It wasn't until she was halfway to Hertford that Eve realised that she may have made yet another bad decision. These decisions were like some kind of invasive plant. Now that the seeds of one had taken root, they were spreading throughout her life, overtaking the good choices she used to make until her mind was so full of the bad ones that they were blocking out the light.

But, yet again, the choice had been made and it was too late now. Niko would be home already from dropping Leo at school and, having seen Eve's hastily scrawled and utterly untrue note, he'd probably be more upset than he was before. And Bill was expecting Eve.

Why had she phoned Bill? She could have called Elena. But then she might have divulged more than she wanted to. Elena had a habit of making Eve spill her guts whether she intended to or not. It could have something to do with the fact that they often caught up in a pub. No; mistake or not, it was Bill that Eve needed to see today. She needed someone to confirm the ridiculousness of Niko's accusation. And who better than Bill? He knew better than anyone that the idea of himself and Eve having an affair was positively laughable.

They had always been buddies before, there had never been any romantic chemistry between them at all. In the early days, when they had worked together, they had formed a kind of alliance against the older, stuffier staff members at the prison where they had met. Eve had been doing a placement while she trained and Bill was a prison guard on his way up the ranks to warden at the time. There had been years of no contact in between, but the two of them had solidified a friendship in those formative stages of their careers.

Eve had pulled up to the bored witless security guard sitting in the booth at the prison car park entrance now, so the chance to change her mind had been left behind on the M25. She lowered the window of her car and leaned out.

"I'm Dr—" She started.

"Yeah, go through." The security guard grunted, cutting her off before she could even finish her name.

Eve wasn't sure if he recognised her or just couldn't be arsed. Given that he barely glanced away from the football game she could hear emanating from his phone screen, she would put her money on the second option.

She parked her car and made her way through the usual rigmarole of entering the internal workings of the large prison. The process was quicker now than when she first visited a couple of months back, and within ten minutes she was knocking on Bill's office door. She shifted from one foot to the other, aware of the stares she was receiving from the inmates passing through the corridor. Eve was all of a sudden aware that she probably looked as worse for wear as she felt this particular morning. She hadn't bothered to properly tame her hair after her shower and she had slung on the first outfit to fall out of her wardrobe.

After a moment or two the door before her swung open and Bill's always welcoming face appeared in front of Eve.

"Dr Polastri," He said teasingly, "What a pleasant surprise."

Eve felt an unanticipated wave of relief wash through her at the sight of him.

"Bill," she breathed, "Hi."

"Well, come in. I've just collected two cups of prison's finest coffee, every bit as awful as last time." He promised, standing back and holding the door open.

"Perfect. No better than I deserve." Eve muttered, stepping into Bill's office.

"That can't be right." Bill said, his face taking on a sympathetic slant. "Have a seat."

Eve deflated into the proffered chair and Bill made his way to the other side of his desk. He nudged a mug of coffee, emblazoned with the prison's "Property Of" stamp, towards Eve. She grasped it gratefully in both hands and took a sip.

"Forgive my honesty here, but you don't look great." Bill ventured.

Eve laughed.

"Your honesty is exactly why I'm here." Eve replied.

"Has something happened?" Bill asked warily, "I know Astankova is a handful, but if she's too much, if she did something, then…"

"Oksana?" Eve looked up suddenly, "No, Oksana's great."

Bill raised his eyebrows.

"Fine." Eve corrected. "Oksana's fine. This has nothing to do with Oksana." She rushed out.

Bill chuckled.

"Don't tell her that. As far as she's concerned, the universe revolves around Miss Astankova." He joked.

"Narcissistic Personality Disorder." Eve responded almost robotically, without thinking.

"Really?" Bill asked, his eyebrows raised again.

"I mean, perhaps." Eve replied, "She certainly shows some symptoms. Not all of them though…" She trailed off, now thinking her way through the signposts of narcissism.

"Eve." Bill cut into her thoughts.

Eve looked up at him again.

"You said this had nothing to do with Astankova." He said. "Is everything alright?"

Eve sighed and looked into the murky depths of her coffee.

"Niko thinks we're having an affair." She muttered.

"We, as in you and me?" Bill clarified.

Eve nodded awkwardly.

Bill let loose a hearty laugh.

"That's a good one!" he chuckled ruefully. "Thank God we're not talking about Astankova. If you were suspected of an affair with her then that would be a far bigger problem for me." He added with a shake of his head.

Eve simply stared at him in disbelief and said nothing.

"Right. Yes. Sorry. This is still a pretty big problem." He agreed, wiping the smile from his face.

"Yeah. It's not great." Eve replied.

"No." Bill shook his head again and then appeared to think, "Is this why he messaged me yesterday?" He realised.

Eve nodded.

"I was late home for this dinner with a couple that commissioned a painting from him. It was important." Eve explained.

"Why were you late?" Bill asked, "It certainly wasn't because we were steaming up my office windows."

"No. My session with Oksana ran over." Eve reminded him.

"Oh yes. Little shit." Bill replied, "She didn't want me anywhere near the room yesterday." And then he chuckled, "I guess it was to do with Astankova after all. She will be pleased."

