Intervention

I had a communication from a regular contributor to this site. He likes intervention stories and this one fits that bill. It popped into my head and I thought I would share, I hope he and his wife enjoy it.

There is little character development, it goes in quite hard.

I was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria when he walked in. It had sort of become 'our' corner. I saw him join the queue to get his lunch. He looked at me and smiled. We both worked for a large multinational conglomerate. Our division built ships, normally warships. I was an assistant project manager and he was something in procurement or logistics.

All of a sudden, a woman sat opposite me placing her coffee mug and a plate with a cake on it on the table. She did not ask, just sat down. I recognized her, she was a Senior Project Manager on a different part of the warship we were building. I could not remember her name.

"That seat is taken." I told her.

"It is now; I am sitting here."

I was stunned. "Can I help you?"

"No, but I can help you."

"That's very nice of you, but how?"

"To stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life and to save your marriage so you keep your family."

I was amazed at what she said. "What!"

"To save you from making a mistake with Mr Smooth."

"What!"

That was when he turned up at the table.

She looked up at him and said. "Fuck off."

He looked shocked. "But..."

"I will not tell you again, now just fuck off."

She turned her attention back to me, ignoring him.

He just walked away and sat at the table with our friends.

Her attitude did not surprise me, she was known for being direct, blunt and aggressive in meetings but this was over the top. I had never heard her use an expletive. I was sure he would report her to HR for being abusive.

"How is your husband, Mike? Designer and troubleshooter for a construction company if I remember correctly from the last time I met him, unless he has changed jobs of course."

I just shook my head.

She carried on. "He works reduced hours and from home most of the time, doesn't he. Thirty hours, isn't it? Unless he has to go on site to sort out a problem. Must work out well for you, with him working from home he can look after your two nippers, Klara and Ben, Klara must be coming up to four now, Ben just turned two?

"It's useful because working from home, he can get all the housework done whilst the kids are having an afternoon nap. I expect he has to work a bit later in the evening sometimes than you would like so he can catch up with work if the kids have been a bit of a handful during the day. That probably annoys you a little bit after you've done a full day at work and you just want to relax with your husband."

She gave a little giggle. "Tell me when are children never a bit of a handful? Whatever age they are, I've got two grown up ones, and not a lot has changed. Never mind, back to Mike. He probably had to take a bit of a pay drop, but when the kids go to school it will pick up again. I know the family steps up when he has to go away and either your Mum or Mike's looks after the children. Your Dad is quite proud of you, you know?"

My Dad was a welder and Mike's dad was an electrician in the shipyard; they were busy at the moment constructing the new ship at the other end of the yard in the production shed.

How did she know so much about my family? I just muttered. "Thanks."

"How did it start? Did you both end up in the stationary room looking for page dividers, he probably followed you in. Or was it a chat over the printer whilst you were waiting for his one hundred and forty-seven-page report to print, double sided, colour of course, it takes longer. That's often the way. He probably queued it up, saw you head towards the printer room, got there just after you but asked, ever so politely, if he could go first as he was in a rush. He would have chatted, just passing the time of day whilst he waited for his printing, but when it finished printing, he didn't rush off, he stayed and talked."

Now she mentioned it, she was correct, he did not hurry away, it was a nice chat.

How did she know?

"Look, I might get some of the timings a bit wrong but it's the events and the sequence that matters. But just hang in there.

"What was next, a little smile, a nod of the head or a discrete wave every time he passed your desk?"

I work in a big open plan office with several different departments. Then it struck me, I did not know which one he worked for.

"Then he just happens to turn up in the tea bar at the same time as you, and he gets the milk out of the fridge for you. In itself innocuous, but he smiles at you when he passes it to you.

"Then holding the door for you when you leave, again all normal, we all do it for all colleagues, it's just courteous, but he does it with a little flourish and maybe a smile or nod of the head, maybe both."

"Then all of a sudden, he is always there, stationery room, printer room, tea bar or walking past your desk. Always cheerful and happy with a smile on his face that seems like it's just for you. But never in the cafeteria when there are other people around, until one day you are there first and sitting on your own. Then he joins you sitting opposite you, your work mates join you and you all sit together, he talks to everyone, they are happy with that, because they have all seen him around, you are glad about that as now your friends are his friends. It doesn't cross your mind that he doesn't seem to talk to anyone else apart from when you are all in the cafeteria, it doesn't cross your mind that he is not being anything but friendly."

She took a sip of her coffee.

"Then one day he asks for your help, just something little, like how to do something on Word or Project. Project is right up your street as an assistant Project Manager. I am guessing it was either the first or last thing when there were only the two of you in the office. What was it?"

"Project, when I got in early one day."

"And you felt good that you could help your new friend?"

I nodded.

"Then later he asked for your help again, this time advice on a personal matter. So that was when you started sitting apart from your friends, not too far away, the next table over at his suggestion. Just once at first. But then twice or so a week. You were the next table over, near your work mates."

I had not thought about it, it seemed natural at the time, but she was correct.

"Then he wanted to ask your advice on a deeper personal matter and that was when he asked your friends if he could borrow you for a few minutes to ask a personal question and as he is a friend of everyone by now, so no one sees anything wrong, well almost no one. But the odd person was suspicious, but that was also part of his plan."

"What plan?" I ask.

"All will become clear soon. So, you go and sit in the corner, he leans forward and asks for your advice, something big, like death of a close friend, family member, maybe a former girlfriend, no I have it! A terminal illness?"

That was astoundingly accurate. "Mother, cancer."

"He didn't touch you; he looked sad, he leaned back so you couldn't touch him, but you wanted to?"

I did not remember any of that apart from wanting to reach out to comfort him.

"Let me guess, he said there was a fifty-fifty chance it will go into complete remission?"

"Yes, she was nearly through chemo and they wouldn't know for a week or two if it worked."

"I will bet he also asked you not to share the information with his new friends, he didn't want their condescending looks or pity.

"Tell me, do you or your family have any experience of dealing with cancer?"

"No, not really, none of our family has had anything to do with it, a few of our family friends have."

"Ah, that's what I thought. Right, I guess after that you sat with your friends most of the time but once or twice a week you sat alone with Mr Smooth? At this very table. It was noticed again, still part of his plan

"Then one day he suggested going to the coffee shop outside the yard on Tuesday, their quietest day by the way. Just you and him. He said it might be a good idea to go separately so people didn't get the wrong idea. When you got there, he told you his mother was responding to the treatment, and it was looking good. Then you did the same thing the next Tuesday."

