Two days later, and in a change to their regular schedule, Carla had summoned Peter for crisis talks. The previous day she'd had a meeting with Tom Richardson, her potential investor. He'd told her he was keen to go into business with her, but he had some conditions, and she wasn't too sure about them. Whilst she and Tom would be 50/50 partners, Tom mainly spoke about changes that he wanted to make to the business, Carla could barely get a word in edgeways. Some of these changes included bringing in his own staff, prioritising clients he already had relationships with, and even branching out into different areas of production. Carla also had big ideas about where she wanted to take the factory, but the more Tom talked the more concerned she became about the amount of control he seemed to want over the business. She started to worry that if she went into business with him things would get out of control and she'd end up with very little say over the running of her own factory. Not that Carla couldn't stand up for herself, but was it worth the risk when there was another offer on the table?

Whilst she was still sceptical about Peters intentions, and unsure if she could trust him, she knew that where the factory was concerned, she would always have the upper hand. She had far more experience in the trade than him, although he'd picked it up well when they'd worked together previously, and whilst she would never admit this to him, she also felt she had the better business brain. Carla knew Peter would defer any big decisions to her because he would concede she knew best. Peter investing had seemed ridiculous when he'd suggested it, but at this point she was running out of options and weighing things up, he seemed like the lesser of two evils.

They were still meeting away from the street, even though this was technically a business meeting rather than a friendly one. She still hadn't told Roy or Michelle that she'd been seeing Peter at all, never mind that she was thinking of going into business with him! That would be the straw that broke the camels back as far as Michelle was concerned, Carla thought it best to stick to one bombshell at a time.

By the time Peter arrived she was already sat at the bar with a glass of red. She immediately felt guilty for asking him to meet her at a bar, but she felt like she needed some Dutch courage for this conversation.

"Hi," she said as he pulled out a stool and took a seat beside her.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, his eyes scanning her as if for signs of injury. He looked concerned and she suddenly realised that her message requesting his presence urgently must have worried him.

"I'm fine, sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." He visibly relaxed. "I just wanted to talk about what we were discussing the other night?"

He looked confused for a moment and she realised she was going to have to be more specific. "You know, the factory stuff?"

"Oh. What about it?" He looked intrigued now.

"Well." She took a gulp of her wine. "I was wondering if your offer still stands?"

He leant back on his stool in shock, "but I thought you'd found an investor?"

"I have, but he's not quite…" she struggled to put it into words, "I'm not sure about him."

"I thought the idea of me investing was 'ridiculous'. That you didn't need me 'riding in on my white horse', I think those were your exact words."

Carla sighed, this was going to be more difficult than she'd though. "Honestly? It did seem ridiculous at first. But as you requested, I've been thinking about it, and now I think it might be a good idea."

Peter looked at her sceptically, "so what happened with this Tom guy then? He not got the funds or what?"

"No, he has the funds. I'm just not sure about some of the ideas he has for the business."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know, he's on about bringing his own people in, branching out into different areas, that sort of thing. I'm just concerned it would be a bit of a risk."

Peter suddenly looked unbearably smug. "Oh, a risk eh? Like the risk I apparently pose to the business, hmm?"

Carla rolled her eyes at him. "He's a risk and you're a risk." She said honestly. "I've just been weighing up who is the greater risk and Tom just about pipped you to the post."

"I'm honoured." He replied sarcastically, "so I'm just a back-up plan?" He folded his arms the way he always did when he was in a grump.

She scoffed, "if you thought I had a wealth of options you wouldn't even have offered in the first place, so don't give me that."

"Touché." He responded.

"Look." She twisted her body round to face him, looking him in the eye. "If I truly thought the idea of you investing was so ridiculous, I wouldn't even be considering it. But I want us to have a serious discussion about it. Putting aside our personal situation, why is investing in the factory a good idea for you?"

He looked into her eyes a moment longer before responding. "Underworld is a successful business, I've worked there before so I know the score, and," He paused dramatically, "I'd be working with the most talented businesswoman I've ever met."

"Peter," she waved him away blushing, but he grabbed her hand before she could stop him.

