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Chapter 12: Moving on

Carla emerged from the bedroom, bleary eyed, clad in her dressing gown despite the late hour. It was almost 10am. She had never been a morning person, but this was unusual even for her.

"Morning sleepy head."

"Morning mummy."

Sam and Jamie were sat at the dining table; Sam sipped a coffee while Jamie was engrossed in her colouring in book.

Carla kissed Jamie on the back of the head as her daughter bent over her art.

"Morning, baby."

Carla sat down at the table in-between Jamie and Sam.

"How'd you sleep?" Carla wasn't sure what level of affection Sam was expecting.

"Not as well as I'd hoped."

"I'm sorry. I was a bit tired to get into it last night."

"No need to apologise. You want coffee?"

"Oh, yes please. In an intravenous drip if you've got one handy."

Sam stood and walked to the kitchen; not before he'd planted a soft kiss on Carla's forehead.

Carla, exhausted despite her long sleep, rested her head on her arms while Sam made her coffee. Soon enough she was cradling a steaming mug filled with the elixir of life in her hands.

Sam sat back down and waited until Carla was halfway through her coffee before speaking again.

"You ready to talk then?"

Carla turned to Jamie.

"Sweetheart, have you packed your bag for your dad's house?"

"No."

"Can you do that now please."

Jamie looked up at her mum, ready to argue the point, but decided against it.

"Okay."

Jamie slid down from her chair and ran to her bedroom.

Carla turned to Sam; this was it, truth time.

"I don't know where to start."

"At the beginning's as good a place as any."

"I should've told you I was moving. But, you know, we'd had that big argument before you left for your business trip."

"Every couple argues, Carla."

"I know, I know."

"I still don't know what that argument was about."

Carla sighed nervously.

"Carla? You know you can tell me anything, right? I just want you to talk to me."

"You know what I'm like; master of denial, suppressed emotions. I guess picking a fight with you was easier than trying to deal with what was happening."

Sam waited for Carla to continue; he knew better than to push her.

"The thing is, I, umm, I got some bad news… from the, umm, from the doctor. I'm, ah, I'm kinda dying."

And so Carla told Sam everything; from receiving her diagnosis, to being in denial and pushing him away, to her decision to up sticks and move without telling him.

"That's why I moved back here. To give Jamie a father and a home after I'm gone."

Sam rested his hand on Carla's and gently stroked her skin with his thumb.

"I'm so sorry, I was a coward to leave without telling you."

Sam gently pulled Carla by the hand and motioned for her to come to him. He pulled her down to sit on his knee, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Now that I know, we can face this together, okay?"

"Sam, I can't put you through that. You know I'm a right cow when I'm tired. And I'm tired all the time now. And I don't have the energy to tip-toe around your feelings. You are so amazing. You deserve to be with someone who can give you what you need."

"Hey, stop that. Do me a favour, yeah?"

"What?"

"Let me decide what I need. And what I want. Okay?"

"What do you want?"

"I want you. I want you even when you're being a tired grumpy old cow."

Carla gave him a playful smack on the arm.

"Hey! Not so much of the old thank you very much."

Carla turned serious and looked him in the eye.

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

Sam kissed Carla on the lips.

"I'm sure."

Carla kissed Sam; a full, passionate kiss. Carla's hands raked through Sam's hair as his pulled her closer to him; they roamed over her back and down her thigh. Their tongues met as their lips parted –

"Mummy, I'm ready."

Carla and Sam reluctantly parted and laughed at Jamie's innocent face, blissfully unaware of what she had just interrupted.

"Five minutes, baby, I need to have a quick shower."

Carla turned her attention back to Sam.

"Hey, did you bring your work stuff with you?"

"Umm, yeah, I got a bunch of samples from my trip in the boot of the car."

"Great. Can you meet me and my brother in the pub a bit later?"

Carla stood and gave Sam a quick soft kiss.

"And bring your samples."

Sam held tight to Carla's hand as she started to walk away.

"Hang on a minute," he pulled her back towards him. "Does this mean you want me to stick around?"

Carla didn't respond in words; she kissed him instead. Sam wrapped his arms around Carla's waist as she leaned over him, her long hair falling over his shoulders.

"Just to clarify…"

She kissed him again.

"Mmm…?"

Their kisses became more urgent, more passionate.

"Am I still sleeping on the sofa?"

Carla's tongue darted into Sam's mouth before she pulled away, just for a moment.

