"Girlfriend?" Peter asked, slightly taken aback with his eyebrows furrowed together as an almost nervous Carla stared at him intently.
"Yeah…" She said taking a deep breath, acting as if she actually wanted to know about Peter's girlfriend when really, deep down inside, the thought of another woman in Peter's life still made her feel sick to the stomach.
It was a feeling that she had felt many, many times before and as she sat before him, Carla tried not to let Peter know just how wounded she still felt when thinking of him with someone else.
"N who told you I had a girlfriend?" Peter asked, he knew it must have been someone in Weatherfield but didn't know just who it was that had spilt the beans.
"Si told Leanne… Leanne told Eva… Eva told… everyone." Carla grinned, she knew Peter was slightly stunned by her question and waited with bated breath to see what he would say next... even though it had been years since they had been together and it really had nothing to do with her, Carla was very intrigued to hear more about the woman who had technically replaced her.
"Of course she did..." Peter nodded, not at all surprised to hear that Eva Price was the one to spread the news on his girlfriend, after all she was hardly known for biting her tongue. He sighed a little, hating the thought of people gossiping about him and hating that Carla had heard it too.
"So…" She said curiously, "Does this girlfriend of yours know you're ere then?" Carla instantly regretted the rather bossy way that she had asked this question because she knew it seemed as if she thought Peter was keeping secrets from someone he was with again and she really didn't want him to think that she was trying to be judgemental.
"No… She doesn't…" Peter began with an eyebrow raised, He watched Carla closely for her reaction. She looked slightly disappointed as she nodded slowly at him and it was then that Peter just had to clear things up and say, "She doesn't know I'm ere because we're not actually together anymore."
"You're not?" Carla said instantly and for a moment, Peter could swear he saw the hint of a smile creep onto her surprised face. There was a pause before she eventually spoke again. "When… did that happen then?" She asked, feeling pretty foolish for even bringing the subject up now, although the sudden news that Peter didn't have a girlfriend anymore secretly pleased her.
As selfish as it was, Carla was glad Peter was a single man and that she could enjoy these electrifying moments that they were both having together guilt free as she had really hated the idea of sharing such intimate moments with him if he had a woman waiting for him in Portsmouth.
"A few months back actually." Peter said, unable to not smile at Carla as she went to take another mint from his packet. She had a thousand questions that she wanted to ask him about why he wasn't with his girlfriend anymore but she kept quiet and just put another mint in her mouth. "What?" Peter asked watching Carla who was also watching him in the same way.
"Nothing…" She said shaking her head slowly, her lips still had a hint of a smile and as she bit into the mint, she asked, "So what happened then?"
"It just didn't work out… I mean don't get me wrong Sharon was great…" Peter began quietly, "We were together for almost a year, it was fun…"
"But?" Carla asked, not taking her eyes off Peter for one second because something about the look on his face said he was going to say something truly profound.
"Honestly…" He sighed nervously, taking a moment because what he was about to say really was the absolute truth and he hoped that it would mean a lot to Carla because he really meant it... every single word.
"Yeah…" She nodded at him quickly and bit her lip as Peter then put his head on one side and said,
"A year with Sharon… didn't even come close to a single day with… you."
Silence.
That was what came next.
Peter's heartfelt words echoed around Carla's mind for a few moments and now she could practically hear her own heart beat because it was pounding so hard underneath her T-Shirt.
Suddenly the distance between the pair begged to be closed and Carla and Peter both had to fight not to give into the urge they had to take hold of each other.
Still unable to work out exactly how Peter had her feeling in such an overwhelming way, Carla eventually took a deep breath and watched as Peter smiled warmly at her.
"Wow…" She eventually said, almost whispering in fact. She really wanted to say so much more... do so much more but she just couldn't seem to get the words out for some reason or move for that matter and this was mainly due to the way Peter was still staring at her.
"I know it probably sounds… stupid." Peter said nervously, deciding that if Carla wasn't going to speak then he would. "I mean I am painfully aware of how much I screwed things up between us n don't get me wrong I realise I'm lucky that Sharon even gave a fool like me the time of day but… I guess If I'm really being honest, I don't want fun anymore. I want something more n Yeah I know I'm never going to get someone who makes me feel anywhere near the way that you do…" Peter stopped for a moment because he had tears in his brown eyes as he spoke and he wasn't the only one who was almost crying.
Whether it was the look on Peter's face or the way he had used the present tense when speaking about the way he felt about her, Carla simply couldn't stop a tear from running down her cheek.
Of all the reasons Carla had to cry today… she had never expected such moving words from Peter to be one of them.
Carla sniffed hard at the very same time that Peter did and the sudden sound of silence came back to the kitchen quicker than either of them had expected.
"You said you wanted me to be honest…" Peter eventually said, fighting back the tears better then Carla had managed to do.
"Yeah…" She let out a laugh and nodded, not sure of what to say next but luckily for Carla the intense atmosphere was saved as a beeping sound came from her washing machine to show that the rinse she had put on had finished.
Still slightly speechless, Carla jumped off the stool she had been sat on and walked over to her washing machine.