That was spookily accurate to what had happened. I did not see it until she pointed it out.

"I am guessing this carried on for about two or three weeks. Then he came in very happy one day and whilst you were sitting here at this table, 'your' table by now, he told you the tests were good and his mother was going to be fine, not completely out of the woods yet, but ninety nine percent. And you were happy for him. Then he said he had no one to celebrate with and asked if you would go out to dinner with him to share the joy. He would pay. But he insisted you told Mike all about it. Was that when you realised, apart from mentioning him at the start, you haven't mentioned him to Mike at all? The separate table, the coffee shop trips outside the yard. But you had told Mike about the little bump that Karen had in her car, and in the rainstorm the other week all of Suzie's clothes fell off the washing line onto the garden and had to be washed again or some such trivia. You felt guilty. So, you declined his offer."

How did she know about Karen's bump in her car?

She carried on. "It's just a shot in the dark, but was that when you started to spend more time sitting at this table and not with your friends?"

Again, I hadn't noticed, but now she mentioned it, she was correct.

"Was that when he started asking more about your family, he had already asked some family stuff and he knew of Mike and what he did, he asked about Klara and Ben. He probably knew quite a lot about your family by then. Like you had little knowledge of cancer. That was why he chose cancer as his 'event' of choice to entrap you. but now he wanted the dirt."

That was when she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and laid it on the table and smoothed it out. I could see several lines of writing.

My friend saw the piece of paper, he stood up, he had a worried look on his face. The Senior Project Manager just turned and looked at him. He sat down.

She looked back at me and carried on. "It was probably towards the end of that week or maybe the next week he started doing Mike down, calling him a house husband. He implied he was a bit of a loser because he didn't work in the shipyard, not outright just an implication. Said you could do better than Mike, but he understood you couldn't leave because of the children. Because sometime in the last two weeks you told him how unhappy you were with Mike's working practices, forgetting to mention that you had no work to do on an evening when you got home and most days dinner was on the table waiting for you. So apart from playing with your children, you had nothing to do over the weekend but enjoy your time with your husband and children; you probably forgot to mention those little bits."

She took another sip of her coffee and gave a small grimace, probably wasn't very warm by now. I know my tea was cold.

This was getting scary again. She was correct but I hadn't seen it, but that was not what he said.

"No, he never did Mike down at all, in fact he praised him."

She turned the piece of paper over and there was writing on that side as well.

"The alternative style as often used by the accomplished seducers of married women."

My mouth hung open.

Nothing stopped her. "He never did Mike down, but he praises you, so the effect is the same but gentler. He raises you up instead of doing Mike down. He raises you above Mike, you are no longer equals. Have you mentioned how much Mike earns at all because he has a pretty good idea what your wages are."

"No, that's personal, I would never share that."

"Ah but you did share personal information about family and your life, probably not financial information. What did you tell your new friend that you haven't told Suzie or Karen or any of your other work mates?"

Oh shit. I had told him stuff that I had not shared with my friends, and I had known them for years. I just can't remember what it was.

"You see, after all your little chats earlier he had all the information he wanted, he had all the ammunition he needed. You've laid yourself completely open to a man who is in fact a complete stranger. He could have been lying to you. Have you gone on the Internet and researched cancer? Did he say what sort of cancer it was? Do you know how much of what he said was true?"

It never crossed my mind that my new friend would lie to me, why would he. I thought to myself what would he gain? Then it struck me what she said about an accomplished seducer of married women. Oh Shit.

She ran her finger down the piece of paper in front of her. "Was this one of them? 'I'm sure he does his best but if Mike had a proper job, you could have a better car instead of that ratty old Fiesta."

I shook my head. How did she know I had a Fiesta? I love that little car.

"Or was this one of them? 'I am sure Mike loves you, but he seems to care more about his job' or 'being a part time house husband is an honourable thing, but it's not a proper job.'

"Is Mike's job a part time job?" She asked. "I never found looking after children a part time thing. How about this? You told Mr Smooth you get annoyed at Mike because he goes away at short notice, well he would, that is part of his job. And you would have to sort out one of the Mums for babysitting whilst he was off doing a site visit. You and Mike would have discussed all that before he accepted the job, which was a promotion. But I bet you didn't mention that to Mr Smooth over there?" She said, nodding to my new friend. The cafeteria was nearly empty now lunchtime was over, it would just be drinks, snacks and cakes from now.

She turned and looked at him. "Shouldn't you be at your desk now?" He got up and left.

That was a good point, that could get me out of this situation. "Yes, I must go too."

"No, you don't, I have cleared our little chat with your boss, Jamie, he knows where you are and what is happening."

She carried on. "Perhaps this was the one. 'Mike's job has a lot of responsibility, but It must be hard on you when he goes away at short notice, leaving you with everything at the last minute'. You agree, but, well, it's been fine every time for the last three years until Mr Smooth mentions it. Then he will add something like. 'Well Mike has to do it, it's his job, even though you are probably earning more than him'.

"Okay, another one. He goes on about how Mike is living it up in a hotel, eating in a restaurant and having a few beers with work mates in the bar whilst you are at home looking after your children, he may even mention their names. When in fact Mike is probably eating sandwiches or a burger from a greasy spoon roadside cafe and crawling round a construction site till it gets too dark to see, or he has brought flood lights in so he could work later so he can get home quicker to his adoring wife who is about to cheat on him with Mr Smooth."

"No, I would never do that to Mike."

She raised an eyebrow. "No, maybe not? But it has crossed your mind."

I tried to hold her eyes, they bored into me, she could see the truth. I could not stop myself looking down in guilt. It had crossed my mind, but I had too much to lose to do it, it would never have happened whilst I was still married.

"So which one was it that he got you annoyed at Mike with?"

"The eating in restaurants."

"Ah right, so everything has been fine for the last three years until Mr Smooth starts to point out the faults, he has probably targeted those from you little chats. I bet you hate cooking for the children when Mike is away because he normally does it?"

"You probably mentioned that and then he expanded the story to you cooking for the kids whilst Mike is eating in swanky hotel restaurants, because that is what you wanted to hear."

"No, it wasn't." I said loudly, but there was an element of truth in it.

"How long was Mike away last time? Four, five days? Two weeks or so ago, wasn't it?"

