Knowing Me Knowing You (44 page)

‘
Are you too ill for the pub?
’
Philip asked him.

‘
Yes he is,
’
Kate responded immediately.

‘
No, I’m definitely not,
’
Joel replied, easing
himself
off the sofa and standing up.

‘
Well then, we’ll leave the ladies to cluck around baking and doing woman things and we’ll go down the pub until the cakes are ready,
’
Philip said, putting on his jacket.

‘
But Joel, you shouldn’t…..
’

‘
We won’t be long and I haven’t had a drink in a week,
’
Joel replied.

‘
Let them go, let them make their little stand,
’
Hermione suggested to Kate.

‘
We won’t be long love, just long enough for a couple of pints and a game of dominoes,
’
Philip assured.

‘
As long as that’s all, no bar snacks, I’ve got stuffed mushrooms ready for tonight,
’
Hermione responded.

‘
I promise,
’
Philip replied.

The two men left as quickly as they could and Kate picked up
Bethan
and hugged her to her.

‘
Are you OK?
’
Hermione asked.

‘
Yes, why?
’

‘
Well do you think it’s a good idea having Joel move in here with you?
’

‘
It’s only until he gets better, I didn’t want him going back to his flat on his own and having no one there to look after him.
’

‘
And that’s the only reason?
’

Kate didn’t reply, but buried her face in
Bethan’s
mop of brown hair.

‘
Have you made a decision yet?
’

‘
Yes, I’ve made a decision not to make any decisions at the moment.
’

‘
What does that mean?
’

‘
I don’t know. Don’t go on
Mione
, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
’

‘
Have you heard anything from Matthew lately?
’
Hermione asked.

‘
No,
’
Kate replied.

‘
And how does that make you feel?
’

‘
I haven’t thought about him, I’ve been too busy going to the hospital to visit Joel and getting things ready here.
’

‘
You don’t think he had anything to do with Joel’s mugging do you?
’
Hermione
enquired
.

‘
What?
’

‘
Well it all sounds a bit suspicious to me, four men attacking him on the way home from work.
’

‘
They took his wallet, it was a mugging and anyway Matthew wouldn’t do anything like that.
’

‘
Well I just think the timing’s a little bit suspicious that’s all.
’

‘
Has Joel said something to you? Is that what he thinks too?
’

‘
He hasn’t said anything to me; it was just something that crossed my mind that’s all.
’

‘
Well he wouldn’t do that. I know he’s capable of a lot of things but not harming someone, I mean Joel
could have been seriously injured,
’
Kate said shaking her head.

‘
No, you’re right, stupid thing to say, I’ve been watching too many gangster films,
’
Hermione said.

‘
I hope they’re not going to be too long, Joel’s not supposed to be doing too much.
’

‘
Philip will look after him.
’

‘
That’s what I’m worried about.
’

‘
We’re not late are we? Are the cakes ready for decorating?
’
Philip called as he and Joel re-entered the house.

‘
Sshh
,
Bethan’s
in bed,
’
Hermione called as the two men came into the living room.

‘
Are you feeling OK? Do you want to sit down?
’
Kate asked
,
fussing as Joel took off his coat.

‘
Joel is absolutely fine, although his mouth might need a rest. He’s been chatting away to
Marina
for the last hour,
’
Philip informed.

‘
Philip, it wasn’t that long,
’
Joel protested.

‘
I think you’ll find it was. Lovely girl though, she had very nice opinions,
’
Philip replied.

‘
Oh yes, well who is she then?
The barmaid?
’
Hermione wanted to know.

‘
Oh no, she wasn’t the barmaid, she’s a model isn’t she Joel,
’
Philip spoke, sitting down on the sofa.

‘
It was really bizarre, I worked with her when I first started modelling, she still models for the same agency. She’s got family here apparently and she’s visiting them. I told her all about ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ and she’s back in
London
then so she’s going to try and come along and watch,
’
Joel informed.

‘
Oh, well that’s nice isn’t it, more supporters,
’
Hermione spoke, looking at Kate.

‘
Yes, that’s nice,
’
Kate replied.

‘
OK, wedding cake. Here it is in all its three tier glory!
’
Hermione announced, producing the cake and carrying it to the coffee table.

‘
What a coincidence though, her being in the pub.
She was lovely and she….,
’
Philip continued.

