So this is how it went.
Peter would show up in Weatherfield on many different occasions and he and Carla would have sex.
Afterwards, he would go back to where ever he had come from and Carla would try her hardest to pretend that everything was as normal.
She'd go back to work or go home and act like she hadn't just cheated on her loving boyfriend.
It happened her office, her flat, basically anywhere that they could get some time alone.
Peter wouldn't always stop by in the evenings, he'd come in the morning, afternoon and some times in the middle of the night.
One time he turned up at two thirty am. It was a long shot and he didn't know if Carla would be alone and/or awake.
Luckily for Peter, Carla was awake. She was sat in her living room wrapped up in a blanket and watching something on Netflix when her buzzer went. Peter had only pressed it lightly so that if she was asleep it wouldn't be loud enough to wake her. The sound of the buzzer was so faint that Carla thought she had imagined it. Then it went off again and Carla sighed as she got up with her blanket, she saw the time and was about to seriously lay into whoever it was, when she remembered that it might be Peter.
"Ello..." She said into the intercom.
"So you are awake..." Peter's husky voice replied. Carla let him in and it wasn't long before he was also on her sofa with her... only they didn't spend the rest of the night watching Netflix thats for sure.
Another time Carla was driving to into town when she saw Peter strolling down the road. She honked at him and ten minutes later they ended up parked down some dark n dingy side road.
Seeing Peter casually stroll down Manchester high street like that did make Carla wonder just where he was staying at the moment, especially as he still hadn't told her anything about his new life but as they hurriedly moved over to her back seat and began undoing their clothes, it wasn't really the time for Carla to start "breaking the rules."
Everyday Carla would tell herself that she would eventually end this affair with Peter, but deep down she knew that there was nothing on this earth that could stop it.
Their "non-emtional" relationship was way too addictive for either of them to give up... even if they wanted to.
Carla also knew that she was being slightly greedy. That to have a man like Nick in her life and to still want… no to still need Peter was ridiculous but whenever she was with him she couldn't even try to act like she cared.
She was having her cake and eating it too, as the saying goes.
It was as if Nick was what was real in her life and Peter was the fantasy… only this particular fantasy was one that she got to act out… very very often.
So often in fact that a month and a half had gone by.
At first Peter continued coming back a week or so later, then he started coming by a few times a week.
Their time together was spent not talking about their personal lives, not falling asleep together, not mentioning the love word and definitely not mentioning Nick.
It still drove Carla insane to know that Peter was hiding stuff from her but she had learnt it that his private life was a touchy subject as he was the one who had suggested they didn't talk about it.
The rules seemed to be a good idea and they really did work… at first that is.
It was half past two on a cold Monday afternoon when Carla was strolling back towards factory after taking a long lunch break down the chip shop.
She had been thinking about the last time she had seen Peter, at her place on Friday night and they had somehow ended up in her shower.
It wasn't planned of course but nothing they ever did was.
Peter had turned up just as Carla had just got in, from a long session at the gym. She had literally just stepped through the door when there was a knock on it.
She opened it and as Peter walked into her flat she frowned at him.
"What? Is this not a good time or something?" He asked as Carla closed the door behind him.
"No it's fine… I just got in from the gym that's all…" She said kicking off her trainers and undoing her hoodie.
"And?" Peter said with a raised eyebrow, Carla raised an eyebrow back at him in a mirroring fashion and then sheepishly said,
"Well... I'm just a bit sweaty that's all." Peter smirked at her and then let out a rather self assured laugh.
"I don't mind… But hey, I guess it makes a change from being covered in my sweat eh?"
Carla closed her eyes for a second as she laughed at Peter's comment and then she had a very sudden and very filthy brain wave.
"What?" Peter said, upon seeing Carla's smirk and as she pushed his leather over his shoulders. She didn't say anything as his jacket hit the ground and as she undid his jeans in an impatient fashion, it was only when she led him to the bathroom and turned on the shower, that he saw what she had in mind.
She still hadn't kissed him and didn't until they were both naked and in her shower…
You can guess what happened next.
After spending a rather long time in the very posh shower (Peter's words, not Carla's) Peter had got out first and he held out a hand for Carla to take, so that she could get out of her shower safely.
"Such a gentleman." Carla grinned as she took Peter's hand and stepped out of her shower as gracefully as she could given the fact that she was soaking wet and butt naked.
"Oh but I'm not..." Peter said kissing her roughly on the lips as she reached out for some towels.
