Part One
Jim glanced in the mirror to see Cathy's reflection smiling back at him. He looked away, only to feel the heat of Cathy's gaze burning into his left cheek. He chanced a look back at her. "What? Have I got something on my face or something?"
"No�" Cathy smiled.
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"I don't know�you just seem�the last few weeks you've seemed�different."
"In what way?" Jim was instantly cautious. The news about him and June was still a closely guarded secret as far as either of them knew, and if anyone were to find out, the last person he would want it to be was Cathy Bradford.
"You�you've got a woman, haven't you?"
Jim tried not to react but felt himself flush.
"You have! I knew it. Lucky girl." Cathy settled back into her seat.
"What do you mean by that?" Jim queried.
"You're a nice bloke, Jim. And good looking in your own way. I wouldn't blame anyone for�" Cathy stopped, and then laid a hand gently on Jim's thigh.
"What are you doing?" Jim glanced down.
"Nothing." Yet instead of removing her hand, she moved it further up his thigh.
"Cathy!" He made to bat her hand away with his own, almost losing control of the car in the process.
"Watch it!" Cathy laughed. "Come on, Jim�I've looked at you so many times, and I have wanted you. Don�t tell me it isn�t the same for you."
"It isn't. You're right, I'm involved, and I would do nothing - NOTHING - to hurt the woman I�.the woman I love."
"Is the sex good?" The question came from so far out of left field that Jim had to slew the car to a halt at the side of the road in order to calm himself.
"Excuse me?" He turned in his seat to regard her.
"Love, Jim, is all very noble, it's all very sweet, it's all so Mills and Boon�but without the physical side�"
"It's none of your business." Jim glared, turning red.
"Hmmm. OK, that answers my question." Cathy regarded him for a long moment. Then without warning she grabbed the front of his jacket, and pulled him in toward her, kissing him deeply. When she was done, she pushed him away. "Just wanted to let you know what you were missing. If you think that was good�and I know you do�just imagine, Jim. Imagine."
"Cathy, either shut up or get out of this car."
"Why - don't you want me near you? I turned you on, didn't I Jim. Admit it."
"No."
"Admit it."
"NO!" Jim roared. "Get out of this car!!"
"You don't want me to do that, Jim Carver." Her _expression had swiftly turned to one of pure malice.
"Why?"
"You know what will happen, don't you, if I tell people what I know. You know what will happen to you, and you know what will happen to June." She leant in once more. "You see, I know. You two, you're so sweet, you've been trying to hide it, but I know, I can read your body language, I've seen the way the two of you look at each other across a crowded CSU�.you and June�you've been at it like bunnies, haven�t you, James? A sergeant screwing a constable." She tutted. "You must know how much that's frowned upon. Transfers, discipliniaries, dismissal�"
"You wouldn't dare tell�"
"Wouldn't I?" Cathy smiled. "Maybe, maybe not. But there's only one way that you can guarantee I'll keep my mouth shut. My place, tonight, 9pm."
**
"Where are you going?" She looked up at him as he dressed.
"There's nothing in this deal that says I have to stick around." Jim pulled on his shirt.
"Maybe I want you to." Cathy sat up in the bed, letting the duvet fall to her waist, exposing her nakedness. "It was good, Jim�and there's more where that came from."
"I'm not interested."
"You seemed interested half an hour ago." Cathy's eyes narrowed.
"As far as I'm concerned�." Jim leant down, leant towards her. "�this was nothing less than rape."
"Ha!" Cathy laughed. "Rape? You came here, Jim, remember? And�I had your consent."
"My physical consent maybe. My emotional, my mental consent�.no."
"You were thinking of her, were you? Your older woman�"
"I tried not to think at all." Jim slipped into his jacket. "You know something, Cathy, you seem to think you're God's gift to men. That you're the best lover that a man could ever have." Jim laughed harshly and shook his head. "You're not. I can assure you of that. You're not. You're just a conceited bitch with an inflated idea of your own self importance. And on top of that, you're jealous. Of what June and I have. Yes - we're very physical. But more importantly than that, we love each other. We're best friends. And THAT is what makes sex good." He looked down at her and shook his head. "Have you got what you wanted now?"
"You didn't have to come here you know."
"No�I did, and you KNOW I did."