She still had tears in her eyes as she opened it and she silently pulled out her and Peter's wet clothes.
This simple act of removing wet clothes from a washing machine shouldn't have made things worse but for a moment, it did because for a few seconds Carla imagined she and Peter were just a normal couple, that it was a normal day and that she was doing their washing.
Carla almost felt like crying properly then but then with Peter's boxer shorts in hand, she moved over to her dryer and she laughed to herself as she turned to face him.
"What?" Peter asked, seeing the amused look on Carla's face and wondering how on earth she had managed to cheer up when he was still feeling distraught.
"Does... this mean you're sitting there on me kitchen stool with no underwear on?" She asked with an eyebrow raised, glad to have a happier topic of conversation because a minute ago she was close to bawling like a baby in front of Peter and that was something that she really really wanted to avoid.
She wasn't ready to cry in front of him again… not yet at least.
Peter's confused expression instantly transformed into a grin as he nodded rather sheepishly.
Carla nodded back at him in an entertained fashion and quickly put all of their wet clothes into her dryer before she could say anything else. She then stood up and collected both of their empty mugs and took them over to her dishwasher, unable to get rid of the smile that she had plastered on her face right now.
Carla knew it was slightly childish to be thinking about the fact that Peter was sitting in her kitchen with no underwear on but she simply couldn't get the image of it out of her head. After putting the two white mugs into her dishwasher and trying to shake off the ridiculous smile off her face, Carla walked back over to the kitchen counter.
She didn't sit on the stool that was on the other side of Peter like she had done before, instead she was now stood right in front of him which made his heart begin to race uncontrollably.
"What?" Peter asked because Carla was watching him in a way that didn't help how fast his heart had begun to beat. She decided to be honest and smirked as she said,
"I just… can't believe you're sat ere in my kitchen goin commando." She leant against her kitchen counter as Peter chuckled at her and asked,
"So you're still thinking about that huh?" Carla rolled her eyes at him and gave him a gentle push before looking at Bailey who had fallen asleep in his bed, Peter followed her gaze and smiled as he looked at the slumbering dog, as much as he relished the humours and alluring effect he was having on Carla, Peter decided to change the subject a little and say, "I still can't believe you ave a puppy… He is so lovely."
"I know." Carla said, lovingly, she then looked at Peter and said, "I never imagined I'd feel this way about an animal... I've always hated the idea of Pets but I really do love him…"
"I guess I'm not the only one who has changed a bit then." Peter replied fondly. Carla nodded slowly at him and then came the sudden sound of a phone buzzing on the counter.
Carla and Peter both turned around to see that it was Peter's phone that was ringing, he reached over for it and saw that it was his Dad, he smiled at Carla apologetically for having to answer it and said,
"Hi Dad…" Carla watched as Peter continued talking to his Dad, suddenly feeling a little bit sad because she had always adored Ken and she suddenly wanted to hear the sound of his calm and gentle voice. "Yeah I'm fine thanks… how are you…" Carla then couldn't help but wonder if Peter was going to tell his Dad where he currently was or keep it a secret, she wouldn't blame him if he pretended he was still in Portsmouth because at least he wouldn't have to explain why he was in Devon and answer a load of inevitable questions.
It wasn't long before Carla found out what Peter was going to do because Peter then said,
"Okay, when I get home that's the first thing I'll do… No I'm not at work… I'm actually in Devon right now…" Peter raised an eyebrow at Carla who leant forward to see if she could hear what Ken said,
"Devon?..." There was a pause as Ken obviously thought about things for a moment. Peter moved the phone slightly so Carla could hear a bit more. "When you say Devon do you mean that you're... with Carla?" Ken eventually said.
"Well not with with Carla…" Peter began awkwardly with a smile, "But yeah, I'm with her... right now actually... "
"Hi Ken." Carla said cheerily, leaning even further forwards and speaking loudly so Ken would be able to hear her.
"Hello Carla…" said an obviously stunned Ken.
In the end Peter put his Dad on loudspeaker so he and Carla could speak to him at the same time. Ken asked Carla how she was and she returned the question and after a few more minutes of comfortable chit chat they all finally said goodbye each other.
"Ahhh that was so nice." Carla said bitter-sweetly, hearing Ken's voice again had somehow made her feel both happy and sad.
"Yeah… it was." Peter nodded, he and Carla were now stood directly next to each other, sides touching because they'd practically huddled up close to talk into the phone.
They were almost as close as they had been when they were stood knee deep in the sea and for a moment there was another unmistakable silence.
Peter breathed out gently as he looked at Carla longingly but she wasn't actually looking at him anymore. Instead she was staring up at the clock and realising that it was almost half past five.
It was around one pm when Carla and Peter had first ran into each other again and even though at times today had seemed to have flown by, Carla had also felt as if today had been going ever so slowly.
The reality of what today's date really was kept creeping back into Carla's mind and even though, Peter was a very good distraction, every so often Carla couldn't help but let thoughts of Frank Foster enters her mind once again.
"Are you really going to not tell me where you work?" Peter asked, drawing Carla's attention back to him rather than the horrible reason why today could have gone a lot differently.
