One week later...

If Eddie could describe his first week back at Waterloo Road with one word, it would be 'odd'. Being reunited with Rachel and realising they would be working together again had come as a shock. A good shock of course. He had missed her and was glad she was back in his life. Professionally, the two of them made a great team.

What was even more 'odd' was that he hadn't seen or heard from Rachel since the day they had been reunited. For the last week, she had called in sick, leaving Eddie in charge as Acting Head. She hadn't contacted him to tell him what was wrong, all communications from her were brief and to Bridget only. Of course Eddie knew that pregnancy caused all kinds of health problems sometimes, from something minor, to something life threatening. He knew that, but he still couldn't help but be concerned.

He didn't understand it. Things had gone so smoothly on their first day back. There had been no awkwardness between them at all. They'd been to the pub for drinks and had talked for hours. They'd been joking and laughing, talking about their lives past and present. It had been going so well, or so he'd thought.

Had he done something?

Had he been too forward without realising?

Had he made her feel uncomfortable?

He hoped it was nothing to do with that. But that meant she was sick, which made him even more worried. Was something wrong with her or the baby? Had she gone into labour unexpectedly? He wanted to believe that if she had gone into labour, he would have been informed, but he also wasn't sure he had the right to that information.

Rachel rarely took a day off work, let alone a week. She was either really ill, or she was avoiding him. He didn't want either option to be the truth. If he was honest, he was kind of expecting her resignation letter to come through any day now. And he did understand that it might be too much for her. She had a new life, a new husband and a baby on the way. She didn't want to be dragged back into the past.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up to see Kim stood in the doorway.

"Morning" she greeted

"Morning" he replied

"Have you heard anything from Rachel?" she asked cautiously

"No, you?"

Kim shook her head.

Eddie wasn't the only one concerned by Rachel's absence. Kim had called and texted Rachel multiple times over the last week and had received no response. She'd been over to the house and knocked on the door, to which there'd been no response either, despite her car being on the drive. This wasn't like Rachel, not at all. She didn't just disappear without an explanation. Kim knew Rachel well enough to know that even if she was on death's door she would come into work. Something was wrong.

"Do you know if she's called in sick again?" Eddie asked

"I asked in Reception when I came in, they haven't heard from her yet" she told him

Eddie nodded.

"This isn't like her, Eddie. She doesn't do this"

"I know"

"So what do we do?"

"I... I don't know"

"I've thought about calling Adam, he might be able to shed some light on what's going on" Kim admitted hesitantly

Eddie wasn't convinced. Obviously Kim knew the guy better than he did, but he was still sceptical, not just about him telling them what was going on with Rachel, but about the guy in general. He knew he sounded like a jealous ex boyfriend, but when he'd met Adam yesterday, he hadn't got a good feeling about him. The way Rachel acted in his presence, or when asked questions about him only added to his suspicions. He personally couldn't rule out him being the cause for her absence.

Whatever the case, he didn't think Adam would give up any information on Rachel's welfare or whereabouts, not to him anyway. Maybe he'd be different with Kim. He wasn't sure what her thoughts were on him, but he wasn't going to ask. He'd only be accused of being jealous. Kim was usually a good judge of character, so if she wasn't suspicious then he felt he shouldn't be either.

"You could try" Eddie shrugged

"If she doesn't come in today, I will" she decided

Eddie couldn't stop himself. He had to ask the question. If it made him look jealous or petty, so be it.

"Kim? This... Adam guy, what do you think of him?"

Kim was a little taken aback by his question. She'd never been asked about him or his character before.

"He's... ok, I think. To be honest I... I don't really know him that well. I only really spoke to him a couple of times when he worked here. After they got married they went off travelling and Rachel and I lost touch really. I found out she was coming back here at the last minute. I didn't even know she was back in Rochdale" Kim explained

Eddie nodded quietly.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned

"No reason. I just... I want to know she's happy, that's all" he shrugged

"I don't think he'd hurt her, if that's what you're thinking. Not intentionally anyway"

"I know, I wasn't thinking that" he replied

Kim nodded, unconvinced. If she was honest, she wasn't sure if she believed what she'd just said. She hadn't been a massive fan of Adam before he and Rachel had got married. Mainly because of the drama between him and Ruby. She still wasn't sure if their alleged kiss had or hadn't happened. Either way, it had hurt Rachel. Her opinion of Adam was had gone down after that. But Rachel had found it in her to forgive him, she seemed happy and that was all that had mattered to Kim. But since Eddie had asked her about him, she wasn't sure if her friend was really happy. It would explain why she had isolated herself and why they had lost touch. Maybe there was more to it.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything" she told Eddie

"Likewise" Eddie nodded