Knowing Me Knowing You (56 page)

‘
The winners of ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ 2011 are.....,
’
Larry began, looking at all the contestants who were lined up on the stage.

Kate looked up at Joel and felt his hand in hers, holding it tightly,
waiting
for the result.

‘
I sent ‘
Marina
’ home. By the way, her real name’s Sophie,
’
Joel whispered through the silence which was gripping everyone else who was waiting to hear the announcement.

‘
She should do acting, not escorting, she was very convincing,
’
Kate whispered back.

‘
We’re going to find out after the break,
’
Larry announced after at least sixty seconds of waiting.

Everyone let out a collective groan.

‘
God, I am so tired,
’
Kate said with a heavy sigh.

‘
Me too, it’s been some night hasn’t it?
’
Joel remarked.

‘
And we’re still stood on a stage with a camp bloke in sequins and a seven foot bird dressed as a bishop,
’
Kate answered.

‘
How will you feel if we don’t win?
’
Joel asked her.

‘
We aren’t going to win now. Matthew made sure of that when he hijacked the show, everyone knows we weren’t a couple to begin with, that we lied,
’
Kate replied.

‘
But the audience and viewers at home got to vote for the Showdown of Sincerity, I think Matthew might have actually just done us a favour,
’
Joel told her.

‘
The actual winning doesn’t seem to matter so much anymore, it was all I was focussed on, all I could think about but now, now I’ve won something much better,
’
Kate said, looking at him.

Joel took her face in his hands and kissed her intensely.

Lynn and Hermione let out a whoop of excitement as the couple embraced and
Lynn
followed it up
with a thumbs
up.

‘
I think I need to decide whether I really need secretive friends like those two,
’
Kate said, watching as they shared out the remainder of a bottle of wine.

‘
I don’t think you’ll find any friends better than those two. Anything they kept from you was for a good reason wasn’t it?
’
Joel asked.

‘
I don’t like being kept in the dark,
’
Kate reminded.

‘
I know and you don’t like Noel Edmonds or Brussels sprouts either,
’
Joel added.

‘
Who told you that?
’

‘
Hermione told me about Noel,
Lynn
told me about the Brussels sprouts,
’
Joel replied.

‘
Yes well, we don’t need to know everything about each other anymore, quiz is almost done,
’
Kate reminded him.

‘
But I still want to know, quiz or no quiz. These things are important, what if I didn’t know about the sprouts before Christmas, dinner could have been ruined,
’
Joel joked.

‘
Do they have traditional dinner on Christmas Day in
France
?
’
Kate
enquired
.

‘
We’ll have to do research,
’
Joel said, putting his arm around her.

‘
Welcome back everybody, we’re all waiting eagerly for the results of the competition. OK, I have it through my earpiece, here we go, the winners of
‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ 2011 are....,
’
Larry Rawlins began again.

Kate closed her eyes and wished hard that their names were going to be called.

‘
KATE AND JOEL!
’
Larry bellowed at the top of his voice.

Kate snapped open her eyes, her mouth opened and she let out a scream of disbelief.

‘
Oh my God!
’
she screeched as the Reverend Love Dove came running towards her brandishing the cheque.

Joel put his arms around her and lifted her up into the air as Hermione and
Lynn
stormed onto the stage and grabbed hold of her, pulling her back to the ground and into a group hug.

‘
We won! Joel, we won!
’
Kate exclaimed as Hermione and Lynn span her round and round in a circle.

Kate held the cheque up in front of her head, looking at it, making sure it was real.
K Baxter £100,000.
She smiled and then turned her attention from the cheque to Joel lying next to her in the bed.

It was almost sunrise, they hadn’t got to bed until 2.00am and he had been asleep ever since.
A deep undisturbed sleep.

Bethan
had still been awake when Philip had brought her into the greenroom after the show. Wide eyed and pepped up on coke and crisps she danced around for all the other contestants who ‘
oohed
’ and ‘
aahed
’ over her and called her ‘adorable’. Surprisingly none of the other contestants were at all bitter about Kate and Joel’s victory, Gloria even gave Kate a hug and said their win was well deserved and the bride with the beehive had bought her a drink.

It still didn’t seem real though.
The cheque, the hideous heart-shaped trophy, Joel in her bed in a completely non-platonic way, Frank Peterson’s job offer, Miranda’s lack of hair being exposed in such a public place.
She almost felt a bit sorry for her.
Almost.