Eve couldn't help but laugh at that too, picturing the smug look on Oksana's face were she ever to come to know the chaos she caused.

"And Niko didn't believe you?" Bill asked curiously.

"No, I…" Eve started, "I told him I got stuck in traffic."

Bill looked taken aback.

"Why would you tell him that rather than the truth?"

"I… don't really know." Eve murmured. "I guess it seemed better than telling him I just forgot?"

Bill let out a slow breath, mulling that over.

"And he assumed it was a lie to cover up an affair between us? That's a pretty big leap." He concluded.

"He says I've been different since I started working in the same building as you again." Eve explained uncomfortably.

Bill considered that for a moment.

"OK…" Bill dragged out dubiously. "Different how?" He asked after a pause.

"I've been distant, apparently. Preoccupied. We don't… We don't have sex much." Eve confessed uncomfortably, unsure whether that insight was crossing the line of what was appropriate to discuss with a colleague, even if he was also an old friend.

"Since you've been working here?" Bill asked in confusion, seemingly unfazed by Eve's divulgence.

"I think it's been going on longer than that." Eve confessed quietly, averting her eyes once more. "But maybe it's got worse?"

"Ah." Bill replied. "If it wasn't barely ten in the morning I would suggest a stiff drink for this conversation, but…" He got up from his chair and crossed the room to a filing cabinet, opening a drawer with a metallic screech.

He plucked something from within the drawer and turned back to Eve.

"For old times' sake?" He asked, waving an opened pack of cigarettes in his hand with a small smile.

Eve laughed.

"God, it's been years. Remember those sneaky ones behind the wall in Wormwood?" Eve asked.

Bill nodded with a fond smile.

"I thought you quit too." Eve said.

"I did. Years ago. Confiscated these." He explained, tapping a finger against the packet.

"What else do you have in there?" Eve queried with a laugh.

"Um…" Bill rifled through the drawer, "A couple of Snickers bars, a truly filthy porn mag, a freshly carved shiv – that's a very recent addition."

Eve laughed again. Bill had always had a way of making her feel better. She had missed him in the intervening years while their paths had ceased to cross.

He turned back to her and smiled.

"Cigarette, a Snickers and a good chat?" He offered kindly.

"Sounds good to me." Eve agreed.

"And how about this mag? Might give us some inspiration for our sordid affair…" He joked before closing the draw with the same screech as before.

Eve rolled her eyes with a smile as Bill opened the office window as far as its bars would allow and returned to the desk.

Oksana was languishing in her usual state. That is, she was reclined on the top bunk in her cell. She had a book she had only read twice before in her hand, and she was feeling rather proud of herself. The day before she had achieved more than she had set out to. She had kept Pargrave from getting anywhere near Eve, which was her biggest goal for the day. Ideally she would have secured that outcome by driving Renate's custom blade between his ribs. But so far Renate had still failed to uphold her end of their deal and so Oksana had had to consider other options. Her big for a bit of preparatory independence had work though and Pargrave had stayed out of the room and away from Eve. Oksana was, for now, happy with that.

Besides that, her meeting with Eve had overrun its scheduled end time, meaning more time with Eve, a surprise success for Oksana. And Oksana had even touched Eve. It might not seem like a lot, but since being in prison Oksana had grown accustomed to touches that meant nothing at all beyond serving some greater purpose. Well, that, or violent touches. And yet, she had pretty much held Eve's hand (praise be to paper cuts), and briefly, when she had helped the other woman into her coat, she had been able to smell that glorious hair. It was every bit as sweet smelling as Oksana had spent hour imagining it would be. Both of those minor instances of contact would warm Oksana's thoughts throughout the coming nights and days.

Excluding the first time they had met, the day after an appointment with Dr Polastri often found Oksana feeling pretty good about the world. It was the following day that her mood usually returned to its normal precarious position, when she had days to wait until their next interaction and the joy from the last had began to wear off. For today at least, Oksana would enjoy her satisfied state. It was perhaps for that reason that she didn't immediately roll her eyes as a timid knock sounded on the frame of the open door to her cell.

"Oksana?" Came a quiet voice.

"What?" Oksana barked in return, because it wouldn't do let people know that she was less vengeful than usual.

"Can I come in?" Was the next tentative advance.

"If you have something to say." Oksana shrugged

"I do," came the rapid response.

"Then you can come in." Oksana drawled, still not bothering to move her head and look at the visitor. She knew who it was.

"Thank-you." Nadia breathed.

And at that point Oksana could no longer resist rolling her eyes. Only Nadia was as pitifully mild as this. Oksana's own father would have slapped her if she had ever been so meek.

Oksana heard Nadia shuffle into the cell and could feel her anxious presence hovering near the bunk.

"How are you, Oksana?" Nadia asked politely.

"Great. So?" Oksana replied, less politely.

"Oh, right. Um… Renate is in solitary. Did you know?" Nadia supplied.

"Fuck's sake." Oksana groaned under her breath. "I did not know." Oksana confirmed. "What did she do? And why should I care?"

