Knowing Me Knowing You (13 page)

Kate’s heart flipped just hearing him and she
was
mad at herself for feeling that way. He had a nice voice, soft and low, sultry even. And she used to love the way he laughed, a mellow, deep laugh like his vocal chords had been soaked in honey. She hadn’t spoken
and she needed to
.

‘
Oh hello Matthew, I was just online checking my bank account and your standing order hasn’t gone through this week,
’
Kate spoke hurriedly, pushing the words out as fast as she could.

‘
No,
’
Matthew replied not sounding surprised.

‘
Oh, you knew? Was there a problem with your bank?
’
Kate
enquired
.

‘
No.
’

‘
Oh, well what’s happened? I mean
…
’
Kate began
,
sensing
a
flatness
in his voice that she barely recognised.

‘
I can’t pay you any more Kate, I don’t have the money,
’
Matthew answered.

His voice definitely wasn’t sultry now; it was matter of fact and cool.

Kate felt like she had been shot. What had he said? He couldn’t pay her
any
more
? No, he can’t have said that, they had a long-standing agreement.

‘
I
- I
don’t understand,
’
Kate replied meekly her chest pounding.

‘
I can’t afford it, what wit
h bills and the car and my flat.
I just can’t afford to pay you
any
more
,
’
Matthew repeated in a businesslike tone.

‘
But Matthew,
Bethan
needs the money
.
S
he needs clo
thes and nappies and food and…
’
Kate began, trying hard not to cry.

‘
You’ve got a good job, ask for a pay rise. Anyway, I told you, I never wanted a kid in the first place, I don’t see why I should pay for something I didn’t want,
’
Matthew spoke.

The words cut at Kate like little arrows fired at her heart. This wasn’t the man in their wedding pictures. This wasn’t the man who waltzed her on the dance floor to Celine Dion and kindly held the best man’s head over the toilet
as he puked up before the cake-
cutting. This was someone else, this was the man who had pre-packed his belongings and left her standing tearfully in the kitchen trying to ignore the depressing wails of Chris Martin.

‘
How can you say that Matthew?
She’s your daughter
.
W
hy doesn’t that mean anything to you?
’

‘
I don’t want to talk to you about this Kate.
’

‘
But we have to talk about it, I need some financial help fro
m you, it’s what was agreed in c
ourt. You have to help pay for her, it’s the law.
’

‘
Look, I can’t afford it, it’s as simple as that, sorry,
’
Matthew said not sounding as if he was sorry at all.

‘
Matthew, I really think
…
’
Kate started.

The phone went silent. He had hung up.

Kate looked at the phone, unable to believe what had just happened. He wasn’t going to pay her anything
.
H
e didn’t care about
Bethan
,
he had a new flat, obviously a new girlfriend and a new life. Kate and
Bethan
were history, he had moved on and he wasn’t looking back. He had hung up on her; put the phone down like she was a cold caller from
Calcutta
.

Suddenly
she
was overcome with grief all over again. She burst into tears and waves of sobbing rode over her. She put the phone down, sat on the sofa and cried into her hands until they were saturated with tears. What was she going to do? Her beautiful little girl had a father who had disowned her and a mother who was struggling to make ends meet. She had wanted the best for her, a good, solid start in life with a mum and dad who adored her and could give her everything she needed. The reality was the complete opposite. It wasn’t fair, she didn’t deserve this and she didn’t know how to get out of it.

But very quickly, aided by another glass of wine, the hostility Matthew had in his voice hit her like a train. It had been like he was talking to someone he hated, not the mother of his child, not someone he had shared a life and a marriage with. Kate hurriedly wiped the tears off her face and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She picked up the photo frame
that contained
their wedding picture
.
C
almly
, she
opened the back and took out the image. She looked at it, her smile, her beautiful dress, Matthew next to her.
The wavy hair and boyish looks.
He had held her hand so tightly. It had all been a lie, all his declarations of love and vows of eternal devotion. Looking at the photo now just made her feel sick. She ripped it harshly, first in half and then into tiny little pieces until there was nothing visible left.

Then, almost controlled, she went back over to her laptop and typed ‘Child Support Agency’ into the search engine. She would not let him ruin
Bethan’s
start, and she was not going to be walked over any more.

Ten

‘
Morning,
’
Kate spoke cheerily as Hermione opened the door to her on Monday morning.

‘
Ooo
, someone sounds happy.
W
hat did you get up to yesterday? Any more television shows I should know about? Hello
Bethan
Sweetie,
’
Hermione greeted, lifting up the little girl and giving her a kiss.

‘
God no, no I spoke to Matthew on Saturday night and briefly to his new girlfriend,
’
Kate stated in a matter of fact manner.