She got out of bed and walked over to the full-length windows, admiring the view of the
London
cityscape and the Eye. It was built-up but beautiful, vibrant and full of life. That was how she felt now, vibrant, beautiful, her old self again, Kate Baxter the woman, not Kate Baxter the slummy mummy.

She was just about to turn back towards the bed when
a pair of strong arms were
around her waist, pulling her into their embrace. She felt Joel kiss her neck and turn her around to face him.

‘
I’ve had almost three hours sleep,
’
he stated with a smile.

‘
I know and you never moved, I watched you,
’
Kate told him.

‘
Couldn’t you sleep?
’
Joel asked.

‘
No, too excited,
’
Kate admitted.

‘
£100,000 is a lot of money,
’
Joel agreed.

‘
I’m not excited about
that,
I’m excited about everything else. I’m excited that I’m going to go into
Randall’s
on Monday morning and hand in my notice, I’m excited about saying yes to Frank’s job offer and I’m excited about going on our
Eurostar
trip to Paris to check out property,
’
Kate told him.

‘
Is that what you want to do? You’re sure?
’
Joel questioned.

‘
Yes, I’m sure, more sure than I’ve been about anything in a long time,
’
Kate spoke.

Joel smiled and kissed her.

‘
Look, £100,000, a real cheque for £100,000 not that stupid big cardboard one we held last night from The Bank of Love,
’
Kate spoke, getting the cheque and holding it out to Joel.

‘
I know and it all started because you couldn’t book Stephen,
’
Joel reminded her.

‘
I am so glad I didn’t get Stephen,
’
Kate assured him.

‘
Me too,
’
Joel agreed.

‘
Really?
Truly?
Because you could have someone like
Marina
, I mean Sophie, perfect looking and without any baggage.
’

‘
I like to keep things interesting, besides I’ve just told a room full of people, not to mention a few thousand viewers at home how I feel,
’
Joel reminded her.

‘
And you’re standing by that because.....
’

‘
Because I want to make sure I get my 40%.
’

‘
Oh.
’

‘
I want to spend it on top of the range chickens.
’

Kate laughed.

‘
I love you Kate and I want to be with you. And if we’re really getting into the realms of baggage here I should be the worried one. I’m carrying around a whole suitcase full of anxiety, night terrors and flashbacks; we might have to have separate rooms,
’
Joel told her.

‘
Never,
’
Kate replied putting her arms around him and laying her head against his chest.

‘
Sshh
, they’re coming! Quiet everyone! You over there, put down that serving tray a minute and stop banging around, the guests of honour are coming!
Party poppers at the ready!
’
Lynn
hissed loudly as she ducked back into the hotel dining room and flapped her arms around.

‘
Mummy!
Mummy!
’
Bethan
exclaimed excitedly, waving her arms up and down.

‘
Sshh
Bethy
, want some more toast Sweetie? Here you go, that’s right, all in your mouth at once,
’
Hermione said, handing
Bethan
another soldier shaped piece of toast.

Everyone fell quiet and then the dining room door opened and Kate and Joel came into the room.

Party poppers were let off, everyone in the restaurant cheered and clapped and Kate jumped and clutched at her chest in surprise and excitement.

‘
Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners of ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ 2011!
Kate and Joel,
’
Hermione announced in her best Larry Rawlins voice.

‘
God, are you all still drunk?
’
Kate
enquired
as everyone quietened down.

‘
Unfortunately no and when I asked for rum with my cornflakes the waitress looked at me a bit funny. God you’re so loved-up aren’t you? I am so glad Darren and I didn’t have the room next to yours or we wouldn’t have got any sleep last night,
’
Lynn
remarked as Kate and Joel came to sit down at the table.

‘
Children present,
’
Kate said quickly and she sat down next to
Bethan
in her highchair and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

‘
Then I’ll ask, did you ‘sleep’ well?
’
Hermione spoke with a big wink.

‘
Yes thank you
Mione
, did you?
’
Kate answered, giving nothing away.

‘
Oh yes, we slept very well, must invest in a queen-sized bed at home. And
Bethan
slept well too, bit wet this morning though, probably the coke, sorry, nothing organic behind the bar and the orange juice was pricey,
’
Hermione told Kate.

‘
That’s OK; it doesn’t hurt to have a treat once in a while.
’

‘
Do you want some coffee?
’
Joel offered Kate.

‘
Please.
’

‘
I’ll go and ask for some,
’
Joel said, standing back up.

‘
So, how does it feel to be £100,000 better off this morning?
’
Hermione asked her.

‘
I can’t stop looking at him
Mione
; I can’t believe I nearly lost out on the chance to be with him,
’
Kate responded.