by Kiki Archer
Kat looked over and saw Rachel pinned between Betty Jean’s arms at the bar. ‘Sounds great.’
Jess phoned through the order and Kat changed quickly into her soft blue fleecy pyjama bottoms. The apartment was always so warm and cosy that she never had to worry about wrapping up and pulled on her thin strapped white vest top. She pushed her feet into her fluffy white pompom slippers and made her way into their lounge. Jess looked over at Kat and considered putting the phone down, she would never look as good as her if she kept up this love affair with the Balti man. A rich voice sounded in her ear asking how she was and what she would like to order this fine evening; Jess snapped back into the real world and listed her lengthy request. She skipped over to the sofa and put her small hand across Kat’s bare shoulder, squeezing her perfectly toned arm. ‘Moment of truth Katherine.’
Kat picked up the pink laptop and entered her code. She was nervous, not at the possibility of a date but at the possibility of no dates; her deep seated fear of rejection once again being proved correct. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.
‘Two matches!’ said Jess trying to sound upbeat. What on earth was wrong with that third person she thought?
She looked at the bright screen and winced, ‘Ok, so I got Rachel the horse trainer and Dana the vet.’ She scanned the page, ‘What happens now?’
‘Well you click on their names and you will get their mobile numbers,’ Jess raised her shoulders, ‘then you decide if you meet again.’
Kat closed the lid and put the laptop on the floor. ‘Great, well thanks for that, it was a real eye opener.’ Job done, Jess was happy. No way was she ever going through that again.
‘Aren’t you going to ring them?’ She fished for the computer.
‘No. That whole evening just wasn’t my style and I can safely say I will never ever do it again.’ She paused, ‘But thanks.’ She realised that Jess was slowly and surely returning to her bubbly old self with the whole dreadful experience of the start of the year seeming to bring her and Gary even closer than before and she did not want to knock her in anyway.
Jess pulled Kat’s head onto her chest and held her tightly. ‘At least we have got a curry coming,’ she giggled.
Kat lay in bed completely at ease, what a wonderful Saturday morning lie in. She stretched and yawned widely; two more weeks and the Sixth Form and Year Eleven would be on study leave. Relaxing in bed she wondered how Kathy from Cover would fill her eight empty lessons; probably with Year Eight PE, Miss Titley was always off with one sports induced injury or another. Kat reached down for her phone and turned it on; a rare weekend without plans. She contemplated calling Vicky who had continued to send a monthly check in message requesting a meet up and spot of fun. She had so far politely declined, but the thought of company seemed appealing and for the first time Kat realised she must be desperately lonely to even entertain the idea. The phone’s standard message tone bleeped.
Hello, we got a match. A bit spontaneous but do you fancy meeting up for coffee this afternoon? Costa on the high street at 2pm? Hope so. Rachel. (Number 4!)
Kat felt silly and pulled the warm covers over her face. She touched the phone and it lit up her dark den, Ok. See you there. Kat. (Table 7!)
She heard the heavy bag being dragged across the wooden floor and listened for the apartment door to close; Ben was off to play Rugby and Lucy would be tucked up in bed, TV on, waiting for her Saturday morning’s viewing to commence. Kat jumped out of bed and knocked on the white door.
‘Hold on.’
Lucy was pulling a wrinkled black T-shirt on as Kat popped her head in. ‘Room for a little one?’ She jumped into the ruffled bed and tried to ignore the definite smell of sex.
‘How did it go? asked Lucy, wriggling under the covers and back into her pants.
Kat held out the phone.
‘Get you Miss Speed Dater!’
‘It was dreadful,’ admitted Kat as her eyes were drawn to the jeering television; what on earth did Lucy like about this trash?
‘Are you going?’
She paused unable to move her gaze, the DNA results suddenly of upmost importance, ‘Um ... yes,’ she spoke without looking.
Lucy snuggled into Kat’s shoulder, ‘Great, we can have a morning of telly and toast and you can tell me all about her.’ She too looked at the noisy screen. ‘I will make the first round in the break. Then you can make a cuppa in the next one.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ said Kat snuggling down, her eyes transfixed by the unfolding drama.
