Knowing Me Knowing You (3 page)

‘
And did you have a great time at work? I would say probably not judging by those frown lines I can see,
’
Hermione said, turning her scrutiny to her friend.

‘
I have frown lines?
’
Kate exclaimed her hands reaching for her forehead and pressing at the skin as if to iron out any creases.

‘
Beth, why don’t you go and watch the DVD with Philip and the others
?
I’m pretty sure they’ll be dressed up as bears and monkeys by now. Mummy and I need to talk about secret things,
’
Hermione spoke, putting a finger to her lips and helping
Bethan
down from Kate’s lap.

Bethan
ran out of the kitchen towards the living room and as soon as Hermione could hear roaring, monkey noises and laughter she closed the kitchen door.

‘
What’s happened at work today? I sense more than the usual
“
too much to do too little time
”
vibe,
’
she said, bringing the tea over to the table and sitting down.

‘
Nothing, it was the same as every day. I played my usual inadequate self, I didn’t get half the things done I should have, Lady Dragon Miranda spent all day doing that really annoying laugh of hers and saying
“
perfect
”
every second word to anyone that came in contact with her. Oh yes and I have to find a date to take to a function
I
’d hoped she’d forgotten about -
this Friday,
’
Kate responded, taking a large swig of her tea.

‘
Would you like some sugar for the shock?
’
Hermione questioned.

‘
It isn’t funny! It’s one of our really big clients and one that actually likes me. It’s some banquet thing at the Grand
.
I
t’ll be dressing up and looking nice and talking to lots of people I have nothing in common with
.
O
h and did I mention I have to take a date. A date
Mione
! I don’t know any men! Unless? Yes, of course! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before! Can I borrow Philip?
’
Kate asked, leaning almost excitedly across the table towards her.

‘
Afraid not Sweetie, Philip’s off to
Africa
tomorrow
. He’s
away for a week supervising digging for ancient artefacts,
’
Hermione replied.

‘
T
hen I’m well and truly buggered.
W
hat am I going to do?
’
Kate asked, putting her hands in her hair and leaning on the table face down.

‘
Don’t you still have that business card I gave you?
’
Hermione questioned, drinking some of her tea.

‘
Oh no, I’m not doing that. That’s for desperate people,
’
Kate said, lifting her head up and knocking her cup with her elbow making some of the contents spill out on the table.

‘
And what are you if not desperate
for a date -
this Friday. I don’t see you have any other option.
’

‘
I cannot use an escort agency! Did you hear that? Even saying it sounds sleazy! It would be like using a male prostitute,
’
Kate exclaimed.

‘
Well, my friend Libby
-
you’ve met Libby
-
she comes here for readings
.
S
he absolutely swears by this firm. She uses them all the time, purely for company, they go out for a meal or to the cinema. She
’s a professional just like you and
she doesn’t have time for a relationship
.
S
he’s been burned in the past, just like you, but she loves
male company. For her this is
an ideal solution. I think her “
friend
”
is called Jonny,
’
Hermione informed.

‘
I feel sick,
’
Kate responded.

‘
I think you should look at this a different way. You’ve created a negative vibe about this function
.
Y
ou think it’s going to be dreadful, it won’t be fun, you’ll hate it and you know what I think a
bout self-fulfilling prophecies.
I
f you think it’s going to be terrible then it will be,
’
Hermione told her.

‘
I still feel sick.
’

‘
It’s an opportunity to dress up, get your hair done, have a few drinks and some posh food with some gorgeous guy sat next to you. Wouldn’t that stick it to the Lady Dragon?
’

‘
I can’t take a male escort, it just wouldn’t be right. I don’t do that sort of thing.
’

‘
The card has the website address on it; at least have a look while you’re trawling through your old address books looking for an alternative,
’
Hermione suggested.

‘
D’you
know, I don’t think I have the card any more, what bad luck,
’
Kate remarked, drinking down the remainder of her tea.

‘
Isn’t it? Luckily I have another,
’
Hermione responded and
she
magically produced the card straight away from a large towering pile of paperwork on her kitchen worktop.

‘
Are you sure you’re not a witch?
’
Kate
enquired
reluctantly taking the card from her friend’s hand.

‘
Are you sure you haven’t forgotten how to enjoy yourself?
’
Hermione retorted.

She looked at the business card, rolling it around her fingers.

‘
Perhaps I have,
’
she admitted with a heavy sigh.

‘
Then get back out there and start living your life again.
Your
life Sweetie, not just
Bethan’s
.
You’re a brilliant mum but even brilliant mums need a break and
yours is long overdue. Ring the number, book yourself a date, buy something new to wear, and Friday night, leave work early, get your hair done and enjoy yourself!
Bethan
can stay the night here, my three love having sleepovers and with Philip away I won
’t know what to do with myself -
you’ll basically be doing me a favour,
’
Hermione insisted with a smile.

