She was sat in the self contained converted garage at her sister's house in London, tears were still freely flowing down her face and had been since she'd left Oxford just over an hour before hand. Jean's sister, Paula would be returning any second with a hot drink, or a bottle or two of wine, for a chat, chatting was really the last thing she wanted to do but she knew that she could talk to her older sister without being judged. Her iphone lay on the bed in front of her and had sprung to life in front of her and was now vibrating and displaying a picture on the screen of James, alerting her to the fact that he was calling.

"Can I come in J?" Paula asked softly from the other side of the door.

"Of course you can. I'm sorry Paul, I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can be." Jean apologized.

"No you won't be, I want you to stay, especially when you're this upset. Anyway I can't let you go without a proper catch up, but I think that's for later with a bottle. I've brought you a tea and some chocolate, so are you ready to tell me what's up lil' sis'?"

"I've been so stupid Paul, really stupid." Jean told her.

"I doubt it's that bad, you've always been the sensible one. You used to say that if you'd lost one mark on a test." Paula laughed.

"This is different..."

"That sounds serious. Go on then."

"I had an affair." Jean begun, "Well not an affair, that makes it sound dirty. I fell in love Paul." Paula stared at her, putting Jean on edge.

"And?"

"I'm married, unless you'd forgotten."

"To an idiot who treats you like something he's stepped in. You deserve to find love, now you can kick Richard into touch and be happy."

"No, I can't. I shouldn't have done it Paula, I broke my marriage vows. I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have."

"Right so you left Oxford because you fell in love with someone who wasn't your lying cheating husband?" Paula asked.

"I've made a mess of my life there. I've left them both, James deserves better than me, he really does. I'm going to make a fresh start somewhere new."

"So let me get this straight, you're running away because that idiot has made you believe that people deserve better than you..."

"No, I need to do this for me." Jean interrupted before yawning.

"How about I let you have a nap and then we'll talk more later when you're calmer? I'm going shopping to get things for tea, any requests?"

"Just some chocolate brownies please, they're all that's boosting my energy just now."

"Okay, sleep does the same though and is a lot better for you so try and get some."

Paula left the garage, leaving Jean all by herself and her still ringing phone. It hadn't stopped so now it was on silent so she couldn't hear it, she'd said all she'd needed to. If he said anything to her then she'd change her mind and she couldn't do that just now. She lay down on the bed and curled up in fetal position and sobbed, her head was aching from the amount of tears she'd cried and she felt nauseous with the worry she was feeling, above all she just felt so weak and drained and yet she couldn't sleep. Instead she lay there, eyes open and not moving as if she was dead. Her tears had subsided but this was far from over.