Caroline dropped Kate off in town and insisted that she follow her home just to make sure that she got back safely. Even though Kate was still angry at her, she felt obliged to ask her in for a coffee and Caroline thought it would be rude not to accept.

After coffee came a light supper which Caroline prepared and cooked. The conversation was effortless and varied and before Caroline realised, it was almost 9pm. She glanced across at Kate who was nodding off to sleep at the other end of the sofa.

"Kate. Kate." She gently touched her leg and Kate stirred and smiled over at Caroline.

"Yes my lovely." Caroline opened her eyes wide and looked at Kate.

"Kate, it's me, Caroline."

Kate sat up quickly, rubbed her eyes and looked at Caroline, the colour of embarrassment rising up her face. She bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes.

"Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Oh, that's OK." She moved to the edge of the sofa. "I ought to be going. You've had quite a day and you need to get your rest."

As Caroline reached the front door, she turned to Kate who was behind her. There was an uncomfortable moment when neither woman knew what do to. Caroline took the initiative and held out her arms to Kate. She walked into them and in the same instant, they both turned their heads the same way and their lips narrowly avoided touching. Caroline kissed the air at the side of Kate's right cheek and moved away, coughing lightly.

"Ring me if you need anything, anything at all. No matter what time it is. Night night Kate."

And she was off and walking up the garden path towards her jeep before Kate had the chance to answer and thank her for all she had done for her that day, for staying with her and supporting her and for making sure she got home. She leaned on the door frame and watched Caroline until she was out of sight. They had almost kissed, almost, but it had been enough to make Kate go weak at the knees.

On Sunday, Caroline was sat in her office at home trying to catch up on some paperwork but her concentration span was very limited. She decided to drop by and see Kate. She could always say she was in the area if she asked her. She didn't normally drop in on people unannounced but after what had happened the day before, she felt that she ought to.

As Caroline walked up the garden path, she heard laughter coming from the back garden and walked down the side of the house. It was early September and still quite warm and she thought that perhaps Kate was chatting to her neighbour over the fence. She wasn't at all prepared for the sight that greeted her. Kate and Sophie Brightman were sprawled out on a picnic blanket on the grass. They were both laid on their stomachs and their faces were very close together and they were whispering and sniggering like 2 school girls.

She had intended to hastily turn around and walk away unseen but something about the way they were acting with each other prevented her from doing so and she stood watching them. They were being very playful with each other and Caroline was intrigued. Kate must have sensed her presence because she unexpectedly turned and, seeing that Caroline was stood there, she waved and invited her into the garden. Caroline half smiled and shook her head. She raised her arm to her.

"I just called round to see if you were OK after yesterday. I can see you are fine and you look erm busy so I will leave you to it. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kate got up onto her knees and was just about to stand up and go over to Caroline when Sophie grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. She giggled.

"Stop it! I need to go and see what Caroline wants."

"Oh, Caroline now is it? I didn't know you were on first name terms. And what happened yesterday? Why were you with her?" There was something about Sophie's tone of voice that addled Kate. The mood suddenly changed.

"I'll explain later."

Kate got up and started walking across the lawn and Sophie followed her.

"Is that why you didn't answer your phone, because you were with her?"

Kate spun round and spoke to Sophie through gritted teeth.

"I said that I would explain later, not that it has anything to do with you. But if you must know, Caroline was in the same shop as me yesterday when I fell ill and she came with me to the hospital. That's all. You don't have to go all funny on me just because I happen to have friends other than you."

"I'm not being funny. And I didn't think that you and her were friends. She is your boss Kate. That hardly makes her your friend. So where does that leave us, you and me?"

"Pardon? What do you mean, you and me? We are friends, or at least I thought we were. We work together. You called by unannounced and we were having a laugh. I am not sure what you think we are. I have more than one friend in my life you know."

Sophie grabbed Kate's arm and turned her round to face her.

"I thought you and me were getting on well. I like you Kate and I thought me and you could, you know, have some fun together."

Kate lowered her voice to a mere whisper. She was mortified that Sophie was even discussing such things within earshot of their boss.

"We do get on well but now is not the time to discuss this, if this is indeed what I think you want to discuss. Our boss is less than 12 feet away from us. Can we just park this for now and let me speak to Caroline."

Caroline was starting to feel very ill at ease and she turned once more to leave.

"Sophie just dropped by because she was worried. I didn't show up on Friday night and then I wasn't answering my phone yesterday because I was in hospital. I'm not really sure what she thought I had done. "

Kate's laugh was false and she looked back at Sophie. She was annoyed at being hushed up and brushed aside and she clenched her fists and flung down her arms at the side of her body like a petulant child. And then she shouted something unexpected that made Caroline stop and stare open mouthed at the 2 women.

