It had been three weeks since Carla had left the grey skies of Manchester for sunny Los Angeles. Whilst out there, she had an amazing time with her old friends. She spent her days relaxing on the beach or shopping and her evenings sat by the pool or at the local bars and clubs. She didn't have to check on the factory at all and it was almost as if she was in heaven. On any of her other trips to L.A, Carla would always feel slightly depressed by the last day, just at the thought of coming back home but this time it was different.
This time she couldn't wait to get back to Manchester.
During the week before Carla had gone to L.A, she had ended up spending rather a lot of time with Simon and Peter. They'd had played a few games of Monopoly together round at Ken's which had sometimes lasted for hours at a time. The three of them had also gone out for dinner together twice and one of those nights they hadn't got back home until after midnight due to them having so much fun.
So, by the time it came for her flight to America, Carla was actually quite upset to not be seeing Simon and Peter for three weeks, Peter had even driven her to the airport to say goodbye. Carla missed them so much that she kept looking at the photo that they had taken at Ken's, on Simon's birthday and eventually she caved and put it as her phone screensaver.
They three of them had kept in contact with text messages and one morning Carla had Skyped them both just to say hello and they had spent almost three hours just chatting away until it was almost the early hours in England and Simon had actually fallen asleep.
As Carla came out off Manchester airport, dragging her huge suitcase behind her. She felt like she had maybe got on the wrong plane and had ended up in some other exotic country because it was hot. Okay it wasn't as hot as L.A but it was still way too hot for Manchester. She had on a long sleeveless black dress that stopped at her ankles and a denim jacket but as she called a cab to take her home, she actually had to take off the jacket because she was practically roasting. Her cab eventually arrived and whilst inside it she texted Michelle to say that she had landed safely. Michelle wanted to meet up with Carla straight away but Carla said she was feeling as if she should pop her head into the factory and that she'd come to the Rover's and meet her later. Carla went into her flat to drop of her suitcase and her jacket and then went back out again, en route to Underworld.
It was the beginning of August and the sun blazed onto the street as Peter and Simon were busy kicking a football around outside number one. They were both in jeans and T-shirts and they were trying to decide what to do with the rest of their afternoon. Simon had been on his summer holidays for almost two weeks now and he and Peter had done so much together already that they were beginning to find it hard to find something new to do.
"How about we go down the Red Rec?" Peter suggested kicking the ball back to Simon
"Nah we always go there" Simon moaned catching the ball with a foot and sending it back to his Dad. Peter stopped the ball with his foot and Simon then spotted a very tanned Carla making her way up to his Dad from behind. Peter saw Simon grin but didn't get a chance to ask him why because two soft hands appeared in front of his eyes and everything went dark.
"Guess who?" Carla said excitedly, Peter instantly smiled at the sound of her voice. Simon watched as Carla moved her hands from Peter's face. They both hugged each other tight. Carla breathed in deeply taking in his familiar smell just for a moment and then quickly said
"Did ya miss me then?" as Peter let go of her, He shrugged at her as if he was indifferent to her being gone, although he had missed her like crazy and the huge smile she had on her face made him feel insanely happy, like everything in the world was perfect and so were they.
"Nah not really" he joked, Carla shoved him slightly as Simon nodded
"Yes you did, We both did" He said as Carla put her arm around him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I missed you too… both of you." She said looking at Peter. As she stood with her arm around Simon, Peter took a proper look at her. Since being away her skin had turned a light golden brown colour, She had sunglasses in her hair, which tumbled around her tanned shoulders as she looked down at the football on the ground.
"Eh don't let Norris catch you kicking that thing around ere, remember what happened the last time?"
"Oh we're not scared of Old Norris are we?" Peter scoffed remembering how Simon had told him that Norris had a habit of puncturing his footballs if he left them hanging around the street. Simon shook his head at his Dad "We were just planning what to do with our selves actually? You got any ideas?" Peter asked, Carla who still had her arm around Simon shrugged at him. Peter then had an idea "Tell you what, how about we go and get a drink in the café whilst we decide because it's far too hot out here to be standing around doing nothing" He suggested so that's what they did.
