As soon as Poppy saw Katie she grinned, “Quick come in - I thought it was Hermy come to invite me to some worthy event again or to offer me a selection of lace covers for my furniture.” Katie squeezed into the flat and attempted to find a place to stand. This was by no means easy as almost every available piece of floor was covered in drawings, material, discarded clothes or boxes containing all of the above.
“Sorry about the mess but I don’t work very well in a neat and tidy place. I’ve got a couple of projects to finish and I needed some inspiration” Poppy said by way of an explanation.
“It’s fine” Katie replied “look I won’t keep you long but I just wanted to let you know I’m having a house get-together next Thursday at 7pm, so I just wanted to make sure you could come.”
“Oh excellent” Poppy rubbed her hands together with glee “I’m fine for next Thursday. Are you doing the cheese scones and the coffee cake?”
“Um well I hadn’t quite decided what the menu was yet” Katie hesitated and saw Poppy’s face fall, she really was as transparent as a five year old, with all her enthusiasm and innocence, and every bit as persuasive. “But of course” Katie continued “if that’s what you’d like, I’m sure I can knock something together.” Katie was rewarded with that beaming smile again, transforming Poppy’s features.
“Oh great, I can’t wait. Are you off to see Hermy and Guy next?” Poppy asked.
“Yes, I haven’t had a chance to meet them yet so I thought I should introduce myself.”
“Well, Hermy’s in 1B and Guy’s in 1C. I didn’t mean to be rude about Hermy before, she means well and she’s kind hearted it’s just sometimes she’s a bit much. I don’t really know Guy - computer geek, never really speaks; no trouble though.” Poppy shut the door behind Katie, who smiling ruefully thought that most of the trouble probably came from Poppy, unintentionally of course, but she reminded Katie of a puppy bounding about with no idea of the destruction it was leaving behind in its wake but you couldn’t help but love it anyway.
Looking around the landing Katie decided to try Hermione’s flat first and rapped a couple of times on the door. A few seconds later the door was opened by a slightly nervous looking lady, who looked about fifty but was probably slightly younger, she had clearly taken to dressing from Mary Allen’s Ladies Fashions and it added years to her appearance. She was wearing a tweed skirt, lace blouse with a bow, sensible shoes all below a very severe bun into which her hair was scraped with absolutely no chance of escape. As she opened the door wider Katie was struck by the complete contrast of Hermione’s flat to Poppy’s. Despite its tiny proportions the place was absolutely spotless with nothing left lying around or out of place. There wasn’t a great deal of furniture in the room, a sofa, a chair, sideboard, TV and coffee table but it was all set at right angles to each other, polished and covered in cloths and antimacassars to protect it. Taking in the curtains and cushions it seemed that Hermione, like Mo, was no stranger to chintz. All her belongings seemed a little old and worn, but were clearly all lovingly cared for. The smell of polish hung in the air and there was not a speck of dust to be seen.
After introductions were exchanged and Hermione enquired after Mo’s health, Katie issued the invitation to the ‘get-together’ and Hermione replied,
“I’d be delighted to attend. How kind of you to think of it. Of course I have a committee meeting at five, but I’ll be back by seven. Thursday will be lovely.”
Hermione rattled on in this vain for a bit longer and Katie listened with a polite smile. It was clear that Hermione was a kind person involved in many committees and good works, but for all that she seemed a bit lonely and a little shy which made her appear nervous and to talk rather more than required. Hermione invited Katie to numerous meetings and charity events but she managed not to commit herself to any of them without appearing rude and after twenty minutes managed to make an exit back to the calm surroundings of the landing. “Just one more to go” Katie thought, Guy Masters, computer geek, not very enticing for someone whose IT interest started and finished with surfing the net for gossip or bargain designer gear. Katie used computers all day long at work, had a Blackberry and an iPad. She loved what they could do for her to make life and work easier but she was not remotely interested in talking RAM, megabytes, pixels or networks. In the past she’d simply ask the IT department or the pale skinned assistant at the computer superstore. Still she’d promised Mo she’d invite everyone, so she would! Knocking purposefully on the door she waited as she heard an irritated sigh behind the door and then the latch turn.
