Sorry for being quiet! Thank you for all the kind messages of encouragement. It means a lot.

Ariana pulled her bottom lip out nervously and checked the computer screen again. She had accidentally stumbled on Joss's social media profile and wished that she could undo what she had read. The page had been unapologetically open when Ariana sat down at her laptop to place an order for new lamps, so it would have been impossible not to see it. A lot of things began to make sense now. Endless, angry women that had come and gone from her daughter's life, the few times she had witnessed Joss break up with people, or rather them break up with her – those individual jigsaw pieces were slotting together a little too nicely for Ariana's liking now.

Thoughts of regret and disappointment ran through her tired brain, as a parent you do your very best with your children, you provide as much as you can, try to teach them morals and how to be compassionate but at that moment, Ariana was furious with her daughter, more furious than she could ever remember being. Upon opening her laptop Ariana, had found Joss's discussions with a woman called Macy, residing in Edinburgh and they were conversations of a nature that a mother does not want to witness her daughter having. It was clear that there had been some kind of intimate relationship between Joss and Macy and after a few glances Ariana was certain that the relationship was still continuing.

So why pursue Caroline with such fervor? Was one girlfriend not enough for Joss?

Not only that, Caroline deserved better. She had been hurt and did not deserve to be a bit on the side for anybody. The fury was bursting in Ariana's head like fireworks on New Year, she hated deception and Ariana could tell that Caroline was the sort of person that got invested in a relationship quickly. If she liked someone then that was it, she was in. Ariana understood that, at their age there was little need for dating and the complications surrounding modern day relationships that appeared casual and unclear. Ariana was forthright and so was Caroline and now Ariana wished she had used her forthright attitude to lay out to her new friend that she wanted more than a friendship with her, before Joss had used her youthful confidence to sweep in there because that was the truth of the matter. She wanted to sit in coffee shops with Caroline and talk about their lives, she wanted to listen and engage and connect with the beautiful woman that had stumbled across her path, entirely by accident or by a greater design than Ariana could fathom. Whatever and however it had happened, she was certain that Caroline had come to her for some reason and there was something in her gut that was screaming she should not let her go.

But now Ariana had a problem. She wanted to tell her daughter that she knew what was going on but if she did then she would have to confess to 'accidentally' reading the exchange on the computer. There had to be a way to handle this situation tactfully but Ariana was stumped. She sighed and then began tapping on to the keyboard. It was s simple message but could be construed to say so much. She quickly deleted it and groaned loudly into the empty room.

Life had been so much simpler before Joss had arrived home, Ariana sighed.

What should she do?

Caroline watched her daughter running around the garden happily and chastised herself silently for forgetting how quickly children bounce back from illness. Certain that she had worried at least five years off of her life, she smiled and glanced back at her laptop where she was attempting to work but her mind had its own ideas and was concentrating on an attractive woman with white hair and sparkling eyes.

Flora tapped a plastic spade against a plastic bucket full of muck from the flowerbeds and looked very pleased with handiwork.

This was what life was about, Caroline reasoned, taking the little moments and enjoying them. With that in mind she picked up her phone to text Joss. Giving it little thought she sent a message saying that Flora was feeling better and Caroline was now happy to go out for dinner.

She waited a few moments but no reply came. She quashed the disappointment and went back to her laptop. Finally engrossed in her work she missed the vibration of her phone and it was not until she stretched and decided it might be time for a drink that her eyes fell on the number 1, indicating there was a text waiting for her.

Trying not to appear too eager, she casually took up the phone and pressed the green icon.

Tomorrow? 7pm?

Same restaurant that

we met in?

Caroline smiled and moistened her lips. Greg had already asked if he could take care of Flora tomorrow evening so this was working out pretty well so far. She replied in the affirmative and feeling relieved about the reply from Joss, went to organize a snack for Flora.

Joss would never call herself arrogant but she knew that other people thought her to be so. After all, her ex-girlfriend had told her enough times that her arrogance would get her into trouble one day, as well as her wandering eye and philandering ways. It was not that Joss deliberately went out of her way to cheat but women did come on to her a lot and she was young and needed to have fun. The outward presentation of a serious Professor was her front, her mask and the way that she made her living but inside she was not that person. She wanted to be reckless and have fun and people were astonished when that side of her came out. That was why she wanted to go on a date with Caroline. She wanted to be around someone that did not know the old her, that person needed to disappear and this new, fun loving Joss was who she really wanted to be, whatever that entailed.

Her phone beeped and she grinned as she read the message from Caroline.

The blonde beauty was a cougar and exactly the type of woman Joss enjoyed pursuing. Uptight, prim and proper but then in the bedroom, it was the moment that the stuffy librarian shakes out her hair and takes off her glasses to reveal a stunning babe with a superb pair of breasts. Joss knew that Caroline would be that babe.

So what if she was similar age to her mum?

Older women could teach anybody a thing or two and Joss doubted that Caroline wanted anything serious after everything she had been through. They were both in it for a little bit of naughtiness and there was nothing wrong with that. Two beautiful women going out for dinner and then letting whatever happened, happen.

What could go wrong?