They sat at the best corner table in Roy's Rolls, Carla and Peter both with coffees and Simon with a milkshake. Carla watched him as he was typing eagerly on his Iphone, he was sat next to Peter who was opposite her.
"Sorry about him, He's so antisocial these days" Peter said nudging Simon who just ignored him and continued his conversation. "So how was L.A?" Peter asked
"Oh it were perfect as always." She said sipping coffee
"How is everyone?" Peter then asked a little cautiously. He wasn't sure what Carla might have told them about him after everything that had gone on last year. When he had gone out there with Carla back in 2012, he had got on really well there and all of Carla's friends had loved him. He wasn't sure how keen they would be on him now though, especially if Carla had told them everything.
"They're good" Carla began "I told them your back ere and that we ave been getting along and stuff. They were dead pleased to hear it actually" She said not mentioning the fact that her very best friend in L.A said she reckoned Carla would be back together with Peter before Christmas.
They continued to drink their coffees and Simon took a sip of milkshake every so often when he wasn't on his phone. Peter had been watching Carla for a few moments and it was beginning to make her feel a little self-conscious
"What?" She said smiling at him sheepishly
"Did I tell you how amazing you look?" Peter asked, Carla couldn't help but blush as he looked at her enticingly
"No… I don't believe you did." She said looking down at her coffee cup modestly.
"Well you do… look amazing" He said nodding, Carla said a quiet
"Thank you" and Simon who had been listening to their entire conversation was quite frankly confused as to why his Dad didn't just jump up and kiss Carla there and then. He looked up at the both of them and then said
"Dad can I go and meet some friends down the red rec?" Peter frowned at him
"The Rec Rec? Oh you don't want to go down there do you? I mean you go always go there." he said smirking, Simon sighed remembering how sarcastic his Dad could be "Don't look like that Si, we were supposed to be spending the afternoon together. I mentioned going down there earlier and you said no." Simon looked at Carla for support but she just shook her head
"Eh don't look at me, I'm just ere for the free coffee" She said
"Tell you what, How about we go down there together?" Peter suggested, just to wind Simon up some more.
"All me mates are there though" He wined
"Don't you want to be seen with me anymore?" Peter said but he still wasn't actually taking any of this seriously, unbeknown to Simon who sighed
"I never said that"
"And how do you know that I don't have plans for us this afternoon?" Peter said as Simon slumped into the back of his chair.
"You didn't have any plans Dad, you said so yourself. That's why we were just hanging around the street… Please Dad" He begged, Peter rolled his eyes at his son
"Just make sure you're back home by eight o clock" He said and he went into his pocket and gave Simon a fiver. "Take this an get an ice cream or something." He added
"Thanks Dad" Simon beamed "Bye Carla" he said as he left the café. Carla shook her head at Peter in disbelief
"When did you turn into such a soft touch eh?" She said acting disappointed in Peter, He grinned at her
"Oh I'm not, It's his loss anyways as I was planning on taking him shopping and getting him those new trainers he's been banging on about for months but now I'm gonna spend the money on me self" Peter said smugly sipping his drink
"Spend it on me, I'll go shopping with ya." Carla volunteered with a grin "So how much money ave I got to spend?" Peter chuckled and leant back in his chair casually
"Well the trainers Simon want cost one hundred and twenty quid" He said, Carla finished her coffee and put her cup down.
"Blimey for a pair of trainers?" She said taken aback, Peter stared at her
"Really? I mean the shoes you usually buy are about what? Five times that amount" Peter recalled
"Yes but I'm an adult and those shoes will last me forever if I treat em right, that kid is gonna go through a hundred pairs of trainers in the next few years" Carla stated
"Well you know what kids are like, they've got to keep up with their friends aven't they" Peter said Carla nodded thinking back to when she was younger
"I remember when I were twelve right, I wanted this amazing pair of black shiny shoes from this shop in town. They were about twenty quid right and all the girls at school had em. So I kept begging me Mum to get em for me and she said she'd save up for em. Anyways it took her so long by the time I got a pair they just weren't the cool thing to ave anymore, it were now all about this bag that had just come out instead" Carla sighed as she reminisced about her childhood. She suddenly looked so sad as she sat there in front of Peter.