Where had the time gone thought Kat as she walked briskly down the high street? The metal table and chairs sitting outside were damp and empty and Kat felt a lovely glow of warmth as she entered the rich smelling coffee shop. She spotted Rachel immediately in a maroon leather booth, smiled and raised a cupped hand to her mouth.
Rachel shook her head and signalled to the large mug already on the table. Kat ordered her normal white coffee using the requested language and stood carefully adding the milk. Her morning had been fantastic messing around with Lucy, watching and talking absolute drivel, laughing at her latest raunchy escapade with Ben; but it wasn’t until this moment as she slowly swirled the milk with her thin wooden stick that she realised she was actually quite nervous. She breathed in and turned around. Rachel got up from the booth and was standing to greet her. Her auburn hair was as lovely as she remembered and her soft brown eyes were still glowing with warmth.
Kat placed the coffee on the dark table and kissed her smooth cheek, ‘Nice to see you again.’
‘You too,’ said Rachel with genuine meaning.
They sat, drank and chatted, mostly about the dating night’s mix of contestants, quickly relaxing into one another’s company. Kat hoped that the sexual spark missing from their first encounter might ignite, but it didn’t. Rachel looked lovely, sounded lovely, and would probably make a lovely friend, but she had friends; what she craved was romance. Rachel returned to the booth with two more coffees and paused for a moment, looking serious. ‘I don’t want to be one of those people who talk about their ex, but I do want to mention something early on.’
Kat put her new steaming mug back down, ‘Ok.’ She waited.
Rachel slid gently into the private seat and her fine features suddenly looked anxious. ‘I just can’t stand games.’ She looked at Kat directly, ‘My ex really messed with my head and I would rather just hear the truth and get on with things; so if this date does not work out then it’s honestly no problem, just let me know.’
She smiled; it was refreshing to hear such openness. Everyone had baggage of some sort or another and she would much rather hear it all in full before she fell for the person in question. ‘I will,’ she paused, nosy from her morning of prying chat shows, ‘do you still see her?’
Rachel exhaled heavily and cast her eyes down in despair, ‘I try my very best not to! She was so manipulative and so controlling, everything was mind games with her. I won’t go into it, but it was not nice.’ She nervously twisted her large steaming mug, ‘I wasn’t the only one though. I know it sounds awful, and you will probably not want a second date,’ she looked up, ‘but she was younger than me and still at school and it turns out that she was two timing me and messing up some other girls life as well.’
Kat thought back to the televised real life dramas, the best bit the results or unexpected final guests. ‘What happened?’
Rachel shook her head with the memory, ‘It was horrible and I won’t bore you with it, but the other girl ended up in hospital with a breakdown or something. She was apparently one of the brightest in the school and ended up missing all of her exams.’
‘That’s dreadful.’ Kat sipped her coffee enjoying the sensational gossip, realising how a morning with Jeremy Kyle could change you.
‘I know. Things got messy, the school were aware of the situation and she was forced to leave.’ She picked up her coffee and took a small sip, relieved with her own openness. ‘I think she went somewhere else. I
hear tit bits every now and again’
‘Not Coldfield was it?’ said Kat laughing, not expecting the next response.
Her eyes widened. ‘Yes.’
The school had attracted lots of new Sixth Formers but this was too close for comfort. Kat suddenly felt sick, ‘Please tell me her name was not Bea?’
Rachel nodded slowly, ‘Do you know her?’
‘I teach her.’
Kat raced home anxious and concerned. What should she do? What could she do? Exams were in less than a month and Freya had the world at her feet, any interference may prove disastrous; but in the same respect no interference may prove even worse. She flapped with her leather shoulder bag and reached for her phone, ‘Jess are you home?’
‘Yes hun, why? You sound like you’re running. Was she that bad?’
‘No, no she was fine. She has baggage but she was fine.’ Kat puffed as she spoke. ‘Get the kettle on, I’ll be back in ten. Major advice is needed!’
