"Can I offer you anything else?" Roy stuttered, standing in front of Carla and Peter who sat in the cafe.
To apologise for her coldness the previous day, Carla took him out for breakfast. It was only the cafe but the thought was there and he was willing to spend any alone time with Carla without Jenny or Scott barging in.
Although, as they arrived, Roy had been hovering over the pair of them. It was as if he wanted to ask something but was hesitating. It was getting frustrating now though as Peter just wanted to enjoy his breakfast with his girlfriend.
"No, we're good. Are you alright, Roy?" He frowned, looking up.
"Oh, y-yes," Roy replied. "I had a rather unexpected guest at my premises this morning and I just wondered if you were aware."
"Tina." Carla nodded, rolling her eyes at the constant conversation all about her.
All she wanted to do was spend quality time with Peter but everything always ended up going back to Tina. Although she trusted Peter, she felt extremely uncomfortable when speaking about her in front of him. She over-analysed the way he would react and it unsettled her.
"Ah, I see you've heard."
"She cornered me in the factory yesterday." Carla raised her eyebrows.
"But before you say anything, Roy, I am not going to stray again. Carla is the only woman for me." Peter said, pointedly.
"Of course. I was never insinuating-..."
"I know that, Roy." Peter cut him off, smiling to reassure him.
"I appreciate you letting us know." Carla said, softly.
As Roy went back to serve customers, Peter groaned and started picking at his breakfast.
"Hey, you okay?" Carla glanced at him.
"Yeah," He sighed. "Sick of hearing about her to be honest."
"He's only looking out for us."
"For you. No one has faith in me." Peter said.
"It might feel like that but we all do, baby. You don't need to keep proving yourself." She squeezed his hand.
"I just want to get away. Just you and me." He suggested.
"And go where?"
"I don't know," He shrugged. "Anywhere. Not permanently obviously. But it will give us a nice break."
"You know I'm always up for a holiday." She smirked.
"I'd do anything to sail the Caribbean with you again."
"Ah, don't," Carla groaned, thinking back to one of the best times of her life. "That was amazing."
"And you looked amazing with a tan."
She blushed, hiding her expression with her mug as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Right, you ready to head off?" Peter asked, putting his jacket back on as they got ready to leave.
Walking out of the Cafe, they bumped into Simon who looked pleased to see them.
"I've been meaning to bump into you." Simon said.
"Oh?" Carla frowned, linking arms with Peter.
"Mum told me Tina is back."
"Yeah," Peter cleared his throat. "How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know. What if she tries to talk to me?" Simon questioned.
"You're not a kid anymore, Si. You can talk to her if you want. I know you were close." Peter replied.
"And I won't be offended." Carla said, although her tone suggested otherwise.
"I don't want to talk to her. She really hurt me when I found out what she was doing with dad."
"I know." Carla exhaled, remembering when her and Simon had a heart-to-heart and discussed the betrayal they both felt shortly after the affair was exposed.
"How do you feel about her being back?" Simon looked at Carla directly.
"Not great," Carla paused. "But I can trust your dad."
"Yeah, dad, don't go making any more mistakes."
"I wouldn't dare." Peter confirmed, planting a kiss onto Carla's forehead.
"Right, we better head off." Carla smiled.
"I'll see you soon, son."
"Tina!" David called out, in shock as she walked into the Rovers.
"Ah, Hiya," She ran over and hugged him. "How are you?"
"I'm alright, ta. How's everything been your end?"
"Yeah, London has had it ups and downs but I'm glad I went. Look, I'm really sorry about Kylie. I couldn't believe it when I heard." Tina softened.
"Don't worry about it," David shrugged it off, bluntly. "So have you met anyone in London?"
"I've had a few boyfriends but nothing that lasted. It just wasn't meant to be."
"And have you seen Peter since coming back?" He dead-panned.
"Only briefly. I've not spoken to him. How is he doing? I can't believe he's back with her."
"They got back together last year I think. Wasn't all plain sailing though."
"How'd you mean?" Tina narrowed her eyes.
"Carla went flamin' crazy." David casually stated as he continued drinking his beer.
"What do you mean, crazy? David?" She nudged him.
"She had a breakdown last year and Peter saved her. It got really bad."
"A breakdown..." Tina looked down, frowning.
She always had a perception that Carla was so strong and nothing would ever break her down. That's why she found it easy to betray her so badly, it was almost as if she dehumanised her. She was the last person she expected to go through something so severe. She thought back to when Carla miscarried, she seemed to get back to work so soon as if it hasn't affected her. She remembered she'd just returned from hospital after the balcony accident and for a moment she questioned whether to check on Carla as she felt so guilty. Looking back, she could tell Carla just bottled her emotions and put up a tough exterior.
"What happened?" She added.
"The factory roof came down and her sisters fiancé died. The guilt sent her insane and she ended up getting sectioned." David explained, ignorantly.
"Oh god," Tina paused. "Wait? Carla has a sister? I thought Rob was her only sibling."
