The first thing Katy did on her return to London was to call Jeff and tell him what Carlos had said about the money. After advising her to speak to Ritchie before she did anything further, the accountant agreed to set the ball rolling on moving the money into different accounts.
A quick chat with Ritchie, who advised her to think about it for a while, persuaded Katy that offering the money to her father to try and get him out of the hole he'd found himself in was the right thing to do. She spent a large part of the morning on the phone trying to organise everything, not wanting to tell Jack the plan until she was sure it was going to happen. Then she called him and asked if he could meet her for lunch.
"What d'you want?"
"Charming." Katy sniffed, pretending to be offended. She leant back in her chair, chewing maddeningly slowly on her sandwich. Jack stared at her and she smiled innocently. "Actually, I've got something to offer you that you might want."
"Why are you being so cryptic?" He asked, frowning at her.
"Because you're going to be at least a little bit angry with me." She replied with a shrug.
"What've you done?"
"I haven't done anything. Not really."
"Katy."
"OK." She sat up straighter in her chair and fixed him with a serious look. She decided to simplify the situation as much as possible and hopefully avoid most of the questions her father would have otherwise. "Mum and Rox had a business account in Ibiza and their business partner, Carlos, has paid some of the money into an account that I can access. I've spoken to my accountant and Ritchie about it and, even though the money is supposed to be split equally between me, Amy and Matthew, I can transfer it into your account to help you out for a bit."
"I don't wanna take your money, Katy."
She exhaled sharply. "Dad, come on. You've helped me out in the past, now I can help you out. Don't tell me you don't need the money. Why else would you be considering going back to a job you left years ago, otherwise?"
Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead agitatedly. Then he nodded reluctantly. "Alright, thanks… but it's just a loan, yeah? I'll pay you back as soon as possible."
"Obviously." Katy shrugged. "It's Amy and Matthew's money, too. I can't just go giving it away."
They finished their lunch leisurely, chatting about the holiday and what had been going on while Katy had been away. The usual amount of drama seemed to have hit the Square and the young woman sighed, shaking her head and wondering if things would ever change.
Without raising Jack's suspicions, she asked about Ben, wondering whether he'd caused any more trouble or whether things had resolved themselves. Jack shrugged, apparently not having paid much attention to things going on between the Mitchells and Katy realised that she'd have to ask Jay or Lola about it to get a straight answer.
Once her father had gone, Katy took the plates into the kitchen and thanked the staff, before heading back up to her office to arrange for the money to be transferred between accounts. She felt better once it was doing, content that it was being used for something helpful, rather than just sitting in the account doing nothing.
"Hey, boss, good to see you back."
Katy smiled at Tina as she entered the room, flopping onto the sofa with her customary grin. "Hey, yourself. I hope you've been behaving. I've just been checking through the CCTV to make sure you haven't been up to anything you shouldn't have."
"Ah, yeah, ignore all the footage of the girls I brought in here to snog." She joked. "You're looking hot, though, amazing tan."
"Thanks, babe."
"Sooo… any holiday romances to tell me about?"
"Not mine, weirdly." Katy said, pulling a face. "Gran hooked up with a guy who I swear was about my age."
"What?" Tina laughed, screwing up her own face into a similar expression. "Your gran pulled and you didn't?"
"Hey! I do have four kids to look after."
"Always the same damn excuse, Mitchell."
"Shut up, T." Katy ordered, leaning back in her chair and frowning at her. "I've got too much to do that to worry about getting tied down to someone else."
"I'm not talking about getting yourself into another relationship, I'm talking about you getting laid." Tina told her bluntly. "God, you're so uptight. Just proves my point."
"Again, shut up."
"What? Hit a nerve, did I?"
"Shut up."
"I think Leon might have a thing for you. He's not bad looking, objectively."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen. I'm his boss, for one thing. For another, I think he's getting a bit too… he was gonna intervene in an argument between me and Ben, before I went away. I sent him down to work with Kathy in the end."
"And that's a bad thing?" Tina frowned at her. "I did the same not that long ago. You and Ben are always yelling at each other."
"But that's different, ain't it?" She reasoned, shrugging. "You're you. He ain't."
"Excellent logic there, genius."
"Shut up, Tina."
