I found this story that I started a while ago and have finally been able to finish the other chapters.

Martha opened the door to the pub and pushed her way through the many groups of people celebrating the end of another working day. She finally found the person she was looking for amongst some more familiar faces she knew, at the back of the room. Billy and some colleagues were out celebrating her latest success. Before she reached the man in question, he caught sight of her making her way towards him.

"Here she is," said Billy, alerting others to her presence, "the lady of the moment," he continued as Martha finally reached Billy and the group of lawyers he was in the middle of talking too. "What can I get you to drink, Miss?" He asked. "I've put some money behind the bar for Shoe Lane,".

"Um a glass of Merlot will do thanks," she replied. "Billy can I have a word?" She asked, once he had got the attention of the bar man and placed Martha's order. "In private," Martha continued with a tilt of her head towards the door when Billy didn't make a move.

"Course, Miss" and he followed Martha out of the pub towards the exit. Once outside Martha led them to a wooden table away from several groups of people who had congregated outside for a cigarette. Martha rummaged in her handbag and located her own pack of cigarettes as she sat down. She offered Billy the pack and he took one before lighting up. For a few minutes both took a couple of drags from their cigarettes, the silence being punctuated with the noise inside the pub as people came and left the pub through the door.

"David Cowdrey's hearing voices," Martha started. "He didn't want to speak to Alan during his trial because apparently they told him they would hurt Alan if he did," she continued. Billy didn't say anything, just continued puffing on his cigarette. "I didn't realise at first, only towards the end of the trial," she went on. "But I think he needs help," she finished.

"Does anyone else know?" Billy asked.

"CW and Clive," Martha confirmed. "I needed their advice on what to do about the trial. Whether I could continue or not," she explained when Billy looked at her.

"And what did they advise?" He prodded.

"Well I followed CW's advice. She thought I could continue and finish the trial. Thankfully she was right,".

"And Mr Reader?"

"Clive thought I should have mentioned it," Martha revealed. "I've just finished talking to him on the phone again, let him know the result, you know, as he's helped me quite a bit with my case despite being in Manchester. He's reminded me that I've got to tell Alan," Martha finished. She knew she had to, but really wasn't looking forward to that particular job.

"He doesn't know yet?" Asked Billy for confirmation. Martha shook her head.

"I couldn't do it, Billy. Not after the result. Let them have the weekend and I'll do it next week. I was just wondering if you would be there when I told Alan? You've known him longest. You're David's godfather as well. I think he's going to need some support,".

"Of course, Miss," agreed Billy. They puffed their cigarettes for a couple of minutes in silence. "You alright, Miss?" He asked. "You look tired,".

"Didn't realise how exhausting it was going to be, defending my head of chambers' son on a murder charge. Won't be doing that again," she joked.

"Take the day off tomorrow, Miss. Start the weekend early. Your diary's free if I remember correctly," to which Martha gave a nod.

"I might just do that Billy," she acknowledged with a smile. They finished their cigarettes after a while.

"It's taken about twenty years longer than you," Billy said as he stubbed his cigarette out and exhaled his last bit of smoke, "but I think Mr Reader may have finally grown up," Billy remarked.

"You might just be right," Martha agreed as she stubbed her cigarette out.

"Let's go inside, Miss. Your Merlot must be ready by now,".

The next day Martha awoke later than usual having treated herself to a lie in. She got up and made herself breakfast and then pottered around the house wondering how she was going to fill her day and the weekend that stretched ahead of her. She wasn't one for doing nothing, much preferring to keep busy.

Her phone sounded indicating she'd received a text. Wandering over to where it lay on the kitchen table, she picked it up and glanced at the new message. It was from Clive. 'Looks like I'm here for the weekend as it's going to be a late finish tonight. Where's good for dinner?' . She could tell he wasn't particularly happy about that, stuck in a city where he did not know anyone. A thought occurred to her- maybe instead of telling him where was good, she could show him. Prove to him that 'the north' was just as nice as the south of the country. A quick look at her wrist watch revealed it to be still only mid morning. She could make it to Manchester easily before he finished for the day.