It was then that Carla realised once again just how close she and Peter were stood again and for a moment, she just lingered in front of him quietly but then she grinned mysteriously and shook her head as she stopped leaning on the kitchen counter and said,
"Nope… I'm gonna show you instead." Peter watched, utterly transfixed as Carla began to walk away from him as if she was going to leave the kitchen but she stopped as she got to the door and said, "I'm gonna go n get changed... then we'll go okay?"
"Okay." Peter nodded as Carla began to walk out of the kitchen, he watched her walk towards the bottom to her stairs and as she did so, he heard her voice say,
"Help your self to anything by the way… you can go in the living room n watch the telly if ya want."
For a while, Peter lingered in the kitchen, not really knowing what he should to do next.
He wasn't sure that he really wanted to go and sit in Carla's living room on his own because he would probably end up getting lost in imagining the future they could have had together but after ten minutes or so in the kitchen, he realised he was doing that anyway so he decided that maybe a little bit of television might distract him for a while.
He went and sat down on her very comfortable sofa and turned on the Television, mentally running through all the possible places where Carla might work, he honestly had no idea but since it was now the evening he guessed that she might work in a bar or restaurant type of place... that would make sense after all, especially since she was supposed to be moving to Devon with Nick.
After flipping through an endless amount of channels, Peter eventually settled on an old episode of The Simpsons, deciding that he'd definitely need some laughter to get the image of Carla and Nick running their own business together.
Meanwhile, Upstairs in her bedroom, Carla sat on her bed and tried to figure out exactly where tonight was headed.
She had just stood and said she'd take Peter to work with her and whilst she still wanted to do so, it made Carla feel slightly odd to think out of everyone from Manchester, he was the first person who'd get to see her new business.
She had always assumed it would be Michelle who'd see it first, or Johnny, Kate or Aidan… Carla had never dreamed it would have been Peter Barlow who she'd be walking into work with tonight.
Carla caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and even though her long hair was now dry, it was still a bit of a mess. It was no longer dead straight like it head been in the morning and was curling at the ends, so much so that Carla went and got her hair straighteners and decided to give her hair a quick straighten before she got dressed and put on a bit of make up.
It was six fifteen when Carla finally appeared in the living room again. Peter felt like waiting for her, amongst all of her stuff was pure torture and he was actually starting to get a little bit annoyed about it but when Carla eventually walked in, he could do nothing but smile at her.
She was wearing a short black a line skirt with some see through black tights underneath it and she had tucked a smart white shirt into her skirt. Her newly straightened hair hung either side of her face as she smiled at Peter and said,
"Sorry it took so long..." She walked over to the sofa where he was sat and stopped in front of him as she put in her hooped earrings and said, "Salt water does not agree with my hair at all."
"You... look… good." Peter eventually said, although that was an understatement and he definitely thought that Carla looked more than good. "Amazing actually." He then added as Carla gingerly sat down on the sofa next to him.
"Thanks…" She smiled, she then looked over at what Peter was watching on telly and shook her head, "And there I was earlier… calling you mature."
"Eh? I'll ave you know that The Simpsons is for people of all ages." Peter replied pretending to be offended, Carla laughed silently and for a moment she and Peter both sat together on the sofa in silence.
Even though they were silent, they were both thinking the same thing… they were both thinking how normal this felt.
Even after their painful past... sitting on a sofa together and chit chatting about the most random things somehow felt like an everyday occurrence for Carla and Peter and so they sat there until the old Simpsons episode finished.
"Right, you ready to go?" Carla asked, nudging Peter in the side gently.
"Yeah…" Peter nodded although he didn't look too sure as he looked down at his outfit as Carla stood up. "I spose so."
"You spose so?" Carla scoffed, "N what does that mean exactly?"
"Well…" Peter grinned, looking Carla up and down one more time and making her blush slightly, "I'm just wondering if I might look a bit shabby compared to you that's all…"
"Shabby?" Carla laughed as Peter stood up too. She slowly looked him up and down and whilst he was only dressed in a pair of simple blue jeans and a black T-Shirt, she still smiled at him and truthfully said, "Peter you look absolutely fine… Promise." She watched Peter grin and look down at his jeans again before she added, "We're not headed to the ritz y'know."
"Yeah well in that case why did you get changed then?" Peter asked as Carla ran a hand through her long hair.
"Because I'm the boss, I ave to look decent n make a good impression on the customers that's why." Carla replied, looking at the clock, which hung next to one of her bookshelves.
"Oh you look more than decent." Peter said, taking another opportunity to look at Carla and her outfit, She raised an eyebrow when she caught him looking at her but didn't say anything, so Peter spoke instead and added, "Alright… let's go… I spose with you in the room no one is going to be looking at me anyways."
"Oh I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you…" Carla grinned as she walked into the kitchen to pick up her mobile phone and her car keys.
"Why?" Peter asked slightly nervously as Carla bent down and gave Bailey a goodbye stroke.
"No reason..." Carla began, grinning as she returned to her feet, Peter didn't look quite convinced and put his head on one side which made Carla laugh once more and say, "Let's just say I reckon there's gonna be quite a few people looking your way tonight."