"You could have just done the decent thing. Told everyone yourself. You could have told June, but no�.and do you know why? Because you WANTED this, Jim Carver. You wanted it! If I didn't have a hold over you before - I do now! You screwed me, Jim. You came here because you wanted to and you screwed me because you wanted to. What if�" Cathy brushed some hair from her eyes with her fingers. "�I was the one who didn't want to. What if I was the one that was forced. You say anything about this, Jim, you cry rape, and I'll cry louder. And who do you think they'll listen to, eh? You or me?"
"You BITCH!" Jim flailed for Cathy in a sudden fit of anger. Cathy grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tightly. "Oh no you don't. Hurt me�and it's just more grist to the mill."
Jim shook his head, then headed toward the door. "But you know how to keep me happy, don't you, Jim, you know how to keep me quiet? You just give me what I want, when I want�.and we can be friends. Can't we?"
Jim stopped at the door and looked back at her. "You and I�.we will never be friends." With that he left and slammed the door behind him.
**
Despite his best intent, his mood was no better when he reached June Ackland's house half an hour later. He let himself in with the key June had had cut for him.
"Jim? Is that you?"
"Yeah." He cursed as his voice shook. "Look, I'm knackered - I'm going to go straight up to bed."
He'd made no more than three steps when June stepped out into the hallway, flicking the light on. "Jim, are you alright?"
"Yeah - I said I'm just knackered." He ascended a few more steps.
"Jim - have you been crying?" June was at the bottom of the stairs now, looking up at him with an _expression of utter concern.
"No�." Try as he may, he couldn't turn around to face her. "It's the pollen�.hay fever, y'know."
"Jim�you don't get hay fever. Jim - I know you and I know when you're upset!"
"June�." Jim swallowed, forced himself to turn around. "If you�.just don�t keep asking me�" He fought for the right words, he couldn't find them. He still couldn�t look at her. "Just�forget it�" He walked back down the stairs, brushed past June, and opened the door. "I'm going home."
"No you're NOT!" June yelled, grabbing his arm. "You are going to stay here and you are going to tell me what is wrong!"
"I CAN'T!" Jim was sobbing freely now. "It's for your�.own good, June�we need to�forget all of this�" He span away from her. "I can't�see you again." He walked away, at a pace, down the pathway.
"Jim. JIM!!" June screamed after his retreating form. But he didn't slow his pace, and he didn't look back.
**
He didn't know quite how he'd got there. He couldn't remember using the words, making the request that had brought him here, to his moment. He was only vaguely aware of his surroundings, noise, voices�the smell of cigarette smoke, piss, sick and beer.
The only thing he was really aware of was the sharp taste of the whisky as it passed his lips, slipped over his tongue and down his throat.
"Another." He raised the glass to the barman.
"Another double?"
"Yeah. Another double." He reached into this pocket, pulled out a fifty pound note. "And keep them coming, eh?"
**
Part Two
"You alright, mate?" The bartender, a young lad of about twenty regarded Jim carefully. "You should be careful with that stuff y'know."
"Yeah. I know." Jim ran his finger around the rim of his all-but-empty glass. "Get me another."
"You sure? You're looking a bit green around the gills."
"I'm sure! You've got my money haven�t you?"
"Yeah�.OK, just take it a bit slower, alright?"
"Don't worry about me." Jim drained the last dregs. "I'm a professional. Fill it up. I'll be right back." Jim slipped off the stool, balancing himself against the edge of the bar as a wave of dizziness struck him. He smiled at the lad. "Got up too quick."
Jim scanned the room, searching for the location of the men's toilets, and headed toward them. He pushed open the door, muttered an apology to someone who was just coming out and who he had bumped into, and disappeared into a cubicle.
**
June Ackland paced around her living room. She couldn't decide what to do, should she try to call Jim, or go to his flat to confront him? She didn't understand�she placed a hand to her head�how could this have happened? Just last night they had been�he had been his usual self, funny, sweet, loving�
Looking back over the day she had to admit that Jim had been a little quiet when he had returned from an inquiry with Cathy Bradford, but it had been a sensitive case, one of those which, although he always tried to deny it, hit Jim hard.
Maybe that was all it was. Jim was upset about something he had seen, heard, had been angry, felt disillusioned. It wouldn't be the first time or the last. But it wouldn't explain�she placed a hand to her head� some of the things that he had said. Especially the part about it being in her best interests that they split.
