Some men just disappear. They kiss their wives and children goodbye, saying they'll be home for tea and are never seen again. Stuart Leach is one such man. Thirteen months ago he set off from home to his job at Mackintosh Textiles and never returned. Until now...

Exactly what is a woman supposed to do when the man she sleeps with kicks her out of their home, leaving her and her children with no where to go? This is the question facing Yvonne, a machinist at the factory. The one thing she does know, is that she will not take it lying down.

KT's life is about to be turned upside-down. At the bottom of the factory's hierarchy, KT works the shopfloor and lives with his grandparents at home. The last thing he expects is to be seduced by Katherine, the glamorous wife of factory owner Mack. For KT, it is straightforward. He has fallen in love, pure and simple. Katherine's motives, on the other hand, are rather more complicated...

Steve Robinson, factory foreman and Mack's right-hand man, is trying to save his marriage. His wife Sylvia suspects he has had a fling, although Steve is admitting nothing. Steve has, in fact, been unfaithful once (with Mack's wife) but feels terrible about it. On the night of their wedding anniversary, he woos Sylvia back with a home-cooked meal and champagne. They manage to clear the slate and make up.

Trudy, Mack's secretary, has spent her whole life looking after other people: her father, Mack, the employees at the factory. So busy has she been sorting out other people's problems that her own life has been on hold. And then her father dies - and suddenly Trudy doesn't have a role to play. In the midst of her bereavement, she is suddenly facing the hardest question in the world - what I am going to do with the rest of my life?

On the morning after their wedding anniversary, Mack lavishes Katherine with gifts in a bid to hold onto her. After yet one more night of loveless sex, Katherine packs a few things into a case and - saying nothing - leaves the marital home for ever. When Mack discovers her half-empty closet, he realises that his marriage has finally disintegrated. But there is worse to come. As if losing his wife were not bad enough, Mack now risks losing the second most important thing in his life - the factory.