Knowing Me Knowing You (48 page)

‘
You come near Kate again and you’ll have me to deal with,
’
Hermione threatened, narrowing her eyes at Matthew as he desperately tried to wipe sauce off his credit cards.

‘
I know all about you. What are you going to do? Put a Hex on me?
’
Matthew asked with a chuckle.

Hermione picked up one of his cards and held it out to him.

‘
Yours I believe,
’
she remarked, making him look up.

Matthew went to reach for it and as he did Hermione jerked her knee up and landed a direct hit in his nether regions making him audibly yelp in pain.

‘
That’s the thing about the mystics, they can help but sometimes brute force is the only real remedy,
’
Hermione ended, straightening her coat.

Outside the tears were falling from Kate’s face as she looked at the leather wallet in her hands. She ran her fingers over the smooth front and felt like a complete fool. Why had she let Matthew take her in again?

‘
Are you OK?
’
Hermione asked, arriving at her side.

‘
He got people to attack Joel. This is his wallet,
’
Kate spoke, holding it up for Hermione to see.

‘
I know.
’

‘
He told me he wanted to start again, he told me he loved me and he loved
Bethan
and he wanted to be a family again.
’

‘
I know Sweetie,
’
Hermione said, feeling her friend’s pain.

‘
He’s made an idiot out of me,
’
Kate continued.

‘
No! You are not an idiot Kate because you didn’t fall for it,
’
Hermione insisted.

‘
Maybe not externally but perhaps I had....in here,
’
Kate admitted, touching her chest.

‘
Leopards can’t change their spots Sweetie, no matter how hard they try. Matthew hasn’t changed, he never wanted to start again he was just concerned about his finances and he saw a way to stop you getting ruthless about it. He was your Achilles heel and he exploited that. He’s a liar and a cheat and a self-centred excuse for a man. He was that person when he left you and he’s still that person now,
’
Hermione stated.

‘
I know.
’

‘
Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we want them to but that isn’t your fault.
’

‘
I know.
’

‘
Then why do you feel so much responsibility for what he did to you?
’

‘
I don’t know.
’

‘
You’re a wonderful person Kate, a good friend, an exceptional mother and a bright, intelligent, young woman with her whole life in front of her. You need to move on from Matthew and do it with a fresh outlook and no turning back. What’s done is done,
’
Hermione spoke, making Kate look at her.

‘
I’ve been so stupid, hanging on to some ridiculous idea that we could be a happy family again,
even when he said all those horrid things about
Bethan
, still I thought he would change his mind and come back.
’

‘
You deserve so much better Kate.
’

‘
Like Joel you mean?
’

‘
Well, he wouldn’t be a bad start.
’

‘
I’ve not been entirely honest with him about how I feel,
’
Kate answered, rubbing at her eyes.

‘
What did I say about letting go and having a fresh outlook? Give him a chance; after all, you already know he’s good in bed.
’

‘
Mione
!
I never said that!
’

‘
You didn’t need to Sweetie.
’

‘
Hey, you OK? I was getting worried, it’s late,
’
Joel remarked as Kate struggled through the front door, three shopping bags on each arm.

‘
Have you any idea how long it takes to fine the perfect accessories for a fake wedding?
’
Kate asked, dumping the bags on the floor and slumping down onto the sofa next to him.

‘
No idea.
’

‘
Well let me tell you, it takes FOREVER! But a bangle, a pair of earrings, a fascinator, a garter would you believe, two pairs of pearlescent stockings and a pair of shoes later and Hermione is happy we’re ready,
’
Kate explained.

‘
It sounds like it was painful,
’
Joel remarked with a smile.

‘
Yeah, it was. But not as painful as something else,
’
Kate spoke and she reached inside her handbag and brought out Joel’s wallet. She handed it to him.

‘
It is yours isn’t it.
’
Kate said, needing it to be clarified.

‘
Yes but where did you get it? I mean....,
’
Joel exclaimed.

‘
Matthew. You were right, everyone was right, you weren’t just mugged,
he
arranged it and he had the nerve to use your wallet, flaunt it like some sort of trophy. I am so sorry Joel,
’
Kate said, looking at him.

‘
I knew,
’
Joel replied, putting the wallet on the coffee table.

‘
I know and Hermione suggested it and I wouldn’t listen and.....
’

‘
No, I mean I knew, for certain,
’
Joel told her.

‘
What?
’

‘
When they’d finished kicking me they pressed his business card into my hand,
’
Joel explained.

Tears pricked Kate’s eyes and for a moment she couldn’t respond.