How did she know that?

"Yes, three weeks. Hull, it was only going to be for four days, but it was a week and over a weekend, he got home late Sunday, he was shattered, I had to take the kids to his Mums on the way to work."

"If I get the story right then? Mike more than likely had been working thirteen-hour days, the legal limit, including the weekend and then illegally drove home to be with his wife who had to look after her own children over the weekend with help from parents, and then you act the martyr because Mike asked you to drop the children off because he was tired. You had to detour half an hour to drop your children off at his mother's, was that because you wanted to rush to see your new friend, Mr Smooth because he would support you? He would understand, he would listen. Mike didn't listen last night. He just fell asleep; you wanted more, but all you got was a cuddle. Well, it was just before eleven at night when he got in and he had been on the road for over five hours to get home to his wife and family. At least the traffic would not be too bad that time on a Sunday evening.

"With Mike being away Mr Smooth had all week to undermine him, did he say something like 'You need a rest after the week you've had'. 'Mike should be here for you', 'I'm sure he could come home to spend a weekend with his lovely wife, then go back on Monday'. I bet on that Monday Mr Smooth had a dig at Mike, just a little one saying something like, 'Mike could have dropped the kids off and then gone back to bed'.

"I bet Mr Smooth understands after what you told him in your chats that Mike only gets called in when it's almost too late and contracts and time scales are going to be missed."

Now that was really spooky, that was almost the exact words that he had said, how did she know. "Yes, that was what he said, how did you know?"

"I didn't, I guessed, I know his sort."

She took a sip of her coffee. "Urg, it's cold."

She looked round to the counter, that was when the deputy head of HR walked in, that was weird. Nice chap, David, we had chatted a couple of times. He waved to us. She waved back with her cup.

"Was it after one of the visits to the coffee shop on Tuesday outside the yard or the following Friday during your intimate chats with Mr Smooth at this very table that he asked you to go out on that Monday, he suggested that you meet after work to celebrate his mother's recovery? But this time he suggested you tell Mike it was a late meeting, just in case Mike got the wrong idea. And you agreed?"

"Yes. Friday. How did you know?"

She ignored my question. "So, you had not told Mike about Mr Smooth and now Mr Smooth got you to lie to your husband."

All of a sudden a fresh hot cup of coffee turned up, there was tea for me, I do not drink coffee. It was HR David. How did he know that? He put them down and walked away, sitting at a table further down the cafeteria with his own drink and a laptop.

"Yes." I felt ashamed.

"To make matters worse, he suggested that you tell Mike at the last minute about the late meeting. That would be normal for an emergency meeting, but that was Mr Smooths' way of asserting his control over your family. He would feel powerful making your husband cook your food and then having you sitting in a plush restaurant with him. Because now rumours may have started to reach Mike just as he planned. That was a shitty thing to do, so from here on, Mr Smooth is now known as Mr Shithead."

I was stunned at what she said, and not the name calling.

She took a sip of her coffee, I think she was giving me time for what she said to sink in.

"Was that when he kissed you?"

How the bloody hell did she know that?

"Is this how it went? You had a good time, laughing, joking, no work, no children, it was comfortable, he may have even touched your hand. It was probably about seven or half past when you finished dinner. That would be a bit late for a work meeting; so, he suggested that you tell Mike that a few of you went for a drink after the meeting, that would explain the smell of wine on your breath. He held your arm as he walked you to your car, he opened the car door for you, you turned to thank him and he kissed you and it lasted three or four seconds, that is a long time to kiss another man not your husband, you didn't pull away, he did and he was very apologetic. He said he shouldn't have done it and he was sorry, he wouldn't do it again.

"You got in your car and drove home. What could you tell Mike? How could you tell your husband that you went out for drinks with friends after a non-existent meeting and let a man kiss you? You were all confused, what could you tell your husband?

"But there was no meeting, and no work mates. You had dinner with another man who kissed you, how could you explain that? Well, you couldn't, could you? You would have to lie, again."

That was exactly what happened, even down to the length of the kiss and what he said, almost word for word. How could she know?

She took a bite of her cake, wiped her mouth with her napkin. It was as if she wanted what she said to sink in. It did. I felt a tear in my eye. I wiped it with the back of my hand, she passed over a spare napkin. HR David must have brought it.

I put my hand up like a kid at school. "I guessed then he wanted an affair when he kissed me, that was not going to happen, I would lose too much. But I had a friend I could talk to, to confide in."

"What about your other friends, Karen and Suzie or June? Could you not talk to them?"

I felt bad.

She gave me a smile and carried on.

"What did you tell your husband when you got home? Did you tell him the truth or did you tell him the story that Mr Shithead made-up? Were you confused? Were you guilty of anything? Did you feel guilty about kissing another man? Did you feel guilty about lying to your husband? Did you feel guilty when you walked in to see him sitting there with your dinner on the table? Did you feel guilty about not eating food that he made for you and kept warm? One that you could not eat because you had had dinner with your new friend.

"I know what I did."

What did she say?

She carried on quickly. "When you lay in bed next to your husband that night did you feel ashamed or guilty at what you had done? Or just confused? Did you want to do it again? Did you want to kiss Mr Shithead again? He was so much more fun than your husband. You lay there next to your husband thinking where will this end?

"You didn't sleep well that night. You were tired in the morning when you got up. But something was off in the house. Mike was quiet with you because, guess what all those little things you had been doing with your new friend Mr Shithead had somehow found their way back to Mike, but just as rumours. So, when you got in that evening, he was pretty certain you lied to him about the meeting. You came in with the smell of wine on your breath and he would have smelt another man's aftershave on you, then you didn't eat the dinner he made for you."

"Okay you told him you had a drink with friends after the meeting and you grabbed a quick bite in the pub because you had missed lunch and you were hungry. But you didn't bother to phone him and tell him you were going to the pub and would grab a bite so he wouldn't waste time and food cooking for you. Because you forgot about him and the children. Now you were feeling ashamed and dreading he was going to ask questions, like who was there, Jamie or Suzie? What did you have to eat? Where did you go? You see, when you start lying, it's hard to stop, and the more lies you tell the more chance of you being found out. You were scared he was going to ask any of those questions, so you rushed off, muttering something like 'meeting minutes' or 'actions', more lies."

"Let me guess the next morning, just a stab in the dark here, you didn't give Mike and the kids a kiss and say 'love you' like you normally do as you rushed out the door. I didn't."

