Carla and Peter both stared at each other for a moment.
They weren't sure whether to laugh or cry.
It wasn't the first time that they had almost got caught and the way that they were carrying on, it definitely wouldn't be the last.
"Carla!" The voice called again, louder this time, sounding more confused than before.
"Uh oh..." Peter mouthed, although not in a concerned way more in a comical one.
Carla took a deep breath, still slightly trembling from the outdoor sex with Peter and then left Ken Barlow's backyard to find Michelle stood outside of it.
"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, her face screwed up in confusion and with Carla's handbag dangling in one of her hands.
"What d'ya mean?" Carla asked, trying her absolute hardest not to make it obvious that she had just been having slightly forbidden sex with her ex husband in his Dad's pokey back yard.
Peter listened from the other side of the gate, wondering just what Carla would say to get herself out of this rather sticky situation.
"I mean… what are you doing in Ken's back yard and what is your handbag doing out ere?" Michelle asked, handing it to Carla. "I just came out n saw it on the floor." Carla took a short sigh of relief as it genuinely looked as if Michelle had no idea about what she had just been up to.
Thank god.
"Well I were going to visit Ken but he's not in." Carla began awkwardly, Michelle watched her closely and then said,
"Carla… what's going on with you?"
"I…. dunno what you mean." Carla said, slightly regretting taking that sigh of relief now because Michelle was looking at her in a suspicious way.
In a way that Carla recognised, in a way that said I know just what you are up to.
"Something is going on… ave you been heavily drinking again or something?" Michelle said delicately, in a concerning tone, one that showed she deeply cared for her friend and that she was worried about her recent behaviour.
"No." Carla said, shaking her head because it was the truth and besides she didn't need to drink when Peter was around, as cheesy as it sounded, he was enough to make her feel drunk. "Why on earth would ya say that?"
"Well it's just… You're acting really odd that's all… As a matter of fact you've been acting odd for weeks now."
"Ave I?" Carla shrugged, taking her handbag of Michelle and walking off, she prayed that Michelle would follow her, that Michelle wouldn't open the gate to Ken's yard to find Peter.
Michelle shook her head at Carla and followed her out of the ginnel.
"Err yes." She said dryly, like Carla was a fool for even thinking otherwise. "Carla you barley come out anymore and when you do you seem really distracted… Like your mind is completely somewhere else."
Carla shook her head in denial as she walked onwards. Michelle was correct, they had barley seen each other because Carla's nights were almost always spent with Peter or Nick and if they weren't, then she'd have to spend a night alone just to catch up on her sleep.
"Look Michelle…" Carla said once they were a safe distance away from Ken's backyard and from Peter Barlow. "I'm fine… work is just really busy that's all and I'm aving a few late nights with Nick." Carla spoke so confidently that Michelle believed her, for now anyway and she let Carla go back to work without asking her any more questions.
As Carla walked to the factory she chewed her lip nervously and she knew that even though her and Peter were trying to be careful, they really weren't being careful enough and cracks were starting to show.
It wasn't just Michelle who had noticed Carla's odd behaviour. Her employees had noticed it too. They'd clocked on to how sometimes she would come into work in a completely foul mood only to come back from her lunch break in a totally different one.
They'd noticed that she would sometimes have dark circles under her eyes and that she would be yawning constantly even though she left the building just after lunch the previous day and said that she was getting an early night in.
They'd notice how sometimes she would be off in a total daydream but like Michelle they just didn't know why.
They didn't know just how much that she was thinking about Peter and when his next visit would be.
They didn't know that she sometimes got lost in the way that he made her feel the night before and they certainly didn't know just how much he had got right under her skin.
Not matter how hard she tried Carla really couldn't understand just how Peter did it and you know what… She didn't want to either.
Making sense of the way that Peter was able to take over her soul was something that she really didn't want to do because if she did she knew that it would ultimately end up in her realising the true extent of her feelings… feelings that were supposed to be long gone.