"She's gay you know. Kate. She's gay."

Time stood still and the 3 women were rooted to the spot, looking from one to the other.

"I knew it the first time I saw you Kate. I sensed that you and I had that connection. And it's all right." Sophie took hold of Kate's hand but she pulled it away. Sophie looked hurt. "Didn't you realise that about me too? Come on, you must have. You've been flirting with me all day."

Kate wanted to run away and hide.

"I don't know what signals I have been giving you Sophie but I have certainly not been giving you the big come on." She lowered her eyes and looked over at Caroline and then back to Sophie. She needed Sophie to know that she didn't want to have this conversation in front of Caroline and that this had to stop. She laughed awkwardly.

"Come on Sophie. Me and you are friends. Can't we have a tumble about on a blanket without you thinking that I wanted to, you know."

The situation was becoming more difficult by the second and Caroline reached into her bag and took out her car keys.

"So, I'll be leaving then. Kate, Sophie." She put her hands in the pockets of her blazer and started to walk away.

"Why are you denying it Kate? Don't you feel the same way about me?" Sophie looked upset and she tried once again to take Kate's hand.

"Can we talk about this later Sophie. Can we discuss this another time?"

"Why can't we discuss it now, here. I haven't anything to hide. Why are you pretending Kate?"

Kate laughed.

"Sophie, you need to stop now. Stop fooling around. The joke is over and it isn't funny anymore." She felt awful for trying to stop it this way but she didn't know how she could prevent Sophie from carrying on the way she was. The last thing she wanted was to be shown up in front of Caroline.

"I'm glad you agree that this isn't funny. At least we are on the same page for one thing." And Sophie ran past Caroline, brushing past her and causing her to lose her footing slightly.

"Sophie, wait." Kate's call was in vein and she stood and watched Sophie drive away from her house.

"Oh my God. What just happened? I'm sorry about this Caroline." Turning round, she walked back to the blanket and sunk down onto it, her legs curled up under her and her hands behind her for support. Caroline was clueless as to what to do but her mothering instinct took over and she walked across to Kate and knelt down beside her.

"Are you OK?"

"What do you think Caroline? My new friend thinks I am coming on to her and appears to have the hots for me and my new boss thinks I am a total floozy. My head is all over the place and I really just want the ground to open up, swallow me whole and never spit me back out again. What do you think?" And she burst into tears, her shoulders shaking as sobs racked her body.

After a few moments, Caroline took Kate in her arms and rocked her, rubbing her arm and soothing her until at last Kate had stopped crying.

"I did know she was gay you know, Sophie. And I was flirting with her a little bit."

She looked up at Caroline.

"I, oh err I never suspected. Erm, does it matter that she is gay? And does it matter whether you knew or not?"

"No, I don't care that she is gay. And I guess it doesn't matter whether I knew. But I did know I was drawn to her. It was kind of exciting to think that she liked me and oh, this is so hard to explain."

"Then why don't you try. Kate, just because I appear to have this hard exterior and most people think I am unapproachable, it doesn't mean that I am. I do have feelings and I am a sensitive person. I would understand you know. I would like to understand. Why don't we go into the house and we can talk."

And she stood up and reached down her hand to Kate. She took it, careful to make sure that it was her opposite hand and she allowed Caroline to pull her up off the blanket. They walked slowly side by side into the house, Kate's mind working overtime trying to figure out a way to explain it all to Caroline.

"8 months ago, I had the best of both worlds: a husband and a lover. I'm not proud that I cheated on Richard. We had been married for a long time. But I somehow convinced myself that because the person I was having an affair with was a woman, I wasn't culpable."

Kate paused and waited for a reaction. They were in the sitting room and Caroline was sat on a 2 seater sofa opposite Kate. Caroline never flinched and looked across at Kate. She continued.

"I hadn't planned it. It was just something that sort of developed over time and I was weak and powerless to stop myself. We were desperate to start a family, Richard and I, and after 4 miscarriages, we had given up any real hope of conceiving naturally. Oh, we looked at adoption and fostering but none of it felt right for Richard. The only other route was IVF. It was difficult because the doctors couldn't find anything medically wrong with either of us and this would be an expensive option but it was the only one we seemed to have left. We both blamed each other for a long time about why things were going wrong and we always seemed to be arguing and disagreeing with each other. The ironic thing is that we never ended up following the IVF route."

Caroline was looking at Kate with compassion in her eyes and from time to time she made noises that relayed to her that she was listening.

"I kind of lost my way after that and I needed something more in my life, someone else who would see me for who I was and not just someone to provide them with a child. Anyway, I found a friend in Jayne. I met her at one of the spinning glasses at the gym and we hit it off instantly. She was always there for me and she became the one person I felt I could take to, the one who supported me. I had no idea she was gay, and I don't think she was looking for a relationship. But it all just kind of happened. We fell in love and we were together for almost 5 months. It just felt so right and I was so happy."