Could it be�.no. June considered then dismissed the idea that Jim might be having an affair. It had been Jim that had pushed�no, encouraged, her into making the decision to take their relationship a step further, without him, without that, she may never have admitted�her eyes fell closed and she remembered the _expression on his face as he had admitted, that night at the pub, that he loved her. He'd been like a little boy�he'd seemed�amazed at his own words, his own feelings, and she had seen�she had seen the pain of nineteen traumatic years dissolve in an instant through his hope - belief - that he had found what he had always been searching for.
A belief that June had, until very recently, not shared, but now she was as sure as Jim had been at that moment, at least until�.
In a swift movement she grabbed her mobile, dialled Jim's number, closed her eyes and prayed that he would answer.
**
With a quivering hand Jim pulled the toilet flush and watched with a detached fascination as the contents of his stomach swirled away into oblivion. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, watched as it shook.
He hadn't�.he placed the palms of his hands to his eyes. He hadn't thrown up since rehab. Since those painful three days when�he balled his hands into fists�those days when he had been through so much pain, so much fear, so much anguish, after which he had promised - promised - a group of his like, and he had promised himself, this would never, ever�.
He let out a low, guttural moan, and slammed his balled fists into the sides of his head, hard. His fingers slipped into his hair, tugging at the blond strands and wrenching them free. It hurt, god it hurt, but despite the physical and mental pain he was suffering, there was a part of him that could only focus on the glass of whisky that was waiting for him on the bar, just five, ten metres away.
He wanted it. He wanted�he needed�to forget.
He wanted to reach that place he'd so easily been able to reach before, that place when his mind would simply shut down, his body acting on auto-pilot, when he wouldn't - couldn't - think about anything that hurt him, anything that had had happened to him, anything that made him so desperate he simply wanted to�
He flashed back suddenly to that cold December day on a bridge over the Thames. He remembered the pain, the hopelessness, the need for an all-consuming darkness that would take it all away - forever.
What was it that had saved him? What had been the one tiny spark, the one glimmer of hope that had stopped him? He needed to remember, now, because that feeling�.it was returning. Slowly but surely, it was coming right back to haunt him.
**
"Jim, come on!" Jim's phone was ringing but there was no answer. She'd been waiting now, two minutes, more�she knew she should probably hang up, but she couldn't. She had to wait, she had to know�
**
He was suddenly aware of his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out, squinted at the tiny green screen.
In black letters it read: "June Calling."
He hesitated for a moment. Then he pressed the receive button and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Jim - oh, thank god, where are you?"
Her voice. She sounded�she should be angry but she sounded more concerned, fearful. His mouth opened to reply, but nothing more than air came out.
"Jim�.speak to me, please, I need to know you're all right. Just let me know that much."
The anguish he could hear drove him to tears and he sobbed.
"Jim? JIM! I'm not putting this phone down until you speak to me! Tell me where you are, and if you're alright�please!!"
"Ju�." He could muster no more than a whisper. "June�I'm sorry�"
"For what? Jim? Ji�."
**
June stared at her phone.
Why on earth would Jim be sorry? For the argument, or�.
A sudden stab of fear hit her. He wouldn't�would he? She had to find him�.
She scooped her car keys from the hall table and left the house, leaving the TV blaring and the lights blazing.
**
The next morning
"You alright, Sarge?" Brandon Kane looked up in concern as June entered the CSU. "You look - if you'll excuse the language - knackered."
"I am knackered." June snapped. "Is Jim in?"
"No�not yet." Brandon looked on as June paced the room aimlessly. "Why - is there a problem?"
"No�everything is fine. Where's Cathy?" She asked, gesturing to Cathy's empty desk.
"Been in, already out on an inquiry. Full of the joys of spring she was." Brandon stood then and grabbed June's arm as she walked past. "Look, if there's something wrong, maybe you should talk to someone about it."
"Not this. I can't talk to anyone about this." June strode purposefully over to her desk, and dialled Jim's home number. Again, she waited in vain.
"I'm going out." She announced. "It's�.um�personal."
"Sarge�" Brandon watched as June disappeared through the double doors, concern written clear across his features.
**
"Jim?" June slammed her hand against the door of Jim Carver's flat. "JIM - if you're there, let me in! JIM! I'm NOT leaving!"
She slammed her hand against the door once more, and was surprised when it opened. It hadn't even been locked�.
