The Final Chapter

Kate's phone suddenly burst into life and she quickly grabbed it from the bedside table. Caroline's picture came up on the screen and she heaved a sigh of relief. "Christ Caroline where the hell have you been?" She almost screamed down the phone, and without waiting, "have you any idea what you've put me through the last two hours?"

"Kate, can you hear me? I'm having trouble hearing you, I am on my way home but I'll be another twenty minutes or so. Don't worry darling I'm OK." And with that the line went dead again.

The evening had taken some bizarre twists and turns and Caroline was desperate to get home and away from the tangle she had been in over the past hour and a half.

She had struggled to get Molly to let go of her hand at the dinner table and was acutely aware that some patrons were beginning to notice, even from a distance, that these two women could be having some sort of a lover's tiff. Molly had eventually let go and subsequently ordered a large whisky, and then another. Caroline had declined on the obvious grounds that she had to drive home.

"Molly, I need to say very clearly to you that there is no possibility you can be in my life. I see your pain and dare I say it, the longing in your eyes, but you must know that I am head over heels in love with my wife. Yes Molly, my wife. Kate isn't some girlfriend that I am experimenting with; she and I have been to some dark places in the last twelve months as we tried to come to terms with what our relationship is and how much we wanted it to work; not to mention nearly losing her to the accident. I have thought a lot about you in the last few days and I think you are in love with what you see between Kate and me, not me particularly. It has stirred up what you have repressed all these years and as I was the last woman you felt this way for, you think you are still in love with me."

Molly couldn't have known that before starting this conversation, Caroline had gone to the bathroom and switched her phone to record. It was face down on the table and was catching everything being said. Caroline wanted Kate to know exactly what she had shared so that there could be no misunderstanding. The last thing she wanted was for Kate to be left with niggling doubts about her determination to deal with this.

"I don't know Caroline, I don't know anything anymore. I just feel so out of control and unable to move, it's like I'm paralysed. I think I'm about to lose my husband and I really don't care. Seeing you and watching you with another woman sent me spiralling back to my heartache in Oxford. It has made me question everything I thought I believed in, everything I thought was over and settled, even dead and buried." With that she ordered another whiskey.

At this point, Caroline had asked Molly where her car was and insisted that there was no way she was going to let her drive home; it was in an underground car park and should be safe until the morning. She thought briefly about ordering a taxi but decided it would be better to drive her home and make sure she didn't try anything stupid on the way. She paid the bill and then helped Molly to walk to the car which thankfully was not too far away. She carefully belted a very drunk Molly into the front seat and programmed the navigator. She thought about ringing Kate, but decided she would drop Molly off first and then let her know she was on her way home. She hadn't banked on the fact that Doug and Molly lived in a very small and isolated village up on the top of the moors. It took quite a while to navigate the small country lanes and several times the navigator had sent her off in the wrong direction.

Once she arrived at the house, she could see that there were no lights on and that made Caroline even more concerned about leaving her alone. She pulled out her phone to try to ring Kate. "Shit". There was no reception. She knew that this was going to be horrendous for Kate, not knowing where Caroline was and not able to contact her. Panic set in. She struggled to get Molly into the house and eventually got her onto the sofa, put a bottle of water beside her and covered her with a throw. She searched for Molly's landline and dialled home. It was by now after eleven. The phone was engaged which made Caroline panic even more as she suspected that Kate was trying to find her.

Kate had already phoned the restaurant only to be told that the two women had left forty five minutes before. She was now trying almost anyone she could think of and was beside herself. She thought back to the day of her accident and how the police had come to the door to inform Caroline that there had been a terrible accident and now she found herself imagining that any moment the doorbell would ring and she would be faced with the same.

Molly stirred as she was about to leave her," Caroline are you going? Are you leaving me? Please don't go, stay with me. I just need to be with you, even if it is only for one night."

"Molly you are drunk and in no fit state to talk or anything else, no doubt if we did you would regret a lot in the morning. I cannot get hold of Kate and she will be so worried about where I am. I have to go now."

Caroline pulled the door closed behind her and climbed into the car. She sat for a moment and gathered herself. 'I must get out of here to the nearest place with a signal' she thought and with that she left her phone on the seat beside her so that she would notice when the all important bars of reception came on. It was a good four or five miles before she noticed the white stripes appear and she pulled over immediately.

It took another twenty five minutes to reach home. She had called Kate again from the other side of Harrogate to let her know she was nearly there. As she put the key in the door, it flew open and Kate grabbed Caroline and held her as tight as she could. They stood locked together for several minutes both letting the relief flood through their bodies.

Later, with a stiff drink in front of her, Caroline replayed for her wife the conversation she had with Molly at the dinner table. Tears began to roll down Kate's face as she listened to the deeply committed and unambiguous way her wife had ended what could never have been. At that moment she loved Caroline more than she could ever imagine, but she also had a small reserve of compassion for the obvious pain her would be rival was feeling.

As they slid under the bedcovers together their arms were quickly around each other as they lay taking in all that had happened in a few short days.

Thursday afternoon couldn't come fast enough for Kate. She had been walking on eggshells all day hoping that she wouldn't bump into Molly. However, the deputy principal had taken the morning assembly and there was no sight of the principal.

Later as the two of them sat at the kitchen bench talking more about what had happened the night before, Caroline's phone began to ring. "Hello Gavin, this is a surprise. How are you?" she said as she shrugged her shoulders at Kate wondering what this could be about. "Margaret Connor has taken indefinite leave from the Principal's job Caroline. She cited medical problems as her reason but no-one is really sure what is going on. We know you have other work now but the board of governors and I, are wondering if you could give us a couple of days a week to keep things ticking over while we look for a full time temporary replacement? The deputy will do the day to day running of the school but we need someone with knowledge of all the committees and meetings that need to be run." Gavin waited for a response.

"Can I talk it over with Kate and get back to you?"

"Sure hopefully you could let us know by Monday."

Caroline turned to Kate and said" Wow, I thought we'd had enough drama for one week."

In London, Molly stepped off the train with her suitcase and into a taxi. After giving the driver the address she sat back and felt the terrible sadness that was slowly enveloping her. She was about to check into a private clinic run by a church group her priest had suggested she try. It was well known for its 'Conversion Therapy'. The dragon must now be put to sleep again. Caroline McKenzie-Dawson would never be hers.