Knowing Me Knowing You (52 page)

‘
Wooo
hooo
!
Go Kate! Go Kate! Go Kate!
’
Lynn
shouted out, waving her hands in the air from the audience.

‘
See, we’re second, just like we were in the last show, it’s a good position to be in,
’
Joel reassured her.

‘
Whatever.
’

‘
The next round will be Couples’ Catwalk and we’ll be back after the break,
’
Larry spoke to camera one.

‘
Great, where’s the bar?
’
Kate asked, holding up her wedding dress and striding off the stage towards the greenroom.

‘
Wow, I was so impressed with the way you decorated those cakes, you were like a whirlwind and Joel was a master with that rolling pin, just a pity he didn’t do it naked,
’
Lynn
commented when she had caught up with Kate in the greenroom.

‘
You shouldn’t be in here, if Becky catches you she’ll have you ejected,
’
Kate told her, downing a rum and coke.

‘
What me and my poor disabled husband?
She wouldn’t dare, you can’t be seen to be discriminating,
’
Lynn
remarked, smiling.

‘
You’re helping yourself to the free booze; a disability doesn’t give you exemption from being caught pinching stuff.
’

‘
Is something wrong? You don’t seem quite right. I thought you would be made up, currently second on the leader board, having an ex-model strutting his stuff down the catwalk will give you a definite advantage in Couples’ Catwalk, free booze and food, what more could a girl want from an evening?
’
Lynn
questioned.

‘
He isn’t paying attention to the games; all he can do is gaze out into the audience at HER,
’
Kate stated, looking over at Joel who was chatting with Darren at the bar. Yes
Marina
was definitely a HER.

‘
Who?
’
Lynn
asked stupidly.

‘
Marina
of course, bloody ex-girlfriend Marina,
Marina
with the perfect figure and the even more perfect face,
’
Kate said, picking up her second drink and gulping from it.

‘
Oh HER, yeah she’s a bitch isn’t she? Probably got an eating disorder though, or takes cocaine, what do you think?
’
Lynn
asked.

‘
I don’t know, I don’t care, but he does, he can’t focus on anything else,
’
Kate said with a sigh.

‘
Are you sure? I mean he might not be looking at her all the time, those lights blind you don’t
they
? Maybe he’s just looking out randomly to give his eyes a rest,
’
Lynn
spoke.

‘
Thanks Lynn, but I need to face the truth; I’ve lost him because I was too preoccupied with Matthew. What was I thinking of?
Wasting all that time and not noticing the wonderful person under my nose.
’

‘
Well if that’s how you really feel then why are you wasting time here with me? Go and tell him,
’
Lynn
urged.

‘
No, I can’t tell him, he gave me a chance, more than one chance and I turned him away every time. The way he’s looking out at
Marina
now is the way he used to look at me and I just ignored it because it was like Matthew all over again. I thought it couldn’t be genuine, I mean how
could someone like him
fall for a single mother like me. I mean I microwave every night for Christ’s sake and I have one good suit! Look at her when you’re back at the table, look at her in her tiny little designer dress! She’s won and she didn’t even have to try!
’
Kate yelled.

‘
She only rocked up on the scene five minutes ago, if he said he loved you his head can’t have been turned that quickly,
’
Lynn
told her.

‘
He deserves better than me. I was indecisive, I should have trusted how he made me feel not buried my head in the sand and moped about Matthew. Another drink
please
, rum and coke,
’
Kate ordered from the barman.

‘
I’m ringing Hermione; she’ll know what to do. We can’t have this depression ruining your chances of winning the contest. This is what you’ve worked for
for
the last couple of months; you can’t throw it away at the last second, not now you’re so close,
’
Lynn spoke and she got out her mobile phone.

‘
I don’t want to speak to
Mione
, she’ll say the same as you, that I need to talk to Joel but I can’t, I’d feel an idiot and.....
’

‘
But at least you wouldn’t feel like a lonely idiot.
’

‘
I would if he turned me down, which he will,
’
Kate remarked.

‘
ATTENTION! Couples’ Catwalk is about to start, can I have Claudia and Gerry, Martin and Yvonne and Mark and Gloria please? Ten minutes and I’ll be back for the rest of you,
’
Becky called loudly, holding her clipboard aloft.

‘
Right then, ten minutes to get this sorted out, come on, you’re going to speak to him,
’
Lynn
announced and she yanked Kate’s arm, dragging her over toward Darren and Joel.

‘
Hello you two, I hope you haven’t drunk too much of the complimentary drink Darren, I’m not wheeling you back to the room in a luggage trolley again,
’
Lynn
joked, smiling at her husband.

‘
She’s a laugh my missus isn’t she? Nah, we’ve been having a deep and meaningful haven’t we Joel?
’
Darren said, slapping Joel on the back and letting out a hearty laugh.

