"Good morning." Johnny smirked as an exhausted Carla shuffled into the room, her messy hair and eye bags apparent.
She groaned as she sat down at the table, tightening the knot on her dressing gown.
"I can't believe how long I've slept for."
"It's nearly lunchtime!" Johnny exclaimed.
"I know." She sighed.
"Well, you must've needed it," He shrugged. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just feel a bit sick."
"Why's that?"
"I must be coming down with something." She lied.
"I'll make you a coffee-..."
"No," Carla said, abruptly. "I'm going to have a shower, it might make me feel more human."
"You've got to get something down you, Carla."
"And I will." She stood up, beginning to walk out the room.
"Oh, Adam called round earlier."
"What?" Her head shot round, looking at Johnny in confusion. "What did he want?"
"He didn't say but he seemed quite snappy."
"Oh, joy." Carla rolled her eyes, sarcastically.
"I told him to get lost."
"Don't mention this to Peter. He'll get the wrong idea." Carla warned.
"You and Adam aren't still carrying on?" Johnny's eyes widened.
"What! Behave yourself. No." Carla looked in disgust. "I love Peter."
"Good," Johnny said. "Because I don't want anymore of this drama on my door step. Jenny is already stressed enough about court."
"Yeah, and that's the end of the drama now. How are you feeling about the court hearing?"
"It is what it is. I deserve to be punished. I just feel bad that it's going to punish Jenny too."
"Well don't make it worse by pushing her away. She needs you for as long as possible if the worst happens," Carla said. "Right, I'm having a shower now."
"Seeya, love."
"Feeling better?" Johnny asked as Carla walked through the bar.
It was the afternoon, meaning that the pub was quite empty. A few punters were eating their lunch but everything seemed quite calm and Carla was craving a distraction, her anxieties regarding the pregnancy eating her up again.
"Yeah, a lot better. I was thinking about going to the factory for a bit. Unless you want me here?"
"I can look after the place, there's barely anyone here yet. I thought you weren't well though, you should rest."
"And I also said that I feel better now. So I'm going to the factory for a few hours." Carla rolled her eyes, swiftly walking past Johnny and exiting the pub.
As she walked down the cobbles, she heard a familiar Scottish accent call out her name. She squeezed her eyes shut and contemplated talking to him, but she didn't want to hear what he had to say. His face was just a visual reminder of what she did wrong, and the guilt that followed. So instead, she continued making her way to the factory and ignored him.
"Oh, hello." Nick frowned, checking his watch as Carla entered the office. "You're a bit late."
"I know, sorry about that. But I'm here now and that's the main thing." Carla took her coat off, sitting at her desk.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah," She nodded. "I thought I might as well get some work done, better late than never."
"Fair enough."
"Carla." Adam stormed into the office, startling the pair.
"Can't you take a hint?" She hissed, going back to her work to try and ignore his presence.
"Are you just going to pretend I'm not here?"
"That's the plan." She nodded, sarcastically, continuing to answer emails.
"I can go-..." Nick piped up, looking awkwardly.
"No, there's no need." Carla interrupted.
"I need to pick up Sam anyway." He stood up, giving one last confused glance before exiting the office.
"Carla..."
"What!" Carla snapped, slamming her hand on the table.
"Don't you think I deserve a chat? You can't just go around as normal when you could be carrying my-..." He shouted but was cut short...
"Shhh! We're in a factory full of people desperate for a bit of gossip so keep it shut."
"We need to talk about this, Carla!" He muttered, harshly.
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Are you keeping it?"
"So what if I am or not? Because it doesn't concern you."
"You and I both know that might not be true. If it is mine, I need to know about it. I've done some research and we can find out the father whilst you're still pregnant." He explained.
She shook her head, biting her lip as she listened to him ramble. Talking to Adam about this made her skin crawl, it made her feel like she was betraying Peter all over again.
"I don't want to talk about this with you." She repeated.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to. Grow up, Carla." He sighed in annoyance.
"You really think you're the big man, don't you? Get off your pedestal, Adam. You are the biggest mistake of my life."
"Not what you were saying back then, was it?" He whispered, smirking as he perched himself onto the desk.
"Shouldn't you be with Sarah? Or has she left you?" Carla asked, ignoring the nausea that was brewing as she stared at Adam with pure hatred.
"What, like Peter has with you?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Me and Peter are slowly working things out. So if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave."
He sighed; realising that he was getting nowhere with this conversation. Standing up, he walked to the door before Carla called his name again...
"Oh, and Adam?" She called. "I am keeping this baby. Just to let you know."