“Yes” came the less than promising start from Guy as he opened the door. Katie paused, open mouthed for a minute; the man in front of her was not the stereotypical computer expert she had expected. He was over 6ft, but well built, dark hair, no glasses and fairly good looking too. In fact apart from the obligatory pale skin of the computer enthusiast, gained by too many days and nights spent in front of a flickering screen, instead of in the fresh air, he seemed a pretty regular guy, did Guy. Katie smiled at her own joke and then smiled again more purposefully at Guy.
“Hello, I’m Katie Collins, Mo’s granddaughter. I’m having a bit of a house get-together next Thursday night. I just wanted to ask if you’d like to come.”
“Er, I don’t know, I’m not really into social gatherings” he replied noncommittally. Katie viewed this as a challenge. She wasn’t going to let this man refuse, no, she would turn on the charm and soon have him eating out of her hand.
“Oh but Guy, may I call you Guy, it will only be a few of us from the house and it wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t there.”
Guy looked slightly bewildered as she continued; “it’ll just be a bit of fun for us all to get to know one another a bit better.” With this Katie flashed her killer smile, to leave Guy with the feeling that it was, in fact, only him who she wanted to know better.
“Well of course, I don’t want to be rude” he answered curtly and in complete contrast to his words, “I’ll pop in as long as I don’t get a call out or anything” with that he shut the door almost in Katie’s face. Feeling a little foolish Katie took a step back, although he was no Adonis, Katie liked to think she could make an impression on a man when she wanted to and Guy’s apparent imperviousness to her winning smile and slightly flirtatious manner was, in all honesty, a bit deflating. It seemed Katie was turning into a dab hand at repelling men at the moment. It didn’t bode well for the future!
CHAPTER 5
The following Thursday afternoon Katie was busy in the kitchen preparing the food for the house gathering that evening. She was well organised and already a large part of the menu, approved by Mo at her hospital visit on Saturday afternoon, was ready or in the range cooking. They had finally settled on a simple finger buffet that everyone could eat without the need for sitting down or knives and forks. That way everyone could mingle around the table and through the rest of the room without being in danger of landing a forkful of food onto someone else. At many of the corporate events Katie had organized at Dawson, Phillips & Chamberlain there had often been near fisticuffs over an unexpected forkful of tomato pasta or two, landing unceremoniously on someone’s Giorgio Armani!
Katie had prepared crudités of carrot, cucumber, celery and apple served with homemade dips of cheese & chive and yoghurt & cucumber, cheese straws (and scones for Poppy), brioche stuffed with cream cheese and smoked ham, freshly baked bread sliced and buttered with a variety of toppings of pate, cheese and cooked meats, but nothing too ‘slippy’ to land unexpectedly in someone else’s lap. Katie had also made mini quiches and sausage rolls for the meat eaters, cheese & onion for the veggies. In addition she had made the promised coffee cake and added a tray of oatmeal honey flapjack. She had just put the white wine and orange juice in the fridge to chill and the red wine was on the side to acclimatise when the front door bell echoed through the house. Cursing under her breath as she really didn’t want a distraction now, she grabbed a towel and rubbed h
er hands quickly on it, ran them through her hair to straighten it out, make it more presentable. Opening the door she found Ben Wilson on the other side crouched down inspecting the lower part of the door frame.
“Er hi, was I expecting you?” Katie asked
“Well sort of - I said I’d let you know when I found a door suitable for Tolpuddle House, which I have, and I have a couple of hours to spare so I can put it on now if that’s ok?” Ben responded with what Katie presumed he thought was his ‘winning’ smile.
