Chapter 6
The sun hung high over Weatherfield, casting long shadows across the cobbled streets. Outside the Underworld factory, a faint scent of cotton and fresh fabric wafted through the air, a familiar fragrance that once brought Carla comfort. Today, however, the air felt heavy, laden with unspoken words and emotional turmoil.
Carla stood by the entrance, the heels of her boots clicking against the pavement. The sunlight glinted off her tousled hair, giving her an ethereal quality, but her bloodshot eyes betrayed the storm within. She crossed her arms, as if trying to contain the chaos swirling inside, a mixture of shame and anger that bubbled beneath the surface. She had called Lisa last night, seeking solace in her comforting touch, only to wake up feeling embarrassed and even more broken than before.
Just as Carla was about to turn back into the factory, lost in her spiral of discontent, she bumped into a short figure just outside the entrance. Lisa’s sharp green eyes widened in surprise. "Carla?" she exclaimed, her voice tightening with concern.
Carla snapped her head toward Lisa, an errant glimmer in her eyes betraying a restless chaos beneath the surface. “What do you want, Lisa?” she snapped, her words sharp and uncharacteristic.
Lisa’s breath hitched at the harshness in Carla’s tone. “I… I was just checking on you. Are you okay? Should you be at work?” Lisa stepped closer, taking in Carla’s disheveled appearance, the dark circles under her eyes, and the way her skin looked slightly pale. It was clear to Lisa that Carla had been drinking again, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
Carla’s brows knitted together, her expression darkening even further. “Why does it matter to you?” she shot back, the words slicing through the air like barbed wire. The defensiveness caught Lisa off guard, and for a moment, she faltered.
“It matters because I care about you, Carla! You were—” Lisa hesitated, struggling to find the right words. “You were really upset last night.”
The mention of the previous night sent a flicker of something deeper—a rush of guilt, embarrassment, and pain flooding through Carla. She couldn’t believe she had let her emotions spill over so easily- twice now- and yet here was Lisa again, probing her wounds with concern that felt suffocating. “Stay out of my business!” she barked, the words more venomous than she intended.
Lisa recoiled, her heart sinking. How could this be the same woman who had hugged her for dear life just hours before? “I just want to help,” she said softly, her voice slightly trembling.
“Help? You think you can just waltz in like some rescuer and fix everything?” Carla shot back, her voice shaking with unresolved emotion. “I was fine before, and I’ll be fine again.”
“Carla, you’re clearly not fine!” Lisa couldn’t hold back the frustration any longer. “You’re standing outside the factory drunk, and it’s not even lunchtime. You need to take a step back and—”
“I don’t need to do anything! And i certainly don’t need your judgment!” Carla exclaimed, her words fueled by an anger that felt like a storm inside her.
“Judgment? This isn’t judgment!” Lisa pleaded. “This is concern. I care about you, don’t you get it?”
But the words fell like stones in a pool, sending ripples of anguish through Carla. The last thing she wanted was for Lisa to think she couldn’t handle her emotions. “You think it’s easy for me? To just ask for help? To admit that I’m a complete mess?” Carla’s voice broke, the walls she had built around herself crumbling under the weight of her conflicting feelings.
Lisa’s heart ached. She saw the same self-loathing in Carla’s eyes that she saw the night she had arrested her. She wanted nothing more than to bridge the gap that had somehow formed between them. “I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to support you. Please, just let me in.”
“Just let you in?” Carla echoed, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and fear. “What if I’m too much? What if I start dragging you down with me?”
The weight of Carla’s words hung heavy in the air, a silent acknowledgment of the bond between them—one imbued with both friendship and something deeper, something neither could yet articulate.
Lisa stepped forward, her face softening, anger slipping away to reveal a profound sadness. “Carla,” she slowly breathed, “you could never be too much. I know you’re scared, but I’m here for you. You don’t have to do this alone.”
But Carla suddenly felt overwhelmed, the wave of vulnerability crashing around her. How could she let Lisa in when her own feelings were a tangled mess? She’d started to rely too heavily on her, and that scared her more than anything. “I can’t do this right now, Lisa. I really can’t,” she said in defeat, her voice cracking.
Carla moved abruptly, brushing past Lisa as the turmoil of emotions bubbled over. What was happening to her? It felt like she was drowning in a sea of confusion. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words tangled in her throat, choked by fear and regret.
“Carla, wait!” Lisa called after her, desperation creeping in as she watched Carla walk away, the space between them feeling more insurmountable than ever.
But Carla didn’t stop. She kept walking, her steps unsteady, her head spinning. Each stride felt like an anchor pulling her deeper into the abyss—the realisation hitting her that she had begun to feel something for Lisa, something that had been hiding in the recesses of her heart, gnawing at her every waking moment. It was exactly how she had developed feelings for Peter. It almost felt as though history was repeating itself.
It was terrifying. Because if she let herself acknowledge those feelings, if she stepped into that unknown territory with Lisa, what might happen to their friendship? The fear of losing the one person who stood by her, no matter how many times she messed up, paralysed her.
As the shadows of the day pressed in on Carla, her heart twisted painfully in her chest, torn between wanting to connect with Lisa and fearing the consequences of that connection. She wanted to scream, wanted to cry, but all she could do was walk away, hoping that distance would make everything clearer.
Inside, she still felt the echoes of that warm embrace, the sheer solace that had come from Lisa’s presence the night before. But outside, all she could conjure was a bitter sense of isolation—a painful reminder that perhaps, no matter how much she wanted to open her heart, there were bonds that were terrifying to forge.
And as Carla disappeared from view, Lisa stood frozen outside the factory, feelings of helplessness washing over her. She had tried to reach out, tried to pull Carla from the edge, but instead, she felt like she had just pushed her further away. A wave of dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she wondered if she had truly lost her friend.