Kate was already up and out of her seat, racing out of the room, before the phone call had ended. Passing Beverley on her way out, not stopping to talk directly, she fired off, "Tell Caroline sorry about the tea." She waved the phone around beside her head, a gesture she hoped would add emphasis to the brief explanation about her quick departure, "It's my dad. I have to go."

Beverley didn't know the details but assumed immediately there must be some kind of family emergency. She tried to reply but Kate was already running away down the corridor before she got chance. Only a few moments later Caroline swept around the door holding two steaming mugs and sporting a smile that lit up her stunning blue eyes. Beverley noted it only seemed to happen when Kate was close by. She'd had an inkling about those two for a while and had made a point of helping Caroline, albeit unknown to her boss, when it came to freeing up time in her schedule so she could spend it with Kate. A more relaxed and happy Caroline made for a relaxed and happy staff.

"Um, Caroline…" She spoke apprehensively, nervous about breaking news that was sadly going to wipe the smile from Caroline's face "I'm afraid Kate had to go."

"What?"

"Something about her dad. She ran out of here pretty suddenly."

"Christ! Was she okay? Did she say…"

"I don't know. She was in a hurry. She said sorry about the tea though."

"Ok, well, er…" Caroline stood in Beverley's outer office, her face betraying her disappointment, not knowing what to do with herself. Still holding two cups she moved toward her office and then back again indecisively. Should she go after her? Should she drive to the care home or wait for word from Kate? If she did leave, when would she find the time to get the rest of her work done? Maybe she wasn't going to the home; perhaps she was headed for the hospital. There was no way to know. Caroline turned again, this time to face Beverley who was still sat behind her desk, her gaze studying Caroline's face. Placing one of the cups in front of her assistant Caroline forced a smile, part reassurance that she wasn't silently having a raging panic attack and part friendly offering, "um, tea?"

"Oh thanks," said Beverley, taking up the hot beverage with pleasure.

Caroline spun around, her free hand now on her hip and was almost through her office door when she turned back around suddenly, "Shit! The choir..."

"Huh?" Beverley was lost.

"Er, Kate… she was supposed to be having choir practice. I need to tell them not to wait around."

"Oh well, I'll go," offered Beverley, jumping up from her desk chair, "I'll run up to the music room, give you time to make a call."

"No that's okay," Caroline waved her free hand, the other still grasping her drink, "I'll go." She retreated into her room and reappeared a few moments later. Having relieved herself of her tea but now clutching her mobile phone, Caroline spoke feverishly, "Actually, you could check the music room, if you don't mind, and I'll check the assembly hall. Kate didn't say where the rehearsal was being held tonight."

"Right you are," replied Beverley. She was always keen to help, Caroline thought, and as the two of them headed swiftly in opposite directions up the hallway another realisation occurred to her. Of all the people she worked with Beverley was the only person she hadn't caught gossiping or sniping behind her back. It had been unfair of her to think of Beverley as loose lipped without proof, but she had nonetheless. To the contrary, she seemed very loyal and thoughtful. If anyone was in a position to figure out her relationship with Kate it was Beverley. If she did know about them already she didn't acknowledge it and Caroline appreciated that. It made everything easier.

Caroline walked as fast as her heels would allow, her ankles ached almost as much as her heart as she pounded towards the assembly hall. She dialled Kate's number on her phone as she approached the imposing double doors. As soon as she entered and saw the great hall was empty she pressed the call button. She paced back and forth with a hand on her hip waiting for the call to connect. As it did and she heard the beginning of Kate's voicemail message, she sighed to herself. What's going on Kate? Where are you? She rubbed her forehead over and over with her thumb and forefinger as she left a message for Kate to call her back. There was no way Caroline would be able to concentrate enough to continue working today and she walked more slowly back to her office than she had away from it.

"I sent them home," Beverley stated as Caroline walked past her desk in the outer office minutes later.

"Thanks."

"I'd say the same to you," Beverley continued, "if I thought you'd listen."

"Sorry?" Now Caroline wasn't following, she had heard words being spoken but her preoccupied brain hadn't registered them.

"Go home, Caroline. I'll be in extra early tomorrow. We'll sort out your schedule, switch a few things around. It's nothing we can't handle. The last box of exam papers turned up finally, I've left them on your desk. Everything else will keep 'til tomorrow. I'm going home now and you shouldn't sit in here on your own in an empty school. Go. Home."

Beverley left no room for interruption and the emphasis she put on the last few words left Caroline a little stunned. Her addled brain struggled to form a coherent argument. There was no fault in Beverley's reasoning, she'd obviously planned what to say in order to deter any dispute from her superior, "Er, but I, um…"

"You've worked late every day since, well… for weeks now. You must be tired. I can help you and I will," she paused, searching Caroline's face for any sign that she may have just crossed a very big line. "Tomorrow."

