back up. The effect this has on me is unreal. She knows it works, and does it to her advantage. "Sorry, what was that Nicholas?" I give a dirty giggle. "I've forgotten." I reply, it's a stupid answer, but I'm currently lost for words. "Good." She simply says, Carla is never short of something smart to reply with. She leans back away from me and takes a brisk walk to the bathroom. "Won't be long!" She calls. I lean back in the chair, wearing a ridiculously large smile. I'm so lucky, so, so lucky…