Perhaps, she thought, it would also provide the perfect opportunity to finally have a certain conversation with Clive. Apart from a rather nice snog in a deserted court room, they hadn't really discussed the implications of what Clive had confessed to her at his silk party a little over a week ago. She couldn't ignore it any longer. Billy was right in his observation that Clive had grown up. Becoming a QC appeared to have been the making of him, and this new sensible side to him was proving to be quite attractive to Martha. It was so much better than the shallow side to him that in the past had flirted with any attractive women that happened to pass through Shoe Lane chambers. She needed to understand where she stood with Clive once and for all before she let herself fall for him anymore than she might have already.

A couple of hours later and Martha's train was finally pulling into Manchester Piccadilly station. Weaving her way though all the commuters she made her way to the exit. Again glancing at the time she realised it was just after three o'clock. Perhaps she should have thought this through a little more carefully before leaving London. It was starting to rain and she had nowhere to stay. What was she going to do for two hours? She convinced herself that Clive wouldn't mind her waiting for him in his room, so she set off for his hotel. He'd let her know where he was staying and in what room as soon as he had reached Manchester.

By the time she reached the hotel lobby, it was raining quite heavily. Thinking that reception wouldn't let any random stranger into a guests room without prior notice, she hatched a plan and took her thumb ring off and replaced it on her left ring finger as she walked to the main desk.

"Can I help you Madam?" one of the receptionists asked as Martha reached the desk and parked her suitcase beside her.

"My husband is staying here. Mr Reader, room 450. I'm paying him a surprise visit and wondered if it would be possible to be let into his room?" She explained hoping this would work. "Told me he was staying in one of the penthouse suites here. Guess I'll find out if he's telling the truth or not," she continued hoping the woman behind the desk would buy her story. She didn't have long to wait before she was handed an extra key card and given directions to the room. Thanking the woman, she headed off in the direction of the lifts. She hadn't got very far before she was called back.

"Sorry Mrs Reader," Martha heard. It took a little moment before she realised the receptionist was talking to her. She turned back to the desk. "Your husband has had some post delivered," she was informed as she was handed a large envelope. Martha looked down and saw Jake's familiar scrawl on the front. "Would you mind taking it up for him?"

"Of course not," she replied. "Thank you," she finished, and was on her way again.

She found his room very easily and went inside. Clive hadn't been joking, he had a suite almost the same size as her flat in London. The views over Manchester were very good as well. The CPS was obviously looking after him well. The last room she found was the bathroom. Inside was a lovely big bath that looked very inviting to Martha. She was cold and wet and decided that a bath may be just the thing she needed whilst waiting for Clive. Turning on the taps, she started to run the bath and decided to help herself to the luxury bubble bath she found in the room. Clive wouldn't mind she knew. He was more of a shower man if given the choice, and she could see his toiletries lined up neatly near the cubicle. Leaving her suitcase in the bedroom she returned to the bathroom and gratefully sank into the bubbles once her bath was ready.

Nearly two hours later, a couple of miles away, court had finally finished for Clive. He wasn't in the best of moods with his late finish one of the reasons. Fraud cases were not all that interesting at the best of times and he had four months of this. But, this was his first case as a QC and he was determined to make sure he put on a good performance, and more importantly, won the case. He had put long hours in this week, staying up late each night preparing for the next day in court and had hoped to catch a train back down to London this afternoon and spend the weekend relaxing in his apartment, but he couldn't face the commute now. Living in a hotel was ok but he has getting a bit tired of the restaurant food. He had hoped that Martha would have replied to his text earlier in the day so he would have somewhere to eat tonight, but it looked as though it would be the hotel restaurant again tonight, and tomorrow he would investigate the city of Manchester, with or without Martha's advice.

It was raining hard as he exited the court building, but unlike London was able to hail a cab very easily. He was pleasantly surprised at the fare as well when he was dropped off at his hotel. He made his way to the reception desk hoping to see if any post had arrived for him. Working in Manchester for four months, Billy was making sure his correspondence got redirected to his hotel.

