Thank you to everyone who has left a comment on this story and to the people who have added it to their favourites. I'm still not sure what that means lol. Anyway, again, I'm not really happy with how this has turned out but if I don't post it now I'm not sure I ever will. So, here goes… I hope you enjoy it. :-) Please leave comments if you have the time. :-)

Part Two.

Carla made her way out of the office and had just got halfway down the stairs when Peter stepped to one side to let her past, a slight smirk upon his expression. "What?" Carla frowned.
"I'm just being a gentleman..."
"I am unsure you would know how to spell that word, let alone know how to act like it."
"Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning?" Peter teased with a small smile and Carla scoffed before continuing down the stairs and through into the bar. "Smarmy bastard."
Eddie laughed "who?"
"Whoever has just gone up there, Peter I think his name was."
"Barlow?"
Carla shrugged.
"Dark hair, a tan, muscles, fit?"
"massive head, a smug smirk, yeah that's the one."
"He's gorgeous him."
"you would think that."

Eddie smirked and walked away from Carla to deal with other punters who wanted drinks, though it was only a few moments later when he returned and handed her a drink. "Here you go, get this down you?"
"What is it?"
"A cocktail."
Carla frowned, unsure of whether she wanted to. "What's in it?"
"It would probably be easier to tell you what isn't."
Carla hesitated for a second before having a sip of the drink that she forced herself to swallow, rather than spit out in front of a club full of people. "What is that? It's like paint stripper."
"It's my speciality."
"Well can I suggest you only give it to people that you don't like then?"
"Why do you think I gave it to you?"
"Oh aren't you funny." she smirked, nudging past him as she walked down to the other end of the bar.

-

In his office Frank was sitting at the grand desk that was one of the expensive items in the room. It was against a wall as a big statement and it served its purpose well. On the desk sat the drink that Carla had brought him and a top of the range laptop. Frank was changing how the people who worked for him ran that night, the deals were getting bigger and his firm was the biggest in Soho at that time. He had called a meet with Peter Barlow and he knew that he would know it was either something really good or something really bad.

Peter had been working for Frank for a year or so now and he had been doing since moving to London. Peter had gone to London after relations with his father had gotten worse and worse over a period of time and on getting there had struggled to find work so had found himself turning to doing odd jobs for Frank to get himself some money. It had been enough to live on but nothing that would get him somewhere to live that he wanted to stay long term. When he heard that Frank shared to meet him he would have been lying if he had said that he wasn't apprehensive, but he tried to hope that whatever it was that Frank wanted, was something good.

Since being in London Peter had gathered himself a lot of female admirers and was known as a bit of a ladies man. The bad boy reputation that he got from being involved with Frank seemed to only add to the attraction. As he made his way up the steps, Peter smiled to himself on the inside at the exchange with the raven haired beauty that he guessed had come from Frank's office. Peter knew that she was married to Frank and it hadn't been the first time that he had thought she was too good for him. He pushed the thought from his mind before he knocked on the door to Frank's office and walked through into the large room. Peter made his way over to the desk and Frank nodded in acknowledgement when he got there.
"Sit down, Peter."
Peter hesitated for a moment before doing so.
"Do you want a drink?"
"I want to know what I'm here for first."
"I just have a job offer to put your way."

"What kind of offer?"