‘
But I couldn’t tell you that. You still loved him and I wasn’t sure you’d believe me. And he’s
Bethan’s
dad at the end of the day, I couldn’t tell the police and be responsible for her father being on the end of an assault charge,
’
Joel spoke.

‘
You should have told me,
’
Kate said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

‘
What good would it have done? I wasn’t playing games like him. If you wanted to be with me you had to decide that for yourself not because of anything I’d told you or anything he’d done.
’

‘
He hurt you because of me, it’s my fault,
’
Kate spoke, trying hard not to sob.

‘
Now that’s one of the most stupid things you’ve ever said and I don’t want to talk about it anymore,
’
Joel told her seriously.

‘
But what he did.....
’

‘
He did because he loves you,
’
Joel reminded her.

‘
No,
’
Kate said with a shake of her head.

‘
I think he does. I think he knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he left you and he’s desperate to make up for that,
’
Joel continued.

‘
No. He’s still with Amanda. We saw them tonight, together, like he’d never made me any of those promises,
’
Kate told him.

‘
I’m sorry,
’
Joel said, looking at her.

‘
No, don’t be. I needed to see it, it opened my eyes. There he was
,
looking at Amanda the way he used to look at me and I saw him and I didn’t feel angry that he was looking at her like that I felt sad because I didn’t know if it was real. I mean did he ever love me? Does he really love her?
’
Kate asked.

‘
I think he’s a fool for letting you go,
’
Joel told her.

‘
He didn’t just let me go, he walked away without a second thought,
’
Kate told him.

Joel took hold of her hand and held it tightly.

Kate looked up at him and felt a wave of feeling wash over her. Here she was sat next to the most gorgeous man she had ever met, someone who had entered a relationship contest with her to help her and
Bethan
crawl away from near bankruptcy and she had wasted so much time pining for someone who didn’t want her and perhaps never had wanted her.

She reached up to touch his face and Joel sprung from the sofa like she was about to poke him with a live wire.

‘
I saved you some lasagne, I’ll warm it up,
’
he spoke quickly.

‘
Great, thanks,
’
Kate replied, not knowing what else to say.

She had left it too late.

‘
Hi, Joel Brown and Kate Baxter, we’re here for the competition, ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’,
’
Joel spoke to the hotel receptionist.

It was the day of the final and Kate and Joel had arrived in
London
ahead of that night’s show.

‘
Of course Sir, let me just find your details.
’

‘
I’m starving,
’
Kate remarked, looking about the foyer of the hotel in search of something food related.

‘
Me too.
Let’s get checked in and find somewhere to eat,
’
Joel agreed.

‘
OK, you are in Executive Suite 4 which is on the third floor with a lovely view of the London Eye. Here is your key card, the lifts are just over there,
would
you like some help with your luggage?
’
the receptionist asked.

‘
No thanks, we’re fine,
’
Joel answered, about to leave the desk.

‘
A three course lunch will be served in the dining room at 1.00pm for all the contestants and it is requested that you participate in short mat bowls afterwards,
’
she continued.

‘
Short mat bowls,
’
Kate stated, looking at the hotel employee quizzically.

‘
Yes Madam.
’

‘
You’re good at bowling,
’
Joel remarked to Kate.

‘
That’s skittles, not short mat bowls. Could we have someone to help with our bags? You shouldn’t be lifting anything,
’
Kate said, taking the bags away from Joel.

‘
Apart from the £100,000 cheque.
’

‘
If anyone’s getting the first lift of that then it’s me,
’
Kate answered, leading the way towards the lifts.

‘
Wait! Wait!
’
Lynn
screeched as she and Darren arrived in the hotel reception area.

Kate stopped and smiled at her friend as she hurried towards her.

‘
Where’s the bar? We’ve been on that bloody coach for over two hours and I’ve had to listen to all Dorothy from accounts hospital stories,
’
Lynn
exclaimed with a sigh.

‘
I think it’s that way but we’ve only just got here ourselves and we have to have lunch with the other contestants at 1.00pm, followed by a game of short mat bowls,
’
Kate informed her.

‘
Darren and I will be in the bar. He has a new hand, look,
’
Lynn
spoke, pointing over at where her husband was talking to the receptionist.

‘
I’ll go and see him, it’s time we had a proper chat and it will give you two a chance to find the bar,
’
Joel said.

‘
It’s weird them knowing each other isn’t it? Darren told me what happened, had to drag it out of him as usual but he told me,
’
Lynn
said as Joel joined Darren at the reception desk.