What!

"When you left for work Mike was grumpy with you, but not to worry you are going to go and see your new friend, he would listen to you, and that confirm to him his plan was going exactly the way he wanted.

"And then of course there were the texts from Shithead during the evening. Did you change your passcode so Mike couldn't see what he was sending? I did."

I looked at her, changed passcodes?

I replied. "No, the texts were bland, normally asking advice or information about the project I was on."

"Things he could and should have asked you at work, but you always answered them straight away. That is not like you. When you read them, you would give a little smile."

She was correct, it was normally work orientated, but there would be a little joke in there to make me smile.

She leaned in slightly. "I bet you kept your phone close to you so you could answer him straight away. But to Mike it looks like you are keeping it from him."

She was right, I did.

"And then when you got a message from shithead did you think about what he asked and then looked off into the distance to think of a witty reply?"

Shit, she did not let up. "So, looking at this from Mike's point of view, a text comes from your friend, you look at it instantly and then look off into the distance with a smile on your face as if you're remembering something and I'm guessing when Mike talks to you, you don't hear him."

Did I do that? Thinking back, I did, just like she said. Oh bloody hell, no wonder Mike has been off with me for a while. But how did she know? I will have to explain to Mike and show him my phone.

"That all fits in with Mr Shithead's plan."

I had to ask. "What plan, you keep mentioning a plan, what was he planning to do?"

"Well seduce you of course, you're a very attractive lady in a stable marriage. You have a husband who loves you, two lovely children, a job with good prospects. You could probably have my job in ten years; your family all love you. And that morning you would have confirmed his plan to drive a wedge between you and your husband was working. That's his main aim; not just sleeping with you. Oh, he would enjoy it. But that was not his main aim."

"Come on then what is his main aim?" I said angrily, because she had been spookily accurate so far. I was dreading what she was going to carry on with.

"To get one over on your husband, someone he has never met, well not in real life and to wreck your marriage and family."

My mouth just hung open.

"Why, you ask? Well, he probably had a terrible childhood from about five or six. I am guessing his father cheated on his mother, or the other way around and they couldn't afford to split so he had to live for twelve or thirteen years being the brunt of every argument that happened in that house. He couldn't wait to get away, it was a miserable existence for a teenager, and now he hates to see happy families.

"So, he picks his target, happy families with bit of vulnerability in them, this time he picked you because he likes the way you smile, hell we all like the way you smile, you cheer up every room when you come bouncing in, you're lively, smart, sexy and the sex would probably be good. Well for him at least"

"How do you know so much?"

"Because that is exactly what happened to me. That was my predator's story. Mr Shithead's story is probably similar. But I didn't have friends around me and a Fairy Godmother." She pointed her fingers at herself. "Someone who can advise you before you go too far, somebody who can stop him."

"Why would you do that for me?"

"Several reasons, I've heard good things about you. Your and Mike's family work on the shipyard. I've met your husband, I like him. It would damage the relationship between two families that work in the yard, so part of this is protecting the yard. But I hate to see bastards like that get away with what he plans to do. That sort of person is very good at what he does, I know. I need to stop him before he ruins any more lives and families."

"How do you know, you say it happened to you, what do you mean?"

She picked her coffee cup up, drank it and looked across to HR David. He was busy writing. Why was he not in his office? He looked up, smiled and nodded at her. He had a nice smile, it quite often reached his eyes and they sparkled, but not today.

She leaned forward, looked at me right in the eyes. "Right, I will tell you, but if one word of this gets out, I will rip your heart out and watch it pump itself to death on the floor. Figuratively speaking of course."

I wasn't sure she was speaking figuratively. I had seen her in meetings leave grown men a sobbing mess when they had been incompetent, rude or disrespectful to her or anyone. Tearing my heart out, figuratively, would be easy for her.

She lifted the coffee cup to her lips; it was obviously empty. She put it down, quite forcibly. "Bugger."

Taking a breath, she started. "We'd been married for six years, and we had two kids. I was a project manager's assistant at one of our suppliers, Browns, you know them. They are on the other side of town. My husband was a software developer. Like yours he had to go away occasionally, just during the week. But I was getting fed up with it. The children were at school and working from home wasn't a thing back then. So, every three or four weeks I would have to pick up the reins for everything. When he accepted the job offer, we already had the two children and we discussed that one week in four he would probably be away, and I would have to do everything, but we would plan ahead knowing it was going to happen, unlike Mike's job.

"My husband's job paid well, and his prospects were brilliant. He was very good at his job. Then a new chap started at Browns, let's call him Mr Charisma and it was all very similar to what is happening to you. I think the difference was he overheard me moaning to my girlfriends about my husband not being there. After that he kept on pitching up with a little smile, a little helping hand, getting the milk for me, holding doors open. Oh yes, and he asked me to help him out as well."

"He had become a friend chatting to all of us. He was a new guy in the company, so everybody wanted to make him welcome. Yes, he was dapper, smart and funny. He flirted gently with all the other girls, but not me, he would just smile at me, but he was always there."

"Then one day he came to my desk and asked for some help, I forgot what it was, something computer stuff. Naturally I sorted it for him."

"A couple of days later when we were chatting by the coffee machine, he asked if he could borrow me. He had another problem that I could help with. This was something more complex that took a bit to sort out. It was nice to be asked, and he told me he asked me because he had faith in me. I thought that was very nice of him."

"Then he would bring me a coffee and leave it on my desk without being asked, he would just put it down, smile and walk away without saying anything if I was busy. One of the girls mentioned I had an admirer. I pointed out I was married, and he had a fiancé, well he told us he did. It was all very comfortable then after three or four weeks later he came in looking all sad and dejected. His fiancé dumped him. She lived in Scotland and didn't want a long-distance relationship, he suspected she found someone else. Of course it was all bollocks."

"He was heartbroken, he asked me to go out with him just to cheer him up. I suggested that a group of us went out, he agreed with that, and we did. I told my husband all about it. He even came out with us, a lot of other halves did, to make him feel welcome. My husband told Mr Charisma there were plenty more fish in the sea and if she could not stand the long distance and could not come up with a solution, it was probably for the best."

"On the way home, my husband told me he didn't like him. He ignored any attempt by the men to be friendly, too smarmy, I called it Charisma, and my husband complained he had slapped on too much aftershave, he stunk."