This sounded promising thought Jess. Maybe Rachel had been wonderful and Kat being the person she was had a dilemma regarding her remaining unrequited feelings for Freya; if only it had been that simple thought Jess as the story unfolded. Lucy had gone to join in with Ben’s raucous post match beer circle, she had become quite the regular and Ben’s team mates envied him with a passion for bagging a fit bird that could actually drink. Gary was on a nine-five and so Jess and Kat had the apartment all to themselves. Kat explained in detail what information she had glistened, admitting that it was hard to dig deeper when Rachel realised she actually taught Bea. She seemed to panic about potential repercussions and stayed tight lipped regarding specific details. It was obvious that Bea still had a hold over her, but Kat had grasped the basic gist. Bea was manipulative and controlling and not to be trusted. When she heard herself re - telling the story she realised that it all sounded so familiar, an ex with a grudge. Who didn’t think their exes were a screw loose? Kat knew that she did. So as the conversation and advice flowed and Monday morning came, Kat realised she was in an impossible situation. Bea and Freya seemed happy enough working quietly during her penultimate revision lesson. There were no wide eyes or internal screams of help coming from the back corner table, so she carried on as normal but tried to catch Freya’s eyes at the end of the lesson as she was heading quickly towards the door.
Bea saw the look, stopped and pulled Freya by the wrist back to the front desk. ‘I just thought you would like to know that we have both been accepted into Edinburgh University.’
Kat looked shocked, the last she had heard was that Freya was applying to Birmingham on the same three year teaching course that she had recently completed. ‘Congratulations,’ she managed feeling hurt. She really was so far out of the loop now that it was embarrassing.
Freya remained silent and Bea shifted her weight from one hip to another, ‘Oh and another thing, I passed my driving test on Saturday and if Freya is a good girl then I will add her to my insurance.’ She slapped Freya’s bottom. ‘Do you drive Miss Spicer? Only I often see you walking in the rain. Cars can be ever so expensive these days can’t they?’ She spoke with false concern.
‘I like to walk.’ Kat returned her cold stare. Enough was enough. ‘I met an old friend of yours on Saturday actually.’
Bea instantly lost her strut and started to mess with the gold zip on her very expensive Gucci bag. ‘Good for you,’ she mumbled pretending to be busy.
‘Rachel I think she was called.’
Freya looked up from her motionless stance.
‘No, I don’t know anyone called Rachel. Come on, my car needs a Christening.’ She grabbed Freya’s hand and pulled her out of the room, ordering her to go ahead and unlock. Bea dashed back into the classroom and leant over Kat’s desk with her brown eyes piercing, ‘You will regret that Kat.’
Kat was lost for words and watched as Bea raced out of the classroom in a fury. She sat and waited for too long debating what to do. Time was wasted; time that could have altered the course of the next ten minutes.
Freya’s felt Bea link her arm and pull her close. She had learnt in situations like these that it was best not to ask. Bea was passionate and Freya had loved the passion at first, but had quickly learnt that it came with a definite unpredictability, a temperament of high sensitivity and an erraticism that was previously well hidden; Bea had a short fuse. Freya would let her explain in her own time, and anyway there was bound to be a logical explanation for her lie, just like there had been with the other discrepancies she thought she had noticed. They were good together she remembered as they paced arm in arm down the B Block corridor to the usual “Hi’s” and “Hello’s” from all and sundry; a popular power couple Bea had called them. Popularity was not important to Freya but it felt nice to be accepted and liked. The sharp fresh air of the car park returned her memory to the hurt caused by Kat. Her failure to enquire further about her family’s reaction was painful enough but then to change her number without so much as a word was a real blow with each secret message being returned as undeliverable. It did not matter anyway as Kat had clearly moved on, spotted three times, or possibly four, by Bea in close contact with the mystery blonde. Freya knew she could not compete with someone of such glorious sounding beauty and her age as well, Bea guessed around thirty. It had all worked out for the best nodded Freya stooping to climb into Bea’s sensational red sports car, still desperately trying to shake off the image of Kat’s emotion filled eyes.
