Chapter 27
27
KATE
Despite the rain and wind, which has turned my umbrella inside out twice on the walk from the National Gallery, I’m feeling more like myself when I arrive at The Black Penny. Poppy waves from a table at the back, and I skirt past the waiter with an apologetic, ‘My friend’s already here.’
‘Hi – sorry, am I late?’ I ask with a grimace.
‘Nah,’ she says, ‘I’m just habitually early.’
She rises, leaning across the table for a cheek kiss. It’s a kindly gesture, considering this is ostensibly a work lunch, and it instantly sets me at ease.
‘Have you been here before?’ she asks as I sit opposite her. ‘The menu looks amazing.’
‘A few times with Margot. They’re famous for their brunch menu.’
‘And their cocktails?’ she asks with raised brows.
I laugh freely, and it’s like a weight lifting from my chest. ‘Okay, yes, the cocktails might just edge out the food. If you like a Bloody Mary, you’re in the right place.’
‘Hmm.’ She starts perusing the menu, and I do the same, deciding on the same dish I had last time – and the time before that. Sometimes it pays to stick to what’s familiar – less chance of disappointment.
The waiter takes our order, then leaves with the menus, and Poppy gives me a smile.
‘So, we’re here to talk about Willem de Vries.’
It’s a statement, not a question, and her forthrightness catches me off-guard. I’d planned to make small talk before raising the topic of Willem, but why faff about when he’s the reason I asked her to lunch?
‘Ahh, yes,’ I reply with an uncomfortable smile. ‘It’s gone to shit, Poppy, and it’s all my fault.’
‘Oh no, what’s happened?’
We’re interrupted by our drinks arriving – a Bloody Mary for me and a Bellini for Poppy – and I raise mine in a quick toast. ‘Cheers.’ We clink glasses, but I set mine down without taking a sip. I need to get this out.
‘Okay, so at first, I thought I just fancied him. I mean, I’d have to be dead not to have noticed how handsome he is. Anyway, I wrote my emotions off as lust, pure and simple, so every time I was around him and there were tummy flutters or my heart started racing, I would tell my libido to check itself. There were far more important things on my plate with the whole Jon situation.’
Poppy regards me intently, nodding along and sipping her drink.
‘But that first time we were in Verona together… I didn’t tell you this, but our accommodation wasn’t as expected. Willem thought it was a two-bedroom flat, but it was open-plan and the only thing separating our beds was this giant shelving unit.’
Poppy sniggers – she must see where I’m going with this.
‘So, there I am’ – I mime holding covers up to my chin, eyes like saucers – ‘wide awake for most of the night, hyper aware that he was lying right there , a half-naked, glorious specimen of man.’
Poppy grins.
‘And every time I heard the rustle of sheets, my eyes would pop open. It was torture, Poppy, torture! I mean, not only was the timing less than ideal, but he was off-limits – or so I told myself. What good could come from complicating the situation with Jon and Adriana and Lucia by throwing myself at my fiancé’s fiancée’s fit brother?’
‘And when did you figure out it was more than attraction?’
‘Lust?’ I ask, talking over her. ‘Oh, “attraction” sounds much better. Less like I’m a randy sad sack whose fiancé cheated on her.’
‘Eh, same difference,’ she says.
‘You’re being kind,’ I reply, and she shrugs good-naturedly. ‘Anyway, to answer your question, it was the following day. We were killing time before Lucia’s gallery opened and Willem was playing tour guide. And Verona’s beautiful . I would have thought that even if I’d been on my own, but Willem really brought it to life for me, taking me to some of the lesser-known parts of the city, as if he was sharing its long-held secrets. Then, when we got to the gallery and Lucia had stuck that sign on the door, saying she was in Mykonos, we didn’t pack up and leave right away. Instead, we had this incredible lunch and we talked – really talked – about all sorts of things. And that’s when I realised I liked him , the person behind the film-star looks. And that’s when I knew I was in trouble. It’s only intensified since.’
‘And you’ve tried to talk yourself out of it – out of feeling the way you do.’
‘Yes, how did you know?’
‘It’s my job to know,’ she says with a modest shrug.
‘Ahh.’
‘And after this realisation, the one you had that day in Verona, was there any indication he reciprocated?’