They giggled, towelling each other dry as they then walked back into Carla's living room.
There was a complete and utter state of pure comfortableness between the pair as they dried each other, there were still totally in sync with each others bodies and it didn't occur to either of them that they were slowly but surely starting to let their buried feelings show in the smallest ways possible.
It was in the way that Peter gently dried her hair with his towel and then kissed her tenderly on her forehead.
It was also in the smile that Carla had on her face after he had kissed her so softly.
As She then wrapped her towel around the both of them and pulled Peter close, he kissed her properly again and what started off as a rather hasty kiss soon became slow and tender.
Neither Peter or Carla wanted to pay attention to the fact that this kiss that they were sharing was more like one you would share with a long term other half and not an illicit lover.
Peter had one hand in Carla's hair and she had both arms wrapped tightly around his body when they heard a knock on the front door.
It made them both jump and Carla knew instantly that it was Nick.
He had this special knock you see, two quick ones and two long ones.
"Shit." She gasped, wrapping her towel properly around herself…"It's Nick…" She said rather unnecessarily as she backed away from the door a little.
"Yeah… I gathered that from your rather over the top reaction." Peter said with a raised eyebrow, not wrapping a towel around his waist and standing next to Carla butt naked. "You don't ave to let him in y'know." he then said.
Carla bit her lip and stared hard at her front door, as there was another knock.
Peter watched her expression and then moved closer, he knew what was going through her mind and decided he needed to stop those kind of thoughts and stop them fast.
"No guilt trips…" he whispered as she stood before him.
"This is not a guilt trip… it's… a I hope he goes away soon." Carla said, unable to keep herself from grinning at Peter's slightly naked state, especially as he wasn't acting the slightest bit shy about the situation as well. Peter looked so incredibly smug and as Carla looked him up and down with a mischievous glint in her eye, he found him self edging closer to her again.
"Carla!" Nick cried from the other side of the door, making her and Peter both jump once more. "I know that you are in there… Mrs Price saw you come up earlier."
"Damn that Mrs Price!" Carla whispered, picking up a towel that they had lost somewhere during the giggles and wrapping it around Peter
"Oi…" cried Peter, batting Carla away as she made him decent.
"Shhh!" She hissed, unfortunately it was too late and Nick had obviously heard Peter because he then said,
"Carla… is that you?" Carla gave Peter a dark look as he pretended to look concerned.
"Is he saying that you sound like a man?" he whispered, silently laughing at the situation that they were now in.
"Carla!" Nick cried again, making it clear he wasn't about to go away anytime soon.
"Yeah… I've just got out the shower hold on…" Carla called, bending down and picking up Peter's jeans, jacket, shoes and T-shirt that had been pulled off his body shortly after he had walked through the door. "Get back in that bathroom now…" She whispered, shoving him towards it and handing him his clothes in the process.
"And what am I supposed to do in ere?" Peter whispered back stumbling as she shoved him again.
"I've got a few ideas…" Carla smirked giving his body the once over again with her eyes but as Peter laughed and moved towards her, she kissed him roughly and shoved him again. "I'll get rid of him as soon as I can…" and with that Carla closed her bathroom door.
Letting Nick into her flat whilst Peter was also there, was a huge risk but Carla trusted Peter to keep quiet.
She straightened up her towel and made sure that there was no more of Peter's belongings hanging around before opening the door.
"Hi… sorry about that I didn't hear ya." Carla began as Nick wrapped his arms around her for a hug. He breathed in as he held her close making Carla feel guilty as he took in her freshly washed scent.
"That's okay." He said walking into her flat without actually being invited.
Carla prayed that Nick wouldn't need to use the toilet and racked her brains to think of a way to get him out of her flat and fast.
He was supposed to be at work right now and she was hoping that this was just a flying visit. She decided to do some damage control though…
Just in case Nick had planned on staying.
"Darlin I don't mean to be rude but I…" Carla started but then trailed off when Nick walked towards her bathroom, she took a quick gasp of relief when Nick walked past it and then stopped to look at her. "I erm… I'm meeting Michelle in literally half n hour."
"Oh… are you?" Nick asked as he looked on her dining table and then over at her bookshelf.
"Yeah… we're erm… going out for drinks." Carla lied rather easily despite the fact that her heart was beating faster and faster.
As terrible as it made her feel, she had become very skilled at lying to Nick over the past few weeks and the only reason she was feeling nervous right now was because Peter was literally a few foot away and she really didn't want him to be seen.
