Thank you a ridiculous amount for your continued support! You're all darlings.
Slowly, Now
She's unused to being hungover, but today she is. Her head is banging and the whole of her body aches. Hayley is good for her. It's obvious that the previous evening she spent in the company of Bethany has not done her any harm. Perhaps she could mind her for a second time when they, in Nick's words, do all of it again. And Carla wants to say that when she got in last night, she lay in bed and overthought all that had taken place between them; every look, every touch, every exhale of breath that lasted just a moment too long; but that simply is not what happened. She had been far too tired for anything like that. Sleep came to her far too easily.
This morning, all she wants to do is eat. Go to Roy's and consume a bacon butty, avoid Michelle and what she knows will be her intense, unrelenting questions, and spend some time alone with her baby.
She doesn't think it is a lot to ask.
She doesn't think Nick will enter the equation at all. But, of course, he unwittingly does.
Nick wakes up later than usual. He is not hungover; at least, not in the way he is sure Carla is going to be. He shaves, showers, dresses. Leaves the flat and heads in the direction of Roy's. There is arguably a spring in his step following the events of the previous evening, though it is slight and wouldn't be noticeable to anyone who had not been there, witnessing what had taken place.
When he enters the cafe, he is pleasantly surprised to find Carla and Hayley, sat up in her pram with an eggy soldier stood tall in her tightly clenched fist, at the table closest to the window on the right side. Carla has a faraway look about her. She has eaten, an almost empty plate and a cold cup of coffee if the lack of steam seeping from it is anything to go by stacked up neatly on the table in front of her. Her eyes are focused on the teaspoon Roy would've brought over to her with the drink and she is not paying much attention to the babbling that is escaping Hayley's lips in between small mouthfuls of toast. Not wanting to disturb her solitude for the time being, Nick walks straight up to the counter and addresses Roy.
"Hey," Nick says.
"Hello." Roy glances over at Carla. Nick takes note of this. "What can I get you?"
He gives his order to Roy and then gestures his head in the direction of Carla, adding, "And another coffee for madam over there."
Roy nods and looks tempted to smile, deciding against it at the very last second. "Very good," he says. He pauses and then awkwardly says, "You know, she's not a morning person."
"I'm sorry?"
Nick frowns slightly.
"Carla," Roy explains. "Carla's not a morning person. I just… thought you might have wanted to know. That information might be useful to you in some way."
With an uneasy laugh and a mind wondering what on earth is being alluded to, Nick pays for his breakfast and takes the coffee over to Carla himself after it has been poured for her by Roy.
"Is this seat taken?"
They are the same words he uttered to her the night before and he is unsure whether it is the familiarity of them or the fact that he seems to have appeared out of nowhere that startles her, that her expression is a result of.
She sighs a little.
"Of course not." She moves over a bit to allow him room to sit down. "Sorry. I was miles away."
Nick gives a little smile. "So I saw."
The coffee is pushed in her direction and she takes it without a thank you, her head tilt enough for him to know that she is grateful for it. Nick relaxes back in his chair and notices there is something beneath his foot. Hayley is staring at him and upon realising what it is he has stepped on, Nick lifts Simon - the bear, not the boy - from the ground and sits him on her lap. She grabs his ear roughly with sticky fingers and he grins at her, shaking his head with mock disapproval.
"You really ought to be careful with him, Hayles," he says. "How many times have I had to pick him up for you now, eh?"
Carla looks amused that he is expecting some sort of coherent response from her daughter, but more taken aback that he would call her precisely what she has told him not to. The nickname will never not cause her to cringe.
Nick turns his attention quickly to Carla. There isn't any awkwardness between them, but he tries not to look at her for too long. He doesn't want to frighten her into thinking he is more serious about this than she is, even though he thinks he probably is. But it's not just that. He doesn't trust himself either. Looking is one thing, but he now feels he has to be cautious about the location of his looks. Her lips are a huge no go area for him now. The last thing he wants to do is make her feel subconscious about something she probably classes as a drunken mistake.
If only he had the guts to ask her about it.
"And how are you this morning?"
"Fine." Her reply is abrupt, the catching of his eyes short. She's as nervy as he is about this. Her stomach is unsettled. Carla is so desperate to get this right and coming on too strong, she has learnt from bitter experience, isn't something she should be doing.
"Just fine?"
She rolls her eyes at him. "I've got a bit of a headache, but that's a given, in't it?"
"You're just lucky it's a Saturday," he says to her. She nods with a slight smirk between sips of her coffee. It's far too early to be sat with such a smart arse and she can't not get her own back.
"Ah. So if it's a Saturday," she replies. "It's 'family day' for you tomorrow. If I'm remembering correctly, that is."
He groans loudly at the thought, throwing his head back. He's secretly touched that she has remembered correctly - and not for the first time either. He goes to speak, but Roy is placing his order in front of him before he gets a chance to. Once Roy has left, he makes eye contact with Hayley. An oblivious Hayley who is looking at him intently and reaching out to hold one of his hands.
He happily lets her squeeze his fingers. The noises she is making are ones of excitement; contentment.
"Families, eh?" he asks. "Who'd have them?"
Nick's question stays with Carla for the rest of the day. It is at the forefront of her mind when, later on, Michelle invites herself to the flat for tea with the sole purpose of interrogating her in the way she had earlier feared. She manages to dodge most of the deep questions, opting to fill her in on details, simply so that she will be left alone sooner. Hayley is put to bed by Michelle and when she reenters the living room to find Carla sat on the sofa, her phone in her hands and a smile on her lips, she can't help but ask, "You're texting Nick, aren't you?"
Carla groans.
"No, I actually wasn't. I was reading an email from a client as it so happens."
Michelle is unconvinced and merely shrugs her shoulders, taking a seat beside Carla on the sofa and nudging her gently with her elbow. Both the look she throws at her and the smile upon her lips suggest knowingness.
"What?" Carla asks. She is ever so slightly unnerved.
"If you're not texting Nick, then why aren't you?"
She receives a frown for that.
"Why would I be texting him when I've got nothing to say?" Michelle raises her eyebrows and this is the final straw for Carla. She sighs loudly and shakes her head in exasperation. "We're just friends, Michelle!"
"Yeah, but you don't want that. You want more. I know you do."
Carla neither agrees nor disagrees with the statement. Michelle then adopts a softer, more imploring tone as she asks her friend to, "Text him. Ask him to the wedding. Or the reception, at least. What harm can it do, eh? You both enjoy each other's company. You deserve to have a bit of fun if nothing else. And if Nick can give that to you, then…"
"Fine!" She grabs her phone, which she had placed onto the coffee table, before Michelle can even process the word.
"Fine?"
"Yes! I'll invite Nick to your bloody wedding if it'll really make you that happy!" She unlocks the phone, scrolls to her messages; and then it seems as if her confidence wavers. She pauses. Her finger is hovering over his contact, the screen on their previous text message exchange, and she stops. She breathes deeply and throws the phone down onto the couch, her legs crossing as Michelle looks to her, waiting for an explanation.
"I will ask him," Carla says quietly. "I was going to anyway, you know? Just not right now, yeah? I need to plan what I'm gonna say for one thing."
Michelle nods. "Alright, alright. But you're definitely going to?"
Carla doesn't even have to think on it. "Yes. Definitely."