‘
Something
like
that,
’
Joel replied, looking at Kate.

‘
Well, we need to get back to our table before the Lady Dragon sells our seats or something, come on Darren; there’ll be plenty of time for celebrating later,
’
Lynn told her husband, pulling at his arm, keen for him to leave.

‘
Oh, OK, you’re the boss, good luck with the rest of the show mate; we’ll be rooting for you,
’
Darren called as
Lynn
manoeuvred him towards the door.

‘
See you,
’
Joel said, waving a hand at Darren.

Kate swallowed as she looked at Joel in his wedding suit. He turned to face her and she wrung her hands together nervously.

‘
Are you feeling any better now?
’
Joel wanted to know.

‘
I’m just a bit nervous that’s all, you know, this is it tonight, the culmination of, well, everything,
’
Kate said.

‘
Yeah I know
,
it’s weird isn’t it? It’s hard to imagine we’re never going to share the stage with Larry and the Love Dove after tonight. They’ve become such a big part of my life,
’
Joel said with a smile.

‘
I’ll be glad to see the back of the big bird,
’
Kate admitted with a laugh.

‘
I’ll be glad to say goodbye to Larry’s sequined jacket, it causes a nasty refraction from the spotlights.
’

‘
Frank offered me a job,
’
Kate blurted out.

‘
Wow! Doing what?
’
Joel exclaimed excitedly.

‘
Being his assistant, arranging his life and helping him oversee the business.
’

‘
That sounds fantastic,
’
Joel said.

‘
It’s £75,000 per annum.
’

‘
Kate that’s brilliant, I’m so pleased for you,
’
Joel said, reaching out and touching her arm.

‘
I didn’t say yes, not straight away, I mean it sounds like it would be very involved, Frank’s business is worldwide,
it
isn’t Mrs Collins’ £10,000 in the bank and some premium bonds. I don’t know whether I’m adequately equipped for the job in all sorts of respects.
’

‘
Why do you think things are going to go wrong before you’ve even tried them? It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes you know, try it, if it works out, fantastic, if it doesn’t then you try something else,
’
Joel told her.

‘
That isn’t how I do things. And I have
Bethan
to think about,
’
Kate reminded.

‘
Where’s the job based?
In
Highbridge
?
’
Joel
enquired
.

‘
He said I could work from home but it would involve some travel, accompanying him to meetings, going to his other offices and stuff,
’
Kate explained.

‘
Well it sounds perfect, I’m sure Hermione will be able to help out,
’
Joel told her.

‘
I know it sounds like a great opportunity and I know it would get me out of
Randall’s
and away from the Lady Dragon for good but when he was telling me about the job and the great salary and how he wanted me because he trusted me and he thought I was efficient, all I could think about was that I knew he had offices in France. And I started to wonder; in fact all I could think about was if I could commute from our farmhouse in
Marchette
,
’
Kate spoke, looking at Joel intently.

‘
Our farmhouse,
’
Joel repeated.

‘
Yeah, I know, stupid,
’
Kate said, unable to keep her eyes from him.

‘
ATTENTION! Can I have the remaining couples please!
Time for Couples’ Catwalk!
’
Becky shouted out.

‘
That was a quick ten minutes, God, right, well,
do
I look OK? This bloody fascinator is
itching
my head, is it straight?
’
Kate asked, brushing down the front of her dress and then tweaking at the hairpiece.

‘
Its fine,
’
Joel answered.

‘
OK, good, right well let’s get on with the show,
’
Kate spoke jovially and she headed off towards the pink haired assistant.

‘
Right Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce our next couple, Kate Baxter and Joel Brown, give them a big welcome,
’
Larry announced, lights bouncing off his sequined jacket.

Kate and Joel walked onto the stage accompanied by the Love Dove and stood on the mark opposite Larry. The catwalk, set up in the middle of the audience, tables either side, was now lit up like a Heathrow landing strip with red lights down each edge and spotlights focussed on it. The
Randall’s
tables were on the left of the catwalk and
Lynn
seemed to be talking intently on her mobile phone
while Darren was pouring large amounts of red wine into his glass. Miranda suddenly caught Kate’s eye. The Lady Dragon fixed her with an icy stare, a smug smile playing upon her lips. Kate looked away and then realised Larry had been talking and she hadn’t heard a thing he said.

‘
So, are we all clear?
’
Larry asked them both.

‘
No, sorry, I’m not, I....,
’
Kate began.

‘
They play music, one of us walks down the catwalk like a model, Larry’s at the other end, he asks us a question, we answer it, walk back up the catwalk, etc. etc. until we’ve answered two questions. Then the other one of us has to do the same and if we match answers it’s more Kissing Gates on the board. Oh and there’s extra marks for good modelling style, there’s a judge,
’
Joel recapped for Kate.