"A good one. Something much better that what you're doing now…"
"Yeah alright then I will..."
Frank gestured with another nod of his head over to a cabinet where he held a selection of expensive drinks and where there were numerous glasses placed neatly on the top of it. "Help yourself."
Peter got up and went to get himself a drink before returning to where he had been sitting. "So what's this job then?"
"Well, I need someone to be the frontman for a new deal I have going with the Morrissey's."
Peter raised his eyebrow a little and exhaled deeply, the Morrissey's were a firm similar to Frank's and though they weren't as big they were still very well known. He knew getting involved with this deal would not only provide him with more money but it would force the other people who worked for Frank to show him more respect than they did at that moment in time. "What does the deal involve?" Peter questioned.
Frank suppressed a smirk, he knew he had him and he had got his own way once more. "Arranging getting drugs over here. They want to work with us. We let George organize getting them in and once they are stored you arrange the drop off and the exchange. I will find someone to do the drop off and you deal with Paul and the money."
"I'm up for it Frank, it sounds like a chance I've been waiting for but the place I'm in at the minute isn't what you call private, there's people coming and going all of the time and I wouldn't want to risk taking big amount of money to and from there if you know what I mean."
Frank laughed "you don't think you're keeping that money for any length of time, do you?" he shook his head a little "no, once you have made the exchange you bring it straight to me and with that comes another offer."
Peter raised his eyebrow a little "oh yeah?"
Frank nodded "there's a flat above my garage, it's yours if you want it. It's very secure, it will easier for me to get in touch with you and vice versa. I'm sure it will be better than the dive that you're staying in now and we have more than enough warning from my contacts if the police ever come sniffing around. However, you do not ever bring back a bit on the side that you pick up while you're out, you treat the place with respect and do as you're told when it comes to business and I think me and you should get on just fine."
Peter knew with the comment he meant women and he knew better than to go against what Frank was saying so nodded in acknowledgement. Peter wouldn't get a better offer than what had been placed on the table for him at that moment in time, and he knew Frank was aware of that. He had been around long enough to know that he would be an idiot to turn down what Frank was suggesting and it was with that thought he nodded in acceptance. "Then I think you have yourself a deal mate. What's the situation with rent and stuff?"
"I will take a percentage of what you make. You will get a good deal; it will only be a fraction of what you would pay if you were paying the real rent on the place."
Peter held his hand out for Frank to shake with a smile, hoping that the deal he had been offered would work out for him. "Nice doing business with you."
Frank nodded and shook Peter's hand before speaking up again "don't let me down."

Peter nodded once more and finished his drink as Frank answered the phone. He was thinking about going to get his things from the flat that he was currently staying in before going to move into the flat that Frank had offered to rent out to him. A lot of people had more than just a bad word to say about Frank and though Peter knew he had his negative points, in that moment he didn't think he was all that bad. When Frank came off the phone he turned in Peter's direction and spoke. "come on, we're going to meet the Morrissey's now."
"What? The deal is tonight? You could have told me?"
"You don't think they are just going to hand over thousands of pounds to a complete stranger do you? They want to meet you before we arrange anything, now come on."
"Oh right. What's he like then, Paul?"
"He's a bastard. But what he's offering works well for me so make sure you keep him sweet."
Frank walked out of the office and Peter swallowed, raising his eyebrows a little at the comment Frank had made. They used the back exit of the club to head outside and Frank got into the car that he and Carla had drove in to get there. It was the exit that he used if the police came knocking, somewhere he could get out before they even knew he had been there. There weren't too many people than knew about the other door and that was the way Frank intended to keep it. The last thing he wanted was to try and sneak out of there one day, only to find the police had it covered. After Peter had got into the car too, Frank told his driver where to take them before sitting back as the engine was started up.

-

The club had now closed and Eddie had thrown the last of the people out and was tidying up the bar as Carla sat in one of the stools. He frowned as he collected glasses before speaking over in Carla's direction. "What are you doing?"
"Having a drink and having some crisps."
"Comfy are we?" he questioned and Carla almost laughed out loud at the sarcasm in his tone.
"I could be more comfortable."
Eddie was about to answer her once more when he walked passed her "please tell me you aren't dipping those crisps in there?"
Carla shrugged "why not?"
"You are odd, girl."
Carla dipped a crisp into her vodka and tonic before offering it to him to which Eddie turned his nose up and continued tidying. "Your loss Eduardo, your loss."
"You're disgusting."