"Well I reckon that explains why you have so many pairs of shoes now then." he said smiling at her trying to lighten up the conversation "I used to count them and the last time I did you were almost at the fifty mark. How many d'ya reckon you got now?" Peter asked
"You used to count em?" Carla laughed, Peter nodded and she thought for a moment "I actually don't know how many pairs I've got ya know" She said "Although I've definitely gone way past the fifty mark that's for sure I mean I bought four pairs just last week… So I'm probably more around the sixty five mark now" She admitted and then she reached over and took the almost full glass of Chocolate milkshake that Simon had left behind, deciding that it was shame to let it go to waste. She put the straw in her mouth and grinned at Peter as she began drinking it. Peter watched her amused
"Sixty five pairs of shoes though Carla" He said, Carla stopped drinking
"I think that's a perfectly acceptable amount of shoes actually" She said and she began fiddling with the straw absent-mindedly "You only think it's too much because you're a bloke"
"Now that's not true, I don't think any woman on this street has even close to that amount of shoes." He said as Carla sipped some more milkshake "I mean where do you even keep all of em?" he asked
"I've got these two amazing cupboards in me new bed room, so at the moment they're all in one of those. I wanna get some shelves put up so I can display em all and it'll be like my own little amazing shoe gallery" She said wistfully, still holding the straw between her fingers "I'm not exactly a dab hand at D.I.Y so I'll have to get someone in to help me though" Carla said as Michelle had walked through the café door. She had spotted Carla and Peter sat at the table in the corner.
"Hiya Chelle" Carla said waving her over, Michelle approached the table with her eyebrows raised as she had asked to meet up with Carla before she started work and Carla had told her she'd drop by later because she was going to go down to check on underworld.
"Well doesn't this look nice and cosy" Michelle said, Carla and Peter looked at each other baffled
"Eh?" Peter said not sure what she was getting at. Michelle shook her head at Carla
"So this is checking up on the factory is it?" She said and Carla realised how it must have looked
"Oh I am going down there in a bit, I just ran into Simon and Peter and they wanted to have quick drink that's all." Carla said, Michelle glanced around and then looked back at Carla amused
"Where is Simon then?" She asked suspiciously, almost sure that her friend was actually on some mini date with her "kind of" ex husband.
"Well he were here" Carla said "Weren't he Peter" He nodded but not as convincingly as Carla had hoped.
"Whatever you say… I'll leave you two to it" Michelle said smirking, Carla just went back to her milkshake because she could tell Michelle had all sorts of ideas in her head and there would be no convincing her otherwise at this point. Michelle went over to Roy at the till and ordered her lunch. Whilst she waited for her food she had turned back around slightly so she had a better view of Peter and Carla.
"She's staring at us y'know." Carla said quietly so that Michelle couldn't hear her, Peter glanced out of the corner of his eye
"Well in that case, maybe we should give her something to stare at." he said, his eyes were sparkling with mischief as he said it. Carla grinned at him on exactly the same wavelength. She got up from their table and walked over to the till where Michelle was stood. Michelle looked confused as Carla went stood in front of her.
"Roy can I get another straw please?" Carla said smiling, Roy handed her another straw and didn't think anything of it "Thank you" Carla said to him and then she put on her most soppy voice and said "Look darlin, now you've got a straw too." She made her way back to the table where Peter was sat and as she passed him she ruffled the hair on his head tenderly, before sitting back down opposite him.
Michelle watched Carla not sure whether she was joking or not, surely Carla and Peter couldn't be back together just like that. Carla stuck the second straw into the milkshake and they both began drinking from the same glass as if they were some sort of blissfully happy couple. Roy handed Michelle her food in a carrier bag and followed her gaze over to the table in the corner.
"Oh" he said rather stunned "Are they?" Michelle shook her head and rolled her eyes as Carla and Peter dramatically took hold of each other's hands and gazed into each other's eyes.
