Chapter 16 Blackmail
BLACKMAIL
By rights, the conversation with Penny should have weighed heavily on Catherine — the biting revelation that she’d missed the chance of a real relationship with one of the best women she knew, all because she’d been too emotionally constipated. Yet Catherine had walked away feeling lighter.
Naming her loneliness seemed to have helped too, almost like she could dismiss it by acknowledging it was there. With her clients, identifying the root cause of their problems made it much easier to prescribe a course of treatment.
After all these years, Catherine had finally figured out what her problem was. She’d been getting in her own way. Now that she could see it, she wanted to step aside and help herself move forward. One step at a time.
On the walk home, she thought about looking into social groups and perhaps enlisting Penny’s help to refresh her dating app profile.
She’d struck gold once with Penny; it could happen again, and this time she’d try not to hold herself back.
And there was every chance she could bump into the woman in red again.
Next time, she’d be brave and ask her name.
Scotch in hand, Catherine climbed the stairs. Juni greeted her at the door with meows and purrs, and whilst she was far from fluent in cat, it seemed like a warm welcome.
“Hello, little one. Let’s get you some dinner.”
She moved fluidly through the space now, switching on lights and navigating past the relative chaos of the flat’s new inhabitants.
She placed her glass on the kitchen counter and set about serving up Juni’s dinner.
He chirped, chatting away to her the whole while.
When she leaned back against the counter watching him eat, she spotted the pink Post-it note next to the photograph on the fridge.
Catherine, there are chocolates by the kettle.
Please help yourself, J x
Just “J” again. For a fleeting second, Catherine considered that maybe it was Juniper leaving notes for her.
Don’t be ridiculous. Her eyes drifted back to the photograph and the woman’s strangely familiar smile.
She took a long sip of her drink as she raked through her mind, trying to place those lips.
Juni softly headbutted her shin, which made her jump.
“Jesus, you have to stop doing that, or you’ll give me a heart attack.”
Juni arched his back and chirped as if proud of himself.
“Right, well, staring at this photo isn’t going to get that furniture built. Will you be helping me this evening?” Catherine bent and ruffled her fingers over Juni’s soft ears. “I’ve been informed that there’s a chocolatey incentive over here; shall I have a look?”
By the kettle sat a decorative green box. Catherine picked it up and read the elaborate vintage typography out loud.
“Chocolate Amatller. Barcelona.” Fancy. She opened the box and popped one of the dark chocolates in her mouth. In an instant, the rich cocoa melted on her tongue: earthy and ever-so-slightly fruity, but not bitter in the way dark chocolate could sometimes be.
“Mmm, your human has good taste,” she said to Juni, who was watching through narrowed green eyes.
From the hall, Catherine opened the only closed door, which she assumed meant the room was out of bounds to Juni. Before she could stop him, he bounded in ahead of her and bounced across the neatly made bed, leaving deep footprints in the plush duvet.
“I’m not sure you’re supposed to be in here.” She felt much the same about being in someone else’s bedroom — not that she hadn’t been invited; J’s note had strongly hinted that Catherine’s help would be appreciated, but even so, it felt strange.
She flicked on the overhead light. The room was less cluttered with boxes than the hall and lounge, but Catherine’s gaze was instantly drawn to the airer in the corner draped with an array of lacy pants and their matching bras.
Once she’d taken a moment to recalibrate and stop comparing the obviously much younger woman’s underwear to her own sensible Marks the other housed a stack of small boxes, which Juni was now perched on top of.
Perhaps she’d got it wrong about a couple moving in here.
Perhaps it’s Will’s underwear drying on the airer, and he goes by Jocelyn at the weekends.
Or perhaps, up until now, the couple’s relationship had been long-distance, and this was their first home together, which meant they’d be at it like Duracell bunnies right above her head.
She shuddered and berated herself for catastrophising, because perhaps she should just mind her own business and get on with what she’d come here to do.
The flatpack box was leaning against the wall. When Catherine went to move it, another pink Post-it note fluttered to the ground. She plucked it from the floor.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much! Help yourself to more chocolates — don’t be shy, they’re actually for you. Please don’t let Juni chew my bra straps (they’re not as tasty as they look). And shut him out of the bedroom when you leave.
Thank you again, lovely neighbour.
I owe you big time, J x
Catherine grinned at the note as if she were smiling at its author.
Was this blackmail? Chocolates, IOUs, and feline company, in exchange for something she actually loved doing.
Without really knowing why, she slipped the note into her pocket and got to work opening the box and setting the pieces out on the floor.
Juni moved closer to inspect the empty box before crawling inside until he was nothing but two glowing eyes in the shadowy depths.
As per the instructions, Catherine constructed the four drawers first and placed them on the bed.
Before she made a start on the frame, she went downstairs and fetched herself another Scotch, speaking into the box before she went.
“I’ll be back in five. No eating bras while I’m gone.”
On her way back to the bedroom, she passed the kitchen and scoffed a couple more of those delicious Catalan chocolates.
She’d always wanted to go to Barcelona. Tapas, city beaches, Gaudí — to name but three reasons — but she’d never got around to it.
She had a sudden vision of herself in linen, sipping sangria by a sandy beachfront.
Yes, what a lovely idea! Maybe booking a European trip would be a good way to start spicing up her life?
And after that, she could book that trip to visit Mei — she’d always promised she’d visit.
As she got back to work, she hummed a tune, which after a moment she realised was the Spice Girls, then before she knew it, she was scrolling in her music app and adding the Spiceworld album.
She pressed play, turned up the volume and sang along, surprised to find that she knew most of the lyrics to most of the songs.
She didn’t often listen to music; she found it too distracting, but listening now, she realised that was the point. It was distracting in a good way. Music filled the void that your mind would otherwise fill with chatter. She made a mental note of that for a new blog post.
Right here, in a stranger’s flat with a stranger’s cat, she felt more alive and hopeful than she had in a long time.
She stilled when she caught sight of herself in the large mirror propped on the floor beside the bed — her cheeks were flushed from dancing, her usually neat hair sticking up in every direction. And she was smiling — not just with her mouth but with her eyes too.
“I don’t know what’s got into you, but I love this for you.”
The box started purring at the sound of her voice, as if Juni were echoing his agreement.