Not In It For Love

Summary: When two people come to a realisation about their respective relationships, will they look for someone else or seek comfort in each others arms? For the purposes of this fic, Rachel is engaged and Eddie is still with Alison.

Chapter 1- Something About Her

Rachel Mason pulled her car up in the grounds of Waterloo Road School. She had been appointed headteacher after the shock resignation of Jack Rimmer. Rachel looked up at the school and smiled slightly to herself, she had never been one to turn down a challenge and this school certainly presented her with that. Waterloo Road had gained quite a reputation and she was slightly nervous about taking over at the helm of this school. Rachel knew that she had a massive job on her hands, trying to turn this school around.

Eddie Lawson, the deputy headteacher, had been looking out of his office window when he saw an unfamiliar car pull up in the car park; he instinctively knew that this was the new headteacher. Eddie had of course been told about the arrival of the new headteacher and had been gutted that the LEA had decided to appoint a replacement head so soon after Jack's resignation; he wanted a chance to prove that he could be a good head. Deep down, Eddie knew why the LEA had chosen to fill the vacancy so soon; the school needed stability and this headteacher would probably provide that to a much greater extent than he could.

Eddie opened his office door and began to descend the staircase that led to the main exit.

Eddie opened the main exit door a few minutes later. He walked towards Rachel's car just as she got out, 'Rachel Mason, I presume,' Eddie said as he walked up to her.

Rachel nodded as Eddie held his hand out to her, 'Eddie Lawson, Deputy Headteacher,' he said, introducing himself to her.

'Hi…Eddie,' Rachel replied as she smiled at him.

They stood in silence for a few moments before Eddie decided to break it, 'shall I show you to your office?' he asked.

'Yeah, why not,' Rachel smiled at him once again. 'Lead the way.'

Eddie smiled back at her as she locked her car up and he walked back towards the school with Rachel following in his wake. She quickly caught up with him and was walking beside him. Eddie looked across at her and sighed almost inaudibly. There was something about her, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He was sure he'd felt something when they shook hands. Eddie looked down and saw a diamond ring glistening on her finger, Rachel was completely off-limits. All women should've been off-limits to him, he was married after all, it wasn't a happy marriage though. Eddie was only still with Alison for the sake of his three and a half year old son, Michael. His son was the only thing keeping them together. Eddie knew that staying with Alison wasn't right for him but his desire to be a part of his son's upbringing had overridden his longing to leave her and live the life of a single guy again. They had lost Michael's twin brother, Steven, to cot death when he was very young and somehow, Eddie thought that walking away from his marriage would be too much like losing another son. Despite the fact that he knew his marriage to Alison was past the point of fixing, Eddie had stayed faithful to her but he felt sure that Rachel was going to test that resolve.

Eddie showed Rachel to her office and she sat down behind her desk. 'Anything I can do for you?' he asked.

'Can you set up a staff meeting at breaktime so I can introduce myself,' Rachel replied.

'Yeah sure,'

'Thanks Eddie,'

Eddie smiled at her before he left the office, leaving the door open as he did so.

Rachel watched as Eddie opened the door and walked out into the corridors. She sat back in her chair and sighed quietly to herself. She looked around her office and smiled to herself, she knew she was going to be happy here. She hadn't met all the other staff but if they were as nice as Eddie had been, Rachel knew she would enjoy working here. This job had come at a perfect time for her; she saw this as turning over a new leaf and putting the past behind her. Things between Rachel and her fiancé had been a bit strained over the last year and she thought that getting this job was the beginning of a turnaround in her fortunes. Rachel hoped that things between her and her fiancé would get back on track soon, they had been together for six and a half years and they were supposed to be planning their wedding but that had been put on hold for the time being, they had both been having doubts about going through with it and the events of the past year had prevented them from starting to plan the big day.

Rachel too had thought, just like Eddie, that she had felt something when they shook hands. She shook her head, as though trying to remove that thought from her mind, she was engaged, Eddie was married, that much was obvious and she didn't know him that well at the moment. Her relationship wasn't happy as she would've liked but there was something about Eddie, something that made her question her loyalty to her fiancé. Maybe she was still having second thoughts about the two of them getting married; perhaps the second thoughts she believed had gone had never actually gone away. They had simply been suppressed by her desire not to seem like a failure.

Rachel shook her head once more, mentally scolding herself for thinking like that. Despite what everyone had said about him, she loved him. There could never be anything between her and Eddie anyway, he was married, already taken. However, the fact that he was married and she was engaged didn't stop her from thinking that they could be great friends, nothing more.

Eddie knocked on Rachel's office door again, just after the start of break. 'You ready?' he asked.

Rachel looked up at him and nodded, 'I'm ready,' she replied as she got up from her chair behind the desk and followed Eddie out of the office, towards the staff room.

Eddie opened the door to the staff room, with Rachel following closely behind. 'Can I have your attention please?' he asked the staff gathered in the room.

The staff stopped talking and turned to face Eddie and Rachel, 'as you know, Waterloo Road has been looking for a new headteacher since Jack's resignation and I'm pleased to say we've found his replacement,' Eddie started as turned to Rachel. 'This is Rachel Mason, she's the new headteacher.'

The staff began to mutter amongst themselves, the most prominent of these was Grantly Budgen, Head of English. 'Oh great,' he muttered to his fellow English teacher, Tom Clarkson. 'A woman boss.'

'Leave it out Grantly,' Tom whispered back. 'You don't know what she's like.'

Rachel looked over at Grantly and continued, 'I'm looking forward to working with you all and tonight, the first rounds on me,' she said.

She looked towards Eddie and began to walk towards the staff room door and left. Once he was sure that Rachel had gone, Eddie turned on Grantly. 'What on earth was all that about Grantly?' he asked.

'It's perfectly simple Eddie, she looks like the kind of teacher that is only in this job for the pay packet and the promise of thirteen weeks holiday and if she thinks she's getting round me with a bribe like that, she can bloody well think again,' Grantly replied, referring to Rachel's offer to buy the first round of drinks at the pub that night.

'She might surprise you Grantly, you don't even know her,' Eddie said and he too walked towards the staff room door and opened it.

He was shocked to find Rachel stood by the window; he thought she'd probably gone back to her office. 'Did you hear any of that?' Eddie asked Rachel as he went to stand next to her.

Rachel looked up at Eddie and nodded, 'don't worry about Grantly, he's probably going to be the only one you'll have problems with,' he reassured her.

'Are you coming down to the pub tonight?' Rachel asked, changing the topic of discussion slightly, 'I'd really appreciate it if you did.'

Eddie looked at her and smiled, 'yeah, of course I will,' he replied.

'Great, I'll see you later Eddie,' Rachel said as she began to walk away, back into her office.

Eddie watched her until the door swung shut, smiling to himself slightly and all the time wondering whether there could ever be anything other than friendship between them.

All comments welcome, including any guesses on who Rachel's fiancé is. Luv ya all Gemz xxxx