The brunette started laughing, shaking her head at the younger woman's petulant expression. "Come on, Katy. Are you sure you ain't just finding faults with him 'cos he's clearly interested in you?"
"I can honestly promise you, I have absolutely no interest in Leon, other than making sure he turns up on time for his shifts."
"Alright, fine. I get it. I won't say any more about it."
"Wonderful." Katy nodded sharply at her. "Now… can you do me a favour and cover me tomorrow night?"
"You've just got back from holiday!"
"Yeah, I know, but Matthew and the twins start school on Tuesday, so I wanna spend tomorrow evening with them and actually be awake to take them to school."
"I still can't believe them and Ollie are actually old enough to be in Reception."
"I know… it's terrifying. My babies aren't babies anymore. Ruby will be in high school before I know it."
"Ahh, you've got a couple of years yet."
"Yeah, exactly, a couple of years. Her and Ricky will be in year four when they go back and Amy will be in year six."
"Kids grow up; that's what they do."
"I know. I just… I wish Mum and Rox were here to see it, you know?" Katy dropped her head back against the chair and sighed. "When we were in Ibiza, in the places where they used to go, I kept thinking I'd seen them. It's crazy, I know, but… at the bar they used to run, the restaurant we used to go to, the little boutique shops that Roxy used to love… even the supermarket."
"Just memories and ghosts, love." Tina told her gently. "It's because it was the first time you've been back since you went with them."
"I guess… just… have you ever thought that maybe…"
Smiling softly, the older woman moved around the room to perch on the desk, close enough that she could reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind Katy's ear. "They're not really gone. You and the kids are keeping them alive. Not to mention that massive picture over there."
Snorting softly, Katy pushed Tina's leg gently. "God, why are you being so soppy?"
"Yeah, that was a bit much, wasn't it?" She agreed with a shrug.
"Thanks, though."
"Anytime."
"So? You quizzed me about my, non-existent, love life. Now it's your turn."
Tina made a strangled sound and covered her face with her hands. "Mine is just as non-existent, although, unlike you, I would actually like to have one."
"You know what they say, babe… love creeps up on you when you ain't expecting it. Besides, you work in a gay bar, how much more help do you need?"
Laughing, Tina pouted at her and left the office, pretending to be in a mood. Katy chuckled as she returned her attention to the computer. Although she had done as much before she'd gone away, there was always so much paperwork to be done. Scrunching up her nose, Katy pulled the stock lists a couple of the barmaids had done that morning towards her and started checking them against the order list on her screen.
"Sorry, we're just locking up." She called over her shoulder to whoever had just entered the bar. She didn't turn to look, finishing off what she was doing and hoping that they would get the hint. She was also quite annoyed at herself for not locking the door when the others had left.
"I'm not here for a drink."
Katy dropped the bottle in her hands. It fell to the floor and smashed, almost in slow motion. She watched the glass and liquid spread across the ground, terrified to raise her gaze to fall on the woman who had spoken.
She had to be imagining what she had heard. She had definitely imagined the voice, because she knew that it was impossible that she had heard it. Clearly, the stress of everything that was happening was getting to her and she needed the holiday more than she had thought.
"Katy? Sweetie?"
Swallowing thickly, a lump rising in her throat even as she did so, Katy reluctantly turned. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and her lip wobbled as hot tears sprang to her eyes.
She felt like her entire world was simultaneously shattering and rebuilding itself. The two women smiling at her were the only two people in the world she had wanted to see and speak to over the last two and a half years and yet, now that they were in front of her, Katy found that she didn't know what to say. The knowledge that she'd been right and they'd been alive the whole time was eclipsed by the realisation that they had never once tried to contact her at all.
Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, Katy wondered what to do next. Ronnie and Roxy were watching her expectantly, obviously thinking that she would fall into their arms and tell them how much she'd loved and missed them. Of course she had. That went without saying. But Katy found that she couldn't actually bring herself to say it out loud.
Anger surged up inside her, coursing through her veins, the intensity of it taking her completely by surprise. The injustice of it all and everything that everyone Ronnie and Roxy had left behind had been forced to deal with in their absence crashed over her like a tsunami. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that they could possibly expect things to just click back into place because they were back.