Alison King - Carla Risks It All
Is life good for Carla as 2015 comes to an end?
Carla is probably in the best place she has been for a long time, her business is doing well, she is in love, she knows she was not responsible for the fire and all is going well - so it is only a matter of time before something happens to put an end to all that happiness!!
How does she feel about Connors being involved with her factory?
After a rocky start she is happy to have them along and it is working out quite well. She has known them all her life and Johnny and Aidan have been in the rag trade for a while so it feels like a family business even though she certainly doesn’t know how close to the truth that is!
Then Johnny drops his bombshell. . . does she have any idea what his secret might be?
It comes completely out of the blue for Carla, she has never had any idea about this huge family secret.
What's her reaction when he tells her?
She is absolutely devastated, she is always so strong on the outside but with everything she has gone though it doesn’t take much to tip her over the edge.
Does she feel betrayed by Rob because he’s clearly known about this for some time?
She is baffled about how long Rob has known about this and why he is being so cruel as to do this to them all now. At this moment in time she thinks it would be better to have remained a secret for everyone.
I think Johnny always had his suspicions but obviously never voiced them to anyone and Carla certainly hasn’t been under any impression that he was any different with her whilst she was growing up. Her father wasn’t really around during her upbringing, her mum had a drink problem and her dad was pretty absent during her upbringing so she didn’t really have a father figure.
What does Carla say/do? Does she wonder why her life seems to be one disaster after another?
It really sends her into a tailspin. Something like that is life changing as it makes you question everything you ever knew about your life and of course it means she suddenly has two siblings she didn’t know about, and they are people she grew up with.
What does she say to Johnny when he pleads with her to keep his secret from Kate and Aidan?
She is so angry with him and the situation and she confides in Roy and Nick as she needs someone to talk to. They advise her not to tell Aidan and Kate just because she is angry with Johnny but she really wants to make someone pay, she is just hitting out like she always does.
Does she turn to drink, gambling or something else to block out the reality of her situation?
Both - she gets a visiting order from Rob and Michelle advises her she should go and speak to him but Carla is not happy with everyone telling her what she should do with her life so she reverts to type and heads off to the casino where she orders a large drink and sets about forgetting all her worries by playing roulette.
Robert turns up at the Casino to drown his sorrows over the situation with Tracy, together they hit a winning streak and celebrate with champagne and as they say one thing leads to another. It is typical Carla pressing the self destruct button, she feels worthless so she makes herself live up to that label.
How does she feel afterwards?
She realises immediately she has made a really stupid mistake and she knows what she stands to lose. She tells Robert that nobody must find out, she is engaged to the best man in the world and she is terrified of losing him.
What is she going to do?
She confides in Michelle but makes it clear she is going to try and pretend it never happened and get on with her life. Johnny’s secret has blown everything apart for her and she may never recover from the consequences.