Sheelagh woke up the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned and reached for her trousers that were in a heap on the floor. She pulled her phone out of the pocket and looked to see who was calling. It was Des so she sent the call to the answer phone. Sheelagh turned over to find that Patrick wasn't there, he came in a couple of seconds later, fully dressed, with a mug in his hand. Sheelagh sat up as he sat on the bed. He handed her the mug.
"Thanks." She said.
"It's okay." Patrick leant forward and kissed her softly on the lips. When Sheelagh didn't respond he pulled away and looked at her. "You regret last night, don't you?"
"No, last night was fantastic." Sheelagh insisted. "But…" she sighed, "I think I slept with you more to get back at Des." Sheelagh trailed off at the end. Patrick didn't say anything. Sheelagh sighed again. "I've made a big mess of things, haven't I?"
"I think you're just confused about who you have feelings for."
"It's not fair on you or Des is it?"
"I'll support you whatever you decide." Patrick leant forward and kissed her on the cheek. "I would, obviously, love to be with you." He smiled at her. "I've got to go to work."
"Yeah, same here."
Sheelagh was half-way through her shift and she was sitting in her office staring at the resignation letter she had written, she was holding, her pen over it, debating whether to sign it or not. She knew she needed some time to think and she needed to make some decisions about her life.
Des, meanwhile, was in the gents toilets looking in the mirror.
"I am such an idiot! I am such and idiot!" He said to himself over and over again.
Jack Meadows flushed the toilet and walked out of the cubicle.
"Why?" he asked, "what have you done?"
Des sighed. "Sheelagh heard me say, 'why is it always the quiet ones that get the best women'."
"That was not a good move." the DCI said.
"I know."
"Why don't you talk to her? I mean, she loves you, God knows why." Jack left.
Sheelagh raised her fist to knock on Superintendent Okaro's office when he opened the door. She stopped her hand just in time before she hit him.
"Sheelagh, what can I do for you?" Adam stepped back so Sheelagh could walk into the office. Adam closed the door then took the envelope that Sheelagh was holding out to him. "What's this?" he asked.
"My resignation." Sheelagh answered shortly.
"What?! Why?!"
"I…I need time to think about things, get away from everything and everyone."
"Des?"
"I heard him say, 'why is it always the quiet ones that get the best women?' and then I slept with Patrick." Sheelagh sighed and covered her face with her hands. Adam took hold of her shoulders and guided her to a chair. He sat next to her.
"Why don't you just take some leave?" He said softly, "go away somewhere, forget about everything then come back and go from there."
Suddenly Gina walked into the office.
"Haven't you heard of knocking Gina?" Adam said, turning round.
"Sorry," Gina said, not sounding the slightest bit sorry. "Everything okay?"
Adam sighed and handed Gina the envelope. "What's this?" she asked.
"Sheelagh's resignation." he answered.
"What?" You're not going to accept it?"
"Nope."
"But…" Sheelagh interrupted.
"Shut up Sheelagh." Gina said. She turned back to Adam. "Do you want me to fetch anyone?"
"Yes. Jack and Samantha." Adam replied.
"Samantha? Why not Neil?"
"Because I've realised that I made a big mistake by choosing Neil over Samantha. But we don't need to go through that now."
"Okay." Gina left the room and returned a couple of minutes later with the two people.
"Gina says you've had a resignation, sir." Jack said after they entered.
"Yes. I wanted to hear your opinions on Sheelagh leaving."
"She's too good a copper to go." Samantha said.
"I agree." Jack said.
"Sheelagh…" Adam turned to her, "…I know you have problems, but I do suggest that you think about this before…"
"I've thought about nothing else sir." Sheelagh interrupted.
"I'm not accepting it." Des entered as Adam said that.
"You're not accepting what?" he asked.
"My resignation." Sheelagh spoke up.