When her day had begun, she had no idea that she would end it sat with Eddie Lawson, trying to avoid talking about a part of her life that she wished more than anything didn't exist. Well... With one exception of course.

...

CHAPTER 5

The suited man stood directly Infront of Rachel, smiling down at her as he began to speak. "Hi, I'm Vinny Marshall, one of the course leads of the conference. I noticed you were taking notes while Alf was presenting. I was just wondering what you thought of the course so far?"

Rachel had to close her eyes for a second, trying her hardest to hold back a laugh. 'Oh, you don't want the truth Mr. Marshell' she thought to herself. Opening her eyes and turning back, she noticed Eddie smirking at her. "Rachel Mason" she smiled back at the man. "I think it's wonderful Vinny, I especially liked the section about offering vocational courses to14 year olds, I thought that was very inspiring." a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Of course she had to mention the vocational courses, that was all she could remember before seeing Eddie again.

It appeared that was the answer the middle aged, well-dressed man was looking for, as a huge smile spread across his face. "Oh, that's wonderful to hear, I'll be sure to let Alf know. And can I ask, what did you think about the early entry into vocational college courses?"

On this question Eddie took over; watching Rachel's face hesitate as she tried to rack her brain back to the last 15 minutes of the conference. "I particularly found that part very interesting Mr. Marshell, in my school, we currently have quite a few pupils showing the ability to work well on a vocational course. The school did previously have a vocational program but that option was removed a few years ago now."

Turning to face Eddie as he spoke Vinny listened intently, mentally taking notes of the positive feedback being thrown his way. "Oh, that's fantastic, hopefully you can reimplement it back into your curriculum when you return. We have a lot of resources available to you and your school, you're more than welcome to use them, they will be in the end of course pack that you'll receive tomorrow."

With a nod of the head Eddie and Rachel thanked the man for coming over and talking to them, slowly turning back to each other as they watched the man leave. "What did those doodles say then? They looked like very interesting notes from what I could see."

Rachel giggled. She actually giggled. "Eddie..." tapping his wrist while laughing. "Do you know how hard it was to sit and listen to that man, if I didn't doodle, I'd have fallen asleep. If he's presenting tomorrow I'm going to need pins to keep my eyes open."

Eddie couldn't help but smile, Rachel's face becoming more animated the more she spoke. Oh, how he had missed her. The sound of her laugh, the crinkle of her nose when she didn't like something. The overwhelming feeling to be close to her ran through his body, she really was addictive. How had he lived 10 years without this woman in his life? Everything about his existence seemed so dull in comparison. In that moment Eddie realised that every day he had gone through without Rachel Mason by his side was a day that ended badly.

Chuckling Eddie looked at her, "you've not changed a bit have you." not able to look away he couldn't help watch her. Study every part of her face, imprinting it to his memory. If one day was all he was going to get with her, he was going to make damm sure he remembered every second of it.

He noticed her smile faulter, her forehead crease slightly as she lifted her hand to her glass, ready to drain the last of her wine. "Oh Eddie, if only you knew." swallowing the last sip Rachel made to move, tipping her glass in Eddie's direction as she stood. "I'm just going to get another drink; would you like one?" With a nod Eddie replied, "Yeh, please."

Watching her leave Eddie knew, somewhere between the laughter and the very faint frown, Rachel's mood had changed. And what did she mean? If only he knew? Her open persona had closed off slightly and her eyes clouded over with a look of sadness. He had no clue what Rachel Mason's life was like right now but one thing he did know, was that she was unhappy.

...

As Rachel headed to the bar her brain began to swim, she'd only been sat with him for 20 minutes, how was it possible for him to be able to see through her so quickly. She'd only said one sentence and had managed to completely avoid talking before that, thanks to Vinny Marshell and his impeccable timing. But then, who was she kidding. She already knew, had already told herself he could see straight through her, so why it was such a surprise to her now was a mystery. Maybe, it was because she had changed, maybe it was because she wasn't the same woman he had known all those years before, and maybe, just maybe it was because being around Eddie Lawson; laughing properly for the first time in as long as she could remember, made her truly realise just how unhappy she was, how wrong her life had turned out. She knew he would want to talk, want to hear about her life now, how was she going to get through this without revealing every miserable, little crevice of her life to the man who had made her happier than anyone else in the world?