I flush, my flaming cheeks betraying me yet again, and I reach for my drink and take a gulp, hardly noticing how good it tastes.
‘I take it that’s a yes, then,’ she says.
I nod. ‘We slept together. In Verona. On Friday night,’ I blurt.
‘You don’t seem particularly happy about it,’ she says, a bewildered expression on her face.
The waiter arrives and we’re quiet as he places our dishes in front of us. Now too worked up to eat, I pick up my fork and start moving food around my plate, stalling. Finally, I look up.
‘It’s because I’m supposed to be in Amsterdam with him right now, but he’s upset and possibly angry and it’s likely he never wants to see me again. I’ve completely fucked things up and I have no idea how to fix it.’
‘Geez, Kate, I’m really sorry to hear that. What happened?’
While continuing to push my food around my plate, only taking the occasional tiny bite, I tell Poppy about yesterday afternoon.
‘And you haven’t heard from him?’ she asks, setting her knife and fork next to each other on her now-empty plate.
I look down at my own and give up, my appetite having abandoned me completely.
‘No,’ I say gloomily. I suck my lips between my teeth and exhale noisily though my nose.
‘Hey…’
I look up.
‘There’s every chance this is fixable.’
‘I doubt it. You didn’t see how he looked at me before I left his house.’
‘No, but that doesn’t mean it’s over before it even began. People mess up – we mess up. We say stupid, hurtful things that we don’t mean and, yes, they can do damage, but never underestimate the power of a heartfelt apology.’
‘But I shouted to a roomful of people that I used him for sex.’
‘Yeah, but how many of them actually believed it? Margot would know better, and from what you’ve told me about Adriana, I doubt she would have come around if she thought you were only after her brother for sex. It’s likely even Willem knows you didn’t mean it.’
‘Really? That means there’s hope, right?’
‘In my experience, there’s almost always hope when two people care about each other and want to be together – even if one of them makes a massive misstep along the way.’
‘Okay,’ I mutter. I should probably be rejoicing about the hope part, but Poppy’s characterisation of my behaviour as a ‘massive misstep’ stings. Rather than dwelling on that, however, I ask my other burning question.
‘Poppy, let’s suppose I can make things right with Willem,’ I say. ‘Is it stupid of me to embark on a relationship so soon after Jon? You said something along those lines, and I can’t seem to get it out of my head.’
‘I did say that, yes, but even I get things wrong sometimes,’ she says with a self-deprecating smile.
‘So, I should try and fix things? Apologise to Willem?’ I ask. I’m not exactly seeking Poppy’s permission – more like her endorsement.
‘An apology’s the bare minimum, yes. Of course, it will be up to him whether he wants to pursue a relationship.’
‘Right,’ I say, nerves wrenching my stomach, because what if he doesn’t?
‘But I will say this: when I was reviewing your case file a few weeks ago, in preparation for our meeting, something struck me about your response to the first question – why you wanted to engage the Ever After Agency. You said – and I’m paraphrasing here – “because I’m ready to find my special someone, a man who shares my values and loves me for who I truly am, a man who will become my best friend.” Again, I’m paraphrasing, but it was something along those lines.’
‘I remember,’ I say softly. ‘And I’m almost certain I told Perfect Pairings the same thing. How they matched me with Jon…’ I say with a disbelieving shake of my head.
‘Well, trust me, we’re going to ensure they get theirs. But that aside, you did fall for Dunn’s charms.’
‘I know. I legitimately have no idea what I was thinking – even now, weeks after finding out about him.’
‘I might have an idea,’ she says, looking at me intently. ‘You see, sometimes we don’t reveal our truest self until we meet the right person. We’re instinctually protective, we keep that side of us hidden, cocooned. And when we meet our “someone”, it emerges. You weren’t yourself with Dunn because he wasn’t your someone. As an aside, I doubt he’s anyone’s. But that would explain why, when you think about how you were with Dunn, you don’t recognise yourself.’
‘God, Poppy, I’ve never thought of it like that before. It makes so much sense. Thank you.’
‘Again, it’s part of the job. But you know what this means, right?’
‘That there’s every chance Willem’s my someone,’ I reply reverently.
‘There is every chance,’ she echoes. ‘So, how are you going to win him back?’
