Returning

Chapter 1

The introduction.

"Ah, welcome home!" Ken greets his son and Carla as they get out of a cab.

They'd been in Venice for a quite a while, it was originally to celebrate Ken's birthday however with everything going on with Sinead; it didn't seem right for him to go.

But that meant Carla and Peter took the opportunity to enjoy each others company. They haven't had a chance to take a nice long break together for ages and they damn well deserved it after the past year they've had.

Now they'd returned, they were feeling refreshed and ready to tackle anything.

"Heya!" Carla smiles, accepting a warm embrace from practically her father in law.

"You're looking well, Carla!" He gushes, holding her at arms length and noting her tan and the glow she had in her eye, something he'd not seen for a while. Parts of the 'old Carla' were slowly but surely returning and he was so proud of how far she'd come.

"Thanks, Ken." She replies, going over to the boot to pull out a few suitcases as Peter goes up to his father.

"Alright, dad? How's Daniel and Sinead doing?" He asks.

"Doctor Gaddass was called to the flat, something about Sineads condition slowly deteriorating. Not long now." Ken sighs, sadly.

"Oh. I'll pop over once we're settled in."

"Ey, Ken. We've actually got something for you." Carla pipes up, attempting to lift the mood that had just been ruined.

"For me?" He frowns.

"Yeah, Carla chose it." Peter chuckles, going over and closing the boot.

As the pair grab hold of their suitcases, Ken lets them into his home.

"Here, you make us a cuppa and I'll give it to you." Carla says, watching as Ken scurries off to make them a drink.

"Mmm. Oh how much I missed an English brew." Carla closes her eyes in peace, leaning back into Peter's arms.

"Yeah, it wasn't as if we could even replace the traditional cuppa for a margarita either was it?"

Carla shakes her head; she thought not being able to drink alcohol due to all the medication she was on would be more challenging but in actual fact, an alcohol cleanse was just what she needed. She felt so much brighter without pouring that poison down her neck every five minutes. But also, she believed it had helped her relationship. They could relate more, help eachother out during the weaker moments.

"How was Venice then? Tracy shown me some of the photos when she got back a few days ago."

"Oh it was a dream, Ken. Just what the doctor ordered." Carla smiles.

"We got a chance to go on a speed boat as well. The view was just amazing, you should've seen it. A photo doesn't capture it. We were on that for most the day. There was a specific restaurant we went to most nights, on a rooftop. It overlooked the beach, it was a nice little romantic spot for us-..."

He's interrupted by a giggle emitting from Carla's lips.

"Am I missing something?" Ken narrows his eyes.

"No, no. Nothing." Carla brushes a hand through her hair and sits up straighter.

"Ah, here's your present by the way." She hands a mask over.

"What's this?"

"Just something we thought we'd get you. I thought of you when I saw it and couldn't resist." Carla chuckles.

"It's Devine. Thank you!"

"Did you spend time with Tracy and Steve much?" Ken questions, enjoying a conversation that seemed genuinely happy which he'd not had for a while.

"Not really. I mean-..."

"Oh, sorry." Carla mutters as her phone rings.

She reaches down into her bag to get her phone out, frowning at it.

"What? Who is it?" Peter asks, before Carla declines it.

"I don't know. It was an unknown number."

"Oh. Do you reckon it's like a client to do with the factory or something? Maybe someone doesn't know you're not involved with that place anymore."

"Nah. Oh well." She shakes her head, putting her phone back into her bag, carrying on with their conversation.

Later that day, Peter and Carla are walking, linking arms to get to Roys.

They were going to have a catch up there but stay the night at Ken's as that's where their bags were at.

"Are you going to see Daniel, baby?"

"Erm, no. Apparently he's snappy today so I don't want to wind him up more. I'll go round tomorrow, I'd be less jet lagged then anyway."

"Okay. Let me know if you want me to come." She replies as her phone starts ringing again.

"Wonder who that could be." She says, looking at her phone and sighing once again.

"Is it an unknown number again?" Peter frowns, watching Carla nod.

"Have you got something to tell me?" He smirks. "Got a secret admirer?"

"Pff, give over." She laughs, declining the call and snuggling into his shoulder.

So this is just a short and brief introduction chapter to my new story. It has many twist and turns so stay tuned!! I will be posting a chapter every Friday and if you follow my Twitter (@carlafanx) then you'll see sneak previews on a Monday. I hope you enjoyed this, longer chapters will be coming up. Leave reviews x