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Carla leant back against her desk with a heavy sigh. She closed her eyes and listened to the chatter of the factory staff as they gathered their belongings and began clocking out. It was the end of her and Peters first full week back at Underworld and finally she could exhale and reflect on the events of the past few days. As soon as her and Peter had shaken on their deal, things moved quickly. Alya had the contracts drawn up and signed within the same day, and they'd had the keys in their hands that night. Once they'd announced their triumphant return, they were straight in the office contacting all current and former clients and informing them of the change in management. The clients that Carla had previously worked with seemed pleased to hear she was back. The staff seemed happy too, even those she'd not always had the best relationships with. Peters presence had certainly raised a few eyebrows, but no one had dared to question it. Although Carla had no doubt it had been the main topic of conversations during their lunchtime drinks in The Rovers. Not that she was bothered, Carla was used to people gossiping about her personal life, and as long as there were knickers were being made, she was happy to let them get on with it.
Her staff may have been keeping their mouths shut on the Peter front, but unfortunately the same could not be said for her friends and family, none of whom had a positive word to say about the situation. Johnny, knowing that he wasn't exactly in a position to be giving Fatherly advice, had been cautious, reminding Carla of what Peter had done to her in the past, and urging her to keep an eye on him. Roy had been surprisingly supportive, telling Carla that he trusted her judgement but making it clear that he didn't trust Peter. Michelle had, predictably, hit the roof.
"How can you take money from him?" She'd asked as they sat in the bistro, Carla had waited until they were at least half a bottle of wine down before dropping the bombshell.
"I'm not taking money from him Michelle, he's investing."
"Semantics." Michelle shook her head. "You wouldn't be able to buy the factory without him. You're giving him power he doesn't deserve."
"Don't worry about me." She replied, "I've got it under control."
And for the first couple of days, Carla truly believed she did. Yes, in some ways Michelle was right, allowing Peter to invest was giving him a certain degree of power over her life. But she still felt she had the upper hand, and not just when it came to the business. The fact that Peter had feelings for her meant that he wanted to impress her, and as manipulative as it sounded, Carla thought she'd be able to use his feelings to her advantage. She had said as much to Michelle who had simply raised an eyebrow in response. She knew what Michelle was thinking, that Carla was weak when it came to Peter. That she wouldn't be able to stand up to him. That eventually he would wear her down. Whilst Carla would admit that Peter had once been her biggest weakness, the years had hardened her, and whilst she would probably always care about him, she was adamant she wouldn't let her guard down again.
As predicted, he'd been on his best behavior all week, making sure he didn't set a single toe out of line. He had been great with clients, wonderful with the girls, everything she could want from a business partner. But the time they were spending alone in the office together was starting to get to her. She and Peter had always had amazing sexual chemistry, it had been one of the best things about their relationship when it was working. And Carla was learning the hard way that it had never really gone away. The way their eye contact would last a little longer than it should, the way their hands would brush when handing one another a file, the way he would sit just that little bit too close to her when they were on a conference call, and the way he would look into her eyes with such sincerity whilst telling her what a good job she was doing.
That evening Carla watched from her position by the desk, as Peter waved off the last of their staff. She heard the muffled tones of his voice followed by the girl's raucous laughter and rolled her eyes. He'd spent the day charming his way around the factory whilst Carla had been drawing up the contract for an order they'd just landed. He'd left Carla to get on with it, whilst he'd floated around the shop floor encouraging the girls and making Carla several cups of coffee. He'd been like this most of the week, awaiting her instruction before getting too involved with clients or paperwork. Carla appreciated he was trying not to step on her toes, but truthfully, she needed him to show a bit more initiative. This was his factory too after all. Carla briefly wondered if he was avoiding the office on purpose, surely he felt the tension too? He'd always been much weaker willed than Carla, maybe her was avoiding the office in case he did something he might regret.
Whilst she was pondering this, he suddenly entered the office, a smile on his face.
"Phew!" He said as he dramatically collapsed into his chair.
"First week officially done." She said, "How do you feel?
"Good." He replied positively, "The girls seem happy to have us, back don't they?"
"Of course they are, you've been plying them with custard creams all week."
He laughed. "And how are you feeling, after your first week back as boss?"
"Hmm, I'm feeling a bit rusty, but on the whole… yeah, it feels good."
"Good." They smiled at one another for a moment before Peter stood suddenly. "I almost forgot." He bent down and began rooting in his briefcase for something. He produced what looked like a bottle of champagne. "I thought we should toast properly, now that we've got the first week out of the way."
"Peter, what is that?" She asked him as he went back into his briefcase and pulled out two plastic cups.
"Well, unfortunately for you, it's alcohol free champagne."
She let out a breath. She wondered if she'd ever stop worrying about Peter falling off the wagon.
"But I wanted to join in on the fun." He continued with a wink.
She watched as he placed the cups down on the desk beside her and set about opening the "champagne". He unwrapped the foil and began to wiggle the cork, Carla winced as she always did when someone was popping a cork near her. But Peter was gentle and managed to remove it with very little fuss, Carla was impressed.
"You're looking very at home with that cork for someone who doesn't drink." She raised an eyebrow as he poured her a glass and handed it to her.
He laughed whilst pouring his own, "are you forgetting I recently ran a pub?"
She had forgotten. Peter running with The Rovers with Toyah had been so difficult for her brain to compute that she'd basically blanked it from her memory.