"Any post for me today?" Clive enquired when he reached the front of the queue.

"Yes," replied the receptionist. "Your wife has already taken it up,".

"My wife?" Clive responded in shock.

"Oh my goodness," remembered the receptionist as she brought her hand to her mouth. She had misinterpreted the reason for his shock. "It was supposed to be a surprise. I'm sorry for ruining it," she apologised.

"Don't worry. It's definitely going to be a surprise when I see her," Clive assured the woman as he headed for the lifts. He had a fairly good idea who was in his room. All week Nicola, the CPS solicitor who was in Manchester with him, had been making very unsubtle hints that she was interested in Clive. He was finding it very uncomfortable to be in her company now, and he thought he had done a good job of avoiding her after court had finished this evening. Maybe that wasn't the case, he thought as he entered the lift and pressed the top floor button. He was going to have to be straight with her. Tell her in no uncertain terms that he simply wasn't interested in any sort of relationship with her. This had to be a first he smiled to himself, that he was turning down a woman, but the truth was that he was still very much interested in a certain blonde who shared his office at work in London. Working in Manchester had been torture so far. In London, he was easily able to pick her out due to her accent. Up here, nearly everyone sounded like her and every time he heard his name called, he was always looking into the face of a stranger.

The lift came to a halt and he waited for the doors to slide open before stepping out and turning in the direction of his room. He had taken the plunge last week at his silk party, finally telling her how he felt about her. Apart from a rather nice snog in that court room, they hadn't really talked about their relationship. Being in Manchester hadn't really helped. He had decided that whilst away, he was going to try and prove to her how he had changed. Show her that he could now be trusted, that he was not the man who flirted with any woman he happened to meet. Maybe by the time he returned to London, she would realise that and perhaps want something more.

He reached his door and stood outside for a minute working out what he was going to say to Nicola to let her down gently. With his mind finally made up, he opened the door and went inside. He couldn't hear the intruder and after searching his suite including the balcony, couldn't find her either. The only sign of someone having been in his room was the small suitcase in the bedroom and his post lying on the coffee table.

"Hello!" Called Clive. "Is someone here?"

Inside the bathroom Martha was roused by Clive's voice. The bath had been amazing and she had loved the massaging jets. She had refilled the bath with warm water at least twice and had obviously relaxed so much after the stress of David Cowdrey's trial, she had fallen asleep. She knew with Clive now returned she had to leave her warm haven and go greet her friend.

Clive heard the sloshing of water behind the closed bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Is someone in there?" He demanded crossly thinking it quite rude of the solicitor to take a bath in his room.

"Sorry it's only me," Martha called out detecting his anger.

"Marth?" Clive now asked a little perplexed but so thankful it wasn't Nicola.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a minute,".

"I'm going to open the mini bar after the day I've had," explained Clive. "Can I get you anything?".

"A red wine if there's one would be great," replied Martha.

Clive headed to the fridge and looked inside. He pulled out a beer for himself. On top of the fridge was a small bottle of red and he opened it and poured the contents into a glass for Martha. He headed over to the sofa, took his shoes off, removed his tie and undid his collar button. He sat down and leaned his head against the top of the sofa with his eyes closed, glad that the week was over and that he didn't have a mad woman waiting for him in his room.

He opened one eye when he heard the bathroom door open. Martha appeared in one of the hotel dressing gowns in a cloud of steam. He took a moment to look her up and down. She remained at the entrance to the bathroom obviously embarrassed at having been caught in the bath.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?" He wanted to know.

"I didn't have anything to do. Billy gave me the day off after David's trial. I got your text and thought it might be better if I showed you, rather than told you where to go to get the best of Manchester," she explained. "You don't mind do you?".

"Course not," he replied as he indicated her drink on the coffee table in front of him. Martha took the hint and retrieved her drink before sitting on the sofa next to him. "Highlight of my week," he complimented.

