"Carla, I need to talk to you..." I hear Nick announce hesitantly from the living room. I finish straightening my hair and go out to meet him.
"Oh yeah, me too actually." I decide to input, going over to pack my bag that was on the kitchen unit. "I was thinking darling, maybe we could tell Roy today?"
"Roy?" He stumbles on the word as if it was a foreign language.
"Yes Roy..." I nod. "Remember? Nice fella, owns a cafe, carries a bag around wherever he goes, known for his oversized cardigans and-"
"Yes yes, I know who he is." Nick rolls his eyes, clearly not in the best of moods.
"So we can tell him?" I dare to ask and he finally makes eye contact with me.
"Yes. We can tell him." Nick sighs and I go to kiss him on the cheek.
"So what did you want to say?" I finally question, remembering he was the one who initiated this conversation.
"What? Oh..." He coughs. "Nothing, it's nothing."
"Ok..." I frown, unsure of why he was acting this way today. "Look babe, I've got to go but lunch at Roy's then?"
"Yeah that's fine." He kisses me before I turn to leave, flashing him a smile before I shut the door behind me.
11:02am
I pull the door open to the Rovers, my eyes immediately meet Michelle's and a wide grin appears on her face. Before I can even reach the bar she has run round to virtually pounce on me, wrapping me in a gigantic hug. Ok... Why was everyone being so weird today?
"I'm so happy for you!" She exclaims, finally pulling away. "I know I've seen it before but let me see what it looks like on you!"
"Ey?" I frown and she shakes her head at me in excitement.
"Stop being a spoilsport!" She takes my hand in hers. "How did it happen?"
"...How did what happen?" I ask her and I watch her face fall slightly.
"Uh..." She stutters. "The new order... Aidan said you got out."
"...You want to see what it looks like on me?" I give a slight laugh.
"Yeah..." She nods, there were a series of emotions conveyed on her face, none of which were lust so I wasn't too sure why she wanted to see my underwear. "...Just the strap."
"Um..." I suddenly burst out laughing, pulling down the top of my sleeve to show her the lace embroidered strap of my bra.
"That's nice." She looks extremely disinterested and hardly even admires it, so I pull my sleeve back up, aware that some sleazy bloke in the corner was eyeing us up. Why he was drinking whiskey at this time in the morning I didn't know.
"So anyway, I was just coming to ask if you fancied dinner tonight?" I change the subject swiftly.
"Uh... Tonight..." She stutters, staring straight ahead of me.
"Think of an excuse, any excuse." I mutter, tired of everyone being off with me.
"No, I wasn't." She defends herself. "Yeah dinner sounds good."
"Ok well I'm on a tea break so I better get back." I tell her. "But I'll text you babe, ok?"
"Yep, see you later." She forces a smile and I head out of the pub, oblivious as to why I seemed to not know something everyone else did.
12:36pm
I stare down at the smooth granite beneath my fingers. The surface that Carla and I had shared multiple kisses by. That I had poured her so many glasses of wine on. This room was where I got trapped once; when Carla was begging Leanne to choose me over her dying husband because she wanted Peter so badly. This room was where she had consoled me when Erica had the miscarriage. I had tried to reach for her hand but she pulled away. This room was where we had got drunk once, talking about how hard our lives were, before we went out on the street and kissed again. This room was where she told me she loved me for the first time...
"Nick, we're running out of olive oil." I jump at the sound of Robert's voice behind me, snapping me straight out of my thoughts.
"...Olive oil?" Is all I can muster, trying to drag myself back to reality. "How can we be out of olive oil?"
"Well we're not yet." He frowns. "I'm just letting you know we need to order some more in."
"Nick can I have a word?" I turn my head again to face Michelle who is urgently tapping her fingers on the counter. I didn't even see her come in.
"Yeah ok, I'm on it." I tell him as he goes back to the kitchen before I face back to Michelle. "Look, if you need change then-"
"It's not change." She assures me. "Carla came in earlier... I almost let it slip about the... You know?"
"What? How? Why?" I suddenly splutter and she looks taken aback.
"I didn't know you hadn't done it yet!" She exclaims. "You told me that you were doing it last night. Anyway, point is that I didn't, I managed to cover it."
"So she doesn't know?" I panic.
"She doesn't know." She confirms and I breathe a sigh of relief. "But Nick you need to do it soon, seriously, if you keep putting it off it's just gonna get harder."
"Fine ok, I'll do it tonight." I tell her.
"Ah..." She mutters. "That could be an issue."
"What?" I frown.
"...She kind of invited me to dinner tonight." She bites her lip and I suddenly feel relieved because it meant I could put this off for another day.
"Right... Oh well never mind." I shrug, trying to act cool.
"Look I'll see what I can do." She points at me and practically runs off before I can stop her. What was that supposed to mean?
1:11pm
"Sorry, sorry I'm late." I fret as I enter Roys Rolls. Carla was sat at a table with Roy, picking at a sandwich. "Lost track of time." I lean down to kiss her before sliding into the chair next to my girlfriend.
"That's fine." She smiles. "But I've already told him, I hope you don't mind."
"No, no." I shake my head. "That's fine, sorry sweetheart."
"I am... Of course, elated to hear the news." Roy speaks in his usual clear tone, as if depicting words from his mental dictionary before releasing them. I notice he is holding the sonogram photo in his hand. Carla kept it in her purse alongside the sonogram photo from her first pregnancy.
