Rob was feeling ever frustrated by Carla making excuses and not really offering reasonable explanation to his question. He didn't understand why Carla couldn't just tell him straight and give him the reasoning he wanted to go and finish the earlier job. Finally Carla just stopped babbling and let her emotion take over as tears flooded from her eyes and she took short sharp gasps of air. Disgusted Rob let go of her and flung her to one side, a shocked Carla almost losing her balance and Michelle quickly reacting to grab her.
Michelle was not pleased with the way Rob was handling this, it wasn't exactly discreet and was quickly attracting unwanted attention from all the factory workers. Rob in a fit of fury and with anger stormed out of the office once again and quickly fled from the factory premises. He was like a mad man on a mission, him and that Barlow had unfinished business and this time he was determined to finish the job.
As she was busy comforting Carla Michelle noticed all the machinists staring in at them as they all collected around one machine and sat gossiping. Annoyed not only at Rob's behaviour but at the staff's as well Michelle gently helped Carla sit down and then swiftly made her way out onto the factory floor. Asserting her authority she stood in front of them all and cleared her throat to make them aware of her presence, as they all seemed oblivious.
"Right you can all go, half a day and before you complain yes you'll get paid" she advised.
There was uproar of happy chatter and positivity as they all hurried out of their seats and collected their coats. It wasn't the best decision for the business as they were under pressure to get an order out but given the current situation and today's sequence of events the last thing Carla needed was them all hanging around and gossiping. Michelle waited until the last of them had left before she went back into the office to check on Carla.
Carla had sat blankly in the same position whist Michelle had been out addressing the staff, until she had caught a glimpse of a bottle peeking out at her from the filing cabinet. Slowly getting up she headed over and with her hand slowly reached for the bottle. Taking it she held it firm in her grasp and stared at it just as blankly as when she had just been sat earlier. Michelle took her by surprise as she came back into the office huffing and puffing, spinning round on her heel she turned to face her friend. Michelle could see the guilt in Carla's eyes and was eager to find out what she was up to. Suspiciously she stared Carla down as she slowly crossed the office floor to bring them closer together.
"What's the matter Carla?" she quizzed as she noticed her trying to hide something behind her back.
Carla shook her head as her eyes became teary again, she didn't want to tell Michelle or admit that she was dying for the drink because she knew she'd try to stop her. Michelle said her name in a warning tone as she approached her and with narrow eyes examined Carla and her shifty moves closely.
"What are you hiding from me?" Michelle questioned further but Carla just shook her head in response. Michelle feeling slightly frustrated now waited to catch Carla off guard and seeing her opportunity quickly snatched for whatever Carla was hiding behind her back. For a few seconds when Carla got up to speed with what Michelle was doing their fingers battled as Carla tried desperately to keep hold of the bottle and Michelle tried her hardest to pull it from her grasp. It resulted in the bottle falling from Carla's grip and smashing on the floor.
Michelle's look of pity and upset for Carla almost tore her apart it was so awful and made Carla feel ever so guilty for trying to make herself feel better. She knew the drinking was wrong but it was a comfort to her, the thing she turned to for support when times were rough and her times were definitely rough. Now her support was spilt all across the office floor and the awkward silence between them screamed to Michelle that Carla needed her support because she wouldn't survive this alone.
Carla however was in denial, she didn't want anyone helping and she certainly didn't want to start admitting that Peter was physically abusing her. It wasn't strictly true she knew deep down that Peter didn't mean to do what he was doing and that it was just because he was stressed. Bowing her head she cut her eye contact with Michelle and slowly returned to her chair, idly rearranging paperwork and trying to look busy as if ignoring what had just happened.
"Carla" screeched Michelle out of shock. She couldn't believe she was behaving like this, they had been so close in recent years, like sisters and she wished Carla would just tell her the truth. Folding her arms and feeling frustrated Michelle stormed out of the office, collecting her coat and handbag on the way, if Carla wanted to sulk then fine, she'd leave her to it. As soon as she was alone Carla sat back in her big leather chair and sighed. Her eyes immediately darted down to the mess of the smashed bottle at her side and once again she started craving a drink or two.
Peter sat alone in the dim light of the living room of his flat, the curtains still drawn and ignoring the thundering of Rob's hammering fists on the door downstairs and in the inconsistent buzzing occasionally from the buzzer. Rob's behaviour showed how angry he was and the longer he was ignored the more wound up and annoyed with Peter he was getting. Slamming his fists one last time against the door he lost all control and in a moment of madness he kicked the door as hard as he could until he eventually broke the lock.