Upon walking back into her building Carla absentmindedly pulled out her phone and sent Peter a text message…
"That was way too close for my liking Peter… But I loved every single second of it."
She sat down at her desk and awaited Peter's reply. It didn't come straight away which irked her in fact it came almost three hours later…
"Glad you enjoyed yourself… We should do it again sometime."
Carla couldn't help but reply straight away to Peter's message, even if she really shouldn't have. She was grinning down at her phone as she walked home and typed out her reply,
"Not in your Dad's backyard mind… I think he'd ave a heart attack if he knew what we did today."
Peter's next reply came swiftly, just as Carla was walking towards her flat…
"Don't worry… he has no idea & I'm sure we'll find some much more creative places n spaces to get it on… Also… Does this mean we're texting each other now?"
Carla stopped and thought about things for a moment. She hadn't thought about it at first, she hadn't realised it when she texted him, it was just something she had done on impulse but now Peter had mentioned it, she remembered that they hadn't texted each other for years. Not since before they had broken up. She wondered if she should maybe just ignore Peter's text now, that if she should pretend as if this new connection between them hadn't of been made because she knew that if she allowed this… If she allowed her and Peter to text start texting each other again, then his texts would probably end up driving her wild.
In the end, after thinking about it for a few more minutes, she typed out her reply and quickly pressed send…
"I guess it does…"
It didn't take long for Carla to realise she was right.
Peter would text her stuff… filthy stuff, the kind of stuff that got her aching for him and then his texts would suddenly vanish. He wouldn't text her back until the next day or something, which drove her insane.
She also had to make sure that she kept an eye on her phone, she one hundred percent trusted Nick not to go through it but she felt safer when she kept it close by and when she made sure that she was the only one who got to read Peter's hungry words.
To stop Michelle's suspicions she also went along for a girl's night out in the pub. She had hoped the evening would be Peter free and it was at first, it was until some of the other women in the pub were talking about the men on the street and a rather tipsy Beth Tinker nudged Carla and said,
"Y'know who I've always thought was well fit… Peter Barlow."
The sound of his name coming out of someone else's mouth sent a chill up Carla's spine and it felt as if he was almost in the room with her.
"D'ya miss him?" Beth then asked. Before Carla could speak Michelle had let out a rather loud laugh and said,
"Don't be ridiculous." She nudged Carla this time and then said, "As if."
"Yeah… as if." Carla scoffed, with a confident flick of her hair as she picked up her wine glass.
As if… as if she could miss him when his little visits soon became visits that happened almost every other day.
Even though it was always him who chose what time and when he would show his face, Carla definitely made sure that she showed Peter that he didn't call all the shots.
Sometimes she had him at her complete mercy, she'd made him wait for it and whilst the wait would be excruciatingly fun it always had him begging her for more and that was exactly where she wanted him.
However the majority of the time it was Peter who was in charge. He would have total ownership over Carla's body. He had her doing things that she never thought she's see her self do.
A lot of the time it would be rough, very rough, so rough and full of passion that they both started to become covered in bruises and Carla had to make up lies to Nick about being clumsy but there were also a few gentler times, rare times where they would both just collapse onto her sofa and move together, equally in control and simultaneously.
One of those times happened on a Friday night...
Carla had been sat watching television when her phone vibrated on her coffee table, she leant forward and took a look at the message she had received…
"Where are you right now gorgeous?"
She felt a tinge of excitement as this message had come out of the blue and looked as if she might be seeing Peter tonight so she quickly replied with…
"At home… why?"
Peter's reply came quicker than she had expected, almost within the same minute of her sending hers.
"and you're staying at home? Right?"
Carla picked up her glass of wine and knew that she had no intentions of going out tonight, Nick was away on business and she had planned on staying in alone… thankfully it looked as if she might not have to spend it alone after all. She replied to Peter's question with…
"Well I guess that depends on you doesn't it?"
She really hoped that Peter's reply would come quickly, that he would actually turn up tonight and that this wasn't one of those nights were he was just messing around with her.