"Thank you, yes we're over the moon." I kiss her on the head as I wrap my arm around her.
"I was telling him what a star you've been." Carla informs me.
"You sound like a true gentleman." Roy adds, which makes me cringe slightly.
"Well I uh, I wouldn't go that far." I force a laugh, knowing that this could all be destroyed in a matter of days.
"I'm sure you will be caring and loving parents." Roy nods before handing the photo back to her.
"I hope so..." Carla murmurs and my arm tightens around her. What killed me more than ever was when she doubted her parenting skills, forever burdened by the fact that her mother never loved her.
"This one, is already an amazing mother." I point to her and she looks up at me. "I'm the one who has some catching up to do."
She doesn't say anything, just lets out a sigh and rests her head on my shoulder. Roy gives us a curt nod before getting up and going back to work. We sit there for a while, in comfortable silence as I place my hand on her tummy. She smiles down as she links her fingers with mine and they rest there, soothing our baby.
"Carla, I've been meaning to ask you this and I'm just gonna come out and say it..." I suddenly blurt out, feeling the ring resting in my inside pocket. She gives me a confused look at my sudden outburst as I move to take the box from my jacket.
"There you are!" I hear Aidan's voice as the door to the cafe swings open. Abort mission. "I've had Hanlens on the phone, asking about arranging a meeting with you... Sorry was I interrupting?"
"No. Course not." I flash him a false smile. I was getting very fed up of him ruining the moment, especially when I finally build up the courage to ask her to marry me.
"Well Nick was just about to..." Carla trails off.
"Oh, that? No it's fine." I cover up. "It's not important."
"Are you sure?" She frowns and I nod. "Right well, I'll come back to the factory now then. Sorry to cut lunch short babe."
"No problem." I muster as she rises and kisses me on the lips one more time before disappearing. I wait until they are gone before placing my head in my hands. How was this so difficult?
5:58pm
"I don't believe it." I hear Carla announce, swinging the door open to the flat.
"...Hi?" I look up from the sheets of stock taking I was attempting to complete. "I thought you were out with Michelle tonight?"
"Yeah I was." She huffs, angrily. "Then she goes and cancels on me because apparently Steve has got a surprise for her."
"A surprise?" I repeat, knowing full well that it was supposed to be some sort of message from Michelle.
"I could kill for a glass of red, I'm telling you now." She practically yells, storming round the kitchen. "Everybody has been off with me today. You, Michelle, Aidan, Hanlen. He said he wanted forty units delivered by Friday else he'll be withdrawing his order. Does he seriously think that's possible?"
"Calm down." Is all I can manage to say, some romantic gesture this was that Michelle had insinuated. She had just made this even harder for me. How was I supposed to reach her when she was in this mood?
"Calm down Nick?" She flicks her hair round. "Calm down? No I will not calm down because all I want is to be a normal partner and a normal boss and a normal mother. That's all I've ever wanted to be and I can't even do that right Nick!"
She's leans up against the kitchen counter, trying not to let the tears slip from her eyes. She doesn't even have to look at me to let me know. I get up and walk over to her, immediately wrapping my arms around her frame. She wasn't afraid to cry then. She knew I never judged her. She knew she could let her walls down whenever we were alone.
"Listen." I pull back, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Carla..."
"I'm sorry it's just-" She begins but I wasn't having any of it.
"No, shut up for a second." I tell her firmly and then laugh because she looks so shocked at my response. "I don't know how and I don't know when but one day I will get it into your head that you are and will be the best mother I could ever imagine. But you're right; you're not normal. No one is normal. You're so much more than that and I love you for it."
She's staring at my intently now, her face soft as tears well up in her eyes again.
"Look ok... I know you hate grand gestures..." I pause before pulling the ring out of my pocket. Surprisingly she doesn't look shocked, she just smiles, which is beautiful, because when she's crying and smiling it's when she is really showing her true emotions. "...Don't feel inclined to say yes... I mean I've been wanting to say this for ages but I just haven't really had the right words..."
"Nick." She giggles and bites her lip, looking into her eyes.
"Carla Connor will you marry me?" I virtually whisper, shocked that the words had left my mouth at last.
"Sorry I didn't hear that." She grins and I roll my eyes.
"Will you marry me?" I ask her, loudly which makes her laugh. She stands there for a few seconds, her eyes darting from the ring to me.
"Yes." She confirms and despite the fact I knew it was coming, the word hits me hard.
"Really?" My eyes widen in surprise.
"Yes I will marry you Nicky Tilsley." She giggles as I slide the ring onto her finger.
"I told you if you say that one more time." I scold her before she kisses me on the lips. I place my hands on the small of her back and pick her up effortlessly, spinning her around before placing her lightly on the kitchen counter.
"I'm gonna make sure I get the vicar to call you that on our wedding day." She whispers, breaking our kiss.
"I don't think that's allowed." I smile, placing my hand behind her head where her soft hair falls over my fingers.
"So that's why Michelle cancelled on me?" She asks and I nod, her face suddenly changing to a look of realisation. "And why she was being so weird earlier in the Rovers? I wondered why she wanted to see my underwear."
"Well who wouldn't?" I grin and she slaps me lightly on the arm before I pull her back in. I'm kissing her again. I'm kissing the woman that I never thought I could ever be in love with. But I was.