* * *
Poppy
‘Good morning, Poppy,’ says Ursula as I arrive at the office. I can count on zero fingers the number of times Ursula has beaten me to the office. She always arrives precisely at 9a.m. and not a moment earlier.
‘Good morning.’
She beams at me, and I keep my eyes trained on her as I drop my handbag on my desk.
‘What’s going on?’ I ask.
‘I had the best lunch yesterday,’ she says cryptically.
‘Oh, so did I as a matter of fact. I went to The Black?—’
‘Poppy, I’ve done it!’ she interjects.
‘Great. Done what exactly?’ I ask, stumped.
‘I’ve confronted Clarissa.’
It takes me a moment to remember that ‘Clarissa’ is Clarissa Blackheart, who runs Perfect Pairings and was once Ursula’s friend and business partner.
‘Ooh, that’s some serious goss,’ I say, fascinated.
‘I’m positively bursting with it, Poppy.’ This must be why she was first into the office this morning – she needed to tell someone.
‘Okay, I’m all ears. Let me just…’ I drag another chair over to my desk and she sits facing me.
‘Shall I set the scene?’ she asks.
‘I’d expect nothing less.’
In great detail, she tells me how she lured Clarissa Blackheart to lunch at the Ivy under the guise of burying the hatchet.
‘So, there we are making pleasant chitchat and right as she took another sip of her Lillete Blanc, I said, “I’m onto your reckless matchmaking practices, Clarissa, and I have proof.”’
‘Oh, I love that. And how did she respond?’
‘By spluttering and coughing and covering half the tablecloth with wine.’
My jaw drops. ‘Ooh, I would love to have seen that!’
‘It was quite spectacular. She was horrified, particularly because the waiter was there in an instant, offering to exchange the tablecloth! Can you imagine? Such a spectacle,’ she says, starting to laugh. ‘Obviously, she declined and when he stepped away, she leaned close, her face contorted and her halitosis wafting through the air, and that’s when the claws came out.’
‘What did she say?’
‘Well, it was more of a hiss,’ says Ursula, and it’s clear she’s getting a kick out of this, ‘but she said I was obviously delusional, and she had no idea what I could possibly be talking about.’
‘What a piss-weak comeback,’ I say. Oops – forgot who I was talking to. ‘Sorry, that was crass.’
‘It is, but I agree – it was a piss-weak comeback, as you say. Anyway, I gave her my death stare,’ she says, demonstrating, ‘then reached into my handbag and took out the invoices for three identical engagement rings – all charged to Jon Dunn, of course – and handed them over.’
‘Did she get it right away, or did you have to make the connection for her?’
‘Oh, she might have figured it out eventually, but rather than wait for her dull synapses to fire, I took great pleasure in pointing to Dunn’s name and saying, “You matched this man with one of the Ever After Agency’s clients, and he is not who he says he is. He’s a fraud and if you had one ounce of professionalism in that bony little body of yours, you wouldn’t have dared match him with anyone !”’
‘Wow. Remind me never to piss you off.’
‘Poppy, if you keep saying “piss” you will piss me off,’ she says with a slight quirk of her left brow.
‘Sorry. So, what happened after that? Did she leave? Did you leave?’
‘On the contrary, I continued to hand her proof – pages and pages of indisputable evidence that Perfect Pairings was aware of Dunn’s proclivities but disregarded them in favour of his enormous fee.’
‘Wow, that’s even worse! And where did you get that informa— Oh , Marie.’
‘Mm-hmm. And as Clarissa sat there red-faced, looking as if she might explode , I outlined my terms for keeping mum.’
‘Which were?’ I asked, rivetted. I knew she’d planned to confront Clarissa Blackheart, but I hadn’t known there would be terms .
‘First, that she issue Kate Whitaker a full refund for their so-called services.’
‘Well, that’s good – Kate will be pleased – and what else?’
‘That Perfect Pairings conduct a thorough audit of their database and weed out any other undesirables. They have three months. You know, if this were any other industry, we’d report them to the governing body. As it is, we need to self-regulate!’
‘Agreed, and awesome job, Ursula.’
‘Why, thank you,’ she replies, bowing her head. ‘Now, your turn,’ she says, a glint in her eye. ‘Tell me where you’re at with the rest of the case.’