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Chapter 5: Your skins against mine, breaking laws we should have obeyed
Carla was sat at her test, tapping at the keys of her computer, the contense of her coffee cup dangerously low.
There was a light tap at the door.
'Come in' Carla said not looking away from her computer.
She swivelled her chair towards the door, her body moving before her head.
'Peter, hi' Carla said seeing him standing their, a plastic container in his hands.
'I've been ordered to deliver these to you' he said, a lopsided grin on his face.
'They are cupcakes' he chuckled at her blank expression.
'Oh, cupcakes, course, bless him' Carla said thinking of Simon.
Hayley poked her head around the door.
'Do you want a coffee Miss Connor? Peter?' Hayley said looking up at him.
'Please Hayley' Carla said as Peter shrugged and nodded.
'Why not eh' he said reaching to pull the other chair in the corner of the room towards the other side of Carla's desk.
'And how are you today Miss Connor?' Peter said, slightly mocking Hayley's reference to her.
'Carla chuckled. Not too bad. Better for seeing.. those' she said pointing to the box of cupcakes.
Peter looked down. 'Ah, yes' he said, coughing slightly and putting the box of the desk.
Carla moved some of the paperwork she'd been working on to the side, reaching for the box.
'See he took my advice' Carla said, running her finger in a figure of 8 pattern, selecting a cupcake.
'What advice?' Peter said, sitting back in his chair a little.
'Purple icing' Carla said in a knowing tone.
'Oh, yes, thanks for helping him yesterday' Peter said.
'Just an opportunity to extend my break' Carla said, picking up a cupcake and putting it beside her keyboard.
Peter nodded, as Carla picked another cupcake and passed it to him.
'I shouldn't' Peter said.
'Neither should I, but I like to to treat myself to a good old cupcake now and again' Carla said smirking, mirroring Peter's words from the other day.
'I suppose it wont hurt' he chuckled as Hayley brought them both their coffees.
'Thanks Hayley' Carla said casually, nudging the box towards her.
'Oh, thank you' Hayley said, smiling gratefully.
'Simon's very own handiwork' Peter said nodding.
'Say thank you to him from me!' Hayley said as Peter laughed.
'Ahem' Carla said making Peter look up.
'I think I should have got some credit' she said, faux annoyance lining her voice.
'I didn't mean to offend' Peter said taking a bit of his cupcake.
Carla let out a stuffed laugh, and dug her fingernail into the thick icing, running it over her tongue, smiling at the concentrated sugary taste.
'Not half bad' she said, taking a bite making Peter smile.
'Your a hard one to please' Peter said.
'Not really' Carla said, catching his eyes.
He shuffled in his seat a little. 'Be warned, Leanne is obsessed with this wedding, she's got a whole day of dress shopping planned for you'.
Carla rolled her eyes and sighed. 'To tell you the truth, I'm not a big fan of weddings' she said.
'You've had three!' he said.
She looked annoyed and frowned at him 'Two' she corrected.
'Sorry' he said.
'They just, well, they bore me to be honest' Carla said, Peter picking up on the regret in her voice.
'I can tell her to go easy on you if you want' he said.
'Tell her to shut up about it all would you' Carla said.
Peter looked a little dumbfounded, and she relaxed her frown, smiling gently.
'I'm kidding, it's fine. She's just excited and I'm just a grumpy old cow' Carla said.
'Your not' Peter said.
'I am, honestly, don't know why she puts up with me' Carla said.
'I might have some idea' Peter said.
Carla looked up, as Peter looked at her, his eyes soft and caring.
There was a moment, that felt more like minutes, where their gaze didn't falter, their breathes in unison, their thoughts curious.
'Your going to make a good husband' Carla said, putting down her half eaten cake.
'I'd like to think so' Peter said.
'Leanne is lucky' Carla said.
Peter knew she was thinking of herself at that moment, wanting what Leanne had; love.
'Your going to make someone the luckiest man alive' Peter said.
'And when will that be? Because you know what, I'm tired of being let down, I'm tired of.. of being alone' Carla said.
Peter cocked his head to the side.
'Sooner than you probably think' he said, as he brushed the crumbs of his coat, put his mug down on her desk and stood up.
'I promise' he said, looking into her eyes, his fingers brushing over the silky skin of her forearm, lingering for just a moment longer than they should have.
'I hope your right Peter, I really do' Carla said, breaking the eye contact, and turning her head away slightly.