"Thought it might be safer too," she continued. "Less chance of getting bullied,".

"If I'm out with a native you mean?" He asked and Martha nodded with a smile. "Actually you northerners are very friendly. Been here a week and none of that bullying you were scared about. Nice to know you were worried about me though," he added as he took a sip of his drink. Martha mirrored his action.

"Congratulations on your verdict by the way," Clive remembered as he tapped his glass against hers.

"Thanks,".

"Have you told Alan about David yet?" He asked. Martha shook her head.

"I couldn't spoil his happiness at the not guilty verdict yesterday. I'll do it next week after they've had the weekend celebrating," she revealed taking another sip of drink. "I told Billy about it yesterday. He promised to be there with me when I told him,".

"Good idea...Mrs Reader," Clive agreed not missing the opportunity to tease his friend. Martha paused mid sip on hearing his last two words.

"Shit. How did you find out?" She wanted to know, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"The receptionist let it slip downstairs," Clive revealed.

"Sorry. I told them to keep it a secret," she started to explain as she turned to face her friend and rested her left arm along the back of the sofa. "It was raining when I arrived and I didn't know where to go to wait for you. I didn't think they'd let some random stranger into your room so I told them I was your wife,".

"Well it was a bit of a surprise to learn I had a wife," Clive admitted. "But I'm glad it was you. I kind of like the way it sounds. Think it suits you,".

"What suits me?" Martha asked a little confused at his last words.

"The name. Mrs Reader," he answered.

"Whilst we're on the topic," Martha stated, "we should perhaps talk about your big declaration at your silk party at some point this weekend,".

"I still mean it Marth, and I'm trying to prove it to you,".

"I know," she confessed. "And it has been noted,".

"So am I going to like how the conversation goes, when we finally have it?" Clive asked getting serious. Martha shrugged her shoulders. "If I'm right then I think I might,".

"You seem very confident about that," Martha replied not giving anything away.

"Well let's look at the evidence, shall we? You come all the way up here after only receiving a text from me. Then you check into the hotel pretending to be my wife, so you obviously don't hate me too much. Lastly," he added as he took Martha's wine glass from her, "you decide to drive me wild and tease me by sitting there dressed only in a dressing gown," he finished as he placed the glass on the table and turned to face Martha. "Tell me I'm wrong," he challenged as he moved closer and looked her in the eye.

Martha stared back. She didn't want to admit it, but Clive had been correct in his summation. She couldn't let him know that he was right. "You might not be right about what I'm wearing," she sassed.

"Guess I'll have to find out then," he murmured as he leant in towards Martha looking at her lips. Martha didn't pull away but watched as he moved closer. His lips finally touched hers and Martha closed her eyes and fell into the kiss. If she was honest, she had wanted this for a little while. She wasn't sure when her feelings for Clive had changed from those of friendship but she knew she had been a tiny bit jealous of George Duggan, Clive's last girlfriend.

"I knew I was right," she heard Clive whisper as the kiss came to a natural conclusion. She looked down to find she had been so engrossed in the kiss, she had failed to notice that Clive had undone her gown and allowed his hands to wander. He leant in again ready to continue where they had just left off, but this time Martha pulled away a little just as he was about to touch her lips.

"I thought you wanted to explore Manchester tonight," she teased.

"We can do that tomorrow Marth," he argued. In the last couple of minutes he'd had a massive change of heart about staying in the hotel. "I'm knackered if I'm honest, couldn't even make it to the hotel restaurant. Think room service is all I'm up for tonight,".

"By the feel of it, that's not all you're 'up' for," Martha observed with a smile.

Clive grinned and lunged forward to kiss Martha again and she offered no resistance. "Well I think it only right to perform my husbandly duties and consummate our marriage," he explained. After taking Martha's participation in the following kiss as her consent he stood up bringing Martha with him and bent down to pick her up.

"Clive what are you doing?" She laughed. "Put me down,".

"Trying to carry you over the threshold but improvising," he explained as he headed to the bedroom and closed the door behind them.