"I still can't believe you ran the pub." She said as he leant on the desk beside her.
"Yeah, it feels like another lifetime now. I feel much more at home here."
He looked at her with a smile that made her face go hot. She looked away, focusing her attention on the fizzy liquid in her cup.
"So, lets do this properly shall we." He raised his plastic cup. "To Underworld."
"To Underworld." She replied softly, tapping her cup against his before taking a sip. She immediately spat it back out. "Peter, that's disgusting!" She laughed.
"Yeah it's not great is it?" He replied, his face screwed up in disgust. "God, being an alcoholic is no fun."
She smiled at him fondly, "we could've toasted with orange juice you know."
"No, it had to be proper. Only the best non-alcoholic champagne for you." He was staring at her again, but this time she didn't look away.
"I keep telling you, I don't need big fancy gestures."
"But you deserve them."
She was in trouble and she knew it. Michelle was right, Peter did have power over her, and it wasn't just financial. Carla had always been good at burying her feelings and she'd had plenty of practise. She would put people into boxes in her mind and close them. After she'd ended things with Peter, she put his box right in the back of her mind and told herself she would never open it again. In the years that followed she managed to keep that promise to herself, aided first by him moving away, and then by her doing the same. She'd done an excellent job of forgetting him, that was until Aiden had come to her, needing help with the factory. And now here they were, months later, back in each other's lives and connected once again by the building in which they stood. The box was wide open, Peter had been prising the lid since that first dinner, and as the weeks had passed his honesty and willingness to help her had allowed the lid to come right off and now those feelings she'd tried to bury were threatening to overwhelm her.
As she continued to look into his eyes, he began to lean further towards her. Slowly as though he was testing the waters, he reached out his hand and tentatively stoked her cheek. Carla was frozen, she knew what was coming and she knew she should stop it. But being in this office with him was so familiar, so comforting. His lips met hers and he kissed her tentatively, sure she would back away, but she didn't, she kissed back. His kiss was gentle at first but quickly began to heat up. Peter moved so they were face to face, her back pressed up against the desk. In one swift movement he wrapped his arm around her backside and lifted her on to it, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist. The kiss was hard and desperate, and his tongue entered her mouth and his beard scratched her chin. Carla thought about all the times they'd been in this exact position in this office. She thought about how she used to savour the time she had alone with him, after the staff had gone home and before he would leave to pick up Simon. She thought about how it was the happiest time of her life. She thought about how it was the last time her life had truly made sense. Then she thought about how for the much of that time he'd been sleeping with someone else behind her back. She pushed him away.
"Peter, no."
He stepped away from her, breathing heavily, her hands were still on his shoulders and she looked down trying to compose herself.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"No, it's not your fault." She put her hand to her forehead, "I just didn't mean for that to happen."
"Look, Carla." He started. "I'm not going to push you, but if we both want this-"
"It's not that simple." She cut him off. "I can't just forget what you did to me Peter. Every time I close my eyes, I see it."
"I understand, I do. But Carla, if we're ever going to move forwards, even just as business partners, then we need to leave the past in the past, or we'll never get anywhere."
She glared at him. "I did move forward Peter, but somehow I've ended up back here again."
"So why did you kiss me then?"
"Because I wanted to." She said, because it was true.
He threw his hands into the air in frustration. "I don't understand you sometimes, I'm really trying here."
"I know." She sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"This week has been great hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has." She replied honestly.
"It's been like old times between us, only even better because I'm not totally screwed up anymore."
She smiled sadly.
"Can't we just give things a chance and see where they go?"
He was looking at her so earnestly, she really wanted to give in to him. But she still had those niggling doubts in the back of her mind, she wondered if they would ever go away.
"Ok." She slid back up onto the desk, her legs dangling. "Let's say I agreed to giving us another chance. What about this place?"
"What about it?"
"Well what if thing's go wrong again? Working together would be a nightmare."
He folded his arms, "I did the decent thing last time, and I would do it again."
"Last time was different though Peter. I gifted you those shares, you've paid for these ones."
"Ok, maybe it wouldn't be exactly the same, but we would make it work. I wouldn't leave you in the lurch. Honestly Carla, I'll give up the factory right now if it means you giving me another chance."
"I don't want you to give up the factory, I like having you here."
He stepped towards her, lifting her chin with his fingers. "I know this is a big deal, and I'm not expecting us to just go back to how we were. We can go as slow as you want. But what if we make our next dinner a proper date?"
"Like a romantic date?"
"Flowers, candles, the works."
"But no non-alchie champagne?"
"Definitely not." He grinned.
"And what, we just date for a bit?"
"Well we never really did that last time did we? Everything got serious so quickly, maybe we should just take some time to get to know each other again? And if you're still having doubts in a few weeks then I promise I'll back off."
Carla was quiet for a while as she mulled over his words. There were a million reasons why this was a terrible idea, but looking at him stood in front of her, such hope in his eyes, none of them seemed to matter.
"OK, lets give it a go." He gasped with excitement and immediately stepped towards her, ready to kiss her again. But she halted him with a hand on his chest. "But Peter, no one can know about this OK?"
"That's fine." His hands went to either side of her face.
"I mean it Peter I don't want anyone to know about this until I know how I feel about it myself."
"Cross my heart and hope to die. Can I please kiss you now?"
"I suppose so." She smiled.
So, he did.