"No they are just winding me up." Michelle said watching them, they couldn't keep it up for much longer and they both suddenly burst into fits of laughter.
"Yeah, Yeah very funny" Michelle said sitting down on the chair next to Carla.
"That's what you get for thinking I'd lie to you" Carla said smugly, Peter was still laughing silently
"What do you want me to think when you say you're going into work and then I find you two in ere sitting there chatting away eh" Michelle said, She then realised she hadn't actually said a proper hello to Carla since she'd been back from holiday. She put her arms around Carla and hugged her tight. "I'm glad your back, I've got so many plans I can't wait to tell you about em" She said excitedly
"It's good to be back Chelle, Even if I do get accused of having some sort of secret affair with him" Carla said nodding towards Peter
"I didn't accuse you of anything." Michelle denied
"No but you implied it, How many times do I ave to tell you we are just friends, aren't we Peter." She said, Peter nodded very seriously at Michelle
"Yes we are" He said putting on his best serious tone of voice although he couldn't help but smirk at Carla as he said it, The look on his face was infectious and before she knew it Carla was smirking back at him. Michelle watched them again only this time they were seriously looking at each other longingly. Eventually Carla looked away first, She grinned down at her hands and then looked back up at Michelle
"I'll come down to the pub later and we can catch up properly okay?" She said
"Yeah you make sure you do." Michelle said firmly but smiling all the same because she was glad to have her best friend back.
"How many pairs of shoes ave you got Michelle?" Peter asked Carla rolled her eyes.
"Erm, I don't know about twenty something" She said, Peter nodded smugly and Carla scoffed at her
"Is that it?" She said not believing she could be such good friends with someone who had such a small shoe collection.
"Oh be quiet you. Just because you're a shoe hoarder." Michelle said, "Why are you asking me that Peter?"
"He's just being an know it all as per, He reckons I ave way too many shoes. Get this, he used to count em back when we lived together" Carla said
"Yeah.. Steve used to do it as well and then they'd get together and discuss who had more." Michelle said shaking her head. Peter laughed
"Really? How sad" Carla said she sucked the rest of the milkshake up through the straw and looked at her watch. "Right I better go and check on the factory n make sure it's still standing" She said getting up and tucking in her chair. Michelle and Peter got up too as Michelle had a takeaway and Peter had finished his coffee a long time ago. They made there way outside and Carla squinted at the sun as she reached up to her hair and pulled her sunglass out of it Michelle turned to Peter
"What you doing now Peter?" She asked him, Peter just shrugged at her
"Nothing really why?"
"Well Steve's feeling a little down today and I reckon a chat with you might perk him up" She said "Eh you could give each other updates on Me and Carla's shoe collections" Peter laughed and nodded
"Yeah why not, it's been ages since I've had a proper good chat with Steve anyway." He said. Michelle looked at Carla
"I'll see you later Carla yeah"
"Yeah… I better go and show me face at work then" She sighed wishing she could just hang around with Michelle and Peter instead. "Bye Chelle, Bye Peter, Thanks for the coffee… and the milkshake" She grinned.
Carla strolled to the factory in the heat and although she wanted to go to the pub and spend more time with Michelle and Peter she knew that she had to at least put her head through the door. She grinned as she walked past Luke at the garage and he gave her little nod as she practically bounced up the factory steps.
As she walked into the factory she saw that her employees where all busy working away at their machines.
"This is what I like to see everybody hard at work" Carla said grinning as she walked towards her office. There were various "Welcome backs and Hello's" from the machinists they all seemed glad to have Carla back at work.
"Oh my god your tan is amazing" Said Beth jealousy, Carla smiled at her and put her sunglasses in her hair, She then glanced into her office through the blinds and saw Sally Webster sitting in her chair. Alya was on the phone with a bunch of papers in her hands looking like she was very busy. Carla cleared her throat as she entered her office, Sally jumped up out of Carla's chair instantly
"Hello Mrs Connor, welcome back" Sally said with an over the top smile on her face, Carla nodded at her and Alya who had given her a smile but was still on the phone.