"Does it now?"
Carla sighed at this reply and after not seeing Peter since Wednesday night, she decided she had to make it clear what she wanted from him tonight…
"You know it does… don't play games with me tonight Peter, I avent the patience for it. Just tell me if you're planning on coming tonight… cause I will be… with or without your help xx"
"Ha ha I see what you did there… I'll be at your place soon… very soon. xx"
Carla grinned and felt rather satisfied with Peter's reply. She then realised that it was probably the first time that she had Peter had actually organised it between them. That he had actually told her that he would be coming round tonight rather than teasing her for the evening only to eventually surface tomorrow.
Her buzzer went off half an hour later and when Peter knocked on her door, Carla opened it to see him dressed in a black T shirt and jeans… a typical Peter ensemble rather than the smart attire he had been in the last few times she had seen him.
When Carla looked at him properly she sensed that he was slightly different. He was still cocky, still confident but he had an edge to him tonight, he was almost jittery in fact. She went to say something but he kissed her before she could speak.
When his lips touched hers, she could almost feel the stress that ran through his body, they travelled slowly over to her sofa where she fell naturally onto it and dragged Peter on top of her. When they broke apart to catch their breath, Carla managed to get in a quick,
"Are you okay?" Peter nodded at her as she lay beneath him and as she raised her hand and wrapped it gently around his neck. They gazed into each other's contrasting eyes and as Carla looked up at him reverently, he said a very breathy yet assuring,
"I am now."
He then bent his head and kissed Carla again and as their embraced deepened, it was almost as if she could feel the tenseness leave Peter's body. It wasn't long before they realised that what was happening between them was becoming more than just sex again so in an attempt to rough things up again, Peter took both of Carla's arms and pinned them above her head. She gasped as he did so as it was rather unexpected but when he started to kiss her again she just couldn't help but move them down his body.
"No…" Peter demanded, putting her arms back where he had left them. "Leave em there."
Carla nodded obediently but Peter grinned at her and held her arms in place because he knew there was no way she'd be able to refrain from touching him once he had got started.
He eventually had to let go of her arms to pull of her jeans and when he did, she saw it as an opportunity.
"Oi…" Peter chuckled as Carla pulled him back on top of her and began undoing his jeans. He comically tried to stop her but she was to quick for him and had his jeans down by his ankles in no time. He kicked them off and pulled of his own T-shirt whilst Carla removed hers. "Put ya arms back up above ya head." Peter said playfully but again Carla was to quick for him and he couldn't catch them.
"No!" she giggled, wriggling beneath him and moving her arms around so that he couldn't take hold of them.
"Carla…" he laughed as she waved her arms about in a ridiculous fashion,
"Peter…" she mocked, copying his tone of voice as she put both arms around his neck and pulled him close. "Did ya miss me yesterday." Peter grinned, as Carla grazed a thumb over the back of his neck and spoke again, "Well did ya?"
"Mmmmhmmmm I sure did… did you miss me?"
"Yes…" She said dreamily, thinking about how desperate she had been for Peter's presence last night. "Well I missed certain parts of you." She added with a poke to his arm.
"The cheek of it." Peter said, poking her in her flat stomach and pretending to be offended.
As a mini poking war started, there soon was another moment infectious giggling and gazing before Peter suddenly leant forward and kissed Carla passionately.
She moaned softly into it as she pulled down his boxers and as he pulled down her knickers.
Once their bodies were connected and his lips left hers to trail over to her jawline, Peter found himself saying,
"I swear… I don't ever want this to end."
"Me neither baby." Carla said, her old pet name for him slipping off her tongue absentmindedly. "Promise me it won't stop" she begged, "Promise me you won't stop."
"I promise…" Peter said, thrusting against her in a way that already had her eyes rolling backwards. "I promise I won't stop."
It was a metaphoric promise or course, they obviously had to stop at some point, no one, no matter how long they could last, could last forever.