Rachel's thoughts were interrupted by the same young man who had served Eddie. "Hello miss, how may I help you." Looking up Rachel noticed him standing Infront of her. Pushing the glasses forward Rachel replied. "Just two red wines please, but can you make them large this time?" With a smile and a nod of the head the man began to prepare her drinks, bringing them over along with the card reader, ready to take her payment. "That's 18.90 please." Leaning forward she pulled her Phone out of her jacket pocket, placing it on top. As the machine beeped Rachel thanked him and turned to head back towards Eddie. 'Well,' she thought to herself. 'if we're going to do this, I'd at least like to be drunk.'

...

It had been well over an hour since Rachel had come back with their drinks and thankfully for her Eddie seemed to avoid talking about her personal life, talking animatedly about his school instead, explaining in great detail his lack of faith in the school's current Head Teacher. "I tell you Rach. That woman! She's not a scratch on you. All she wants to do is get the grades up and get raised on the school league tables, she doesn't know those kids at all, and you know the worst of it all?" Rachel shook her head, the second glass of wine beginning to hit her slightly. "She's been there for four years! Four years and she knows not one child's name. She sits in her office like it's an ivory tower for as many hours as humanly possible, letting the senior staff run the place. Well!" Eddie couldn't stop himself, the words were tumbling out of his mouth, his tongue a little freer as the alcohol began to seep into his bloodstream. "That's until we do something she doesn't like that is, then she's storming down the corridors of 'her school' demanding staff meetings at the end of the day!"

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle, goodness she missed this man, missed everything about him. Even his ranting about school problems. She missed those the most. She couldn't help but let her mind wander, remembering all those times they would sit up together as the evening headed into night, looking over paperwork side by side on the sofa. A bottle of wine resting on the coffee table in front of them as they balanced their glasses between their fingers. She could still hear him moaning about Grantly and Steph's head of department reports if she concentrated hard enough.

"You've got yourself a great head there, sounds like you've got your work cut out." Rachel laughed again before frowning slightly. "But seriously Eddie why would you stay there if you don't get on with the head, surely that makes it impossible for you to do your job?" Watching his face, Rachel noticed a small smile creep on to Eddie's lips, his eyes lifting to look at her. "I learned from the best. You don't give up on them, the kids rely on us to give them a good start in life. I mean, she may be useless but between the rest of us, we keep our heads above water... somehow."

As Rachel listened, her brain began to fill with too many emotions. She was laughing, she was happy, thoroughly enjoying listening to his work stories. But she was sad, she missed Eddie, she missed her job, but more than anything she missed working with him, missed seeing him every day. When She was Head at Waterloo Road, her school was theirs, they ran it together. Every decision made was spoken about and decided upon based on their mutual respect for the education and welfare of their pupils. They were a team. It may have been her name outside on the school sign, but it was very much theirs. They were the dream team.

It was part of the last sentence Eddie spoke that really hit her though. 'You don't give up on them, the kids rely on us to give them a good start in life'. If only Eddie knew how true those words were for her at the moment. Because that was exactly what she was doing right now. Her life may be miserable but deep inside her, she knew she couldn't give up on what was important.

Eddie was in steady flow now, pushing away the empty glass that sat in front of him. "And what about you Ms. Mason? What wonderful school gets to have you as their head teacher? I don't suppose you fancy coming to mine, do you? I'll Write you a great recommendation for the L.E.A, you'll be in within a week." Neither could help but laugh, their happiness and joy radiating off them, both intoxicated. Not just by the wine but each other.