"Hi Sally how's everything been then? I see the place is still standing so that's a good start eh" Carla said taking a seat on her office chair where Sally had been sitting. Sally began telling Carla about everything that had happened in the last three weeks. She had gone on and on and Carla sat back on her chair wishing she'd hadn't of asked. Eventually Sally had stopped talking but Carla had been listening to Alya's phone conversation
"Well she's actually just got back from holiday so I can ask her for you" Alya said, Carla sat up
"What is it?" She asked
"There's a potential client on the phone and he wanted to know if he could come and meet you at some point before his business trip next week" Alya said her neck tilted with the phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder, still clutching a bunch of paper. Carla stood up and reached for the phone to free Alya.
"Hiya Carla Connor speaking?" She said giving Sally a look that said keep quiet, because she was known to take over some of Carla's phone calls. Sally started to help Alya out on cue as Carla spoke down the phone.
"Well there's no time like the present, so you can come down today if you're in the area" She said double checking the diary to make sure that there was no one else booked in for the afternoon. "Yes that's fine" Carla said nodding "Okay see you then." she put the phone down and scribbled down the information in the diary. Sally looked at what she had written
"Marc Matthews is coming down today?" She said shocked, Carla nodded
"Yes he is, He's going away next week and he's fully booked for the rest of the week, so it had to be today." Carla said she sat back down in her chair and Sally smiled at her sickeningly
"You must be tired why don't you go home and I'll handle the meeting" she said, Alya rolled her eyes as she began sorting out different files and folders.
"Nah you're alright" Carla said "He'll be ere in a couple of hours and we can't ave this Marc fella thinking you're the boss can we." She said giving Sally are sarcastic smile, Sally nodded rather taken aback
"Oh okay" she said not knowing where to put herself, now that Carla was back in her seat.
"Why don't you go out there and see that everything's okay" Carla suggested, Sally knew better than to say anything else to Carla and slowly walked out of the office. Alya grinned at Carla greatfully and said
"Welcome back"
Marc Matthews eventually arrived at the factory half an hour after he said he would. Alya showed him into the office and Carla was about to give him a little talking to about keeping her waiting but she was diverted when she saw him. He was rather tall, medium build and he had dark blonde hair with bright blue eyes. He was actually very good looking, if you liked that kind of man. Carla just stared at him for a moment, not because she fancied him it was just that she hadn't been expecting him to look like he did.
"I am so sorry I'm late" he said. When he spoke he had a cockney accent which Carla hadn't noticed when talking to him on the phone. Alya's eyes were wide as she left the office in awe of the man who she had just walked in. "There was a huge traffic jam on the way here" Marc said apologetically, Carla stood up to shake his hand
"Well I'll let it slide this time as you're a first timer" She said smiling politely.
"I have to be honest with you, we'll have to make this quick because I'm really pushed for time because I've got another meeting at four pm" Carla showed him a chair where he could sit down and they began to discuss business.
After fifteen minutes Carla could see that they weren't really getting anywhere and sighed because she could see that this Marc was looking at his watch
"Right, Well the ball's in your court really, I've given you all the basic information that you need to know and I know you have somewhere you need to be so..." She shrugged, Marc was smiling at her admiringly. He took a deep breath and then said
"I like you… So here's what we're going to do" he was almost smirking at her Carla raised her eye brows because he seemed very brazen for someone she had just met "I'm going to a charity event on Thursday night and if you're not doing anything I think you should come too" he said
"Really?" She said not too sure what this exactly this Marc guy was thinking, was he actually asking her on a date?
"Yes. I'm fully booked for meetings and until I leave for Barbados next week"
"Barbados?" Carla said rather impressed
"Yes so this charity event will be the only time me and you will have to chat about any potential business, If you decide to come that is, Which I think you will." he said rather boldly and then he smiled getting up out of his chair. Carla got up as well and thought about it for a moment. The way he was looking at her was as if she captivated him and there was also something about him that she couldn't help but find incredibly charming.