‘
It sounds like I don’t have a choice
.
H
ave you been reading runes for me again? Is this function something I have to attend for my greater good?
’
Kate asked.

‘
I’m saying nothing more; you don’t believe any of that anyway,
’
Hermione replied and she pretended to zip up her lips.

By the time Kate had bathed
Bethan
, put her to bed and read her a story, it was almost 8.00pm. Her brain actually ached and she was completely exhausted. Although she should have known it before, she hadn’t actually realised just how tiring having a child would be. Now she was doing it on her own and trying to hold down a job all at the same time. She was struggling
with it
, emotionally and financially. There were bills that needed paying, bills she had ignored for too long. Most months she didn’t know whether she was actually going to get through it just breaking even.

She thought about her delicate finances all the time
and that
meant she thought about Matthew a lot of the time and what a bastard he was for leaving her. But knowing he was a bastard somehow didn’t stop her wishing he was still there. There were moments when she missed him desperately.

She pulled the cork out of the bottle of wine and felt a sense of relief the minute she poured it into a glass. This was
her
time, her time to relax, even if it was on her own. Sometimes it was lonely, like when there was nothing to watch on TV, or when she began to think too heavily about Matthew, but most of the time she was asleep on the sofa before the loneliness had a chance to take hold. Tonight all she could do was stare at the business card Hermione had given her while she set the microwave timer to two minutes and popped in a
carbonara
meal for one.

Elite Escorts it said in glittery letters. There was an address in the town centre, a telephone number, email address and a website. Kate took a swig of her wine and opened her laptop
.

She typed in the web address and almost at once the page flickered into life and music blared out. It was the theme from
Baywatch
. Kate hurried to turn the volume down before it woke
Bethan
, almost knocking her glass over in the process. She half expected to see a bare-chested David
Hasselhoff
pop up on screen. Not that it would have been a bad thing
.
S
he
’
d always had a soft spot for him since
Knight Rider
. Or maybe that had just been because of the cool car.

More glittery letters appeared and then flashing icons came up and an option to choose Gentlemen
or Ladies
. Kate clicked on Gentlemen and was given an entire gallery of men to look through. This was certainly a happy kind of shopping!

The first man she clicked on,
Barry
, looked very camp, like a younger, much shorter version of Dale Winton. The next one was
Keith
who looked friendly enough, but according to his date of birth he was forty seven.
She
then looked at
Michael
(had little hair and reminded her of Harry Hill),
Finlay
who said he liked
Boyzone
and
David
who was six foot five inches tall. There was no way, even if she wore heels that she would be able to talk to anything but his navel.

It was then she noticed the search section. In this you could input all your likes and dislikes, just like building your own perfect man. Now halfway down the glass of wine
,
Kate actually smiled at the screen and began to type.

Less than six
foot, but over five foot seven
, dark hair, no preference on eye colour, athletic build, educated to at least O-level equivalent, likes films, music and dining out. It was like shopping online at
Argos
but much more entertaining. She half expected the computer to build her perfect man in front of her very eyes with the capacity to have him packed and shipped.

Kate pressed the search button and a large picture was displayed of
Stephen
.

St
ephen said he was five foot ten
, athletically built, dark hair, green eyes, with an A-level in economics. He liked action films and dining out. He was good looking but not her usual type; he had a friendly smile and kind eyes. Kate stared at the photograph and took another sip of her wine. To book Stephen you had to fill in another form with your details and the date and time you wanted to order him for. Even more like shopping online at
Argos
, but no delivery charge. Kate took a deep breath, this was insane. What was she doing?

She got up from the table to fetch the bottle of wine and suddenly remembered she had
microwaved
her dinner about half an hour ago. She set it to cook again and stared over at her computer, still displaying the smiling photo of Stephen. She put the glass of wine to her lips again and cursed the Lady Dragon for putting her in this position. The microwave beeped, she got a fork out of the drawer and, plastic container of overcooked
carbonara
in hand, walked back over to the table. Stephen didn’t look like an escort, that was a good thing, but did he look ordinary enough for the Lady Dragon to believe Kate was dating him?
Possibly, although he was better looking than Matthew.
Kate swallowed. She didn’t believe she had just thought that. She loved Matthew; she had thought he was handsome the minute she set eyes on him. She looked over at the photo of
Bethan
and Matthew on the sideboard. They were both smiling, father and daughter together. She had loved him but perhaps she hadn’t really ever known him. The person she had been in love with wouldn’t have left her and his daughter without a second thought.