Kat raced out of her classroom, down the L shaped stairs and through the long B Block corridor. Her heeled shoes were clipping quickly as she picked up speed, desperate to catch the pair. The issue was not rescuing Freya but reprimanding Bea. How dare she tower over her desk and point her perfectly manicured finger in her teachers face? Who on earth did she think she was? Kat flung open the double doors and saw Freya climbing into the red car, the outline of the L plates was still visible just above the black bumper. Freya did not hear her shout; she shut the door and was surprised when Bea accelerated towards the exit before she had a chance to reach for her seatbelt.
Bea looked in her rear view mirror and then stared ahead, Come on. Come on. Little Jason Sparrow was edging out of the junction in his tiny, old style Mini. He passed his test over a year ago, but the invisible distance between his seat and the steering wheel and the way his head just about popped over the bonnet, made him look like an incredibly nervous driver.
Kat was catching up. She walked briskly towards the school gates dodging slow moving students on their way home. The Mini had gone and Bea’s red car was waiting noisily at the junction. She was indicating right. Kat was meters away and could see from the sudden wave of movement at the bus stop that the red double decker was approaching. Great. She would have time.
Bea looked backwards then forwards. She had to go. The bus would be slowing. Clutch, gear, accelerate, accelerate, come on, oh hand break -
This will show them thought the bus driver speeding up, aiming to pull in at the far end of the stop and allow someone other than that awful Miss Piggy to get on first, What the –
Kat reached for the back windscreen with a closed fist and almost lost her balance as the car jerked forwards into the road. Kat heard the piercing screech of huge double tires. She looked up and saw the bus. The noise of the impact tore through her body. The red double decker slammed the passenger side of the car with such force that Kat keeled over. She was crouched with knees bent, covering her mouth with both hands when she heard the screams. There was chaos at the bus stop. Students were running and screeching; others were frozen in terror. The bus had finally stopped and the red car sat hissing, side on, in front of its dented bumper. Kat ran into the road and stood at the shattered window.
Freya did not feel the thud, but she did feel Kat’s eyes calling her, begging her to stay awake. It was too late. Kat’s beautiful face was the last thing she saw.
Chapter 24
Kat sat in the empty waiting room watching Mr and Mrs Elton through
the clear glass. She saw the tall dark haired Doctor walk down the bright white corridor and open the door to the shiny room. The Doctor closed the door and Kat watched as he drew his white clipboard into his chest; with a slight shake of his head Mrs Elton fell to the floor. Silence.
‘Kat.’
Kat felt the stroking hand first and her own hot tears second. Jess was once again crouched gently by her bed.
The familiar voice was soothing, ‘It’s ok. She is ok.’
Kat wiped her wet cheeks and tried to calm her irregular breathing. She sat up and rubbed her face as dark shapes and shadows came into focus.
‘You were shouting again.’
She was embarrassed; this was the third time in the last month. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘The same one?’ Jess asked quietly.
‘No, I was in the waiting room this time.’ She took a deep breath, ‘What is wrong with me?’
Jess had consulted her manual of dreams and was confident with her answer. ‘You think you have lost her. Your subconscious is dealing with the realisation that you have lost something precious.’ She took Kat’s damp hand and squeezed it lovingly, ‘But you have not lost her to that crash, you have lost her to Bea.’
Kat knew she was right but wanted there to be another explanation. ‘I think it is because I was there in the hospital, I met her parents and I felt their terror.’
‘But she was fine.’
‘I know.’ Kat knew her best friend was right because at that awful moment of impact all she wanted was Freya. Freya was all that mattered in her life.
Jess climbed into the warm bed and snuggled on her side, resting an elbow under her head. ‘What were they like?’ It was the middle of the night but she did not care, Kat clearly needed some company.
Kat quivered as she remembered the way she had escorted an unconscious Freya in the ambulance to St Joseph’s and met her parents as they came racing into the hospital reception full of panic. ‘The dad was very quiet and the mum just went on and on at him about how she would change everything and just accept her daughter’s lifestyle as long as she was ok,’ Kat laughed, ‘which she was, but then I saw Freya’s mum with Bea and there is definitely no love lost between that pair.’ She lay silently wondering what to do; it could not go on like this. ‘I am going to tell her.’