"Okay" Carla said grinning "So where is this charity shindig?" Marc smiled at her widely, clearly pleased that she had agreed to go out with him. He took his phone out of his pocket
"It's in a hotel in town" He said typing away
"A hotel?" Carla asked gingerly, Marc grinned at her and nodded
"Yes a hotel, Why do you want me to book a room or?" He laughed making Carla laugh too, she knew Alya and the other factory girls were all watching them through the blinds "Obviously I'm kidding, they'll be no room booking. Well not unless things go really well between us" Marc joked smirking down at the phone he was still typing away on. "So how about I pick you up on Thursday around seven pm, Where abouts do you live?" he asked, Carla sighed knowing that he wouldn't take no for an answer
"That block of flats around the corner, It's called Victoria Court, I live there." She said, Marc put his phone away and nodded.
"Perfect. I'll see you then" he said reaching out and shaking Carla's hand "It was very nice to meet you" he said gazing at her with a smile.
"You too" Carla smiled back him, He then waltzed out of her office and out of the factory. As he left the room erupted into conversation and Alya came rushing back into the office to see Carla
"Oh my god he's gorgeous, Please tell me you're gonna do business with him" she said still in awe. Carla nodded and pulled her sunglasses off of her head
"Well that is the plan." She said but the look on her face made Alya frown
"What, is there something wrong?" She asked
"No. Not really. I mean I'm not sure how but he's talked me into going to this charity thing with him at a hotel on Thursday night, He wants to talk some more about the business."
"You're going to a hotel with him?" Alya exclaimed excitedly "Wow" She said rather impressed
"What?" Carla said picking up her bag
"Nothing it's just, I thought it looked like you two were flirting that's all" Alya said, Carla rolled her eyes
"It was not flirting, It were strictly professional" She said although she wasn't sure if Marc was just making banter of if he was actually flirting with her. She put her sunglasses back on and said "Right I'm off. I'll be back in tomorrow properly okay" Alya nodded at her and said
"Bye Mrs Connor"
As Carla walked towards her building she finally felt the jet-lag she had been dreading start to catch up with her, She should have gone home and got into bed but as she passed the Rover's she couldn't help but go inside. When inside she thought she might find Michelle behind the bar but Liz was there instead, She smiled at Carla when she spotted her
"Hey welcome back, did you have a great time?" She said, Carla took off her sunglasses and put them in her bag this time.
"I did indeed."
"You look amazing, I wish I could go to L.A it sounds like my idea of heaven" Liz said
"Yeah well, I just went down the factory though and it was like coming crashing back down to earth again. Can I get a large glass of red please" Carla said and she yawned loudly
"A large one, are you sure?" Liz said Carla nodded and rested her elbow on the bar with her head in her hands
"Yes, I'm gonna down it, go home and go to bed" she said tiredly, Liz handed her the glass of wine, Liz was watching something as Carla handed her the money for the wine.
"He's really cheered Steve up y'know" Liz said smiling, Carla turned around to see what Liz was looking at, it was Peter, Michelle and Steve. They were sat in a booth together Michelle and Steve on one side Peter on the other. They were playing some sort of card game by the looks of it and they hadn't even noticed Carla was stood there watching them. She picked up her glass of wine and made her way over to them.
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" She asked, Peter looked up at her
"Hmmm I don't know" Steve said looking at Michelle "D'ya reckon she can handle it?" Michelle laughed and Carla took a closer look at what they were playing
"Uno" she said with an eyebrow raised "You're playing Uno" She at down next to Peter after he had moved up the sofa for her.
"Say what you like but we have been playing for almost an hour now and it's highly addictive" Steve said he only had a small amount of cards left but Michelle and Peter seemed to have a lot more than him. Carla watched them, amused at how serious they seemed to be taking this card game.
"Anyone would think you guys where playing a championship game of Poker or something" She said sipping her wine "Where did you even get it from?"
