Paul never mentioned his beautiful Sophia to anyone; she was his private business. He had kept her and everything about her close to his heart, but he had felt lately that he could tell Kate, they had become so close; there were times when he almost had told her. She had her own stuff going on, though, what with her losing the baby, and he had never felt it the right time: one day maybe he would.
Deciding rather than moping in the office all alone, he would pick up the phone to give her a call to see how she was doing, he downed his whiskey and dialled.
“Ooh, someone has a little crush on you,” giggled Emma. Kate blushed as she put down her mobile phone. She had been on the phone to Paul for at least twenty minutes, catching up on the gossip from the club. Although it had only been a few days, she felt as though she had been away forever.
“Don’t be so silly; he’s my boss, and he’s just checking to see how I am.” Kate could feel her cheeks burning and knew that her friend was nowhere near convinced.
“A concerned boss, eh….” Emma was laughing. “Oh Kate, you really are oblivious, aren’t you, love?”
“What?” Kate exclaimed. “You have it all wrong, Ems, you really do; he’s just a nice guy, and he’s just making sure I’m okay. Not all men are after something, you know.” Immediately regretting her words, she quickly added, “Oh, Emma, I didn’t mean anything by that, honest….”
“Don’t be daft, Kate, I know you didn’t. I’m sure that he is a lovely guy. I mean, from all that you’ve told me; not that you talk about him every five minutes, or anything.” Laughing even louder, she ducked down as Kate threw a cushion across the lounge; just missing her it landed on the couch next to her. Kate laughed too and realised that it was the first time she had seen Emma apparently happy since they had left the hospital, including in the last few nights when they had stayed up late and spoken about everything. It had been hard for Kate to take it all in: she had no idea about what Emma had been through. Kate had been angry at first when Emma had first told her about sleeping with Jay behind her back, but Kate realised now that Jay was persuasive, and it had all been part of his plan. Emma had just been sucked into it all. Kate had found it hard to listen to some of Emma’s painful experiences, such as the time when Emma had been tied up and beaten by some psycho, and was even more freaked out when Emma told her that Jay had known about it, he had been, by all accounts, completely responsible for it. It sickened her to her stomach. Emma had also been beside herself with grief when Kate told her about losing the baby, but Kate had said as scary and devastating as it was maybe it was one of God’s small mercies, as she had been spared from being tied to Jay forever. The fact that she could no longer have kids she kept to herself; Emma had too much of her own stuff to deal with right now without Kate adding her own problems to the list. Besides, Kate had been trying to block it out of her mind, saying it out loud would mean she would have to deal with it, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. Kate could see that Emma was struggling without the drugs, but she was determined to stay clean. The doctor at the hospital who had treated her said he had rarely seen anyone who had become so dependent on drugs leave without medication to help them through the cold turkey process, but then he also added he had never seen anyone as adamant as Emma about staying clean.
“You know,” smiled Kate, “I think having someone like Paul watching out for me is not such a bad thing.”
“Oh?” Emma raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, I know I have Billy looking out for me, but sometimes I have to be so careful about what I say around him, you know how over-protective he can be.”
Emma nodded. Anyone who knew them knew that Billy guarded Kate with his life; she had to admit though from what Kate had told her that Billy seemed to be easing off on her lately. He had given them this place, for starters, and he had given them space, just a few text messages every now and again just to check that they were both alright.
“Well, Paul is just so easy to talk to; he doesn’t judge me or quiz me about stuff, he just says his piece and that’s that; he’s been a really good friend.”
Emma couldn’t help but think that if Kate actually filmed herself when she spoke about this guy she would realise how her eyes lit up, that she was smiling and glowing. There were definitely some feelings there, but knowing Kate, it was far too soon to push it, especially after everything that had happened with Jay. As much of a shit that man was, Kate had loved him, although now Kate questioned how she ever had, now realising that she knew nothing about the real Jay Shaw. Kate needed time to get over that relationship.
Hearing the doorbell ring, Kate jumped off the sofa, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder as she went to open the door, she whispered,
“Just be honest with them: remember they love you and they are here to help.”
Kate opened the door to Emma’s parents. She had rung them earlier and told them that Emma needed to see them urgently; she had warned them that what they would hear would not be easy to take in and they had sounded worried, although thankfully they had not questioned her any further. Emma sat nervously in the lounge, bracing herself for a very long, painful evening.
36
“What the fuck do you mean: you’re over?”
Tanya rubbed her temples; she felt her headache returning. She had had the most heavenly massage and had finally started to feel more chilled; at least her shoulders were no longer up round her ears with the stress of everything: and now this. If only she hadn’t been so quick to come back to her room, if she had gone for a nice drink at the bar, she could have given herself an extra half an hour of feeling like a normal person. But here she was, back in the room, looking at Jay’s swollen and bloodied face, as he sat slumped on the bed like a wounded soldier.
“Just like I said, Tan, I’m fucked, good and proper. Billy has seen to it that I can’t get back into my house, I can’t do business with most of my fucking contacts, and I no longer fucking work for him: but that goes without fucking saying, obviously.” Throwing his keys onto the table, Jay groaned at the sudden movement, feeling pain shooting through his chest, he’d probably had a couple of his ribs done in.
Tanya paced the room, her relaxing massage now feeling like a distant memory, like she’d never had it. She knew how Billy worked, he would close down all of the options for them both, and no one would look at Jay after this, let alone do business with him. He would have to start at the bottom, like a fucking loser, dealing outside schools or in grotty little parks for pocket money. Tanya was too old for that shit, and she wanted more than pennies in her purse. Walking over to the mini-bar, she poured them both drinks: she really needed one, anyway.