Half an hour later and after Eddie had finished tidying the bar ready for the following day, Carla had put her coat on and linked her arm through his own before stepping outside, the locked up the club and Carla turned to walk towards the car she had arrived in, but tutted angrily on finding that it was no longer there. "He's took the car."
"It's freezing out here."
"I'm not walking all the way back I think we're going to have to try and get a cab."
"I might treat you to a bag of chips on the way."
"Always the big spender hey."

Eddie wrapped his arm around Carla as they made their way into the heart of Soho, the garish lights a trademark for where they were. Carla crossed her arms over her chest to hold her coat around her a little more tightly and after getting chips, she let Eddie hold them, just taking one every so often. As they walked the two friends talked and joked with the other, and it wasn't long before they had jumped into a cab and were driving towards where Carla lived with Frank. It had taken them a little longer than Carla had hoped after getting stopped by countless people who knew Frank and had decided to acknowledge his other half. Carla couldn't say that she particularly liked any of them but she was civil so that it didn't give Frank a reason to kick off. She knew without doubt that if she was off with any one of them, it would be dropped into conversation with her husband at some point.

As they arrived outside the gates of the house, Carla offered to pay the cabbie who told her to keep the money; she put it back into her purse and got out of the cab. After the taxi had driven away Carla punched the number in to open the gates and walked through, they closed behind her and Eddie and she walked towards the front door while she spoke. "Do you want a drink?"
"Am I allowed?"
Carla frowned "what do you mean?"
"I know what he's like."
"Oh don't start and come on."

It wasn't long before they were sitting in the couch in the large living room, Eddie holding a Whiskey and Carla holding a Vodka. She had one leg crossed over the other and had just laughed at a comment Eddie had made about working in the club. She laughed more in ten minutes with him than she did in a whole week with Frank and it was at times like this she wished he was straight. It was with that thought she spoke up though she wasn't sure what had made her do so.
"I think if you were straight me and you would have got married..."
"What makes you think I'd have you?"
Carla raised her eyebrow "like you would get anyone better. I'm way out of your league..." she teased.
"Yeah you are quite fit."
"As are you my friend."
"I think we'd make gorgeous babies."
Carla laughed and nodded in agreement before finishing her drink. She had only just finished her drink when the door opened and she got up, offering a small smile as Frank walked through the door, and Peter followed him not far behind. "Peter's staying here." he stated before turning to speak to him "the flat is through the door at the side of the garage."
"Thanks mate."

It wasn't much later when Carla found herself laid beside Frank in bed after Eddie had left. She shifted to lie on her side and frowned when he spoke. "I need you to sort out the books tomorrow."
Carla nodded "yeah, will you just leave them on the side for me?"
Frank nodded and turned over without so much as another word and Carla was left in silence with only her thoughts for company. She wasn't sure how long she had been laying there when she decided to get up for a drink and walked out of the bedroom and down into the kitchen. She had been in the middle of filling up a glass with water when she heard a quiet wolf whistle come from behind her, causing her to almost drop it. She turned around quickly and gasped, putting her hand to her chest where she could feel her heart beating much faster than it had been. She found Peter standing in front of her, his features lit up by the dim moonlight. "Do you think you're funny?" she snapped and the smirk lingered over his features for a moment before he answered. "That was funny."
"Hilarious." Carla added sarcastically.
Peter didn't answer and Carla became aware all of a sudden of how little she was dressed in. She had on only a small silk nighty that clung to her frame and skimmed high on her thighs. She swallowed hard and tried not to think of it while speaking once again. "Did you want something?"
"Orange juice." he stated.
"It's in the fridge."
Peter leant over to get it, dangerously close to her and she knew he took longer than he needed to in getting it out. Once he had he closed the fridge door, he stepped back once more. "Night night gorgeous." he grinned before walking away while taking a swig of orange juice from the bottle he had just taken from the kitchen. Carla pushed her hair back a little and had a gulp from the glass of water she had poured herself before walking back to her bedroom, trying not to think about what had just happened between herself and the rather handsome lodger.