Caroline moved her position on the sofa and looked at Kate, willing her to carry on.

"One night, we were out in town and a friend of Richard spotted us in a restaurant and, well, I think the way we were with each other was a dead giveaway. He told Richard and I ended up coming clean about me and Jayne. We had a big row and I walked out on him. I felt unable to go back and be his wife. How could I? I didn't hate him, I just didn't love him. Does that make sense? And I couldn't put him through any more pain and angst. It almost destroyed him to find out that I had cheated on him with another woman. He said it would have been easier if it had been a man that I had been having affair with. It would have been easier to accept my infidelities instead of having to wonder whether I had actually really ever loved him at all. Anyway, after a week of soul searching, Richard filed for a divorce."

Kate paused and wiped away a lone tear that was tricking down her face.

"My romance, friendship, affair, whatever people chose to call it, fizzled out very quickly and I was left in a quandary about who I was and wondering what I really wanted from life. Jayne had been the first and only woman I had had a sexual relationship with and when we were no longer together, I had a chance to reflect on what we had had and suddenly I wasn't so sure about anything anymore. I think I had mistaken infatuation for love. So I moved here and started looking for a job. I got the interview at Sulgrave and the rest, as they say, is history."

Kate sat with her knees together and her hands in her lap. She looked over at Caroline who was sat back on the smaller sofa, her head resting on her hand which was being supported by the arm rest.

"I think you are very brave Kate. I think that a lot of women in your situation would have stayed in a marriage when they weren't happy because it was convenient. I admire you. I wish I had the nerve to, well, if I was in the same position as you, I am not sure that I would be able to walk away."

"You don't seem shocked Caroline." Kate seemed less tense and she sat back on the sofa and tucked one of her legs underneath her.

"It takes a lot to shock me. I am the head teacher of a school with over 800 pupils. I see lots of things every day that would shock some people but it doesn't affect me anymore."

"So what now?"

Caroline look perplexed.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, now you know that I am attracted to other women and that Sophie and I, well, there is no Sophie and I but that doesn't mean that we wouldn't have err, that I maybe still wouldn't "

Caroline stopped her.

"What you do in your own time is very much your own business Kate. I would of course prefer you not to have a relationship with another member of my staff because it can have lots of repercussions and get complicated. But I cannot insist that you don't. And I certainly cannot insist that you leave my school if you choose to do so. Not that I would anyway."

Kate got up and walked across the room. She sat beside Caroline on the sofa and turned sideways so she was facing her.

"I don't think I want a relationship with Sophie. Well, not the sort that she wants with me. I want to be friends with her but that is probably as far as it will go. I like her. She is funny and bolshie and doesn't care what people think of her but after today I don't think that me and her could be, well that we would be right together as a couple."

Caroline felt as if a small weight had been lifted from her shoulders, a feeling which she was yet to understand and she looked almost relieved.

"I don't want a relationship with her because I have feelings for someone else and I want to see how this plays out."

Caroline looked directly at Kate. Her stomach was churning and her mouth was starting to get dry. She swallowed hard.

"Oh! Do you want to talk about this other person? It is someone that I, would I know her, erm, them?"

Kate leaned forward and took her hand. Her mouth turned into a wide smile.

"Yes, you might. I need to tell you something Caroline and I need you to listen and to let me finish. I like you, I like you a lot. I want to get to know you better and I want to be your friend but there is also a part of me that wants more. And that terrifies me."

Caroline gently pressed her hand

"I don't know what to say. I'm err I'm very flattered really I am but it's not, well, I don't know if it is erm I'm married."

"I know you are but I needed to tell you. This sounds trite but every time I see you, my heart misses a beat, my stomach flips and my knees go weak. When I am with you, I lose concentration, I don't hear what you are saying because I am looking at you and thinking how magnificent you are. I am imagining what it would feel like to kiss you, to hold your hand, to lie down next to you. And I felt all these things the first time that I saw you and they have heightened and grown stronger with every meeting, every times our paths have crossed, every time I have heard your voice."

And without warning, she leaned forward and kissed Caroline. It was a gentle kiss and she slowly moved her lips, encouraging Caroline to kiss her back. She kept hold of her hand and caressed it. Feeling nothing from Caroline, not even resistance, she continued kissing her until finally Caroline responded and her lips tentatively moved in synch with Kate's. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity and then breathless, the 2 women pulled apart and sat looking at each other, neither of them able to explain what had just happened.

Kate stood up and walked toward the door. She turned round to Caroline.

"I'll put the kettle on shall I? I think we could both do with a coffee. And I think we need to talk, don't you?"