Thank you again for all the lovely comments, keep them coming! I'm going to try to make the chapters longer from now onwards.

"There has to be evil so that good can prove its' purity above it."

-Buddha

Chapitre trois

"Yes, what is it Beverley?" Caroline asked rather rudely. Both women now stood in the centre of the office. She was shocked and annoyed that Beverley had just stormed into her office unannounced, never in the time that she worked at Sulgrave had Beverley done that. "John. It's John, he's in reception rather drunk I think. What do- .."

At that moment John stumbled into the office, "Ahh Caroline, thought you might be here, I was hoping we could have a little chat… I was thinking -.." "John! JOHN! Look at me! What the hell do you think you're doing showing up at school in this state? What will the students think? What will the parents think?!" "I uh, I thought -" John began before Caroline furiously interrupted, "Leave.. before I ring the police, and if you don't think I will you've got another thing coming!" "I mean it John; if you don't leave right this second i'm calling the police," Caroline spoke as she lifted her cellphone off her desk.

"Alright. Fine, if you're going to be like this," John yelled whilst waving his arms in the air. He staggered towards the exit and held himself up using the door frame momentarily before continuing to leave. As Beverley left the room behind him she said delicately to Caroline, "It'd be best I call a taxi .." She softly closed the door behind her.

Pools of water formed in Caroline's crystals. She ran her hands through her hair. Black smudges of mascara and eyeliner circled her eyes and dripped down her perfectly pale face. Her chair creaked as she leant back with her eyes focused on the ceiling in an attempt to stop the tears rapidly travelling down her face.

Ten or so minutes had passed. The wet diamonds had ceased and Caroline carefully fixed her makeup the best she could from her reflection in a single mirror that hung in her office. She eased her way back into her seat to regain focus on the mountains of paper work that sat on her desk. Almost simultaneously the office phone rung. "Hi, Caroline. John's just left.. Kate is here for your meeting regarding the use of foreign languages in the school. Are you sure you're up for it, I mean after everything that's happened today?" Caroline paused for a moment and took in a deep breath before replying, "Yes, Beverley, that will be fine. Send Kate through when she's ready. Thank you." Caroline sat up straighter in her chair and brushed her ivory-gold hair away from her face.

There was a short tap on the door. "Come in," Caroline replied in her best breezily cheerful voice. Kate hesitantly walked in. She had sensed something was up. "Is everything .. okay Caroline?" Asked Kate cautiously. "Yes, fine. It's all absolutely fine." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence. Instantly tears began to flow down Caroline's perfect face. Kate quickly but gracefully walked to stand beside Caroline who was seated at her desk. Caroline looked her pooling cobalt galaxies up at Kate. A wave of emotion rushed right through her. She couldn't keep it together, not anymore. Kate pulled her into an awkward hug. "Caroline, what's wrong?" Kate spoke softly in Caroline's ear. As she pulled away from the hug Kate delicately ran her hand down Caroline's arm.

Kate carefully lifted the ruby red padded chair and placed it beside Caroline. As she sat Caroline spoke, "John. It's just John. It's always John isn't it? He came in here drunk, just before. He said he thought he would find me here, which is quite a thick thing to say, even for John. Obviously i'm going to be here, this is where I work. Uh he also said he wanted to talk and for the life of me I couldn't really give a shit about what he wanted to say." A million and one things seemed to be running through her head but as Kate reached out and squeezed her hand only one thing remained on her mind - Kate. She cried more as she was so confused about the way she felt about everything.. everyone.. Kate gently pulled Caroline's hand onto her lap and held it softly, occasionally running her fingers over Caroline's. "Hey, hey. Don't cry, it's not fair that someone should still look so beautiful even when they cry. If John's going to treat you like this then he's the idiot. He should know what he's missing out on..," Kate spoke with sincerity. She leant over Caroline's desk and pulled the tissues towards her, still holding her hand. Caroline took several with her free hand and carefully dabbed at her wet eyes.

"I'm sorry, I seem to be making a habit of being so bloody miserable.. depressed.. in front of you." She took a quick glance at Kate who was staring at her and looked away quickly. At the realisation that Kate was staring at her, Caroline's cheeks filled with colour. Their hands remained interlocked. "Caroline, it's fine. I'm glad you can trust me, I mean if you ever need to talk.." Kate assured. "Uh huh. I just.. mmm.. I don't want to drag anyone into this mess. My mess.. but I would like to have a friend to talk to. I would like to be able to talk to you Kate." Caroline continued after risking another peek at Kate, "Would you .. um.. would you want to go out for.. coffee, with me.. tomorrow? As a thank you for everything you've done for me and perhaps we could talk more about you? I promise I won't be a mess like this." "Sure!" Kate replied with her usual luminous smile. "I'll text you the details later. If that's okay?"

Kate's warm dark skies met Caroline's crystal galaxies. An unspoken understanding was met. For once both women had found someone that they could truly rely on and trust. They felt so secure and understood. Kate's grin was reflected in Caroline's face and with a last squeeze their hands unlocked and Kate stood to leave. "We'll have that meeting when you're more up for it. If you need anything just say okay? I want you to be happy," Kate insisted before slipping out the office door. Caroline was left with a breeze of Kate's sweet fragrance before she returned to the piles of paper work.

Caroline spent the rest of the day completing most of her paperwork mountain which was purely due to the exhilarating thought of Saturday coffee with Kate. All doubts and apprehension about her friendship was pushed to the back of her mind. Kate seemed to have an effect on her; the ability to make anything seem possible and that life was worth living.

Radiant as ever Kate delivered the rest of her lessons with more charisma than usual which was duly noted by some of the younger students. One student exclaimed rather louder than intended, "Seems like Ms McKenzie got some last night," to which Kate replied winking, "Nah, I'm working on it though if you must know." There was some truth behind that which Kate tried not to think about. She had to admit she really did have a crush for Caroline, her boss. The way Caroline strutted through the school corridors in 4 inch heels affected her lately, more than it usually would due to having spent more time getting to know the real Caroline. The Caroline few people got the pleasure in knowing. Kate often asked herself whether Caroline felt anything more towards her… she scarcely spoke to anyone at school about anything remotely personal and now Kate was spending time discuss her deepest personal matters in settings outside school. Kate simply put it down to her own friendliness towards Caroline.

After texting the next day's details to Kate, Caroline spent an enjoyable evening with her boys watching one of those singing competitions on TV. Caroline, to Laurence's embarrassment, joined in singing loudly the songs she knew. She wasn't bad either. At the end of the evening all three were in fits of laughter.

Finally after a long day Caroline snuggled under the covers. She tried to picture the events that may unfold the next day. Kate's alluring smokey brown eyes imprinted on her mind as she fell asleep. For the first time she dreamt of Kate that night. Everything seemed like it was going to be okay.