I must admit she still looked as beautiful as she ever had; well, I could see through the forlorn expression on her face. Five foot two and with a figure that could raise any red-blooded man's blood pressure; I'd thought she was a special gift to me from heaven when we'd first met. I'd pursued her, wooed her and eventually convinced her to marry me. For seven years, my whole world had revolved around her.

Now there she was, standing on the pavement in the drizzling rain, outside a block of flats in the city. Two suitcases at her feet and a table lamp in her hand. I remembered that table lamp, it was one that her mother gave her; it was the only piece of furniture she'd taken from the house.

I'm not really sure how long I stood hidden in that shop doorway watching her; wondering what she intended to do; besides get soaked to the bone, that is. After a long time, I began to realise that Miranda really had no idea what she was going to do; no matter how many other people had foreseen what was going on, this turn of evens had taken Miranda completely by surprise.

I'm not sure what I was intending to do as I stepped from my hiding place in the doorway, put my umbrella up and confidently walked the fifty yards or so to where Miranda was standing. I believe I was intending to play it by ear and just react to whatever Miranda said or did.

Possibly, Miranda didn't recognise me, until I got up close to her; maybe because of the umbrella that I held low to keep the rain off as much as was practical. But when she did finally realise exactly who was approaching her. What I can only describe as a defensive or maybe even a little apprehensive expression came over Miranda's face and she glanced around quite nervously, as if looking to see there was anyone who could come to her assistance. I have no idea whether Miranda thought that I was going to attack her or what; but that was sort of impression that I drew from her actions and general demeanour.

However by the time I finally arrived near to her, she must have decided to put a brave face on things and brazen it out.

"Hi Miranda!" I said when I got close enough for her to hear.

"Hello Harry, what are you doing here?" She replied turning her head away slightly, so that I couldn't see her face."

"Well, to be honest, I did come to gloat. But ... well I came to gloat but now I wish I hadn't."

"What do you mean gloat, gloat over what?" She spat back at me.

"You, getting evicted from your lovely flat!" I informed her.

"You knew that I was going to be evicted from my flat today?" She asked, obviously amazed that I did if the tone of her voice was any indication.

"Come on, Miranda; technically you weren't evicted, because it wasn't your flat. It was your loverboy's flat, his name was on the lease and he wasn't going to pay the rent after he'd cleaned you out and done a runner, now was he? It was just a matter of time before the landlords got impatient for their money, kind of left you holding the baby though didn't he."

Miranda looked embarrassed for a few moments, and I do believe she thought she'd try to bluff it out.

"You don't know what you are talking about! Sven is away on a business trip, he got delayed for a few days that's all. Unfortunately, we have a minor cash flow problem, until the deal he's working on goes through. He'll be back in a day or so, to sort everything out. We are moving to another flat, an upmarket penthouse apartment. That's why we terminated the lease on this flat. Sven being delayed has just temporarily thrown our schedule out by a week or so." Miranda blustered.

"Is that so? So tell me, where are you intending to live until loverboy returns, Miranda? I asked, I was beginning to get annoyed that she was lying to me. But then I realised that she was probably lying out of embarrassment for the situation she had suddenly found herself in. Although I suppose there was the possibility that she still hadn't realised what had happened and the gravity of her situation.

"I'm going to stay with my sister for a few days until Sven gets back into the country. I just can't understand why my taxi is taking to long to get here; I called it hours ago." Miranda bluffed.

I doubted she'd called a taxi, because I was pretty sure that her purse - much like I knew her bank accounts were - was completely empty. The private detectives report I had in my pocket virtually assured me of the fact. I could have called her bluff ... I could have walked away and left her standing in the rain ... but I still felt a little affection for the mother of my children.

"I'll tell you what; it doesn't look to me as if your taxi's going to show in a hurry; why don't I run you over to Karen's place. It's been a long time since I saw her and the baby."

Miranda gave me a sideways glance; she had been avoiding looking me in the eye all the time I'd been talking to her. Yeah well, they say that not many people can lie to you and look you in the face at the same time.

"I suppose I might as well accept your gracious offer; it does look as if my taxi has let me down." She replied, with a resigned tone to her voice."

"Come on then?" I said cheerily, holding out my umbrella for her to take so that I could pick up her two cases. See no matter what a bitch Miranda had turned into, I couldn't shake off the fact that basically, I am a gentlemen.

Taking the brolly in her free hand, she followed me to my car.

"You've got a new car!" She exclaimed, after at first looking confused as I opened the boot of the Beemer.

"Yeah, it's only a company car, but it suits me and the kids fine for a run around. Little sods won't stop playing with the electric windows though, well you know what they're like?"

Actually, I was very proud with my new company car that came with full leisure usage; but I didn't want to state the fact to Miranda. Before she left me, I had been struggling to run two second hand cars for us, and pay the bloody mortgage as well.

"How are the children?" She asked, as she settled in the front passenger seat.

Fine, fine! Missing their mother of course, but that's to be expected.

My purposeful mention of the children had done what I'd intended it would do, and jolted Miranda's conscience over the fact that she hadn't come down to visit them recently.

"I'm sorry about that; I've been missing them as well. But I've been so busy lately that I just haven't been able to find the time. I'll try to get down next weekend. It's your fault really, if you hadn't moved them out to the middle of nowhere, it wouldn't be so far for me to have to travel.

"What did you expect me to do Miranda? You demanding half our assets, forced me to sell the house, I warned you about that. And you also knew that Carter had been bugging me to go and work for him for years. The only reason I hadn't was because you insisted that we stay in the city. Well, houses are cheaper down there and I got a massive increase in salary when I took Ben Carter up on his job offer. Enough for me to be able to employ a nice housekeeper to look after the children; after all their mother has other interests now."

Surprisingly Miranda didn't take the bait or retaliate, but I hadn't expected her to really; she might be gullible, but she wasn't that stupid. If she had risen to the bait and gone onto the attack, I might well have stopped the car and told her to get out. That would have left her in the same pickle she'd been in before I'd approached, stuck out in the rain with no money in her purse to get to her sister Karen's flat.

Miranda stayed silent for the rest of the journey. I almost dropped the bomb on her during the trip, but a plan had begun forming in my head. Karen and I had always got on, and Karen is also pretty nosey; if I could drop the hint about my new housekeeper to her, she'd surely ask the right questions.