Chapter 10: The Next Step

"You'll take care yes?" Michelle asks me, taking my hand and kissing me on the cheek briefly.

"Don't I always?" I smile at her.

"And be careful about this... Ross." She pauses. "Or whatever his name is."

"Chelle!" I object.

"Alright." She squeezes my hand. "See you soon, love you."

"Love you too." I sigh as she gets into the taxi, waving to her as it drives off into the distance.

"Damn, didn't have time to get her number." Ross approaches me, pointing at the now invisible cab.

"She's married." I mutter, he was the last person I wanted to see right now.

"So?" He raises his eyebrows and I shoot him a look. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No." I reply, bluntly.

"Bag of pork scratchings?" He teases.

"Definitely not." I respond.

"Me to get run over by a tractor?" He grins.

"If I can drive it." I mutter, still quite distant after seeing Michelle off. I was still getting used to these surroundings and talking about the past hadn't helped. "I've got to get to work." I sigh, walking straight past him. "I'll see you later, or not."

"Charity." Ross' voice interrupts our conversation abruptly as the door to the office flies open.

"Uh, excuse me?" Charity practically yells, her eyes wide as they focus on him. "You can't just burst in here. We could have been having a meeting."

"But you're not." He indicates, looking briefly at me. "She has her feet up on the table."

"She?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

"I need you to take Moses for a bit." He shoots me a cheeky grin before aiming the request at Charity.

"Uh, no?" She sasses. "Why, you got a hot date with Edna?"

"I'm being serious." He rolls his eyes. "I've got a job on."

"Oh right so you're dumping your son to go off and do some dodgy job?" She argues.

"It's not..." He stops. "That dodgy... Just got some stuff to shift... From a warehouse... To my van."

"You haven't got Aaron in on it this time have you?" I chip in and he gives me a funny look. "Chas told me, you got him into trouble last time."

"No, I thought I'd do it with Noah instead." He teases, sarcastically, which receives a glare off Charity. "Come on, you clock off in five minutes."

"We run the business, it's up to us when we clock off thank you." She scoffs. "Besides I've got an appointment to get my nails done in town."

"So take him with you?" He suggests.

"No!" She retorts. "Last time he got nail glue in his hair... They charged me for it and all."

"Oh look, if it'll shut you both up, I'll look after him." I announce, without thinking.

"You?" Ross raises his eyebrows.

"Oh well in that case then, you'll have to save your Fagin role play for some other time." I snap.

"If you role play with me I will." He winks, placing Moses' carry cot on the desk in front of me. "Bottles are in there along with nappies, if you run out of milk there's a pump to your left."

"Excuse me?" Charity hisses.

"Gotta go." He says quickly, pecking me on lips before I can stop him. "Thanks babe, you're a star."

"He's really taken a shine to you." Charity jibes once he has left.

"Lucky old me ey?" I sigh.

"Hi Carla... And Moses apparently." Chas frowns as I enter the Woolpack.

"Ross has lumbered me with him." I tell her, placing the carry cot down on the bar.

"Aw, getting to know your stepson?" She grins, which is soon shot down by the look I give her. "So anyway, how come? I didn't think kids were you know, your thing."

"Well they're not." I shrug. "I've always been business orientated, kids were never really a thing until... Well... Until I kind of..."

"What?" Chas frowns.

"I uh, I miscarried a few years ago." I explain and her face falls slightly. "Until then the idea of being a mother was completely out of the question. But I was with Peter at the time and... I loved him to pieces. I did consider getting an abortion but I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't kill his baby, or mine. But he cheated on me. In fact he was cheating all the way through my pregnancy, on our wedding night even. Then when I found out, everything just erupted. I was put in the frame for Tina's murder; his bit on the side... I think all the stress just got to me and, she chose to opt out... A little girl... Anyway, enough of my rambling. Red wine please."

"Carla..." She sighs, taking my hand in hers. "I'm so sorry."

"What have you run out or something?" I try and divert the topic. "What kind of a bar doesn't sell red wine? I'll be putting that on your trip advisor review... Then again I don't review bars, I just drink in them-"

"Carla." She stops me and I meet her gaze.

"It's fine, it's done now." I shrug it off. "Plus it was ages ago, I'm over it."

"You never get over something like that." She assures me.

"Happens to loads of women." I shake my head. "No, I've moved on... And now I'm stuck with this little fella for the next few hours."

"Then you shouldn't be drinking on duty." She flashes me a smile. "What's Ross paying you?"

"He's not." I reply. "Well actually, he's probably paying me in 'Ross love'. Which is something I did not ask for."

"All sounds a bit dodgy to me." She pulls a face. "He's smitten with you."

"He's really not." I stifle a laugh. "He just wants me to decorate his bedroom."

"You know..." She pauses. "And I shouldn't really say this because I mean, I don't want to encourage you. But he's a good guy, deep down... And I mean really deep down. He loved Donna, there-"

"Donna?" I question.

"Donna Windsor, it was complicated but... She died, from suicide, well... She fell off a building." She explains. "After being given a few weeks to live with cancer. It broke him. Our Debs was the one who put him back on his feet."

"That's awful..." I trail off. "He didn't really strike me as the type of guy to..."

"Fall in love?" She finishes my sentence and I nod. "Carla... Do you feel anything for him? Because maybe it's best to set him straight if not. He's a flirt... And as much as I can't stand him, as well as most of the village. It's best if you told him the truth."

"Hi." I greet, as Ross' door opens and he stands with his arms folded. "I saw your car on the drive and thought you'd want him back now... I mean, not that he's been any hassle of anything."

"Hmm." He takes Moses off me, inspecting him. "Fed, watered, still breathing. Pretty good for an amateur."

"Uh says the teenage boy who is still stealing from 'Toys R Us'." I scoff and he smiles, placing Moses down in his chair.

"You want a beer?" He offers, cracking one open for himself.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" I reply, my cheeks hinting at a smile.

"Sorry the champagne and caviar delivery is running a little late." He jokes and I roll my eyes. "That's not really my style."

"It's not really mine either." I admit, stepping closer to him. "Maybe we're not complete opposites after all."

"...Hey?" He frowns, his face suddenly resembling a look of seriousness.

"Be honest with me." I swallow, closing the gap between us further, so that I was inches away from him. "Is this a wind up? Or are you just fooling around? Because it seems like the kind of thing you would do."

"...I guess you don't really know me either then." His eyes melt as they meet mine, his breath warm on my cheek as his stubble brushes my chin ever so slightly. "Then again, we've got time to learn... Hmm?"

"I guess so." I whisper, before my lips meet his, and I'm dragged yet again into his embrace. An embrace that felt so good, but so bad, but at the same time; so right.

Finished! Hope you liked this, it was just a little experiment really. Drop a review to let me know what you thought and thanks for following this fic!x