"The following week he asked me if we could go out, just the two of us as he had something important to ask me that he didn't want getting out. He said he would pay for dinner. I didn't think my husband would approve so I told him it was a drink with friends, but I wouldn't be late home. Not quite a lie, he was a friend, but there were no other friends. He surprised me by going to a nice restaurant. I was expecting a pub. He told me he and his ex-fiancé shared a flat in Scotland and when she moved out, she had run up several bills. It was a thousand pounds, not an amount he could afford to lose, and he felt she should pay for what she used. She was not answering his calls, and he wanted female advice."

"I suggested he contact her parents and ask them to contact her for the money, that would let them know she had failed to pay her share. It might guilt her into paying. I pointed out he might just have to suck it up. When we got to my car that was when he kissed me. He was very apologetic; said he would never do it again."

The cafeteria door rattled. I looked at the time, it was just before three, people started coming in for afternoon tea break. Some of my friends saw me and headed my way. HR David looked at them and shook his head. They turned away. HR David was guarding us.

She carried on, her eyes were misting. "When I got home it was nearly eight o'clock. My dinner was waiting on the table. My husband was not happy. He was expecting me much earlier and he smelt a man's aftershave on me."

"We had an argument; he didn't quite accuse me of cheating on him. He pointed out my attitude over the last month had changed and he felt left out. Not telling him I was going to be late and eating out whilst he kept my dinner warm for me and coming home smelling of aftershave."

"I pushed it to the back of my mind that I had been kissed by another man, I had done nothing wrong, I was helping a friend. Well, it was very cold the next morning in our house. When I got to work. I told my new friend all about it. He was very supportive; he told me to look at it from my husband's point of view. He told me I had to make it up to my husband when I got home. He apologised for the kiss again but said he enjoyed it and wished he could do it again."

"Then he dropped the crippler. Would I like to go out again? You know what, at that time I did, because it was much easier than going home to an angry husband. When I got home, I did as Mr Charisma suggested and apologised to my husband. Things got better for a week or two and then my new friend asked me out again. I went but was not late home. My husband and I had another argument. He told me he had heard rumours about Mr Charisma and why was I smelling of aftershave again? I accused him of being controlling."

"Does any of this sound familiar? The aftershave by the way, he would always make sure I went home with his smell on me. He made sure my husband knew the smell. Again familiar?"

Shit, If Mike smelt my friend's aftershave, he would probably think the worst.

"Well, during my husband's next trip my new friend offered to take me out for an evening. He said he could arrange a babysitter from somebody in his section at work so I wouldn't have to bother my parents. He paid for the babysitter."

"It was a very nice restaurant, he walked me to my car, and we kissed, and I felt him. It felt good to turn a man on. Because we were arguing so much my sex life at home wasn't that good. Well two weeks later my husband went away again, and we had a blazing row the day before he left. Again, I told Mr Charisma, and he arranged a babysitter again, this time the restaurant was in a hotel and yes, we did end up in bed and it was good, it was very good, he played me like a violin.

"But when I got home the following morning, I felt so guilty, it was so wrong, but so good. Well, my husband got back, and I tried to make it up to him. We both felt guilty, him for the argument, me for having sex with another man and liking it."

"Mr Charisma asked me to go out with him again, just a late night after work. I put him off at least twice. My husband went away, and I accepted his next offer. But we had a hiccup. Mr Charisma's credit card was rejected. He had enough cash to pay for the food but not the hotel room. So, I paid all of it on my credit card, he promised to pay me back the following day, he did. The sex was good, but not as good as the last time. My husband came home, I felt guilty. I know now it showed. Then the following week he said he was going away again at short notice. This was strange, two weeks away in three, it had never been known before. He was distant, cold. When I asked him why, he just said it was work. He couldn't know, we had been so careful, or so I thought. When we had sex, it was rough. I quite liked it, but he wasn't the loving man I had come to know and love."

"I didn't realise what was happening. I was so stupid." She was crying now.

"If you haven't worked it out, getting me to pay the hotel bill was a pretty sure way my husband would find out, why would I be paying for a hotel room in our town whilst he was away?"

"Well, again I told Mr Charisma my husband was away, I did not tell him my concerns. He arranged for another night, again he sorted the babysitter. This time it was a little cottage boutique hotel with little chintzy curtains and a lovely big soft bed. The sex was okay, and I was hoping for a better second round. We were propped up against the headboard, when I looked at my lover and he was nodding off. I sighed, could this get worse, well it did, much, much worse."

Tears were pouring down her face. HR David walked up, gave her his hanky, took our cups and walked away, again without a word.

"All of a sudden, the door flew open, and it was hanging off its hinges and there was my husband. The look on his face was incredible. I had never seen him so angry. He walked up to the bed and threw a large envelope on it and said 'I've sent the babysitter home, your shithead needs to pay me for that. Your parents are looking after the kids. You need to get home and take care of them.'

"I looked across at Mr Charisma. He was smirking, he got out of bed, naked and walked towards my husband. He was a good few inches taller and wider than my husband. I looked at the face of my husband. This was not going to end well."

"He said to him, 'You will not divorce her cucky boy. This will last a month and then you can have her back, but don't worry, every time she fucks you, she will be thinking of me'. A thought flashed through my mind. 'Oh no I won't'. All the time he was saying this Mr Charisma was poking my husband on the shoulder, quite forcibly. Mr Charisma may have been bigger than my husband, maybe that's why he picked me because I have a small husband, but he didn't reckon on the anger. Standing there completely naked, poking this little man in the chest with the little man's wife lying naked in bed behind him was a stupid thing to do.

"My husband's knee crushed his genitals, Mr Charisma started screaming. But it got worse, my husband smashed his face into the wardrobe mirror and shattered it. Blood started to go everywhere. Then my husband did it again. Blood and glass littered the floor. He dragged him to the door of the bedroom and threw him out, unfortunately our room was at the top of the staircase. Mr Charisma went flying down the staircase naked.

"My husband turned to me and said, 'Go home to your children, they're going to need you now because I'm going to prison.' He went downstairs, phoned 999, requested an ambulance and the police. He started dressing Mr Charisma's wounds. The ambulance got there first, quickly followed by the police. My husband told the police everything that happened, he was arrested. My new friend wasn't badly hurt by the fall downstairs, just a broken leg, it could have been much worse, but his face was a mess."

