"Oi! Some best mate you are."
"What you on about?" Katy frowned, pausing as Whitney stomped across the Square towards her.
"I'm getting married in a couple of days and where've you been, eh?"
"You know where I was, Whit." She sighed. "I was on holiday with my kids."
"Yeah, well I needed you here."
Katy wrapped her arms around herself irritably. "I'm sorry, yeah. I'm back now and I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll make it up to you, OK?"
"Well… letting me have my hen night at the R&R would be a start."
"Goes without saying."
"With a few free bottles of Prosecco?"
"Now you're pushing it."
"Billy offered it if we went to the E20." Whitney shrugged.
"Go over the E20, then." Katy replied immediately. When Whitney frowned at her, she grinned. "I'm kidding. Of course you can have a few bottles of Prosecco."
"Right, good. It's tomorrow, by the way."
Katy frowned. "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, you were gone a week, Katy. My wedding is on Wednesday. You'd better not give me some shitty excuse and bail. At least you can't use work because I'm actually having the hen at your bar."
"Alright, alright! Tomorrow night, I've got it."
Reaching out and squeezing her arm affectionately, Katy continued her journey across the gardens to Jack's house. She waited impatiently for someone to answer the door, barely sparing Max a smile as he looked out at her questioningly.
"Is Dad in? I need to speak to him. It's important."
"He's over at Walford East with Denise." Max told her, folding his arms and shrugging. "Anything I can do to help?"
Katy shook her head, already halfway down the steps. "No. Thanks, Uncle Max."
Not even thinking about the fact that blurting out the news in the restaurant was probably a terrible idea, the young woman hurried away. She kept her head down, not wanting to attract attention or be distracted until she managed to find her father. Having no idea how he would take the news, she briefly considered keeping the information to herself. Almost immediately she changed her mind, knowing that she needed to tell him the truth as soon as possible.
Crashing through the door, Katy ignored the disapproving looks from other diners. Her eyes moved wildly around the room in search of her father and his girlfriend, finally spotting them near the bar. They didn't notice her until she slid into the booth beside Jack and looked at him seriously.
"Uhh…? Can we help you?"
"What?" She blinked, before waving a hand dismissively at Denise. "Oh, sorry… date night. Dad, I really need to talk to you."
"What've you done?"
"Nothing!"
"You in trouble?"
"No, will you just listen for one second!" Katy snapped, glaring at him. Jack's expression darkened even more as he considered all the issues that she could have got herself involved with. "Dad, seriously, stop. I'm fine. Mum and Roxy are alive."
Jack exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Are you fucking kidding me? I thought you had something serious to tell me."
"I am serious." She replied angrily. "They're alive and I've seen them and I've spoken to them and… they're back, Dad. Mum and Roxy are back."
Standing up abruptly, Jack grasped his daughter by the arm and shoved her out of the booth. "Sorry, D. I'll be as quick as I can."
Denise nodded, looking exasperated by the younger woman's antics. She propped her chin on her palm and took a long gulp of her wine as Jack bundled Katy out of the restaurant.
"Get off me!" Katy pushed him away, stumbling backwards a couple of steps as she ripped herself out of his grip. Straightening her cardigan, she glared at him. "I'm telling the truth!"
"Katy, they're dead!" He reminded her forcefully. "They ain't on holiday. This isn't just something they can come back from. They can't be back."
"They are! I keep telling you, I saw them."
"Are you on something?" Jack was suddenly concerned, reaching out to her. "Whatever it is, we'll get you help, alright?"
"For fuck's sake!" Katy threw up her hands in frustration. "I'm not on anything. I wouldn't do that." Putting her head in her hands for a minute, she tried to calm down, knowing that it was the only way she'd get through to him. "Look, just… come to the bar with me and look at the CCTV. I promise you I'm telling the truth."
"Look, I know you said you didn't need to see anyone, but maybe–"
She balled her hands into fists. "Dad, why aren't you listening to me? I can give you proof that they're alive and they're in Walford. Mum will want to speak to you… she's your wife. I'm trying to give you a head's up, here."
"Ronnie is dead." Jack spat at her, furious that she wouldn't let it lie. "Roxy is dead. They're not here and they're not coming back."
"Why are you so adamant that I can't be right about this?" Katy demanded. "Why are you so set against believing that maybe they're not dead. They told me that they faked their deaths, they told me how and they told me why."
"I saw Ronnie's body, Katy." He reminded her. "I saw her, lying in her coffin, dead. She is dead. My wife is dead. Your mother is dead. They're not alive and they're not here!"
"Hello, Jack."