"Well don't worry, I'm not staying, I'm just looking for my watch... I think I left it ere yesterday and Y'know me I'm lost without it." Nick said.
"I haven't seen it." Carla said shaking her head and shrugging. "Maybe it's up at your place?"
"Yeah maybe..." Nick said, still glancing all around her flat. "Ahh well, I'll ave to make do, I wish I could stay but I said to Leanne I'd be back in five." Nick added walking over to Carla and giving her a kiss. She kissed him back, trying her very best not to feel guilty about her behaviour because she had promised Peter that she would not do that when he was around.
After all feeling guilty was self indulgent and pointless.
"Bye Bye Nicholas." She said, snuggling up to him and giving him one more hug before he went to leave, she blocked out all her guilty thoughts and smiled nonchalantly as Nick walked away from her.
She would have been lying if she said that getting away with stuff like this didn't give her some sort of sick little thrill and as Nick got to her door she smiled smugly to herself.
"Oh wait…" Nick said, walking back towards the bathroom and making Carla's stomach lurch. "Maybe it's in ere." He said and before Carla knew it, Nick had his hand on the door.
"Wait!" Carla gasped worriedly but it was too late.
Her eyes snapped shit when Nick turned the door handle.
She was sure then that it was all over.
She was sure that this was karma for all the bad things she had been getting up to with Peter recently and for feeling so smug every time that she got away with cheating.
She was sure that Nick would see Peter and that her little fantasy life with him would be over.
There would be no more secret meet ups at the factory, no more passionate nights in when Nick was held up at the bistro… no more "meaningless" but very incredible sex.
The thing that Carla realised very quickly was that she should have been more worried about her relationship with Nick rather than the dysfunctional one that she had with Peter.
No...
It couldn't be, she wasn't thinking this way at all, her sexual desires were clouding her proper judgement and Carla was definitely more afraid of losing Nick than losing Peter… Right?
"Carla…" Nick begun as she opened her eyes,
"Yeah…"
"What's wrong with your door?" he said, turning the handle again and again. "It's not opening."
"What?" Carla exclaimed, half shocked and half relieved that the door to her bathroom was somehow still closed.
"It's not opening." Nick repeated.
It soon became obvious to Carla that Peter had the sense to lock it from the inside.
"Oh yeah… it's erm been like that for ages, it just keeps locking it's self." Carla lied, rather smoothly given the fact that her heart was still thumping away in her chest.
Nick nodded slowly at first and then looked confused.
It wasn't a look of suspicious confusion that was on Nick's face… it was more of a amused one.
"But weren't you just in there for a shower?" he asked walking back over to Carla and truly believing her story even if it was a little far fetched.
"Err yeah I was but the door was open then… once it's closed though it's a right pain to open again, silly me." Carla said in an almost sarcastic tone of voice. "I'm gonna call Jason over to take a look at it tomorrow."
"Let me know if my watch is in there will ya?" Nick said, kissing Carla again and walking back towards her door. "Have a goodnight with Michelle n I call you tomorrow okay?"
"Okay." Carla said not daring to take a deep breath until Nick was fully out her door.
She was taking no chances at being cocky this time and she also couldn't work out if she was acting oddly or not.
Well if she was, Nick certainly hadn't noticed it anyway.
"Bye beautiful." he called as he opened her door.
"Bye." Carla called after him, breathing a gigantic sigh of relief as her door closed.
She rubbed her forehead as her heart rate returned to normal and was almost unable to believe that any of that had just happened.
That Nick had bought her phantom story about her self-locking bathroom door and that he didn't show an ounce of suspicion.
She then remembered how scared she had been to think that Nick could have seen Peter and still wasn't sure if it was the thought of loosing Nick or loosing Peter that made her so frightened.
She wondered what might have happened if Nick had of seen Peter after all, if he'd opened the bathroom door expecting to find his watch but finding Peter there instead.
"You can come out now." Carla called out to Peter even though she was deep in thought. She heard him unlock the door and he soon appeared in front of her, fully dressed, his hair still damp from the shower they had just taken together.
"Well… That was close." Peter said closing the bathroom door behind him. He looked at Carla as she stood contemplating what she would have done in a situation where and Nick and Peter were face to face. "Carla…" He said, walking over to her and waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Sorry…" She said, shaking the idea of her and Peter being caught right out of her head and finally looking at Peter again. She looked over at her clock and decided that it was probably time for Peter to get going. "You should probably leave now." She said firmly, nodding him over to her door whilst going over to her kitchen and opening her fridge.