"My husband ended up going to prison. He had his mobile phone sticking out of his top pocket and he had videoed the whole incident. His lawyer protested self-defence because of the poking in the shoulder and Mr Charisma was physically larger. The judge agreed and allowed the kick in the genitals and the first push into the mirror. But after that it was just angry violence, the second smash into the mirror and throwing down the stairs, which could have caused life changing injuries had to be taken into account. The maximum term is twelve years. My husband got five years, probably because Mr Charisma would never look as pretty again and would need plastic surgery."

She was crying, another two cups turned up. HR David's hand squeezed her shoulder and walked away. Not a word was spoken.

"He is very protective of you."

She nodded, wiping her tears. "We've known each other a long time. He is just giving me time to have a chat with you without anyone sticking their nose in, that's all."

Tears were pouring down her face. "With my husband in prison he wasn't earning any money. I had to sell the house, a house that I loved. He divorced me. His parents never spoke to me again. My parents, well they helped, but they did not forgive me."

She took a drink of her coffee, she winced, it must be hot. "I lost my home, my husband. I hurt my parents and then later on when the children grew up and found out what I'd done, I almost lost them. My husband had to step in and protect me. I had to change jobs. I couldn't stay where I was when it all came out."

She wiped her eyes again with HR David's hanky.

"He went down for five years because of what he did to my boyfriend, he was not remorseful for what he did, but because he pleaded guilty, dressed his wounds, phoned the ambulance and basically turned himself in, he only served two years. When he got out of prison, he couldn't get a decent job because he had a prison record for grievous bodily harm. He had help from outreach programs and he got construction work at just above minimum wage. He had no money to pay maintenance or child support. He paid what he could, so I had to work hard to support the family, ironically it helped me get where I am today."

She gave a small smile. "With his help the children started to speak to me again. I felt I had to do something for him. I knew whilst he'd been in prison he had taken university courses in psychology and business management as he said he had nothing else to do. He was released before he finished the course, so he had to do it at home in between doing manual jobs. Well, I could help him, I was working here at the time, I was a project manager. I knew HR had an opening, so I approached them and told them the whole story, all of it. I asked them just to give him an interview. I had to convince him to go for the job. Well, long story short, he got it because of his experiences in the low paid jobs, his two degrees, software knowledge and the experience of being in prison made him an ideal candidate, especially one for having difficult discussions. Which nobody likes to do anyway. When David got the job, he could start giving me a bit more financial support for the children. I moved into a better flat with them. Things got better and, well now he knows the whole story he's almost forgiven me." She gave me a small smile.

Hang on, I thought to myself, she said 'David'.

The penny dropped, she looked at me quizzically as I asked. "HR David?"

She looked at me and said. "Did I say David?"

"Yes, you did."

I looked across at HR David, he was looking at us. He had a frown on his face. She turned and looked at him. Her hands flew to her mouth, she looked back at me. "Yes, that is my ex-husband."

She leaned forward and growled. "If you tell anybody that, having your heart ripped out will seem a minor annoyance. Nobody else here knows and that is the way we want to keep it."

HR David came across to us, he laid his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him. "Sorry, sweetheart, I've let our secret out."

He replied, looking at me. "I wouldn't worry Cathy."

Bugger, that was her name.

"I think we can trust Diane to keep our secret." He had a gentle smile on his face. "The cafeteria is about to shut. I'll fetch the last drinks." I saw him give Cathy's shoulder a squeeze before he walked away.

"Oh my God are you two, like, friends, an item now? We often see you walking together. People wonder if you're an item?"

"Sort of, it's complicated."

"Why not tell people?"

She looked down this time. "I am frightened the story will come out and the shame all over again. People see me as a hard, sensible, a reliable person, not a naive, silly little girl who got conned into giving up a loving husband for a bit on the side, because that is what people will see. Everyone loves Dave and they will say 'Your boyfriend must have been really special to dump Dave for him and where is your boyfriend now?"

"Are you, you know, together?"

She was wiping her tears away. She gave a big smile which reached her eyes. She had a really pretty face when she smiled. "Outside work, yes, before you ask, we are seeing each other that way." She looked a bit sheepish. "It happened at our daughter's engagement party. We both had a little too much to drink and ended up in bed together. We both agreed it was wrong, and we didn't do it again. Well, that was until the wedding six months later. The wedding was on Saturday but we didn't leave the hotel until Tuesday morning."

It was as if she had kept it bottled up and now I knew about it, it was all coming out. They were not together, she explained. "He has his place, and I have mine. We spend time together at each other's. We have an open relationship; we can sleep with anybody else we like. I don't, I don't think he does either, but I don't know. He hasn't forgiven me, but he has let me back into part of his life. I don't deserve that but I'm going to take it. I'm an intelligent woman, but I was naive, stupid, I was duped, the worst thing was I allowed myself to be duped. You see, what I didn't know was that Mr Charisma and I were doing lots of things in public and I did not realise the rumours were getting back to David, so he was getting suspicious, that was exactly what Mr Charisma wanted. He didn't want to destroy my family like your shithead. What he wanted was to insult my husband. He didn't expect the outcome he got. But I'm sure if David hadn't done it, the next person or the one after that would have."

She pulled herself together and sat upright.

"Right, that's enough about me, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, what shall I do? Do I lie to Mike? What do I tell the shithead?"

"I'll be honest with you, your Mr Shithead has two complaints against him. He has tried this on with other people. He has had two warnings, so we think he has changed his approach which is probably why he got so far with you."

I felt really stupid now, Cathy carried on.

"David says it's stupid, but we need three complaints against him, its company policy. He is trying to get it changed. But for now, we are stuck with it."

I got angry with her. "This has been going on for months and you only come to me now? What the fuck, why did not warn me earlier."

She was not phased at my anger, that made me angrier.

Cathy held her hands up and David looked across, but didn't move.

"We didn't know till three weeks ago when a friend in your department reported her concerns to David. She was worried in case she got it wrong and didn't want to upset you.

"Then we had to investigate, do some digging, also we had another concern. And this is awkward, you may be okay with it, you may wish to have an affair, and if you are, we will apologise and keep our nose out of your personal business."

That would have been my friend June, we work together and look out for each other. She has been asking how I am a lot. She must have seen what was happening. I'll have to thank her.

"I'm not. I love Mike, I wouldn't do that to him and I have too much to lose if I did."

I was stunned and I said. "So, it's okay to have an affair?"

