Chapter 3:

The next morning, Carla woke up feeling refreshed although the fact that a child had been able to break into her flat made her slightly unnerved. However, she brushed the uneasiness to one side as she collected her handbag and coat before resigning herself to a day in the factory.

Fate seemed to have something else in mind though as when she made her way to the exit of the building, Carla saw the little street rat from the night before laying on one of the couches in the foyer. Carla crossed her arms in annoyance and cleared her throat.

"Oi, kid! Wake up!" The factory owner exclaimed rather loudly and the kid practically jumped out of her skin. Carla rolled her eyes and tapped a stiletto on the marble floor. "Right. That's it. I'm phoning social services. A young lass like you shouldn't be living like this." A part of her secretly cared about what happened to this child but she just had to keep up with her icy facade.

Rachel's eyes widened and she shook her head, tears about to roll down her gaunt cheeks. "No! Please! I can't go back there!"

Carla took a couple of seconds to examine the girl, memories of her own childhood flashing before her eyes. The fear in the blonde's eyes was real, there was no denying it. Carla wasn't totally heartless and she found herself taking in a deep, calming breath before she voiced her decision. "Right. Come on. You need a shower and a change of clothes."

Rachel's mouth hung open in astonishment but Carla was starting to become impatient. She may have had a heart of gold deep down but she still had a factory to run. "Come on before I change my mind."

The little girl jumped up almost immediately and followed the business woman down the hall towards her apartment. Carla opened up her flat and gestured for Rachel to follow her inside. The child hesitated but recognised an unusual softness in Carla's facial expression which made her step into the apartment.

Rachel took her time to examine the place. It looked different now that she knew an actual person lived there. The mess she had made during her weeks stay had been cleared up, it looked like any other yuppy place Rachel had seen in tv shows such as 'Homes Under the Hammer'. This Carla woman had obviously cleaned up after her.

"Ok so, you probably know where everything is. My room and the main bathroom is down that hall. The spare room is just up those stairs." Carla commented as she gestured towards the metal spiral staircase. "I'm going to fetch you something comfy to change into. You need to jump into the shower because you don't smell too great. That can't be good for anyones health let alone your own."

Rachel shrugged even though she recognised Carla's somewhat jokey attempt to offend her and traipsed into the bathroom. Yeah, she may have helped herself to food and a comfy bed but she hadn't dared to use more than she needed. She hadn't taken advantage to the point where she had used the hot water. Just a safe place to lay her head and some food. Imagine her surprise when she stepped under the power jet of the shower hose! She squealed in shock as the water came gushing out.

"You ok in there?" Carla called out, although she was in somewhat of a rush to get to the factory, she couldn't exactly in good conscious leave the girl when she thought her to be in distress.

"I'm good. The water comes out really fast!" Came a muffled response.

Carla smiled somewhat softly at the reply. "Alright well I've left you a change of clothes. I'm sorry if they're too big."

There was no verbal response but ten minutes later Rachel emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel. Her long blonde hair was wringing wet down her back and shoulder blades.

"Need a hand with that mop on your head?" Carla rolled her eyes good naturedly. She wasn't sure what but something about this girl reminded Carla of herself at her age.

Rachel shrugged nonchalantly and made her way into Carla's room. The underworld owner threw her designer handbag to one side on the sofa and followed the kids path. She made herself busy getting the hair dryer out whilst Rachel dried herself off and changed into the comfy tracksuit.

No words were exchanged as they arranged themselves comfortably on the bed. Carla made quick work of blow drying the child's hair before she collected herself and stood up.

"Listen…I have a business to run. I need to get going. I'm not going to grass you up or nowt but I don't particularly need you here when I come back later on. Is that clear?" The businesswoman stated more than asked.

Rachel gulped and nodded her understanding. Carla nodded in acceptance. "Ok. Good. Cya!" She said quickly before making her way out of the flat.

The little girl glanced around the room not knowing what to do. Should she make the most of the time she had left or should she just go there and then - freshly washed and with a new pair of oversized clothes?

Later that evening, Carla arrived back at her flat after a long day. After work she had gone over to the Rovers for a few glasses of wine, completely forgetting about the child she had left behind that morning.

Imagine her surprise as, somewhat tipsy, she came across a small body sprawled out in her bed. Carla almost face palmed at the sight but uncharacteristically shrugged and changed into a vest top and shorts before climbing under the duvet. It took a bit of shifting around but she eventually got them both into a comfortable position before she was able to completely relax.

During this down time, Carla took the time to study the child whom had made herself comfortable in her personal space. Rachel was indeed a beautiful child, even before she had been cleaned up and put into a fresh set of clothing.

The girl was laid out on top of the duvet, thumb into her mouth with her nose scrunching up every now and then. Carla let slip a small smile as she brushed a piece of hair away from the girls face.

The feeling of being reminded of herself at that age came back to Carla. It was as if she left for London with nothing except underworld and returned to something that was just her own. No one on the street knew about the child and something about that made Carla relax. No one in her present life needed to find out about this. She could still be the 'Ice Queen' of Weatherfield without showing any weakness. Although in just the space of a few minutes, this little girl had exposed something in Carla that even she herself didn't know existed.

"You can be my little secret. No one needs to know." Carla whispered as Rachel unconsciously sought her out. "You're safe here, my girl." The raven haired Connor pledged before drifting off to sleep herself.

A/N: the next chapter contains a slightly time jump. Nothing major. Just want to establish the situation between the first two main characters. I have quite a bit planned for this story. I may have mentioned that some people may seem OOC for a bit but that's just because I'm trying to get back in touch with the existing characters. It has been a hot minute since I've watched Corrie relisgiously, in all fairness. I am trying to catch up! Watch this space!