"Yeah yeah…" Peter said nodding back at her.
He was pretty much used to this kind of treatment by now.
He was used to Carla wanting him to make a quick getaway and whilst he'd never admit it, he actually begun to loathe that moment where she told him to leave.
He hated having to walk out of her building and know that Nick Tilsley would be entering it sometime later and that he would be the one who got to cuddle up close to Carla.
Peter would never tell Carla that he felt this way of course, he'd never let her know just how much he detested Nick.
He'd never tell her because they had rules, rules that needed to be followed and his personal feelings were not something that was included with these rules.
"Can I ask you question before I go Carla…?" Peter said, stopping on his way out of her flat, she closed her fridge with a huge bar of white chocolate in her hand and looked at him sideways,
"Ya just did." She said with a smirk. She watched Peter fail to hide his amusement and then, before biting into chocolate she said, "Go on then."
"What if Nick goes n asks Michelle about you two going out?"
"He won't."
"But what if he does?"
Carla stopped chewing for a moment.
She stopped chewing because what if Peter was right? What if Nick did ask?
It wasn't that Nick was the suspicious kind but he might ask Michelle about it in general or he might mention it in a passing conversation and Michelle might not have a bloody clue what he was on about.
Or worse still, he might bump into Michelle tonight and wonder why Carla wasn't with her.
"Oh… Crap." Carla sighed, realising that for once her lies weren't water tight. She knew she couldn't tell Michelle to lie for her because Michelle would then think something was up and would ask a lot of questions. "I really should ave thought this through…" Carla said as Peter tried to think up with some sensible suggestions.
"Why don't you just go n meet Michelle anyway?" He asked, Carla who was still in her towel, yawned and then bit into her chocolate bar again. Peter watched her as she looked ridiculously tired and also rather cute as she yawned again. He didn't know why such a standard thing as yawning had made him smile but it did.
"I'm knackered Peter… I mean between work, the gym and that shower session with you I could probably fall asleep in minutes." Carla eventually said.
"Well why don't you just text he who must not be named and tell him that you've changed your mind? Tell him that you're staying in because you are tired."
"Hmmm…" Carla swallowed and then licked some chocolate off her lips before saying, "I suppose I could... although I think this constitutes a conversation about my personal life and that is not allowed is it?"
"Alright." Peter shrugged, "I were only trying to help."
"I know but don't worry… I'll think of something." Carla said although inside she was definitely thinking that Peter's last idea was a good one.
She could say to Nick that she was staying home instead, that she was having an early night and if he happened to mention anything to Michelle, Carla could just tell her that she had been thinking about calling to meet up but then changed her mind at the last minute.
"Uh I guess I better go off to bed." Carla sighed, eating some more chocolate and then yawning for the third time.
"Yeah well I'd offer to join ya but there are rules against that kinda thing." Peter smirked although deep inside he was yearning to join Carla in her bed.
She hadn't actually let him back in there since that first night, it seemed to be an unwritten rule of hers that Peter could pretty much do what he wanted as long as he stayed away from her bed.
He thought it was because that was the place that she lay with Nick but it was actually because Carla felt like keeping Peter away from her bed, meant that he was being kept away from her heart.
As Carla rubbed her tired eyes, Peter decided it was time for him to vacate but before he did he leant forward and took a quick bite of Carla's chocolate bar.
"The cheek of it…" Carla cried, half laughing as Peter then hit her hard on the behind and said,
"Until next time…"
"Yeah yeah whatever." She called after him as he went to leave her flat.
She tried to ignore the effect that Peter leaving had just had on her.
She tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment that she felt in her stomach… that same one she felt every time Peter left her.
She always told herself it was just because the sex was that good that she hated waiting for his next arrival... Then again Carla would pretty much tell herself anything rather than admit her true feelings.
As she texted Nick and got into her bed, in a pair of black pyjamas and with her hair still damp, Carla felt mighty glad that she and Peter had their rules.
She knew that following them was paramount to this situation and she really tried to ignore the voice inside her head that said…
Rules are meant to be broken.
So back to Monday… Carla was on her way back to underworld when she heard someone wolf whistle at her from a distance.
She recognised that wolf whistle anywhere.
She stopped and turned around to see a very cold and very dapper Peter standing in the alley way that went behind the Rovers.
Dressed in a black coat and grey flat cap, Peter was grinning, clearly taking joy in the fact that Carla looked somewhat surprised and also very exited to see him stood only a few foot away from her.