Caroline didn't have the energy to rebut. Beverley was right. She nodded slowly and watched the other woman put on her coat to leave. Caroline followed suit, gathering up her handbag, a few files from her desk and her coat from the stand in her office.

At least at home she could get a hug from her boys whilst waiting to hear from Kate, whenever that might be.


Friday. Only one more day until the weekend. Just one more day until she could rest a little.

Caroline sighed heavily and looked at the clock on her office wall again. Where is she? Oh god, I hope it's not bad news. It was almost 8am and Caroline had been at school since 5am. How else was she going to catch up? That was the last time she'd let Beverley talk her into going home early. She had finished the small amount of work she'd taken home with her last night, apologising to the boys for being shut in her study all evening, but she could have done more and it did help to distract her somewhat from worrying about Kate and Joseph. She hoped they were still on for dinner tonight.

Picking up her phone from where it lay on the desk beside her keyboard, she checked her incoming calls and messages again. Still nothing. She'd lost count of the number of voicemails she'd left. She checked her contacts for Gillian's number. Her thumb hovering over the call button, she considered asking Robbie to file yet another missing persons report. The voice in her head at least remained pragmatic, there'll be an explanation, no need to panic.

When her phone rang suddenly she almost dropped it in her lap. Startled and with fingers fumbling to find the answer button, she called Kate's name even before the call connected.

"Caroline?"

"Oh, Gavin, hi." She breathed long and hard, trying to steady herself. "How can I help?"

"I need to speak with you urgently, in confidence. I'm on my way in."

"Oh, okay." Caroline didn't probe any further, it was pointless. In his position she wouldn't appreciate twenty questions over the phone, he'd explain when he got there.

Gavin strode into Caroline's office less than 10 minutes later with a look on his face that made Caroline immediately pale.

He motioned that he was going to sit, dropping into the chair opposite Caroline without hesitation. Caroline was about to stand, bracing herself on the arms of her chair, "I'll get Beverley to…"

His entire demeanour clearly showed he was in no mood for tea. "What I have to say, Caroline, is very serious." She tried with all her might to remain calm as she settled back into her chair. She'd handled catastrophes of all magnitudes before; it was part of the job. "And I'm here because despite the fact that some Governors have differing opinions, I happen to think you are the best thing to have ever happened to this school."

What on earth could be so bad that she needed a warning from the Board of Governors?

"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, Caroline. Just so we're clear. This is a personal courtesy only."

"For god's sake, spit it out, Gavin." Caroline was panicked and as quickly as the words snapped from her lips she regretted them.

"Someone on the Board received a tip last night, that there may be something… untoward happening here with regards to exam results."

"That's not possible," she shook her head violently, causing her blonde hair to swish around her face. "No. Not a chance…" she paused taking in his words, her brow furrowed so far her eyebrows hurt, "Anyway, what tip?"

"Is Kate McKenzie in today?"

"No, she's er…" Caroline tried to find the words while her mind swirled with every question known to man. What on earth did this have to do with Kate? Giving him only as much information as she thought he needed, she said "She had a family emergency."

"I need you to take me to her classroom. Right now."

Gavin was already up and out of his seat, clutching the briefcase that had sat upon his lap since he'd arrived only moments before. He waited only a couple of seconds more before his face contorted to something resembling anger and clearly instructed for her to do as she was asked. Caroline followed behind him, through the outer office and into the corridor. What was happening? She knew everything about this school, about everything that went on inside this school. It was her job. It was her life. If there had been any hint of cheating, a faint whiff of someone even thinking about cheating, she would have known about it. But now, she was being led around her own school, and she was completely in the dark.

Neither the Head Mistress nor the Head of the Board of Governors spoke as they walked through the school's hallways. Caroline travelled gracefully but determinedly, a step in front of Gavin, leading the way with the face of a woman who was not to be messed with. Both deftly avoided the many students that already swarmed around the school. Classes would start soon, so Caroline was keen to get whatever misunderstanding this was out of the way before Kate's supply teacher arrived to cover her first period.

As they stepped inside Kate's classroom, she began to lose her patience, "What the hell is this about Gavin, hmm?" Her nostrils flared and her blue eyes blazed with irritation.

"Now look," he replied, trying to placate her with down-facing palms, hands outreached, "I'm going to ask you some questions, for which I need answers, but you also need to be here as a witness."

"A witness?!" She was almost shouting now, her emotions getting the better of what she knew to be bad behaviour towards her superior.