It ended with Carla on top, beads of sweat ran down their foreheads as she collapsed into his chest. Their hearts were both pounding a mile a minute and their breathing seemed to syncopate one another's.
After a while Carla raised her head and kissed Peter on his torso, he ran a hand through her her and kissed her lazily on the forehead as she said,
"That… was pretty incredible." Peter nodded at her complacently and exhaled as she kissed him again only this time on the collar bone. "Honestly Peter… Your so addictive." She said, resting her chin on his chest. "Uh I just cannot get enough of you." She breathed heavily staring at those brown eyes of his in awe.
"Right back at ya." Peter said also breathing rigidly, "I meant what I said earlier… I won't stop… Even if you don't see me for days… Weeks even… I won't stop coming back for you."
"Good." Carla replied, grazing her bottom lip with her teeth and looking down at Peter's bare chest. When she looked up again at his face she saw that he was grinning naughtily and she just could help but ask, "What?"
"I won't stop until all your neighbours know my name." Said Peter, grinning even more arrogantly than before.
"Oh n just how long ave you been waiting to use that one eh?" Carla's eyes rolled as Peter chuckled at his own words.
"A few weeks." He smiled as Carla sat upright and it was then that he thought he was going receive the it's time to go speech that he usually got at around this time.
"You better hope that my neighbours don't know your name…" Carla said, straddling Peter with her legs either side of him.
"Oh yeah and why's that?" Peter asked although he knew exactly who lived directly above her. He watched as Carla glanced up towards her ceiling and then smirked at him.
"Oh I think the bloke upstairs would have something to say about your name being screamed out so loudly at this time of night…"
"And? Please… Carla you should know by now that I am not scared of Nick Tilsley." This was true, Peter wasn't scared of Nick he was scared of something much much worse.
"Eh you." Carla frowned poking him again. ""Don't mention his name."
"You're the one who brought him up." Peter poked back, Carla took hold of the finger that he used to poke her with and just held it for a moment. She kissed it softly and then looked at Peter.
This was it, he was sure was going to tell him to leave, that he'd done what he needed to do and that it was time to go but instead she leant forward and kissed him on the lips.
"I'm just nipping to the loo." she said, before getting up stark naked and going towards her bathroom.
When she had come back, she saw that Peter was in a deep slumber. Laid flat on his back, one arm raised above his head and Carla thought that he looked totally peaceful.
So peaceful that she just watched him for a while and even though she wasn't actually done with him yet, she didn't want to wake him, especially when she thought about how tense he had seemed when she first let him in.
She was desperate to know more about his life, to know what he spent his days doing when he wasn't with her but she knew that she couldn't know, that she wasn't allowed to know and it took her a good few minutes to realise just what she was doing.
She was watching Peter sleep. He was asleep in her flat and she was just letting him get on with it.
She told herself that she wasn't technically breaking any rules because it was only Peter who had fallen asleep and not her.
She continued to watch him slowly breath in and then out. There was something about seeing Peter sleep which made him look so vulnerable and it was something in him that she hadn't seen in the longest time so she was almost entranced by it.
As much as she knew that she should wake him up and tell him to leave, she went and fetched a blanket from her bedroom.
She couldn't believe what she was doing but she did it any way and she shook her head as she gently placed the blanket over Peter's body.
A huge part of her wanted to squeeze up against him, to wrap her arms around him and go to sleep herself but she fought all of her deep desires and went to sleep in her own bed.
She didn't get to sleep easily though, her mind was totally consumed by Peter and it was only made worse by the fact that he was only next door.
She did fall asleep in the end though and she awoke to find her sofa empty. She tried to ignore the disappointed feeling of seeing that Peter was not there and went about her Saturday as best as she could.
She tried to get the image of Peter out of her head, she tried to distract herself and went shopping, she went in all her favourite shops but thoughts of Peter danced through her mind and when she returned home empty handed, Carla then realised that she was beginning to become a slightly obsessed with Peter.
There was a very thin line between love and lust and she wasn't sure if that line even existed anymore.