He shook his head, raking a hand through his hair as he left.
"Nick!" Sarah walked into the room, a bunch of fabric in her hands before she came to an abrupt stop. "Oh...I thought Nick was in here."
"He had to pick up Sam." Carla said, smiling softly.
"I'll talk to him later." She mumbled, turning around to leave.
"Sarah," Carla sighed. "We can't work together like this. I don't know how many times I can say sorry. Can't we move past this?"
"You listened to me cry when Adam was going off sleeping with random women. And then you did," Sarah raised her eyebrows. "I'm not going to forgive you but for the sake of me feeling awkward constantly, I am willing to move on."
"Thank you. And I'm sorry."
"Okay," She nodded. "I'll catch Nick later..."
"Hey, Johnny. Is Carla here?" Peter asked, entering the Rover's and walking to the bar.
"She's at-..."
"She's at the factory." Sean interrupted, smugly, from the booth behind.
"Oh?" Peter frowned. "I didn't think she'd go back to work yet."
"She did say she felt unwell this morning." Johnny piped up.
"She seemed fine when she was barking at Adam earlier." Beth cackled.
"Beth!" Fiz hissed, playfully nudging her as she tried to remain discreet.
"Adam?" His heart dropped, as he felt himself burn up.
"What was he doing there?" Johnny narrowed his eyes.
"He might've gone to see Sarah?" Fiz suggested.
"I could think of another reason..." Beth laughed.
"I'm gonna go." Peter muttered, swiftly leaving the pub.
"Peter, I'm sure it's nothing!" Johnny called out but it was too late. "For god sake, Beth! She wouldn't go there again."
His hands violently shook, sweat dripping down his face. His breathing was shallow as he battled his inner demons. The bitter taste was far too tempting right now. It was calling for him, pulling him into his paradise. His head told him no but his body needed it, he couldn't go on without it.
He tried focussing on his breathing, in and out.
He wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead and raked a hand through his hair. It was an indescribable feeling, he couldn't go on feeling like this but he knew the long term consequences would be fatal.
Do it for Carla and the baby...
But what did that matter if she was back with Adam? Secret little chats, slagging him off. He felt humiliated.
"Peter? Hey, Peter!" A voice full of concern called out.
A hand on his shoulder startled him, alerting him to someone else's presence in the room.
"What's wrong, Peter? Look at me." Carla knelt down, tilting his head so he was facing her.
"You and Adam." He mumbled.
"What?" She frowned. "Me and-..."
"Don't play stupid! You and him, behind my back. Again. Why did I believe all of your pathetic apologies?" He suddenly shouted, pushing his chair backwards and standing up.
"I haven't done anything!" Carla cried, putting her hands up.
"Stop lying!"
"Peter, I am telling you the truth. Why would I jeopardise this again? I love you. I want you."
He just shook his head, not willing to let himself speak incase he weakened. That was the power she had over him.
"What has this come from, hey? I thought we were getting on well." She said, softly.
"Beth said Adam was in the factory." He muttered, noting the way she deeply sighed.
"Her and that big mouth," she moved closer to him. "He came to talk to me, asking about the baby and I told him to do one."
"How do I know if you're telling the truth?"
"Look at me," turning him around, she looked him in the eye and placed a hand on his cheek. "I told him I didn't want to talk to him. And that he was the biggest mistake of my life."
"Did you tell him you were keeping the baby?" He whispered.
"Yeah. Is that still what you want?"
"You know it is." He leaned forward, touching foreheads.
"You've only ever been the man I have eyes on, baby. I am not going to ruin that." She murmured, full of love.
"I want to go back to how we were. But I'm holding back." He explained.
"And I understand that. But in time, you can learn to trust me again."
"We haven't got a lot of time though. We're going to have a baby here in a few months time." He panicked.
"Which is even more of a reason to fight through and get past this. When have we ever let anything get in our way, Hmm?" She smiled.
Connecting lips with hers, he did what his heart was telling him to do. And everything fell into place, it felt right.
The booze was an addiction that'll ultimately kill him. It was an unhealthy coping mechanising. But she wasn't.
Their kiss grew more passionate as he raked his hands through her hair. The chemistry between them was blazing, and they knew everything would be okay.
Not sure if anyone is still reading this; my attention has been solely on another fic of mine called 'Mind Games' (check it out if you haven't already), and I lost a lot of motivation with this one but I'm going to try and get back into it. Is there any direction people want this to go? I have a fair idea but I haven't planned every single bit like I usually do with my stories so I'm open, I want it different to a lot of fics that are from this time period! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this!