Claire

"Then this afternoon - all this, meant nothing to you?" He made no attempt to hide the pain in his eyes.

"How can you ask that? Being here has meant more to me than you will ever know. This is the first time in my life that I have felt as I do now and it is because of you."

"The why not live with me?" The pain had been replaced by puzzlement.

"This afternoon has been wonderful but it is not enough to base such a big decision upon. I know that I am all mixed up at the moment and I think that you have been swayed by the circumstances as well. We will have to know each other a lot better first."

"Are you going to keep on seeing me here? I mean coming to the house... Like this?"

"I am going to come as often as I possibly can," Claire told him with a happy smile but then cautioned, "But that does not mean that I will move in permanently or marry you."

"Will you at least think about it?"

"Oh yes," she said sincerely, "I shall think about it a great deal."

With that limited agreement, Trevor took her back in his arms.

Claire glanced at her watch and saw that it was late, very late. Thank goodness that she had thought to bring the car and would not need to wait for a bus or put up with a pedestrian speed on the way home. Extracting herself from her lover's arms she got out of bed and reached for her clothes. He got up too but turned his back while she dressed. A few moments were allowed for a damage limitation exercise on her make-up which Trevor virtually ruined with a passionate farewell inside the front door.

They walked together towards the car, holding hands with no inhibitions. Without speaking about it, both were aware of the weekend ahead - two days on which they would be unable to meet. Trevor pushed a piece of paper into her hand. "It's my telephone number in case you need me," he said intensely.

One tire on the car was very flat and Claire's heart sank at the thought that this extra delay was going to make her impossibly late but he very efficiently changed it for her in a matter of minutes. When she had climbed into the car and started the engine Trevor leaned through the window and rested his hand upon hers on the steering wheel. "Will you be coming again on Monday?" he asked anxiously.

"There is nothing in the world that can keep me away." she told him.