"Someone got it Amy for Christmas and it's never been played with until yesterday" Michelle said, she then groaned because she had to pick up four cards from the pile on the table. "Me and Steve were up playing it late last night" Carla raised her eyebrows at them
"Well there's nothing like a night of passionate Unoing is there?" She said with a grin, Peter chuckled at her and took his turn
"Steve let's start again and let Carla play" Michelle said and Peter nodded
"You two only want to start again because you're losing" Steve said sighing he took a look at his cards compared to theirs and then he looked at Carla. "D'ya wanna play?" He asked
"Not really" She said because she was still jet lagged but as Peter and Michelle insisted she joined them she found her self, rolling her eyes and saying "Fine I'll ave one game" Steve collected up all the cards and then began to deal them out again.
"Do you know how to play?" Michelle asked Carla because she couldn't ever remember playing it with her in the past
"Yeah, we used to play it with Simon when he were about ten y'know before he grew out of it" She said mockingly
"I don't know I reckon if we got him to play with us now he'd love it" Peter said "I mean I used to play it when I was in me twenties" Peter said
"Wow" Carla exclaimed rather sarcastically "Are you telling me that Uno dates all the way back to the cave man times?" Steve and Michelle both burst into laughter. Peter found Carla's remark funny as well but instead of laughing he reached over and began to tickle Carla, She squealed as he said
"Very funny you but I was in the navy actually and it was a very popular game at the time" He said as Steve had finished dealing the cards. He raised his eyebrows at Michelle and she grinned
"I told you." She said to Steve smugly, Carla heard this but she was still being tickled at the time so she concentrated on trying to get Peter to let go.
"Peter!" She cried in between laughs "Stop it" she begged him and eventually Peter stopped but he still had his arm around her waist
"Thank you" Carla said breathlessly, they were gazing at each other again like they had been in the café earlier, both oblivious to what was going on around them. Steve cleared his throat
"Whenever you're ready you two" He said as Peter still had hold of Carla. He let go of her quickly, Carla looked at Michelle as she picked up her cards
"You told him what?" She said referring to what Michelle had said to Steve earlier, Michelle smiled slyly at Carla and said
"Right I'm first"
After an hour of playing Uno they decided to call it quits. Michelle and Steve had beaten Carla and Peter twice each and were both very smug about it as well. They all stayed in their booth though and they ended up spending the evening just chatting about the most random subjects. Carla and Peter had got closer to each other as the evening went on and eventually she had her head rested on Peter's shoulder. She was practically falling asleep as Peter was on his looking at something on his phone. He smirked when saw a picture on Simon's Instagram of him at the red rec with his friend Santana, the girl from the bowling alley.
"Eh look at Simon and his little girlfriend." He said showing Michelle and Steve, Carla opened her eyes properly
"Don't let Simon hear you call her that." She said because she knew what Simon was like. Michelle took a long look at the photo on Peter's screen
"Oh my god. What's her name?" She asked
"Santana" Peter said as Michelle got out her phone, She scrolled through her photo album and Carla knew what she was doing before she'd even showed them the picture.
"D'ya ave to Chelle" Carla groaned
"Look at this picture of me and Carla when we were that age" Michelle said as she'd got up an old photo of them onto the screen, Peter was rather astonished to see the similarities between a young Carla and Santana.
"Wow" he said as he looked at the photo, Carla had long dark brown her way past her shoulders and she looked pretty much the same as she did now only younger and her amazing cheekbones weren't so prominent way back then.
"I know right" Michelle said "She's practically your mini me Carla"
"Well the apple doesn't fall far from the tree there eh Peter" Steve said Peter chuckled
"It sure doesn't" He said proudly, Carla would have usually had a smart comeback but she yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes.
"Right I ave to go home" She said, Michelle looked at her watch
"What? It's only seven o clock Carla." she said disappointed, Carla got up off of the sofa
"I know that but I were on a fourteen hour flight earlier remember" She said picking up her bag, Michelle got up and gave her a kiss on the check
"Bye" She said putting her arms around Carla and giving her a little squeeze.
"Bye" Carla said she smiled at Peter and Steve and said goodbye to them too. It was only when she got home that she remembered the real reason that she had gone to the pub in the first place, to tell Michelle about her business/date with Marc Matthews.