"What do you think?"

Sam smiled; they kissed again.

"Mummy, that's gross."

Carla laughed and tore herself away from Sam's embrace.

"Right, shower time."

Sam grinned as he watched Carla walk away.

Toyah answered the door to Carla's knock. Carla wouldn't admit, even to herself, that she was disappointed it wasn't Peter.

"Carla," only the basic civility for the ex. Carla was grateful that Toyah's attitude didn't extend to her daughter. "Hey there, angel."

"Hi Toyah."

"You wanna come inside, sweetheart?"

Jamie looked up at her mum.

"Bye, mummy."

Carla hugged Jamie and kissed her forehead.

"You have fun with daddy."

Toyah ushered Jamie inside.

"So, you'll pick her up after tea, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Toyah started to close the door.

"Is Peter in? I was hoping to have a word."

Toyah looked at Carla; she wished she could slam the door in her face, but for Jamie's sake she had to remain on civil terms.

"I'll see if he's free."

Toyah closed the door on Carla, leaving her stood alone on the footpath; Toyah wasn't prepared to invite the woman she still considered her love rival into the house.

Finally, the door reopened.

"What do you want?"

Carla was momentarily stunned by Peter's tone.

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Cold. Distant."

"I'm following your advice, Carla. I'm taking care of my family, so why don't you leave me to it, and I'll leave you to yours. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Is this because I wouldn't kiss you?"

"Don't flatter yourself. That was a mistake. A big mistake. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea."

"Then what's changed? Is it Sam?"

"No."

"I don't believe you. We were getting on great until Sam showed up."

"I thought so and all. How do you think it felt for me to have your boyfriend, a boyfriend that you'd never mentioned before I might add, turn up like that out of the blue?"

"Why should it matter? You're with Toyah?"

"Yeah, and you're with Sam."

"Yeah."

"There's nothing left to say then."

"I guess not."

Jamie and Peter sat side-by-side on the sofa in the back room of the Rovers watching cartoons. Well, Jamie watched cartoons, Peter was lost in thought.

Peter suddenly reached for the remote and turned the TV off.

"Daddy!" Jamie protested with the cutest little pout on her face.

"Jamie, how long has Sam been hanging around your mum for?"

Jamie shrugged; time was a difficult concept to pinpoint at her age.

"I dunno, a while?"

"Do you like him?"

Jamie nodded enthusiastically.

"He's funny. And he plays with me and my toys."

"That's good."

Jamie's answers weren't exactly comforting to Peter.

"He was funny this morning. His legs were all bent weird cause he didn't fit on the sofa proper."

Peter suddenly perked up.

"Oh, he slept on the sofa did he?"

"Yeah." Jamie was beginning to wonder about her dad's line of questioning.

"And how did Sam and your mum get on this morning?"

Jamie looked confused.

"Did they fight?"

Jamie shook her head.

"Mummy was happy, I could tell."

"How could you tell?"

"Because mummy and Sam kissed."

"They kissed? What kind of kiss?"

"A gross kiss."

Jamie proceeded to mime "gross" kissing with tongues to a horrified Peter who quickly turned the TV back on; the conversation had not gone the way he'd hoped.

Carla and Sam sat opposite Aidan and a strange man in one of the booths at the Rovers. They all spoke animatedly, referring every now and then to the fabric samples and sketches of lingerie designs that littered the table.

From his position behind the bar, Peter stood and watched the foursome. Carla glanced up and caught Peter staring at her.

"Another round?"

Carla stood and made her way to the bar.

"Same again."

Peter began to prepare Carla's order.

"Where's Jamie?"

"Leanne's taken her and Oliver down the Red Rec. Who's the bloke?"

Carla turned to look briefly at the group she'd just left before fixing her eyes back on Peter.

"Jeremy? He's our new lead designer. We're planning his first Underworld collection."

"That's great. Things are really happening now, aren't they? I'm really pleased for you."

"Thanks."

"What about Sam? Don't tell me he's a knicker expert as well?"

"Actually, he runs his own textile sourcing business. Travels all around the world looking for the best, the most beautiful, the most unique fabrics."

Peter fixed his gaze on Carla.

"He's definitely got an eye for beautiful things."

Carla didn't reply; she simply handed over a ten-pound note. Peter reached out for the note with one hand, while placing the other on top of Carla's hand, briefly enclosing her hand in his. Carla quickly pulled her hand free.