"I don't know what she did. I thought you might want to know because… I know that you and she… You know…" Nadia trailed off uncomfortably.

Oksana laughed and finally turned her head to Nadia.

"Fucked?" she suggested.

"I… well, yes." Nadia answered, looking at her feet rather than Oksana's amused expression at the edge of the bunk.

"Are you jealous?" Oksana teased mercilessly.

Nadia simply shrugged and rubbed one prison boot against the over before turning her eyes up to look at Oksana, unable to hide hints of both hurt and possibly hope within them.

Oksana pouted mockingly at her and reached out a hand to squeeze Nadia's cheeks together almost painfully.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Nadia?" Oksana asked sweetly, and then used her hold on Nadia's cheeks to force her to nod in response.

"Are you feeling neglected?" Oksana asked in the same tone, and then repeated her previous action to make Nadia nod again.

Oksana chuckled and let go of Nadia's cheeks, leaving faint finger marks behind.

"Poor baby." Oksana said.

Nadia rubbed her cheeks distractedly and remained silent.

"Anything else?" Oksana sighed.

"Yes." Nadia said more resolutely.

"Mmm?" Oksana prompted, now bored of Nadia's visit. The little mouse evidently had nothing of any actual interest to tell Oksana. She didn't even know why Renate was in solitary. How was that information of any use to anyone?

"Your doctor is back." Nadia said proudly.

"No she isn't." Oksana yawned. "That was yesterday. Your information is old."

"No." Nadia asserted. "I saw her this morning. Going into Pargrave's office."

At that, Oksana sat up straight on the bunk, swinging her legs over the side in one fluid movement and colliding the edge of one of her boots into the side of Nadia's face. Nadia gasped in pain and took a step backwards, clutching her cheekbone and, in a bold move, glaring at Oksana.

"Sorry." Oksana offered without a morsel of remorse in her tone. "What do you mean you saw her this morning?" she demanded her eyes flashing dangerously.

"About 15 minutes ago. She knocked on Pargrave's door. He opened it. She went in." Nadia explained, removing her hand from her face and inspecting it as though looking for blood. There wasn't any.

"You're fine." Oksana said dismissively. "Are you sure it was her?" She pushed.

"Asian woman. Quite big hair." Nadia nodded. "I've met her before remember. I told you that." She added proudly.

Oksana considered this for a moment, staring down at Nadia from her high vantage point before making her decision and hopping off the edge of the bunk. She landed next to Nadia, her boots hitting the cement floor with a slap.

Oksana planted a gentle kiss on Nadia's cheek, the one that was reddened from its meeting with Oksana's boot.

"Thank-you Nadia." Oksana said tenderly.

"You're welcome." Nadia smiled brightly, all pain in her cheek forgotten.

And then Oksana was striding out of the cell door and calling over her shoulder.

"Find out what Fat Renate did this time!"

Oksana made her quickest journey yet along the corridors between her cell and Pargrave's office. It was a route she had trodden many times over her incarcerated years, but rarely with her head so buzzing with thoughts. What was Eve doing back again? And going, wilfully by the sounds of it, into Pargrave's office where not long ago he had made inappropriate advances on her. It made no sense at all. Nadia must be mistaken.

Unless Eve was going to warn him off. But she didn't need to do that. Oksana was going to take care of it, she had a plan already. Oksana would take care of Eve.

Eve didn't know that though.

Or maybe Eve was going to quit. Maybe she couldn't work with Pargrave anymore and was going to tell him to find another psychologist for Oksana.

Oksana's steps sped up once more at that thought. She was garnering looks from fellow inmates but she didn't notice as they scattered out of her path. One guard took a step towards Oksana as though to question her determined trajectory but then seemed to think better of it. It was quite early in the day for an altercation with Astankova and some guards favoured the easier option of turning a blind eye.

Oksana reached Pargrave's door and pounded on it with her fist. She waited barely a moment and then repeated the action. For a split second she thought she caught a whiff of her father's cigar smoke and yet it couldn't be. Perhaps it was merely a sensory reaction to her channelling the kind of rage that her father had taught her to harness.

"Pargrave!" She called fiercely through the door.

She was about to pound on the wood once more when the door opened and Pargrave's shocked face appeared.

"Astankova. What on earth—" He began.

"Move!" Oksana spat, and shoved past Pargrave and into the office beyond.

In the chair that Oksana usually occupied on her visits to Pargrave sat Eve.

"Eve! Are you OK?" Oksana asked urgently. "You don't have to quit."

And then Oksana took a proper look at the woman before her. Eve looked entirely stunned to see Oksana. Her mouth was open in bewilderment, her hair was more unruly than usual, she barely had any make-up on (though she was never the kind of woman to plaster herself in it in the first place), she looked tired. Her arm was bent at the elbow, her hand halfway to her lips and holding a lit cigarette.

Oksana's brows furrowed in confusion and for a rare moment she was without anything to say. She looked wide-eyed between the cigarette and Eve, Eve and the open window beyond her, then over her shoulder to Pargrave who was quietly shutting the office door once more. Oksana looked back to Eve who was still yet to speak.

"What the fuck is this?" Oksana demanded.