The ache of fear that had assailed her the previous evening overtook her once more. Why wouldn't Jim, a serving police officer, of nearly 20 years experience, lock his own flat door?
She pushed the door open, stepped inside. "Jim, are you in here? Jim?" She walked up the hallway, into the kitchen and lounge area. "Jim?"
There was something on the table�.as she approached she saw it was Jim's mobile phone. He must have come back here since�she had visited his flat last night at around midnight searching for him�she should have stayed�
"Jim? Come on�please�" Despite herself, June began to cry. "I know you're here�" She walked back down the hallway, turned to a door on her left - Jim's bedroom. Slowly she pushed it open.
"Oh no�" June placed a hand to her mouth. Jim lay on his bed, curled up foetally. The room smelled of sick, and there was vomit on his pillowcase and sheets. She ran toward the bed. "JIM!" She grabbed him, shook him. "How could you do this!" She screamed. "How could you do this again! Jim - wake up! Wake up and tell me why you did this!!"
Slowly, Jim's eyes cracked open. They were red, full of pain. "Ju�June�no�get out, June, now!"
"NO!"
"June - GO!" Jim tried to sit up, wobbled. "PLEASE!"
"No! I'm not leaving! You're going to tell me what is going on! What�.what is happening to you?!"
Part Three
"You're stubborn - I'll give you that." Jim shivered in a chair as June stripped the soiled sheets from his bed.
June didn't comment, just muttered: "Are you feeling alright now - or do you still feel sick?"
"I've got a headac�.a hangover." Jim looked down, away.
"Serves you right." June's voice cracked as she said this.
"Yes - it does." Jim's body shook in a tremor. "God it's cold�"
"Here." June picked up Jim's duvet, stripped of it's cover and tossed it toward him. "Wrap yourself up, I'll make you some coffee when I've finished here." She sighed harshly. "I'm still waiting, you know."
"I know." Jim wrapped the duvet around him. "I didn't get�I only had two whiskies." He laughed then, harshly. "Listen to me. Only. Two drinks and I'm right back where I started." He swallowed. "They hit me like a brick, June, after the first I felt sick, after the second I could barely stand�it wasn't right�I'd never felt like that before�back then two whiskies was just the beginning, it would take five, six before it would even start to have an effect�I'm�.not going to do it again, you know. Never. I know now. Maybe this had to happen once, so I could know." He paused, waited for June to comment. "June?"
"Jim�" June threw a half-cased pillow onto the mattress. "I'm waiting for you to tell me why. Don't tell me it was some kind of experiment, I won't accept that."
"I can't. It's for your own good, June."
"My own good?" June yelled. "My own GOOD? Last night you tell me it's in my best interests that we split up, now you're telling me it's in my interests that the man I�the man I love�keeps a secret like this from me?"
Jim gazed up at June. "That's the first time you've said that to me. That's the first time you've told me you love me."
"Yes, Jim - I do love you. In a funny way I always have�and I don't like to see you hurt. I just can't�Jim, I don't know if I can watch you do this to yourself again! Do you know how I felt last time? When I saw you collapse outside the station - Jim, I didn't know if you were dead or alive�" June sobbed and clasped a hand to her mouth.
"That's not going to happen again. I swear to you." Jim gazed up at June through damp blue eyes.
"So, what is it, is it work? I know some of these cases get to you�" June waved her hands around, gesticulating aimlessly.
"No�"
"So what? Fear? Guilt�." June saw Jim flush slightly and turn his head away. "Guilt? About the drinking, or about�." She stopped. She dropped down heavily onto the mattress. "Please, don't tell me you've slept with�someone else�"
Jim shook his head. "No."
"I couldn't take that, Jim. You understand me? I couldn't take that. What you and I have shared, here, at my place, Jim�.that's mine, do you understand that? You are mine. Your love is mine and your touch is mine."
"June�it's not that." Jim swallowed reflexively, set his jaw in a line. "I wouldn't do that to you." He looked up to her, looked straight into her deep brown eyes. "Trust me on that."
**
"Thanks, June."
"Do you want me to come in with you?" The two of them gazed at the hall beside them, dilapidated, with just a small sign in the window identifying it as an Alcoholics Anonymous centre.
"Um�.maybe it's best you don't."
"Why - are you going to tell them what you couldn't tell me?"