"Keep the change."

"I know Fashion Week's still a long way off, but we really need to get this first collection right. We want to make an impact on the market. Make them sit up and take notice. Now, me and Aidan are headed down to London next week to talk to the organisers and some potential partners, so do you think you could have some marketable sketches or, even better, some samples we could take down with us? Something that will communicate your creative vision for the collection."

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Jeremy was both excited and confident. "Especially with some of these fabrics, I think we could make something quite unique."

"That's great!"

Jeremy said his goodbyes, gathered up his sketches and left.

"How do you think that went?" Despite having years of experience in the industry, Aidan still questioned his abilities in the presence of his big sister and constantly sought her endorsement of his ideas.

"How do you think it went?"

"Well, I loved Jeremy's designs. And the fabrics are amazing."

"Pretty good management team as well, don't you think?"

Aidan smiled. "Yeah. Great team."

"Which leaves the roof repairs."

A sudden bout of nausea hit Carla; she took a deep breath and leaned forward, her head in her hands. Sam gently stroked Carla's back.

"Sis?"

"You okay, babe?"

"I'll be fine in a minute."

Sam continued to stroke Carla's back while Aidan looked on, horrified at witnessing his sister's ailing health.

Soon enough, Carla raised her head; she was pale and shaken. She leaned her head against Sam's shoulder as he reached his arm around hers and held her close to him.

"I need to go."

"Aidan, we haven't finished talking business yet."

"I'm sorry, I have to… I'll call you later."

Carla looked at Aidan in confusion as her brother, flustered and clearly upset about something, fled the pub. She looked up at Sam who simply shrugged; Aidan's behaviour was as much a mystery to him as it was to her.

But Carla didn't have the energy to worry about Aidan right now; she still felt weak and again rested against Sam.

"You wanna go home, babe?"

"In a minute. Let's just sit here for a bit, yeah?"

"Okay."

Sam leaned down and kissed Carla gently on the lips. Carla closed her eyes; she had almost fallen asleep when a commotion from the bar drew her attention.

Peter and Toyah stood facing each other. With one hand, Peter gripped Toyah's; with the other he held out a diamond ring. All eyes were on the couple.

"Oh my god, yes! Yes! Of course I'll marry you."

The pub patrons all clapped and cheered as Peter and Toyah kissed; he lifted her up and spun her around before kissing her again. Placing her back down on the ground, Peter slipped the ring onto Toyah's ring finger. The happy couple were inundated with congratulatory well-wishes.

In the booth, Carla and Sam also applauded the proposal. Carla glanced up at Sam and saw him looking down at her with a knowing look.

"Don't you go getting any ideas, mister."

"What? Are you saying you don't ever wanna get married again?"

"God, no."

Carla backpedalled when she saw the look of disappointment on Sam's face.

"Oh, come on, Sam. I've been married four times and each time it's ended in disaster."

"But you've never been married to me before."

"Baby, we don't need a piece of paper. Trust me, that piece of paper, the vows, all those promises, they mean nothing. We don't need to be married to be committed to each other. Okay?"

"So, you're happy to live in sin for the rest of our lives?"

"Oh, yes. That sounds perfect."

Carla kissed him.

"With me?"

Carla kissed him again; deeper, more passionately this time.

"As long as you promise me one thing."

"What one thing?"

"Promise me that you will never ever propose to me."

Sam kissed her.

"I promise."

They kissed again. Then Carla snuggled into Sam's shoulder once again and snuck a glance up at the bar where Peter and Toyah were also locked in an embrace. But far from being completely captivated by his new fiancée, Peter was looking across at Carla and Sam. Carla couldn't read Peter's expression; she decided it was safest to not even try. She closed her eyes and hugged Sam that little bit tighter.

Outside the Rovers, Aidan was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed, his face skyward as if deep in prayer. He didn't want to do it, he didn't think he needed to. But he knew he had to; it was the only way he could think of to help Carla.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and, after a quick internet search, dialled a number.

"Hello, you've reached the Mind Info Line, this is Alan, how can I help you?"

It was as if Aidan's voice box had become suddenly and intractably frozen.

"It's okay, whenever you're ready to talk, I'll be here."

The line remained silent for a long time before Aidan felt able talk. It was only the thought of his sister dying a slow and painful death if he didn't talk that gave him the courage to speak.

"Hello?"