"There is no company policy preventing it, we would not be happy, but as long as it does not affect your work and nothing untoward happens in the yard there is little we can do. As an example, if you held hands with your boyfriend walking around the yard we would be upset and have words with you, but we couldn't stop you."

"When it happened in the coffee shop outside there was nothing we could do. It's your personal business and the company cannot tell you how to live."

I was still angry. I leaned forward. "Well, I don't. I want this bastard's balls. What can I do to help?"

Cathy smiled. "Our suspicion is that he will worry about this chat, he will come and see you. He will touch you. You tell him that it is inappropriate to touch you and if he does it again you will report him to HR. You keep your hands on the table, he will be incised and do it again. You can report him and that is three strikes. His previous complaints were for inappropriate touching, and it wasn't the hands."

"I can do that."

"It would help if you could record it."

"Okay, but what about Mike, any advice on how I deal with that?"

"Tell him the truth, you got suckered in by a predator and someone pointed it out to you, and you stopped it, if you lie it will come back and bite you in the backside. You know Mike better than anyone, so you will have to decide, however you may want to be frugal with some of the truth. Tell him about the kiss but not that it lasted so long. You can tell him you are helping out HR with shithead."

"But your first priority is your family. I've arranged for you to go home early. I suggest you phone Mike, get the parents to have the children then either stay in or go out, but explain it to him."

"I need to go to the toilet, I need to repair my face." She smiled. "It's okay for you pretty young things, this old bag needs a bit of help if I am going to keep him." She nodded towards David. "Oh, and before I go one more thing, you need to keep your eye out for this happening to other people. Promise me you will be somebody else's Fairy Godmother."

I looked at her, I smiled saying. "I promise I will. I feel such a bloody idiot now you've explained it; it is so painfully obvious. Thank you very much."

She smiled at me and walked away, she passed David and said something to him. He looked at me and smiled. As Cathy walked towards the toilet David came up to me and said. "Give me a call, anytime for anything, well not ship design obviously, but anything else." He walked towards the exit.

I phoned Mike. "My sweetheart, I'm coming home early, I need to talk to you. This is serious. Can you get parents to babysit? I'm taking you out for dinner tonight. I've so much to say to you. I love you. I'm sorry Mike."

His reply was cold and angry. "Is this so you can tell me about your divorce without the children here?"

"What!" I said, that was not the answer I was expecting. "What divorce? Why would I do that?" I was amazed at what he said, why would he say that?

"Surely that's what you're going to tell me. That is where you've been heading for the last couple of weeks."

I was in tears now. "No, no I love you that's not what I'm going to say please. I'm not leaving you."

Then he said. "Oddly enough, I thought you'd already left." That hurt, but after what I had learned that was probably how he saw it.

"No, sorry sweetheart. I am not leaving; I have some explaining to do please. I'll be home soon." He just hung up, no 'goodbye', no 'love you'. I just sat there crying, what had I done to the man I love?

The door of the cafeteria flew open and Shithead came rushing across with concern on his face. I remembered what Cathy asked, and I put my phone on audio record.

He sat beside me and put his arms around me. "Are you okay? what did they want?"

I was angry. "Don't touch me you shithead." I slid further away from him, getting out of his arms.

I saw Cathy come out of the toilet and head towards the exit. She looked across at us and walked faster.

Seeing her I relaxed and put my hands back on the table. I did not realise that was a good idea because shithead reached out again, took hold of one of my hands and slid his other arm around my shoulders.

He asked. "What did they say about me?"

Selfish git, I thought.

"Don't touch me, I know what you have been doing. If you touch me again, I will report you to HR."

He sat back at that but soon recovered. "Diane, I am concerned about you, I'm your friend. I only want to help." He reached out and rested his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me." I screamed.

Then all of a sudden HR David and Cathy were beside the table. "She said do not touch her." Said David in an authoritative tone of voice. "You've been warned about this before. Get out of here and be in my office at eight tomorrow."

Shithead just ran away.

Cathy looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"No, I phoned Mike and told him I wanted to talk tonight, he thinks I want a divorce. He told me he thought I had left the marriage weeks ago." I looked up at her. "I didn't realise, what have I done? Help me please."

Cathy turned and talked to David. turning back to me she said. "Come on, we are taking you home."

I do not know how I got there but all of a sudden I was letting myself into my house. Cathy and David followed me in. The kids ran up to me like they normally do. I got on my knees and hugged them. Mike was standing there watching us. He did not look happy. However, he stepped forward saying. "Hello Cathy, nice to see you again."

"Hello Mike, this is David from HR." She introduced David.

Mike and David shook hands.

Mike said. "HR?" He left the question hanging.

"Would you like a drink, tea, coffee?" Mike asked, then looking at me he said. "Your Mum and Dad will be here in a minute; they are having the kids overnight and we can get this blo..." He paused. "This unpleasantness sorted without the kids hearing the shouting."

David replied. "Mike, it's been really crap..." He looked at the children. "You know what I mean, sort of day. I would appreciate a beer if you have one. Cathy's driving." David looked at her and she nodded her head.

"Coffee for me please Mike. White, no sugar." She smiled. "Looks like I'm the duty driver today."

Mike did not ask me if I wanted anything. He must be really pissed off with me. He went to the kitchen. I heard the kettle going on and the fridge opening and closing. Every sound dragged me closer to the confrontation I was dreading.

The next thing I knew was my Mum and Dad came in. I was instantly forgotten by the children as they ran off screaming. "Nanny, Granddad". My parents looked at David and Cathy, Dad knew who they were. The children had their overnight bags ready and rushed to get them. Dad looked at me and said. "You had better give us a call tomorrow." He could tell there was something wrong, it was bloody obvious really. Then a thought crossed my mind: how much does Dad know?

Mike put his head around the door, waved to my parents and said to David. "Ale or lager?"

"I prefer brown beer, but lager will do."

Mike came back carrying two bottles of beer and two glasses, he handed a bottle and a glass to David. He looked at the beer and said. "Abbots Reserve." Looking at Cathy he said "It's a good job you're driving." He handed the glass back to Mike. "Let's save on the washing up."

Mike went back to fetch Cathy's coffee; I said goodbye to Mum, Dad and the kids.

Mike invited Dave and Cathy to sit, they took armchairs, and I sat next to Mike on the sofa.