If she hadn't been so furious, Katy would have laughed at the expression on her father's face. He looked as though he was looking at a ghost, which, she had to admit, he probably thought he was. She turned and her eyes fell on her mother standing, as though she didn't have a care in the world, in the middle of the street. There was a soft smile on her face as she regarded the pair.
"I fucking told you." Katy snapped at her father, before turning and striding away towards home.
She didn't get very far, before changing her mind and changing direction. The R&R was busy, perhaps even busier than normal. The sight should have filled Katy with relief that the accounts were hopefully going to be healthier this month, but she just found herself frustrated that there were more people to push her way through before she made it to the sanctuary of her office.
"T?" Katy leant over the bar and caught her assistant manager's attention. "Office, now."
Looking concerned, clearly wondering why Katy had spoken to her in such an abrupt manner, the brunette nodded. She quickly passed on the order she was partway through sorting to Poppy, shrugging when the barmaid asked what was going on with their boss, before heading up the stairs. It was only as she pushed open the office door, she realised that Katy had used her nickname and so she probably wasn't in trouble.
"What's wrong?" She asked immediately. Now that she could see the younger woman properly, she knew that something serious had happened. She was pacing across the office agitatedly, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "Are you OK? Is it the kids?"
"What? No. No, they're fine. It's… I thought they were dead but they're not and they're here and I thought I'd be happy if that happened but I'm not and I don't know… I should be happy. But I can't… I can't think what to do. I don't know what I should do."
Tina stepped forward, grasping her hand and stopping her pacing. She looked at Katy carefully, before pushing her down onto the sofa and moving to rummage in the desk drawer where she knew, for a fact, that the blonde kept a bottle of vodka and a glass. Pouring a healthy measure out, Tina pushed it into Katy's hand, before sitting beside her.
"Start again. Who's here?"
"My mum and Roxy." Katy muttered, taking a gulp of the spirit and wincing a little as it burnt its way down her throat. Seeing the expression on Tina's face, she shook her head. "I'm not mad, Tina. They're here." Standing up, she moved to the computer and brought up the CCTV footage from the night before, searching through it until she found proof. "Look!"
Disbelievingly, Tina moved to stand beside the younger woman, peering at the screen. "Oh my god…"
"They're not fucking dead."
"But that's… good, right?"
"Of course it is." Katy sighed, shaking her head and moving around the room to drop heavily on the sofa once more. She waited until her friend dropped down beside her. "But… two and a half years."
"Why…? What happened?"
"Roxy was being threatened. They faked their deaths but it went wrong. I was supposed to find out straight away, but obviously…" She exhaled sharply. "How could they do this and then just turn up here and expect everything to be the same?"
"Are you sure they're expecting that?"
Katy looked at her in disbelief. "Of course they expect that, T. They're so fucking selfish. They've waltzed back here expecting to just slot back in and for everyone to just… deal… with the fact they abandoned us for years."
Tina shrugged. "Right, so… you don't let them get away with it, then. You're Katy Mitchell. You do what you want and don't let anyone get away with shit. If that's really what you want to do, you make them work for your forgiveness."
"Oh, I'm intending to do that, alright."
"Does anyone else know?"
"Just Dad and Gran, as far as I know." She shrugged. "Although they've probably spoken to Phil by now."
Hearing the bitterness in her tone, she pulled Katy into her arms. "Look, babe, I'm here for you, OK? Whatever you need. If you need to rant, to cry, to talk things through… even if you just need a drink or a break… I'm here."
"Thanks, T. I appreciate it."
"Anytime, I mean it, yeah?"
"I know."
Reluctantly, Katy pulled back from the hug, smiling weakly at the older woman. Tina watched her closely for a moment, before nodding sharply and returning the smile. She hesitated as Katy rounded her desk and wiggled the mouse to bring the computer back to life.
"I've told Whit she can have the hen here tomorrow night." Katy said, business-like once more. Tina wasn't fooled for a second by the blonde's defence mechanism. "How are we looking stock wise? Shall I get an emergency delivery in the morning?"
"We could probably do with some more Prosecco."
"Yeah, I kinda offered some free bottles. Apparently Billy did over at E20 and I wanted to make sure they came here, rather than there."
"I said I'd cover for Mick and Linda over at the Vic tomorrow, so I won't be here."
Looking up sharply, Katy's face dropped. "Oh…"
"Sorry, I know it's kinda leaving you in the lurch. Kathy said she'd work, though."
"It's not that… I just thought you'd be here, that's all."
With an apologetic shrug, Tina motioned that she should probably get back to work. Katy nodded and sent her a smile that didn't meet her eyes, before dropping her gaze to the computer once more. She sighed and hastily put in her order with the company they always used, wincing at the extortionate delivery fees to make sure they got the stock by the next day.
Then she shut the computer down and decided that she should probably head home and explain what had happened that evening to Glenda.