‘
Daddy,
’
Bethan
suddenly announced at the mention of his name.

Kate swallowed and ruffled her daughter’s hair, a pang of hurt tugging at her. If only she knew.

‘
I have a grapefruit tea infusing, come into the kitchen. Brook! Can you take
Bethan
to do drawing with you
for a minute please?
’
Hermione asked her daughter as she appeared in the hallway.

Kate followed Hermione into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

‘
So what happened? Why did you phone Matthew? I thought you two hadn’t spoken for months,
’
Hermione said as she prepared the tea.

‘
We haven’t. He hadn’t paid in
Bethan’s
money this week; there was nothing from him in my bank. I thought it was an oversight or a mistake at his end but no,
I phoned him and he told me
h
e doesn’t intend to pay anything towards
Bethan’s
care. In fact what he said was he didn’t see why he had to pay for something he never wanted in the first place, or words to that effect,
’
Kate explained.

‘
Oh Kate!
’
Hermione exclaimed in shock.

‘
Nice thing to say about your daughter isn’t it? Well I cried and I cried and then I ripped up one of our
wedding photos and felt mildly better and then I
thought,
what a complete and utter bastard, how dare you
.
H
ow dare you treat me and
Bethan
like that, like we don’t
matter.
So I got on the internet and I made an online application to the Child Support Agency. I don’t care if he can’t make ends meet; I am having some of what he
does
have for my daughter,
’
Kate spoke firmly, her eyes flashing with determination.

‘
Good for you, it’s only right,
’
Hermione agreed, putting a cup on the table in front of Kate.

‘
And I have been far too sentimental about him for far too long a time. There was nothing there from him; he couldn’t care less about us now. And after what he said about
Bethan
…
’
Kate said, tears welling up.

‘
So what are you going to do about money in the meantime? If waiving my fee for a while will help then consider it done,
’
Hermione spoke.

‘
No, I won’t hear of that, don’t even think it
.
Y
ou do too much for me already giving
Bethan
a cooked meal every day and treats she can’t have at home, no. I phoned my Aunt Jess yesterday, I told her the situation, every sordid little detail, and I asked her for a loan. I didn’t want to do it, I mean we don’t really get on, but I have to think of
Bethan
and not my stupid pride. And, as I suspected she was more than happy to lend me the money and that should tide us over for a bit,
’
Kate explained.

‘
And the long term plan?
’

‘
Promise you won’t laugh or say I told you so.
’

‘
Would I ever?
’

‘
I’m go
ing to go to the next round of
Knowing Me Knowing You
, I’m going to get through to the finals and I’m going to win. I am going to win
that
hundred thousand pounds
if it kills me,
’
Kate announced.

Hermione let out a scream of laughter and put her hand to her mouth.

‘
I know I said I would rather die than do anything like that again, but I have a daughter, I have a
shit
for an
ex-husband and I need the money. Think how much that would pay off my mortgage,
’
Kate explained, taking a sip of her tea.

‘
I think it’s a marvellous idea and it sounds like you’ve thought it all through.
’

‘
I’ve done nothing but think about it all night.
’

‘
Now, I don’t want to put a dampener on your good mood but doesn’t
Knowing Me Knowing You
require a couple?
’

‘
Yes of course, that’s probably going to be the hardest bit. I’m going to have to call Elite Escorts, speak to Joel and try
to
persuade him to enter into this mad scam with me. I don’t even remember getting home the last time we went out so I don’t expect him to be pleased to hear from me,
’
Kate said.

‘
And will you be able to pay for his time? I mean there’ll be two weekends at least, plus other nights out to go over questions and things.
’

‘
Hmm, that’s another stumbling block I’ve got to get over. I have to get him to do it all for a cut of the prize money, a very small cut and no guarantee of us winning. How do you think that’s going to go down?
’
Kate asked her friend.

‘
How about a different way to raise some cash?
How about having some candle parties? Or becoming an
Avon
representative, lots of my ladies do that for a bit extra. I mean game shows are
…
’
Hermione began.

‘
You don’t think he’ll do it.
’

‘
I think you might have to spend some time on your pitch,
’
Hermione told her.

When Kate arrived at
Randall’s
everyone she said hello to or passed in the corridor looked at her with a wry smile on their face. She checked her reflection in the lift mirror expecting to see Marmite on her cheek or felt pen
on the collar of her shirt
,
but there was nothing odd about her appearance that she could immediately identify.

However, when she walked into the Probate room she was greeted by all her colleagues, stood around her desk cheering and whooping. The desk itself was covered in heart shaped confetti, balloons and streamers and there was a big banner on the wall proclaiming ‘Well Done Kate’.