During a holiday with friends Clare and Guy, Phil Mee tells his wife Maggie that he's leaving her. And when he moves out and gets his own flat, finances force her to look for a job.

Maggie starts work at the travel agency, but finds she's no good at her job and then explodes when Phil comes in to book a romantic weekend break with Anna. Boss Jeff is prepared to let her go – but colleagues Karen and Helen launch a protest. Meanwhile, Maggie learns about her father’s serious health problems.

Maggie and Phil see a mediator (Sam Kelly) to divide up the assets but Maggie discovers Phil is being less than honest about his earnings and she threatens to bring in the Child Support Agency. Later, she goes out with her colleagues – who now regard her as Mother Hen – and she wakes up with a sexy young man.

Maggie goes speed dating with Helen (Chloe Howman) but it's a disaster for them both and Phil isn't happy when he finds out from the kids and Anna thinks she's just doing it to make Phil jealous. But Maggie's love life takes an upturn when she is approached by James’s history teacher Paul Winston (Danny Webb).

Maggie begins a tentative relationship with teacher Paul, but her attempt to keep it a secret is almost ruined when Phil turns up with the kids after a relationship-ending row with Anna. Maggie's friends throw a surprise 40th birthday party for her, while she has to make a decision between the two men in her life.