He was like a drug. A drug that ran right through her veins and when he wasn't around she became rather irritable.
Monday night came and Peter still hadn't come over to see her. She thought about texting him and asking him where he was but went against it as she didn't want to seem weak. Nick had come over to her place, he noticed she was slightly different and he tried to cheer up as such but he just couldn't do it, he couldn't do it because he wasn't Peter.
Wednesday came and Carla finally decided enough was enough. She texted Peter and said,
"Where the hell are you?"
She didn't receive a reply so on Thursday she texted him again only this time it said,
"Peter… I'm craving your touch. I'm not messing around here. I want you!"
Peter didn't reply to her message again and it made Carla start to feel nervous. She wondered if Peter was just taking his game playing too far, that he was going to pop up at any moment and blow her mind only he didn't.
He didn't and then Friday arrived, a week after he had turned up at Carla's. She didn't know what to do and she was getting rather worried that something might have happened to him, not to mention she was starting to become rather sexually frustrated in a way that Nick just couldn't fix.
So… Carla then did something that she really shouldn't have. She did something that she would soon come to regret and something that she knew Peter wouldn't have liked… At all.
It was around seven pm the next day when she approached Ken. She did it casually though, she thought about this properly and had worked it out so that she would look as if she was just making conversation.
Ken was at the bar in the pub, when she went and stood next to him. She had rather guiltily left Nick sat in booth whilst she smiled at Ken and said,
"How are ya?"
"Good." Ken replied with a nod, in a way that showed Carla that he was being truthful and that nothing serious had happened to Peter because he off all people would have known. "You?"
"Oh I'm fine." She lied. She was far from fine. She felt guilty for talking to Ken but there was no one else she could ask because as far as she knew, no one else knew that Peter was around. Ken was the only person who could help her.
Carla knew she had to do this properly, she couldn't just ask about Peter straight off because that would be obvious and foolish so she had to stand and make small talk with his Dad for a while.
They spoke about the weather, stuff on the telly and other mundane topics like that and when Carla truly couldn't take anymore she asked as casually as she could manage,
"So ave you heard from Peter lately?"
"Peter?" Ken said, a little surprised to hear Carla ask about his son. His son who was the love of her life. His son who hurt her more than anyone had in her life… And given the life that Carla had that was a pretty hard thing to do. What Ken didn't know was that his son had been pleasuring Carla for months now and in ways that had made her desperate enough to do this. "Yes I have actually."
"Oh…" Carla said, now wondering how she could casually ask just when he had heard from Peter. She told herself that she just wanted to know that Peter was safe and sound but it was more than that, she wanted him back and she wanted him back quick. "How's he doing in Antigua?" She then asked, cleverly so that Ken would have to mention that he wasn't there anymore.
"Oh he doesn't work there anymore." Ken said, not thinking twice about telling Carla about Peter's life, little knowing Peter had been working over time for the past two months to make sure that Carla knew as little about it as possible. "He lives in Manchester Central now."
"Oh does he now?" Carla said, nodding and pretending as if this news didn't effect her as much as it did. The news that Peter Barlow was only a ten minute drive or so away annoyed her for some reason but it explained how he was able to turn up so often and also how she had seen him strolling down the high street that time.
"Yes he's been there for about five months now…" Ken said, "Although he's not there right now… He's actually gone on holiday at the moment."
"Huh!" Carla said, brashly and unexpectedly.
So that's where he was, on holiday. She couldn't believe he hadn't told her about it but then again they didn't talk about their personal lives.
Carla should have stopped there… She should have gone and sat back with Nick and tried to enjoy her evening but she didn't. Instead she said, "With who?"
Ken looked awkward now. Ken looked really awkward actually and as Carla looked at him intently he then said,
"With Jessica."
The name Jessica sent shockwaves right through Carla's body.
Who the hell was Jessica? And how come she was on holiday with Peter?
It was obvious who Jessica was.
It was clear by the look on Ken's face…
Peter had a girlfriend.