A week had passed since Jeff had found out about Dixie's new relationship and she had spent most of her time around at Dawn's place.

She sat at the kitchen table and watched as Dawn sloppily made two cups of tea, she wasn't keen on her tea, she would either over do it with the milk or accidentally leave the tea bag in the cup. She found her mind drifting over to Jeff, he always made the best cup of tea and it was exactly how she liked it.

"You're in a world of your own." Dawn laughed as she placed the full cup onto the table, causing the tea to spill down the sides.

"Sorry love, I was just thinking maybe I should phone Jeff?"

"Why? You worked all day with him."

"I know, but he's been off with me." She confided as she thought back over the shift, he had barely said two words to her and would often avoid eye contact, she couldn't work out what she could have possibly done.

"You need to stop worrying so much, he has his own life." Dawn offered as she tried to remain patient.

Dixie had explained about her marriage to Jeff a few weeks ago, when they first started seeing each other she had kept quiet through fear of complicating things however as things became more steady she had decided to tell her everything.

"Yeah you're right." She agreed trying to suppress the niggling urge to flip out her phone.

"So have you spoken to him yet?" She asked chewing her bottom lip as she did so.

"I don't know how to."

"It's like ripping off a band aid, the quicker the better."

"We say plaster out here." Dixie smiled, Dawn had been living in Britain for five years and yet she still refused to change the way she spoke and it often led to some hilarious misunderstandings.

"Dix, I can understand your worries."

"Ever been married to a bloke?" She sarcastically asked, raising her eyebrow as she did so.

"Wouldn't so much as kiss one." She replied honestly, if there was one thing Dawn was sure about, it was her sexuality.

"Then you wouldn't understand how hard this is."

"Sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind?" She suggested.

"I'd rather not be cruel in the first place."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Deal with this the best way you think."

"You know what? you're right." Dixie declared as she got to her feet before pushing in her chair.

"I am?"

"Yes, I'm going to tell him now."

"But what about your tea?" Dawn shouted down the hall way, where Dixie was making her way to the door.

"You left the tea bag in again." She shouted from the front door before it shut.

As she stepped outside she zipped up her jacket, the cold winter wind was blowing harshly and it was lightly raining. It wasn't actually her jacket, she couldn't find hers before she left the house, so she grabbed Jeff's when his back was turned. It was slightly too big for her, yet the familiar scent of his after shave and shower gel seemed comforting.

She made her way down the pavement before she retrieved her phone, she considered what she was going to write before typing it up and after a few minutes of thought she arranged to meet Jeff at the restaurant around the corner from Dawn's place.

With the agreement of meeting him there in half an hour, she walked on over to wait for him. She had chosen a small Indian establishment, she wasn't keen on the food usually, however she hoped the choice would count in her favour when she spoke to Jeff.

She had seated herself at a table in the corner in hopes of having privacy. The half an hour of waiting seemed to drag on for a lifetime, she had ordered a bottle of cheap wine and had drank most of it in nervous anticipation. When Jeff arrived she almost berated him for being late before realising that he was in fact dead on time.

"Hey princess, this aint like you." He commented as he pulled up a chair.

"What isn't?"

"You're drinking wine, it's usually any excuse for a pint."

"Do you want some?" She asked as she pushed the bottle towards him.

Wordlessly he filled the spare glass on the table and took a sip.

"That's like paint stripper." He cringed, placing the glass back down and pushing it to the side.

"It's the cheapest." She shrugged.

"It shows." He laughed in attempts to break the ice.

"Jeff, I need, well we need to, well uh." She started before trailing off.

"Something you want to say?" He quizzed as he noted her tense expression.

"Are you ready to order?" Came the voice of a waiter from behind them, abruptly ending the conversation.

"Uh, no just give us a moment mate." Jeff replied before reaching for the menu and pretending to read.

Jeff paused and watched as the waiter walked away before placing down the menu, he waited to see if Dixie would speak however all he got was silence.

"You are going to have to give me some sort of clue here." He urged, feeling uneasy by her out of character nervousness.

"Well you see the thing is."

"Dix, you're worrying me now."

"Well you know Dawn and I have been seeing each other for while now and.." She found herself trailing off again upon noticing his features tense.

"Yes and?" He pushed his jealousy becoming ever more present.

"It's me and you, this set up we've got it's not, its just not..."

"Finish your sentences woman." He snapped in a moment of rage.

She looked him in the eyes and was for a moment shocked, she had seen Jeff angry before but never like that and never at her. He was always so kind and gentle towards her but this past week he had become increasingly stressed and seemed irritable over the littlest things.

"It's just not going to work anymore."

Dixie held her breath, whilst Jeff in contrast took a few deep breaths as he tried to take in what had just been thrown at him. Dixie had done break ups before, she had often been the one on the receiving end and she had done her fair share of being the one ending it, but this time she was confused. She had never broken up with a man before, did this even count as a break up? Although it may have been a marriage, it wasn't the conventional kind. After all he was straight and she wasn't.

"Jeff, say something mate."

"No, it's you that needs to keep going, go on explain to me exactly where you're going with this."

She looked at him before diverting her eyes downwards as she focused on a stain on the carpet, Jeff was good at pretending things were all ok , however this time he was making no effort to conceal his anger.

"I want a divorce." She quickly blurted out, unable to take the tense atmosphere any longer.

"So what just like that?" He challenged, he had experienced being asked for a divorce before however he couldn't remember it hurting as much as it did now.

"No, not just like that I've thought about this." She protested, she didn't want Jeff to think of her as cold hearted and cruel.

"So that's it you marry me to please your dieing old man and now your done?"

"We've been married for two years." She merely replied her voice barely a whisper, this different side to Jeff was setting her on edge

"Two years, you've been Kathleen Collier, not Kathleen Dixon, Kathleen Collier."

"What's that got to do with anything?" She questioned becoming increasingly confused.

"You took my name, surely it must have meant something to have took my name."

"It does. You do."

"Then why are you doing this to me?" He demanded his voice raised, causing people from other tables to look around.

"Keep your voice down." She hissed, embarrassed by the looks they were receiving.

"So what happens next?" He sighed defeated.

"I think it's best we just live separately, give us some space to go through with the divorce."

"So that's it then, a new relationship and that it for us?"

"Jeffrey we need to move on with our lives, we can't keep saying we have an open marriage it just doesn't work."

"Excuse me mate." Jeff called out to the waiter, ignoring her previous statement.

"Yes? Are you ready to order?" The young man asked before opening up his writing pad.

"A bottle of whatever is the most expensive." He requested.

"Yes of course anything else?"

"No just that and make sure it is the most expensive."

"I will." He assured as he turned on his heel to fulfil the order.

"What are you playing at?" Dixie demanded a look of shock on her face.

"I don't know what you're on about." He replied in mock innocence.

"Have you seen the prices?" She said in horror as she flipped open the section on wine in the menu.

"So?"

"We don't spend that on our weekly shop."

Before Jeff had a chance to reply the waiter returned with the order and placed it down on the table.

"My lovely wife will be footing the bill tonight." He informed as he picked up the bottle and rushed out the restaurant before Dixie could protest.

She painted on a false smile before calmly pulling out her purse, under usual circumstances she would have been angry at how juvenile he had just acted however she was too angry with herself for hurting him like that and surprisingly she felt aggrieved over the end of her marriage, more so than she ever thought possible.

A/N: Thank you for reading chapter three will be up soon.