"Have you ever left a member of staff unattended in your office?" Caroline huffed, what a ridiculous waste of ti… "Caroline?" His voice was direct but not accusing, causing her to look up from where she'd been staring at the floor in front of her feet. "Have you ever left… another member of staff… alone… in your office?"

She chewed on her bottom lip as her brain analysed endless memories of meetings and visitors and more personal moments…

She gestured with an outstretched arm, exasperated, "I have an open door policy, Gavin. You know that."

"Who, Caroline?" he spoke more gently now, aware of the upset that might surface at any moment.

"I, um…" pinching the bridge of her nose she thought back over the last week, it had been long and tiring… so many meetings… She rubbed at her forehead, her head bowed in concentration, eyes squinting.

And then the answer came.

"Kate."

"Miss McKenzie?" clarified Gavin. "And..." he hesitated, loathe to ask, "are you having a personal relationship with Miss McKenzie?"

"I don't see what that has to do…" she was shaking her head again in disbelief.

"Are you? A relationship with a teacher that you didn't disclose to the Board?"

"Yes." She couldn't lie. It was impossible for her. Even at 16, the age most kids lied to their parents all the time, she hadn't been able to tell her mother a single untruth. She could keep things to herself very well, better than most, but omission wasn't the same as lying.

Gavin absorbed the information, his face shifting from shock to comprehension to disappointment. He wasn't expecting that. Caroline had never stepped a foot wrong since gracing this school with her formidable presence. She must have been well aware of the school's policy. It wasn't unheard of, this kind of relationship, it happened all the time. Any school that didn't have married couples teaching alongside each other was generally the exception, not the rule. The fact that it was two women was beside the point. She should have made it common knowledge, not least to prevent the obligatory gossip that usually originated in the staff room. Gossip that often proved to be untrue, as he'd thought would be the case on this occasion.

"Its early days," said Caroline, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had seemed like an age but was probably only a few seconds. "I did intend to inform the staff… at some point, once I felt more comfortable with the situation myself."

Gavin nodded to convey his understanding as he mentally connected the dots. Teachers had children. Sometimes those children attended the same school that the parents taught at. Less often those children were the offspring of their school's Head Mistress. He scrunched his nose whilst calculating how rare it might be to have your own children at the same school as your lesbian lover. A tricky situation, indeed. Any other time he could have forgiven her delay, but weighing the accusations that now lay at her door, he had no choice but to treat this revelation very seriously.

"The person who gave the tip seems to think you have behaved favourably towards Miss McKenzie lately. Unfairly so."

"I can assure you that is not the case."

"She was nominated for Teacher of the Year."

Caroline reacted angrily to his implication, "Yes! On her own merit." She continued her defence without taking a breath, "Along with two other members of staff who have equally excelled themselves, contributed to after school clubs, managed extra-curricular activities in their own free time. And anyway, we weren't even together then." She had both hands on her hips now. Feeling much as she had during that dreaded fight with her mother, her blood boiled and she had to swallow the insistent urge to call him some of the horrible names she'd often heard her mother use, and worse still.

"That doesn't rule out favouritism, Caroline, as you well know." Caroline was too furious to respond. Gavin wanted to tread carefully, picking his words to ensure he wasn't misunderstood, "Would you ever grant a teacher access to exam papers ahead of the official session?"

Caroline scrunched her brow fiercely, her stare fixed on Gavin's form as he stood next to Kate's desk. What kind of question was that? How could anyone think she'd do such a thing? "I don't know what it is I'm being accused of here…"

"Answer the question, Caroline."

"OF COURSE NOT!"

Gavin immediately turned away from her. Dragging the desk chair backwards he sat down, started opening the desk drawers and rifling through the contents. Caroline stared at his profile in astonishment, her mouth agape and her eyes stinging.

Not finding his intended treasure, Gavin changed his posture, pushed back the chair and reached down below the desk. Finding and retrieving a brown satchel he scooped up the bag and placed it on the desk. Now standing, he opened the flap of the bag that Caroline recognised to be Kate's own possession. Gavin dug inside, examining the contents as Caroline wondered if it contained Kate's phone. Maybe that was why she hadn't called her back?

Just as Caroline realised she had let her attention wander, Gavin cleared his throat and produced a hand full of photocopied A4 sheets. He held them in Caroline's direction, not close enough for her to take them from him should she wish, but close enough to see what was written on them. They were for Tuesday's written German exam. THE exam. The missing exam.

Gavin's expression became infinitely more sympathetic as Caroline's heart stopped. She didn't hear the school bell sound for morning registration. She didn't hear Gavin ask if she was okay. She could hear nothing save her own mother's voice echoing inside her head…

"She's having you on. She just wants to get promoted…"