"I waited years to hear you say that our marriage was important enough to you to want to save Richard, but that time never came." She drank her wine and looked into the glass to avoid looking at her husband. She must have been staring down for some time because she didn't notice him stand and cross the room. Suddenly he was beside her, trying to take her hand in his.

"I'm sorry for that Jean, I'm sorry we let things get so bad, but like I said earlier we can try again, things can be better this time."

Jean pulled her hand away and leaned backwards in order to put more distance between them, but she was trapped in the chair and he reached up and stroked his hand across her cheek. She closed her eyes.

When they watched as James left the house later that evening, Laura sighed and leaned back in Robbie's arms.

"Please say she's not going to hurt him," she exclaimed sadly, "he really has given up so much and his life is only about her now. If she reconciles with Richard now it will destroy him."

Robbie led her back inside and pulled her down on to the settee beside him. He wrapped his arms around him and smiled lovingly at her. "I know. We said all of this back when we found out what was going on. I had an uneasy feeling about it all then and now I feel even worse. I'm not sure she is ready to turn her back on 25 years of marriage. I just hope I'm wrong and that she really does love James more than anything or anyone."

"I hope so too Robbie, I tried hard to sound convincing when I was talking to James but the fact that Jean has gone back there tonight at all just fills me with doubt. I wish I could have spoken to her, if I'd have known what she was planning I'd have tried to talk her out of it."

Robbie pulled her closer towards him and kissed her. "All we can do is to be there for him if he needs us to be," he replied. "You were wonderful at that tonight; you always know just what to say." He began to kiss his way down her neck and she wrapped her arms tightly round him, smiling at the attention she was getting.

"Yes, well I care about him a great deal, as I know you do. I'll do whatever I can to make things better for him."

"Hmmm," he murmured as his hands began running over her body and his kisses became more urgent, "well right now you could make things better for me by stopping with the talk and joining in. I'm trying to seduce you here and at the moment it's very one-sided!"

Laura giggled and did as she was told.

Jean felt Richard's lips touch hers and her heartbeat increased until she felt it nearly coming out of her chest. She didn't know why, maybe it was the amount of wine she'd had, but she placed her hand on his back and let the kiss happen. Suddenly, a surge of thoughts and feelings raced through her. She thought about her wedding day, how happy she had been, the birth of her son, how happy she and Richard had been when they first brought Chris home and all the happy times they had shared as he was growing up. Then she thought of the hurt, the first time that she suspected Richard of having an affair, the times after that when she more than suspected, when she knew that he was with someone else. The times when he didn't even bother to try to hide it, it had been too much effort for him to wipe away the lipstick marks, to wash away the smell of someone else's perfume. Then she thought of James.

He didn't know why he didn't go straight home. Maybe it was the amount he'd had to drink, the doubts that were now consuming him from the inside out or maybe something else was luring him on that dark, depressing night, but after walking around for a very long time, James found himself on the street where the love of his life had lived with her husband for the last 25 years. He stopped at the corner of the road and smoked a cigarette. As he looked down the street he could see a light coming from the house and despite his head trying to tell him to go home, to sleep and to trust her to come back to him, he couldn't resist the desire to walk past just once. As he approached his heart began to beat faster. He would hate her to think he was spying on her, or that he didn't trust her. As he found himself right outside the house he turned his head and caught sight of the back of Richard Innocent. He was kneeling on the floor in front of Jean. Her hand was on his shoulder and they were kissing. James froze, his heart breaking even more than it had the previous evening when his eyes had been met with the same two people. This was it, the moment he had dreaded more than anything, ever. He had lost her. He turned and walked away, heading for... he didn't know where, just somewhere where he couldn't be hurt anymore than he was already hurting.

Suddenly, Jean's eyes snapped open. The thought of James had brought her to her senses. This kiss wasn't right, it wasn't James, she loved James. Yes, she'd waited a long time for this moment, for her husband to tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry and wanted to put things right, but that was before she had fallen in love with James. He was the only one she wanted now; this kiss didn't make her feel anything. She pushed Richard away and stood up.

"No," she began, "I don't want this Richard. I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't love you anymore. I'm in love with James and I can't change that, I don't want to."

She didn't even wait for a reply, she had never been more sure of anything, ever. She flew out of the room and out of the front door, barely hearing as Richard tried to call her back. As she reached the street she began to hurry in the direction of James' flat. Had she been thinking sensibly she would have scolded herself for walking alone after dark, but all sensible thoughts had left her head. As she turned the corner she saw a familiar figure slightly up ahead of her. Confused, she stopped and looked again to check that it was who she thought, but there was no mistake.

"James?"

Upon hearing her familiar voice he span round and saw her face break into an enormous smile as she raced towards him. It was only when she got closer that she could see he was crying.

"James, what are you... why are you...?" suddenly it all fell into place in her head. Why he was near the house, what he must have seen, why he was crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you," she began, flinging her arms around his neck and reaching up to kiss him desperately. "I love you James, this is it now, you and me together and nothing will stop us now baby, nothing can get in our way, please James."

Reviews welcome as always!