"I'm sure your current head would love that", Rachel laughed, "me coming in and taking her job from underneath her." Giving a slight snort Eddie replied. "Well, it's not like she does the job herself. No but really Rach, where are you working now? Surely any school you're in would have vocational courses introduced on your very first day. I'm sure you know more about those things than even those course leaders do. You've been doing this for years."

Rachel couldn't help but look shy, her head dipping slightly as she thought of how to respond. What exactly was she to say to him? 'I'm not working at the moment; I haven't worked for the last eight years and in fact, my last teaching job was actually Waterloo Road. My husband prefers for me to stay at home.' How ridiculous did that sound 'my husband prefers.' 'In fact,' Rachel thought to herself, 'It isn't just ridiculous it's pathetic'. He didn't 'prefer' at all, actually he practically forbid it. How had she allowed a man to treat her like a piece of meat all over again, like a prized possession that sat on a shelf and could be used whenever he felt like it.

Thinking quickly, she said the first thing that came to her head. "I'm just about to start a new headship actually, a current failing school. A friend in the LEA told me about it about a month ago now. I've just got to wait for the paperwork to come through." Well, it wasn't technically a lie. She had been told about a position by a friend and she had agreed for herself to be put forward for it, willing to accept if the offer was made. However, she hadn't actually been offered the position yet. Apparently, they were having difficulties with the current head and their style of teaching and education; working on a plan to have her replaced as soon as possible. "So, when I saw there was a conference on vocational courses, I thought I'd come and see if they were offering any new information or ideas, considering the school doesn't offer any vocational courses to students at all. I'd like to say I've learned something new but from what I saw today, we were using those styles a decade ago." With a smirk, Rachel looked over to Eddie, watching him smile. 'He must be remembering' she thought to herself, watching him as his eyes became hazed and his lips twitched higher up on his cheeks. "Yeh, I seem to recall your first couple of days actually, they were eventful. Who'd have thought back then the number of kids we would get through their GCSE's and A-Levels with those courses. We really were some team."

She couldn't help but let the feeling of contentment wash over her. Here she was, sat in a posh hotel bar, after sitting in a dreadfully boring conference all afternoon, talking to the best deputy she had ever had, about the life they had shared with each other inside the walls of their school. It helped that the deputy was also the love of her life of course.

Rachel arrived at the course hoping to make some type of understanding of how she would approach talking to her husband about her life and returning to work, unsure if she was actually making the right decision. And now, sitting opposite Eddie, talking everything business, Rachel Mason knew. She made a promise to herself. By the end of these 24 hours, she would be ready to go home, not ready to leave Eddie, but ready to go home. To go home and pick up her life. Pick it up as quickly as she could and move it as far away as possible from the man who kept her prisoner from everything she loved, everything she had worked her whole life for.

Rachel cursed herself, she made it sound so easy in her head. So simple, but in reality, it would be far from it, this was the start of a war she was determined to fight, one she was hell bent on winning. Because when she thought about it, she had always been right. 'You don't give up on them, the kids do rely on us to give them a good start in life' It's her responsibility as a teacher to give her pupils every option available to them to be able to flourish in life.

And.

It was her responsibility as a mother, to give her child every opportunity to have a safe, happy and healthy life. How could she provide that if she refused to fight for them, if she refused to stand up for herself.

No, she may have lost sight before, lost vision of what was truly important to her. But, with Eddie Lawson sat beside her, Rachel realised she could do anything. The man who sat with his leg resting against hers, had so much faith in her that her heart began to flutter at the thought of being free again.

Two hours ago, Rachel Mason sat listening to a middle-aged man drear on, feeling completely hopeless and at war with herself. Two hours later she was in a bar with the man who held her heart, drinking red wine and laughing whole heartedly.

Placing her hand gently on top of his, Rachel traced her thumb over Eddies knuckles. "We were a brilliant team Eddie; the best deputy I have ever had."

...

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this chapter, I know it was a long one.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed I love hearing people's feedback.

L.W