I'll keep you safe

Chapter 108

On the stairwell, Steph was chasing after Maxine. She was desperate to resolve things between them.

"Maxine! Wait!" she called

Maxine paused, rolling her eyes as she turned around.

"Not another telling off about Earl, Steph, please!" she groaned

"Listen to me, Maxine, he's bad news! He is bad, bad news!" Steph argued

Maxine rolled her eyes again.

"Sorry, Steph, but we've made up our minds... you've been great to me and everything, but... I'm grown up now. I can make my own decisions" she shrugged

"You've been lying to me, Maxine. I don't deserve that. Will you just give me one night to talk to you?" Steph pleaded

"You can come over and visit any time! Can't she, Earl?"

Earl, who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, during the day because... I won't be coming back here!" he sniggered

Steph sighed, turning back to Maxine.

"That's the kind of guy you want to shack up with, is it?" she snapped

"You've got Security Dave now anyway, Steph! He looks like he's mad on you!" Maxine reasoned

"I don't give a damn about Security Dave! What I do care about is you throwing your life away on that scum!" Steph huffed, nodding at Earl

Maxine scoffed

"I'm not listening to anymore insults. I'll see you tomorrow" she huffed, walking away with Earl

Steph sighed, watching them go. She fought hard to stop the tears falling down her face. She had well and truly lost Maxine now, the most important person in her life. There was no going back.

...

Rachel walked along the corridor, bag in hand. Her taxi was due in ten minutes time.

Suddenly, Ralph was behind her, handing her an envelope. She took it from him, a little more angrily than she'd intended.

"My letter of resignation. I wanted to, as you said, put the matter to bed as soon as" he explained

Rachel nodded quietly

"Why didn't you take it further? I know your personal feelings about me. Don't try telling me it was out of the 'Goodness of your heart'" he questioned

Rachel wanted to laugh out loud at that. It seemed their dislike, or hatred for one another was completely mutual.

"How well do you know your daughter, Ralph? Do you know what interests her? How she feels about things? Or do you just project your opinions onto her and expect her to share them?"

Ralph glared at her

"Are you implying there's a problem with how I'm bringing up my daughter?" he snapped back

"No" Rachel replied firmly

"Suddenly you're the 'Expert' in parenting, are you?" he huffed

"No. But I know a very unhappy child when I see one. You need to get to know her, and she needs a good Dad. She needs a stable home life. I don't think losing your job would be the best thing for her, would it?"

"I was only trying to protect her from a bad influence!" Ralph argued

Rachel scoffed

"Flick could do a hell of a lot worse than Marley Kelly! If you're looking to fling some mud around, fling it at yourself!"