‘
Blonde was she?
’
Hermione
enquired
.

‘
Oh yes, blonde and tanned too, just come back from an assignment in
Brazil
hadn’t she Joel?
’
Philip spoke.

‘
Shall we decorate these cakes?
’
Kate suggested, not wanting to hear any more.

‘
Yes, the cakes. Now, I have it on good authority that you are going to be given three cakes, rolls of icing, a piping bag and the stands to put the cakes on. So you have two minutes to make the cake look as good as possible and there are no Kissing Gates at all if you don’t get the cakes on the stands and complete the three tiers,
’
Hermione informed.

‘
That’s impossible; they want it to look nice in two minutes? It can’t be done,
’
Kate exclaimed.

‘
Well we’re just about to find out, on your marks, get set, GO!
’
Hermione screeched and she pressed the stopwatch button.

‘
I’ll roll the icing out and put it on the cakes and you can do the decorative bits,
’
Joel said, grabbing the rolling pin and trying to roll the icing out as smoothly as possible to fit over the cakes.

‘
But I’m not good with decoration, come on, hurry up, get that layer on the bottom cake or we won’t have any time,
’
Kate snapped, grabbing the roll of icing and plonking it on the cake.

‘
Well you get decorating that layer and I’ll roll the next bit out.
’

‘
Aren’t you loving
the teamwork here Philip?
’
Hermione announced, looking at her stopwatch.

‘
I am indeed, very methodical,
’
Philip mocked.

‘
This piping bag doesn’t work, it won’t come out.
Oi
! Don’t do that you’re wrecking the icing,
’
Kate exclaimed as Joel nudged her arm.

‘
Oh dear, you’d better think about moving on to the next tier, stick some of those little baubles around the edge and pipe if you have time left,
’
Hermione directed.

‘
It’s easy for you to say, I haven’t ever decorated a cake before,
’
Kate snapped.

‘
Running out of time, better start stacking the cakes, I’m going to count down from ten.
’

‘
It can’t be two minutes already, Joel, what are you doing? Just throw the icing on the last cake and help me stack them up!
’

‘
Ten, nine,
eight
.....
’

‘
Oh bugger! Shit!
’
Kate exclaimed as she tried to get the cakes onto the stands.

‘
Six, five, you need the kissing couple on top, four, three, two, one and STOP!
’
Hermione ordered as her countdown ended.

‘
Damn it,
’
Kate said as her wedding couple toppled off the top of the cake and fell onto the table.

‘
Oh dear Philip, what do you think? Doesn’t look very professional does it? Silver balls aren’t in any sort of pattern and the decorative roses don’t look right to me,
’
Hermione said as she surveyed the cake.

‘
No but they did get all three tiers stacked up,
’
Philip said.

‘
Yes we did, come on; it was a decent first effort,
’
Joel insisted.

‘
But one effort is all you will get on the night and it needs to be better, right, let’s go again, take the stuff off the cakes and we’ll take it from the top,
’
Hermione ordered.

‘
Oh God, do we have to?
’
Kate asked with a sigh.

‘
You want to win don’t you?
’

‘
Yes, of course.
’

‘
Then we go again, from the top in five.
’
Hermione instructed.

It was almost 9.00pm before Hermione and Philip left. The cake decorating had been attempted four times and now it was nothing but a mound of icing and sponge with no clearly definable shape.

‘
I don’t think I can bear to eat any of it, I’ve touched it too much,
’
Kate remarked, looking at it.

‘
Me neither and those silver ball things look like they would catch in your throat for sure,
’
Joel replied.

‘
Do you want a coffee?
’
Kate asked him.

‘
No, I’m fine thanks.
’

‘
So, do the police have any leads about the gang that attacked you?
’
Kate
enquired
.

‘
No, I gave as good a description as I could but it was dark and they all had
hoodies
on,
’
Joel replied.

‘
Do you think Matthew arranged it?
’
Kate asked suddenly.

Joel didn’t reply but he just looked back at her, his expression showing no emotion.

‘
He wouldn’t do that you know,
’
Kate stated, reading Joel’s thoughts.

‘
You asked the question Kate.
’

‘
Only because
Mione
asked
me
and I told her it was a stupid suggestion but.....
’

‘
But what?
’

‘
I’m not sure I know him very well at all anymore.
’