"Your number one fan, Rob, started blackmailing an this guy and turns out he was Carla's dad. He has two other kids. I don't know much about it."
"So much has happened." Tina shook her head in shock."
"Tell me about it." David looked more than bored.
"And how are they now? Are they happy together?"
"They seem it," David shrugged. "What's with the twenty questions?"
"Just wondering, that's all." Her voice faded.
"You still love him." David guessed, a smile forming on his face.
"I don't. Shut up, David."
"You do," He laughed. "Oh my god."
"Look, I saw the way he looked at me and he feels the same. We still love each other." Tina muttered.
"I can't believe this. What are you going to do?"
"I need to talk to him. But that'll only happen if his guard dog backs off."
"If twenty fourteen is anything to go by then I'd suggest to stay well away from her family."
"Rob's inside now. And we won't sneak around this time. He hasn't got loyalties with Carla this time. They're not married, she isn't pregnant...he can get away easier."
"Rather you than me." David scoffed.
"Erm, excuse me?" Tina called out, seeing Jenny get closer to her.
"Oh, Heya. What can I get you?" Jenny asked.
"I was wondering if you had any jobs to offer here? I used to work here for years so I've got the experience."
"Oh, don't make me laugh." Carla's voice filled the room.
Tina spun around, swallowing as she saw Carla and Peter staring at her from the door, a face like thunder.
"Er, what's going on here?" Jenny chuckled, pointing between the pair.
"I'm going to enjoy this." David teased.
"This is Tina." Carla told Jenny, watching the older woman's face turn to anger.
"Not Tina Tina?" Jenny frowned. "I thought I recognised her!"
"The very same." Carla walked through to the other side of the bar.
"You can think again if you think you're getting a job in here!" Jenny exclaimed.
"So, because of what happened six years ago, it means I can't get a job. Or I can't talk to anyone without getting a look of disgust," Tina shouted before motioning to Peter. "You don't mind him living here."
"Why have you moved back here if you can't handle the reaction? You know what you've done. You had an affair with my husband, you caused me to have a miscarriage and then if that wasn't bad enough, you got my brother sent down for attempted murder when he did nothing!" Carla yelled.
"Get off your high horse, Carla. As if you haven't made any mistakes!"
"I swear I'm going to swing for-..." Carla was cut off.
"Calm down. For god sake." Peter muttered, causing Carla to furiously turn around and stare at Peter in rage.
"I don't want a scene in here." Jenny said, noticing punters who were gawping.
"I do." Gemma piped up, crunching on crisps as she enjoyed the show.
"I've had enough of her already." Carla spat, walking off.
Peter remained rooted to the spot, wanting the ground to swallow him up. He could understand why Carla was so angry but he didn't want this happening every time they bumped into her.
"Are you alright, Peter?" Tina asked, softly. She noticed.
"Yeah, fine. Thanks." Peter coughed, awkwardly before scuttling off to follow Carla.
"Carla?"
He frowned; he couldn't find her downstairs at all. So with that, he ran upstairs and searched more.
"Car..." he sighed, finding her in their bedroom.
She had her back to him, and her hands were on her hips. He could tell she was furious, and he wasn't looking forward to the lecture coming his way.
"What?" She hissed, harshly, turning around to face him.
"Here we go again..." he muttered, causing her to raise her eyebrows.
"Oh, I'm sorry to inconvenience you." She said, sarcastically.
"I haven't done anything wrong, Carla! How many times are we going to go through this?" He shouted.
"You just let her shout her mouth off to me down there, Peter. Couldn't you have just stuck up for me a little bit? I'm not asking for much."
He squeezed his fists as he shook his head, trying his hardest not to make the situation worse by yelling to her volume.
"Who do you think you are? Telling me to calm down in front of her. You might as well just run off with her." She added.
"I don't want us to have an argument every single time we see her, Carla! Nothing is happening between me and her, you are just being insecure and paranoid-..."
"And why am I being insecure and paranoid? Enlighten me!" She interrupted, her eyes fiery.
"I can't talk to you when you're like this," He rolled his eyes. "She has no interest in me, she doesn't care now. And neither do I."
"As my boyfriend who has done some inexcusable things, you should stick by my side and understand why I'm reacting this way!"
"But I've reassured you! And I've just come to check you're okay." He raised his voice.
"You were pathetic down there, Peter. Do you know how embarrassing that is when you tell me to calm down in front of everyone." She said, quietly.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you or make things worse. But everyone was looking and I felt embarrassed-..."
"So you're turning it around on me? I'm an embarrassment to you?"
"Stop putting words in my mouth." He sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Just leave me alone, Peter." She turned back around.
"We've had such a good morning and now this," He paused, but her silence suggested that she was going to remain petty. "You know what, I'm going for a fag."
So much to come! I hope you're enjoying this so far. I've written a lot of chapters already so I'm wondering if you prefer them spaced out or not. I wouldn't post more than one a day though!