"No�no�.it's just�it's no place for you in there, June. You�can't understand unless you've been there. God forbid that you will ever be�" Jim reached over and squeezed her hand. "You're so strong�stronger than me."
"Jim�" June swivelled in her seat, placed a hand to his face. "You were strong enough to beat this once, you can do it again. Only this time, I'll be here with you, every step of the way. I love you."
"I'm the luckiest man alive." Jim leaned in and kissed June deeply. He pulled back, regarded her, his eyes still a little red, a little dark, but with a small spark of happiness beginning to return. "And I will never - ever - do anything to hurt you this way again." He opened the door, stepped out of the car.
"I'm going to go back to the nick, and take a personal day. One of the perks of being a boss. I'll meet you back here, in an hour."
"Thanks." He closed the car door and watched as June pulled out of the car park.
**
"Sarge - I was wondering when you'd be back." Cathy Bradford bounded toward June as she entered the office.
"Well, I'm afraid it's going to be a hi and bye - I'm taking a personal day - things to sort out." June gathered some things together and dropped them into her bag.
"Oh�OK�where's Jim?"
"He called me earlier. He's ill - food poisoning. Throwing up everywhere apparently." June grimaced.
"So, you'll be going over to see him?"
"What?" June looked up. "Maybe, I don't know."
"Hmmmm." Cathy mused.
"What?"
"He seemed OK last night - I mean yesterday. Little bit tetchy but that's nothing new. He really needs loosening up."
There was something in Cathy's eyes that June didn't like. "Jim's fine just the way he is, thanks. You haven't known him as long as I have. You haven't seen the real Jim Carver."
"I suppose it's something he only shows to those closest to him."
"Yes." June hung her bag over her shoulder.
"Well, Jim and I�.we have been getting close�.really close."
"Really."
"We didn't hit it off to start with, but I think you can say that Jim and I have reached an�understanding."
June stared at Cathy in silence for a long moment, then left the CSU at a pace.
**
Jim slid into the passenger seat of June's car and immediately sensed the atmosphere. She stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging his presence beside her.
"June�" He reached out a hand to touch her arm.
"Don't TOUCH me!" She yelled, jerking her arm away.
"June - what's wrong�."
"What I said to you this morning, about how I would feel if I found out you'd been sleeping around, I meant every single word. God�.little did I know I was making a complete fool out of myself." She shook her head. "You lied to me, Jim Carver. YOU LIED!" She finally turned to face him, her eyes blazing hate, her face red with rage.
"June, I didn't�."
"I don't want to hear it!! God, all these months, you pushing me, cajoling me, pressuring me into giving you what you wanted�and what do you do as soon as you get it? Start looking around for the next challenge. Is that what I was to you, Jim, a challenge?"
"June�.no!"
"You've got the older woman who, how did you put it, was dead from the neck down�that must have worn you out, Jim - because I really doubt that SHE needed much persuading to sleep with you."
"Who?"
"You know who! Cathy Bradford!"
"She tol�." Jim's eyes widened, his voice petered out.
"You bastard." June tightened her hands around the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. "And that was why you got drunk, right? To put me off you?"
"June, you just don't understand!"
"No - I don't! I really thought you loved me! I really thought that you were the one I could finally be really happy with, not just a lover but a best friend�I was kidding myself!"
"June, you're wrong!" Jim's faced screwed up and his eyes filled with tears.
"WRONG? You just admitted it!"
"NO! June�I�." Jim looked away for a moment, then back at June. "I did have sex with Cathy. Last night."
"Oh�god�" June visibly crumpled into her seat.
"But it wasn't�"
"What? It wasn't what I think? What DO I think Jim? What should I think�.what lie are you going to try to make me believe to appease me?"
"June�I didn't want to�.I�.June�.she was blackmailing me."
June shook her head, laughed. "I've heard some stories in my time, Jim, but that�."
"NO! June, LISTEN! She forced me to sleep with her!" He grabbed June's shoulder, forced her to turn and look at him. Tears streamed down his face. "June, she raped me!"
**
Part Four
"That's a very serious allegation." June said quietly.
"I know."
"And very difficult to believe." June slowly looked over toward Jim.
"Do you think I'd say something like this if it wasn't true?" Jim fumed.
"Jim, you know as well as I do that men who accuse women of rape are never believed. You've seen the statistics, the reports. Men have to�." June shrugged. "�physically consent�else�."
