THE TIMELINE OF THIS FICTION IS COMPLETELY TO POT – SO IF EVENTS ARE OUT OF ORDER, SORRY.

It was a bright spring morning and Eva Sharpe was getting ready for work and getting the kids Joanna and Daniel ready for school. She and Paul had had another row last night. Whenever Eva had the night off these days and the kids were settled in bed, she fell asleep before he was finished marking his school books and preparing lesson plans. Their marriage was on the rocks. It wasn't a good day for her annual appraisal with her DCI, Jack Meadows.

"Now make sure you go straight to class when the bell rings, and if there's any problems go and speak to Mrs Meadows, OK." Eva told Joanna as she brushed her daughter's hair."

"Yes mum." Joanna replied in a don't start mum sort of way.

Jack and Laura Meadows were also barely speaking to each other, and it was pretty much the same situation as in the Sharpe's, only Laura was seeing someone else, which meant she had even less time for Jack. When she'd arrived home late last night he was already in bed but awake and had tried to pull her close to him for a cuddle, but she said she was tired.

"Maybe you should go to the doctors, love, you might have started your menopause." Jack said to her.

"I think I would have noticed." She snapped at him.

"Well there's obviously something not right, we haven't had a cuddle in ages."

"Is this because I was tired last night? It's not that when you're not in the mood, is it."

It was all getting too much for Laura, faced with the choice of big gruff Jack Meadows or the cute, cuddly Reg Hollis, she knew which one she wanted to be with. The problem was, the rest of Sun Hill would never forgive them and no other station would want Hollis on their relief.

She decided that she would speak to Reg about it later that night when she saw him, she could tell Jack she'd been doing detention duty at school.

Out in the Panda, Reg was in a frizz about his new girlfriend and he was boring the pants of his companion, Des Taviner.

"So, has she got a husband or not?" Des asked him, for the millionth time.

"Not just any old husband either, he's a copper, Des."

"So, this mystery woman of yours, and her husbands, has a fetish for truncheons then?"

"Oh, if you're not going to take me seriously. She is a mature, sensible woman, Des."

"And she's going out with you!" Des muttered as he swung round Canley Spittals roundabout into the yard.

"She says I am loving and attentative, not like her old man. It's power you see Des, the higher up the ranks you go, the more you lose touch with reality, and what really matters. He doesn't love her, not like I do."

"So what you going to do about it then?"

"I'm going to ask her to marry me." Reg announced.

Laura Meadows spent her morning wondering not what to do, but how to do it, she decided that she needed to leave Jack that day so she went to the station to see him.

"Laura my lovely, what is wrong?" Reg, who was on the front desk at the time asked her.

"Nothing sweetie, nothing is wrong, I just need to speak to DCI Grumpy, can I see Jack please?"

PC Des Taviner offered to take Laura upstairs to CID, as Jack was too busy to come down, it was no less than Laura expected from her husband.

"What are you going to do?" Des asked her "about Reggiebabes and all. Are you going to leave your hubby for him or what?"

"Yes, I am. What's it to you anyway?"

"He's a mate, that's all." Des told her.

"He's going to need you around when this gets out." Laura said as Jack came out of the main CID office.

"Guv, Laura would like to see you. Sorry, I don't know your last name." Des turned and said to Laura.

The Meadows' decided they needed to talk things over that evening so they went to the pub. Des spotted them and the following morning he went to speak to the DCI.

"Er, did you enjoy your drink last night, with Lovely Laura Guv?" he asked.

"No I did not, and it's none of you business anyway." Jack answered, unsurprisingly he was not in the best of moods.

"Reggiebabes is a friend of mine and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"So what are you saying, PC Taviner, and what has Reg Hollis got to do with anything anyway?"

"Reg really likes her, and I don't like you sniffing around his fancy-bit, if you know what I mean, Guv."

"Reg's fancy-bit? Des you're not making any sense now go and get on with some work.

"Laura, the woman you were out with last night, remember, is Reggiebabes' girlfriend."

"Don't be so bloody stupid. Get out of my sight NOW. Taviner."

"Guv, I am telling you, Reg is going to ask her to marry him when she leaves her husband. She's married to a copper – got a fetish for truncheons, that one has."

The DCI was furious, it was bad enough that Laura had left him, but for Reg Hollis, and it looked liked it was all round the station.

"For your information, PC Taviner, Laura Meadows is my WIFE. Reg is dreaming, now get out of my sight."