The silence hung heavy, who was going to start, I suppose I had better. I reached for Mike's hand, he let me take it. That was a relief. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, I've made a mistake, a huge mistake, I didn't mean to..." I could not go on, I burst into tears. Mike pulled his hands back, the look on his face was frightening.

David spoke up. "Mike, please this is between you and Diane, but can I say something?"

Mike nodded.

David continued. "I'm not going to pull any punches. Diane has been targeted by a sexual predator, a very practised one. Whilst he wanted to have sex with Diane his main aim was to split your family."

"Why?" Mike was surprisingly calm.

"We suspect he had a bad family time as a child and hates to see happy families." David and Cathy went on to explain, repeating pretty much what we talked about in the cafeteria. They made a point of telling Mike that shithead made sure the rumours reached him including the aftershave trick. Mike asked the same question that I did, if they knew why let it get so far. Cathy told him what she told me. Mike was amazed that affairs are allowed between workers. He got the same answer that I did.

Mike looked at me. "How far did he get?"

"Just a kiss as he held the car door open for me."

"Did you want to have an affair with him?"

I was amazed. "No, not at all. Yes, I saw what he wanted, what I thought he was aiming for. I thought he wanted an affair, but I couldn't risk losing you. I love you"

I took a deep breath, looked Mike in the eyes and said. "If I had an affair, I would get caught then lose the kids, your Mum and Dad would never talk to me, mine would never forgive me. I would have lost the respect of everyone at work and worse than that, I would have hurt you and lost you. I saw what he was doing when he kissed me. I guessed that he wanted an affair, so I was wary of that. What I did not see was that he wanted to destroy our marriage. I will admit after we split, I might have succumbed, but not before. I had too much to lose." I slid onto the floor, took his hands in mine. "I love you; I would never cheat on you."

"Then why were you so off with me these last couple of weeks."

"Because I let him kiss me and I did nothing to stop him, I lied to you. I felt guilty for letting you down, I should have talked to you about it. Sorry."

David spoke. "Mike, Diane has helped us get more evidence on him and he will be sacked tomorrow for sexual harassment, and somehow it will get around that he breaks up marriages for his perverse fun. Right, it's time we went and left you two to chat, I'm sure you can sort this out. Diane has my and Cath's number. Give us a call if you want to chat." Smiling he said. "I have some beer you might appreciate."

Cathy spoke. "Mike, Diane was a victim of a predator, please go easy on her. She loves you, that is why she felt so bad. I know that feeling."

I saw a furrow cross Mike's brow. I will tell him about David and Cathy, I am certain he can keep it to himself.

We all stood. Mike held his hand out and David took it, he held it out to Cathy, she did not take it but stepped up to Mike and hugged him. As Mike held the door open for them, he said. "One question, what's his name?"

David replied. "I am not going to tell you because I don't want you going all Rambo on him and ending up in prison. I really can't."

I followed David and Cathy out to their car. "Cathy, I can't thank you and David enough for what you've done, and I promise I will be somebody else's Fairy Godmother, but I have to tell you that everyone thinks you two are a couple anyway."

"What?"

"Yes, people see you walking around together, but you never get too close, it's like you want to keep it outside work and people respect that, but the giveaway is the way you look at each other and then smile."

Cathy had a startled look on her face. David was just smiling, and it went all the way up to his eyes and they sparkled.

After they left Mike fetched a bottle of wine and a glass for me and another bottle of beer for himself. "I realise I've only got half the story, so tell me everything."

I leaned forward and kissed him. "I love you and I'm sorry."

"I may in time forgive you for what you have done, but you have to be completely honest with me and the first thing is, what is his name? I promise I will not lay a finger on him."

"Grant Patterson, but I'm going to call him shithead." I did believe Mike would not lay a finger on him, but there are many more things in this world you can hit a man with.

I told Mike the whole story, everything. I added the stuff I learned from my chat to Cathy. Even down to the length of the kiss. Early on in my story I pointed out to Mike that in the past Cathy had been a victim of a sexual predator and it cost her, her marriage. He pointed out that Cathy and David looked very comfortable together. I told him their secret and swore him to secrecy.

We made love that night. I phoned my parents and asked them to keep the children for another day, then come round for lunch I would explain everything.

Things got back to normal pretty quickly in the house but there was one incident, Klara was due to play rounders for the school and her rounders bat wasn't in her sports kit when I looked. Mike had been out for a beer with his friends the previous evening.

A rounders bat is only 18 inches long. Much easier to conceal up a sleeve than a baseball bat. I never heard anything about shithead being beaten up, but there again he did live the next town over and did not work for us anymore.

David and Cathy became more open about their relationship, but only a little. Mike and I did go round to see David and Cathy at his place a couple of weeks later. David had a selection of beers he considered Mike might enjoy. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we stayed there until the pair of them had drunk all of them, plus a few weaker ones.

We became firm friends possibly because we shared similar experiences and pain. That and Mike did not work in the Shipyard and had different stories to tell.

A few years later I paid back the kindness Cathy had shown me, I played Fairy Godmother. David was head of HR now and I gave him a call. "Hi, could I have a spot of advice please David? You know Cathy asked me to keep an eye out for what happened to us. I think I've been looking in the wrong place, it may have gone further than I expected. Well, this one is a little strange. It's not the usual predator. It's another female."

"Predators come in all shapes, sizes and genders. We'll pop down." David said.

Five minutes later David and Cathy came through the door. She was now head of production down in the sheds but was still a regular visitor to our neck of the woods, probably to see David. I explained that the logistics manager on the floor plate, who was married to another woman, kept on approaching one of my project managers assistants, an extremely pretty young girl, but a little unworldly.

I told them I had arrived early the other day to see the logistics manager place a small posy of flowers on the project manager's assistant desk before she got in. I asked the PM if she was okay with attention. She told me not really, but didn't know what to do because she was frightened of being accused of not being inclusive, but she was feeling really uncomfortable about it. We had a long chat. She told me a story that I was familiar with. That was when I gave David a phone call. We briefed the PM on the words to say. David planned to have words with the logistics manager. Cathy then came up with a solution, she has a requirement for a logistics manager in the production shed. The staff down there were vastly men.

As Cathy left, she turned to me and said. "Well done, but don't let your guard down just yet." Smiling, she carried on. "Oh, by the way you and Mike are invited to a housewarming party next week. It's been nearly ten years, but David and I are moving back in together." She had a huge smile on her face and a small happy tear in her eye.