"I know." Jim shook his head. "I'm not planning on laying charges, June. But she made me feel�." Jim placed the flat of his hand against the bridge of his nose. He sighed deeply. "I had to do it, June. I had to do it to protect you."
June stared at Jim incredulously for a long moment. "You slept with her to protect me?!!"
"She was going to tell�.everyone about us, she was going to try to undermine your reputation, she wants to start back up the career ladder June, she wants your job. I can't let that happen�"
"Oh, Jim!!" June looked up, wide-eyed. "I don't care about the job, I don't care who knows about us anymore, what I care about is you! Why didn't you just tell me about all of this? Why did you have to let it get this far? Why did you put yourself through so much pain?"
"Because�." Jim's body shook in a tremor and he sobbed. "Because I couldn't bear to see you hurt."
"And I can't bear to see you hurt!" She leant over and gathered Jim into her arms. "Jim, I love you�you're all that matters to me. We're going to go back to the nick now, and we're going to confront Cathy about all of this. And damn the consequences."
***
Cathy looked up as June and Jim entered the office. "Sarge - Jim, you're better!" Cathy's smile faded as she took in the duo's expressions. "What - who died?" For a moment, just a moment, Cathy looked nervous.
"Cathy, come with us please." June led Cathy and Jim to a small, quiet office. She gestured for Cathy to sit down, while she and Jim hovered above her.
"So - Cathy�.what the hell did you think you were doing?"
"Wh�.what?" Cathy looked up.
"Jim claims that you blackmailed him into having sex with you. Is that true?"
Cathy looked at first shocked, then utterly belligerent. "And you believe that?" She asked, looking up at June.
"I believe Jim, yes. He doesn't lie about things like this."
"You should know as well as I do, Sarge, what a man is capable of when he's caught with his trousers down."
"Some men, yes. But not Jim. How dare you insinuate that you know Jim as well as I do."
"Well - you could say I know him in the same way you do." Cathy smirked.
June swallowed, spun away. "Jim has admitted everything to me. Why do you think he'd do that if he was going behind my back - having an affair?"
"Because he knew he'd been caught!" Cathy stood. "He felt guilty, and felt he had nothing to lose! Come on, Sarge�it's pretty obvious that he's not worth it."
"Worth what? Losing my career over? That's what you were going to do, wasn't it? Undermine my reputation? So you could step into my shoes? Isn't that it?"
Cathy laughed out loud and looked to Jim. "God, you really have quite an imagination, Jim." Jim did not reply, just looked away.
"No - no - YOU have the imagination!" June yelled, poking her finger into Cathy's chest. "You think I'd be so embarrassed by the revelation that I'm sleeping with a constable - a younger constable - that I would be forced to resign. That is ludicrous. And do you know why? Because I am NOT embarrassed! I don't care what anyone says about the relationship I have with Jim, because it�." She looked over toward Jim, caught his blue eyes in hers. "It is the best thing that ever happened to me. And if other people cannot deal with that - if YOU can't deal with that, it's not my problem."
"Well�" Cathy looked from June, to Jim, and back to June. "It's probably the last chance you're going to get. Maybe I don't blame you. But Jim�..what were you thinking? You could have anyone, Jim. Anyone. Why would you pick a haggard old witch like her?"
Jim stiffened and glared. June's face turned a shade of red that he had never seen before. June clamped a hand onto Cathy's shoulder and spun her around to face her. Then, without warning, June slapped Cathy full across the face with the flat of her hand.
Cathy lost her balance, and fell to the carpet. June glowered down at her. "You are OUT of the CSU as of now. And I am going to put in a full disciplinary report about your behaviour. Not only will you never step further up the career ladder, I'm going to make damn well sure you fall right off it!"
"Well, I�." Cathy hissed, as she got to her feet. "Will put in a complaint against you. For assault. Either way, Sarge, all of this is going to come out. Everything about you and Jim, everything that happened between me and Jim last night - all of it. You're personal life is going to be there for public consumption, how long this has been going on, when you first had sex with him�." Cathy reached the door and pulled it wide. "Everyone here is going to know every little detail. So�.here's your chance to prove it. To prove just how much Jim Carver means to you. Are you ready to take me on, June Ackland? Because I'm more than ready for you�."
TO BE CONTINUED�.