"And I know you said you wanted to put our personal circumstances aside, but I need to be honest. A big part of why I want to do this is because I care about you, and I want to help. I can be involved in the day to day as much or as little as you want. But please let me do this for you."

She looked into his eyes, they were wide and sincere, she looked down at his hand that was still held hers softly. She knew this might be a big mistake, but she suddenly couldn't resist him and so she found herself saying, "Ok."

"Ok?" he asked, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Ok, let's do it."

He grinned from ear to ear and turned towards the bar, "I need a drink so we can toast this," he waved the barman over, "an orange juice please mate."

She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm as he held his orange juice out towards her, she lifted her wine glass in response and waited for him to propose a toast.

"To Underworld!" He announced.

"To Underworld." She responded clinking her glass against his.

"To you being back where you belong." He said looking at her, his eyes soft.

"I'll certainly drink to that."

"So, what now?" Peter asked once they'd finished their drinks.

"Well I suppose I need to break the news to Tom that he won't be investing, then I need to tell Alya that I have the funds, she'll get the contracts drawn up and then we'll go and sign them."

"Which means you'll have to tell her who your investor is."

"Yeah, secrets out I guess."

"You don't have to tell anyone about the dinners though, that can still be our secret."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "You want to be in a factory with me all day and still go out for dinner once a week?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno, mixing business and pleasure is never a good idea really is it?"

"Ah, you're finding our dinners pleasurable, are you?" He joked.

"Shut up," she smacked his arm, but couldn't help but smile, "I just mean won't we get sick of being around each other in the office all day?"

"I didn't get sick of you last time we worked together."

"That's debatable." Carla muttered. And just like that the atmosphere shifted once more.

"Carla." Peter sighed.

She held her hands up, "I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't' keep making digs."

Peter leant towards her. "I'm not expecting you to forget what happened in the past, but I'm trying my hardest to prove to you how much I've changed."

"I know." She replied, refusing to meet his gaze.

"You need to give me a chance."

"I am giving you a chance Peter." She looked at him now, her tone firm. "But I need you to understand. When you say things like that, I can't-" She paused, holding her palm to her forehead as she tried to put into words what she was feeling. She hadn't come here for an argument, and she certainly hadn't come here to rake over the coals of there relationship. But she felt like Peter needed some honesty right now. "Peter, I think you see our marriage differently than I do."

"What do you mean?"

"This last couple of weeks, you've talked about our past so fondly, sometimes I wonder if you were even there."

Peter was staring at her intently. "How do you remember it?"

Carla wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"As soon as you told me you'd been having an affair, every moment our marriage was tainted for me. I spent years afterwards second guessing everything you'd said, wondering if every word was a lie."

"It wasn't." He insisted.

"But how could I think any different? You were lying to me from day one. So, I'm sorry if I find it hard to believe that you loved every second of working in the factory, because it clearly isn't true. If you were truly happy then you wouldn't have strayed. And I'm sorry but that's the bottom line."

Peter looked as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. He was silent for a couple of minutes, clearly digesting this information. It suddenly dawned on Carla that they'd never truly talked about what had happened between them. Peter's confession in The Rover's back room was immediately overshadowed by Tinas death and the subsequent police investigation. Then Peter was in prison for months and by the time he was out Carla was reeling from losing Rob and just beginning to recover from what Peter had done to her. She hadn't wanted to open that can of worms again, and as a result, a lot had been left unsaid between them.

"I do understand." He said finally. "Of course, you don't believe anything that comes out of my mouth about that time. And yeah, I probably look back on it with rose tinted glasses, because let's be honest, my life since then has been one disaster after another." He paused. "Do you want to do this now?"

Carla knew what he was asking, did she want to have this out with him finally? Here in a random wine bar, in Manchester City Centre, in the middle of the day? She hadn't planned on staying too long. Now that Peter had agreed to invest, she really needed to go and see Alya before she changed her mind about the sale. But this felt more important suddenly.

"Let's do it." She responded, "but let me get another glass of wine first."

Thanks so much for the kind reviews! I decided to split this chapter into two parts, so in chapter four we'll see Carla and Peter finally having "The Talk". Something that I really wish would be done in more depth on the show!