"Afternoon…" Peter said as she glanced around to see if any one had noticed her or him but as it was a Monday afternoon there was no one really about.
Everyone was either at work or school and this was how she and Peter were once again, able to get away with all sorts.
Carla grinned as her legs took her towards Peter and it wasn't long before they were kissing each other hungrily, stumbling down the the ginnel and stopping outside the back of The Rover's.
The warmth of both of their lips gave them both goose bumps as it had grown bitterly cold in Weatherfield over the past few weeks.
"I've been hoping you'd pass by." Peter said as Carla dropped her hand bag on the floor.
"Mmmm Where d'ya want me? Over the bins?" She grinned, remembering a sarcastic joke she had made whilst down there with Peter many years before when they were having their first affair.
"Nah… The wall is much sturdier." Peter said, pushing her towards it and wasting no time in yanking her black tights down her thighs. Carla gasped at the sudden coldness against her skin and as Peter moved his kisses to her neck.
"I were joking… Peter we can't do it ere… What if someone sees us ?"
"Like who?" Peter asked now that Carla's underwear was also half way down her thighs.
"I dunno… Michelle, Steve… Liz." Carla breathed, "The pub is right there." Peter took a quick glance behind him and realised that she was right, he licked his bottom lip and then pushed Carla into his Dad's back yard, which was the one right next door the pub.
"Is this better?" Peter said as he shut the gate behind him.
"Hardly…" Carla said but she didn't really protest too much because the way that Peter's kisses made her feel was something that was way too good to stop. "Don't ya feel bad though…" She said as Peter placed soft kisses along her jawline.
"About what?" Peter breathed, stopping and looking at her because her tone was intriguing.
"Well y'know aving sex with me in your Dad's back yard when you haven't even been to see him?" Carla panted, the feeling of Peter's kisses still lingering on the side of her face.
"And what makes you think I aven't seen my Dad?" Peter smirked at her, not at all offended by her suggestion at first. Carla shrugged at him and looked rather embarrassed.
"Well I wouldn't know would I?" She said quietly, "After all… We don't talk about that kinda thing do we?"
"We sure don't." Peter nodded but instead of kissing Carla again and hitching her legs up like he had been planning to, he just looked at her for a moment and then found himself saying, "Course I've been to see him... and Simon."
At first Peter didn't care but now he didn't want Carla thinking he was some sort of heartless monster, that he had been back in Manchester on and off for a month now and that he hadn't even popped in to see his own Father or his own child.
"Really?" Carla asked.
"Yeah…" Peter said, "I'd popped over before that first night we had at the factory… And I saw em both last night actually."
"Oh… Well that's good then." Carla nodded, her fingers absentmindedly fiddling with one of the buttons on Peter's coat.
"Yeah it really is actually, Me Dad n Simon were really pleased to see me, Me Dad even says that I seem like I've really changed my ways." Peter smirked as he got to the end of his sentence, he was looking down at Carla's fingers with danced around the top button on his coat.
"If only he knew eh?" Carla grinned, moving Peter's head back up to her lips with a finger underneath his chin. She kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth for just a second before moving away again.
"Simon said he's really proud of me…" Peter said frowning a little now, thinking about what his Dad or Simon would say if they knew what he was doing right now. Carla watched his almost sad expression and rubbed his arm sympathetically for a moment.
It would have been a really sweet moment between them, if Carla's underwear and tights weren't bunched together in the middle of her thighs and her dress hadn't been pulled right up to her navel.
"As lovely as that is to hear…" She said, pulling Peter towards her by his coat and then grinning down at his jeans which suddenly looked as if they were very tight. "I'm freezing my arse off n I don't think we should be talking about your Dad or Simon right now, do you?"
"Absolutely not." Peter with a chuckle and with that he hitched one of Carla's legs up and kissed her again.
"This is really risky though... I mean what if your Dad's home?" Carla groaned as Peter had already started working magic with his fingers.
"He's not..." Peter said shutting her up with another kiss.
He didn't let her speak again, not that she could have as Peter had made it his mission to make Carla cry out louder than she had ever done before... he just tried his very best to ignore the fact that her moans and groans were echoing in his Dad's back yard.
Ken Barlow would definitely not approve of his "quiet thinking space" being used like this.
When they were finished... when Carla and Peter had both caught there breaths that is, they barley had a chance to pull themselves together, when a voice suddenly came from nowhere and said,
"Carla!"