“Well I don’t know, I mean I do want the door sorting out but a bit of notice would’ve been appreciated.” Katie paused, feeling a bit ungracious, after all, the guy was doing her a favour “but sure it’ll be great to get it fixed.” Grinning even more broadly Ben stepped inside producing a toolbox that had been hidden round the corner
“Good, I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll just get on and you can get back to your cooking.” Katie’s indignation rose up straight away
“Cooking, what makes you think I’m cooking, you chauvinist, just because I’m a woman at home during the day I must be cooking or cleaning or watching talk shows on TV I suppose” she snapped.
“Well yes all that of course, - and your hair” Ben replied gesturing to the top of Katie’s head. Swinging round quickly to look in mirror, too late Katie realised that in running her fingers through her hair she had deposited a few streaks of flour and also had a fair sprinkling across her nose and cheeks. Quickly rubbing them away she spoke with what she hoped was dignity and disdain
“Absolutely, I’ll leave you to get on. Just give me a shout if you need anything. The kitchen’s just through here.” She pointed through the open door on the left hand side of the hall.
“Yes, I know my way about; I’ve done quite a bit of work for Mo in the past.” Ben informed her as he started to remove tools from his box. He looked up just as she was about to disappear he added “it wasn’t just your hair you know, the smell of freshly baked bread is everywhere - it’s making me quite hungry.” he winked and rubbed his stomach as he spoke. Katie turned towards the kitchen but couldn’t help a smile crossing her face. Ben Wilson was just as annoying, cheeky and funny as he had been twenty years ago. Never mind, she thought, I’ll get my own back when he least expects it and then Katie realised she too was a lot more like herself twenty years ago – really, he definitely brought out the worst in her.
For the next hour Katie polished glasses, set the big kitchen table and finished up the food preparation for the evening, to the accompaniment of various bangs, crashes and sawing noises from the hallway and also the occasional burst of song when things were going well and a few mutterings when things clearly weren’t. As she’d done everything she needed to in preparation for the house guests, she decided to put the kettle on and made Ben and herself a mug of tea. Shouting through the doorway she asked if he took sugar, just one came back the reply and just as she was about to ask if he wanted the tea bringing through Ben stuck his head round the corner.
“Is it alright if I come in? I’m not going to get in the way of anything am I?” he asked cautiously.
“No, no” Katie replied “I’ve finished my ‘cooking’ now; it’s quite safe to enter.”
“Wow, you’ve got quite an appetite then.” Ben surveyed the table stacked with food. Katie pulled a face at him.
“Actually, if you must know we are having a house get-together tonight.”
“A house what?” Ben queried
“Get-together - just an informal party, keep everyone on good terms and, according to Mo to make sure they’re all eating properly.”
Ben laughed “That sounds like Mo - always forcing food on people. Ow!” Katie slapped his hand as he tried to pinch a cheese and onion roll.
“Well, I’m not Mo, so you can leave that alone. Here have a biscuit if you’re hungry” Ben took the offered packet and ate a couple of biscuits out of it.
“It does look very nice though,” he said through a mouthful of crumbs “I’m sure you wouldn’t miss one.” he raised pleading eyes to Katie, who remained completely immune.
“Yes actually I would, but look everyone will be here in the next hour. If you want to stay you’re welcome, you can keep the conversation flowing. I recall you were quite good at talking rubbish for indefinite periods.” Katie teased.
“Well, after such a gracious invitation how could I refuse?” Ben answered, with mock affront, “But I would like it to be known I’m staying to sample the food on offer and in no way to help you out of any awkward social situation. OK?” Ben popped another biscuit in his mouth and smiled at Katie.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, go and finish the door otherwise you’ll be acting as security guard out there.” Katie shooed him towards the door ignoring the cheese and onion roll he sneaked off the plate as he left.
Half an hour later Ben had completed the door replacement and after several test openings and closings by Katie it had passed its examination.
“Although I will miss my daily fall into the hall,” Katie mused sarcastically, “Thanks Ben, how much do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about that now” Ben replied “I’ll get the office to drop you a bill round next week. Can I use your bathroom to clean up a bit before everyone else arrives? I don’t want to show you up.”
Katie showed Ben to the bathroom and fetched him a clean towel from the airing cupboard. Then she returned to the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of white wine. She was actually pleased to have a friendly face on hand for tonight, and despite his habit of winding her up, Ben felt like an old friend. He was easy to be around and Katie was a bit nervous about the evening, although she had met them all apart from the Dixons, she was nervous of making a poor impression. Katie hadn’t had much need to be around friends socially over the last couple of years. She had always been with Marcus or at a works do where she was playing the part of perfect PA. She’d never really had to be herself and she wasn’t quite sure who she really was at the moment. Taking a large slurp of wine Katie checked the table once more and fiddled with glasses, putting them in strictly parallel lines. Ben returned to the kitchen just as she was checking the table again.
“Don’t worry, it all looks fine” Ben said seriously, picking up on Katie’s tension “Now is there a cold bottle of beer in the fridge.”
Katie passed him a bottle and an opener and flashed him a grateful smile, “I don’t know why I’m nervous,” she laughed “it’s not like I’m entertaining the Queen.”
Just then there was a ring at the doorbell, Katie jumped up and looked at her watch, quarter to seven,
“Oh God, it’s probably Jehovah’s Witnesses or something - just what I need.” Katie left the flat to open the now freely opening front door. As she pulled it open, dreading it being someone she couldn’t get rid of, and at the same time, strangely hoping it might be too. She heard the familiar tones as Cliona announced her arrival.
“Hi Katie love, Dec and I came a bit early. I thought you might need a hand or a bit of moral support at the very least, it’s quite strange having your house full of strangers.” Katie relaxed immediately. Cliona was such a perceptive friend yet she never seemed intrusive. Katie began to wonder how she had done without such a friend before; perhaps things would have worked out differently if she’d had some wise and caring counsel. Katie made a resolution immediately that as soon as she was back in London she would put plenty of effort into finding at least one friend she could rely on half as much as she could on Cliona even in this short space of time.
Katie waved Cliona and Declan into the flat. Declan, Cliona’s partner was a big bear of a man, over six foot four and nearly as wide Katie thought, but he was as gentle as he was big and although he was a man of few words, being with Cliona meant he didn’t get many opportunities to talk anyway. When he did speak it was usually to the point and well observed, served up in a deep and husky voice that had retained a faint Irish burr despite leaving Ireland when he was only eight.
“Um Ben, this is my friend Cliona and her partner …”
“Dec” Ben interrupted shaking Declan’s hand warmly and giving Cliona a peck on the cheek. Katie looked at Ben for an explanation and Ben obliged
“I’ve known Dec a good few years now; we did a renovation job on his restaurant about four years ago.”
“That he did, but even so we managed to stay friends” Declan teased and Ben grinned clearly pleased to have a real friend to talk to.
“So I know how we know Ben” Cliona remarked “but how do you know Ben” she asked Katie.
“Well actually it turns out we used to go to school together but I called his firm to come and fix the uncooperative front door and in an extraordinary display of bad timing he turned up this afternoon.” Katie swept her hair back as she spoke to give the impression she had been put out.
“You forgot to mention knocking me off my bike and driving off without a backward glance” Ben remonstrated and, as Katie tried to but in, added “and waved to me as I headed into the hedge” Cliona and Declan were laughing out loud now and Katie could feel the colour rising from the tips of her toes to the top of her forehead as she recalled her less than gracious behaviour.
“Katie, you never told me about that” Cliona chided her friend “tell me now exactly what happened, as I know Ben has a tendency to exaggerate on occasions.”
Just as Katie was thinking how she could get out of this gaping hole Ben had dropped her in there was a loud rat-tatting on the door and shortly after Poppy came bowling through the kitchen looking as excited as a five year old going to their first party. Without waiting for any introductions she headed straight for the table rubbing her hands with glee and stuffing a whole cheese scone in her mouth at once. It was only then she turned round to see there were people other than Katie in the room.
A Change for the Better? Page 4