"There's been a change of plan."

Katy exhaled and ran a hand through her hair before turning to look at Phil expectantly. "What?"

Motioning his head towards the table in the back corner of the café, Phil led the way over. He waited until Kathy placed Katy's coffee in front of her, looking curiously between the two, before he spoke. Katy wrapped her hands around her mug, waiting to hear what he was about to tell her.

"The warehouse job." He said in a low voice. "I'm going in on it with Hardcastle."

"So… you don't need me anymore? What about Ben… he ain't gonna take being cut out well."

"I still want you involved."

"Why?"

"Because I trust ya and I know you can handle it." He replied seriously.

"You still ain't told me exactly what you want me to do." Katy pointed out. "How can I agree to something when I dunno what it is."

Phil chuckled. "Never stopped you before, has it?"

"Shut up, Phil."

"So, you in or out?"

"When you tell me what it is–"

"We're doing over a warehouse. I'll let you know more when you need to know, alright?" He told her firmly. Seeing that she was about to argue again, he held up a hand. "Look, the less you know about it before hand, the better. I ain't gonna get you into anything you can't handle."

Katy huffed. "Famous last words."

"So?"

"Fine. I'm in."

"Good." He nodded stiffly. "I'll call you when you need to know more."

"I'll be on tenterhooks." Katy replied sarcastically, earning herself a chuckle. Glancing at the time, she swore and downed her coffee in two gulps. "I've gotta go. I'll speak to you soon."

Grabbing her things, she left the café and hurried towards the tube station. She was prepared to tackle whatever Tyler threw at her at their mediation meeting and was equipped with everything Melissa had asked for. Katy was determined to prove that she was the best person to have the girls.

The meeting was frustrating. Melissa spoke to them separately; Katy spending the time while the mediator was speaking to Tyler alternating between pacing around the waiting room and sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs tapping her foot irritably. Every time the receptionist glanced her way, clearly wanting to say something about the monotonous tapping sound, Katy fixed her with a scowl that was evidently enough to make the young woman change her mind.

Her own talk with Melissa went as well as she had hoped. The mediator was clearly impressed with her financial situation and the fact that she was in the process of buying a house. Her near-by familial support also went a long way to supporting her case. Melissa was quick to explain that it didn't mean she would gain custody, though. It simply supported Katy's claim that she was in a position to support her daughters on her own.

"As well as the financial and residential information, I asked you both to think about some viable options that would work for you and the children." Melissa reminded them once Tyler had been called back into the room. "Have you had the chance to do that?"

Katy prevented herself revealing her true thoughts on the matter, nodding slowly instead. Tyler glanced sideways, before fixing his eyes on the woman sitting opposite them again. He nodded, shifting slightly in his seat.

"I think the girls would benefit from spending a lot more time with me. They need some stability to–"

"What the hell are you implying?" Katy snapped, turning to scowl at him.

"Ms Mitchell…"

"Fine. Sorry." She ground her teeth. "But he's obviously trying to say that I'm not providing a stable environment for the girls, which is totally ridiculous and, I thought, against your rules."

"I think what Mr Moon is trying to say is that having more contact with both parents in an ordered way would provide more stability and therefore be beneficial to your children."

Katy snorted. "Uhh… I don't think he was. I think he was attempting to take cheap shots."

"You need to stop being so sensitive." Tyler muttered.

"I thought I was insensitive?"

"You can be both."

Melissa cleared her throat. "If we could get back on track? Are you suggesting shared custody with both of you playing an equal role in raising your children, Mr Moon?"

"Well… I do think we both need to be involved." He agreed. "But I don't think spending so much time near Katy's family is entirely healthy for the girls. They have far too much influence over everything and I just think they need to have some distance put between them. They're not a particularly good influence on Katy or the girls and I don't think they should be–"

Katy's eyebrows shot up and she rounded on him angrily. "Excuse me?"

"You can't deny it!" Tyler told her hotly. "Whenever your family are around everything goes wrong."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it." She shot back, equally furiously. "My family have done so much for us… for you. Gran raised the girls while I was in hospital and you were AWOL. My parents and Rox have been looking after them while I was trying to set up the business that puts a roof over their heads and pays for everything they need. Where the hell were you during all that, eh?" She leant back in her seat, folding her arms. "My family adore those girls and they'd do anything for them."

"Yeah and we both know what that means from your family."

"What?"

"OK." Melissa held up her hands. "This isn't helping anything."

"No shit." Katy muttered.

Choosing to ignore her, the mediator attempted to steer the discussion back to a more constructive path, but neither of them were in any mood to communicate with the other. Finally, glancing at the time, Melissa let out a sharp sigh and told them that their time was up.

"Can we try and approach the meeting next week with a more positive outlook?" She suggested as Katy was gathering her things.

"As long as he doesn't start insulting my family again, yeah." She agreed frostily.

"Yeah." Tyler nodded.

Stalking away quickly, Katy was relieved to see Graham's car parked up outside the second she pushed through the door onto the street. He grinned from his position leaning against the side of it, before moving to open the door for her.

"Is that him?" Graham asked as Katy slid into the back of the car. "Your ex?"

Katy followed his gaze to where Tyler was standing, talking into his mobile. "Yeah, that's him."

"He seems familiar."

Frowning at the expression of concentration on his face, Katy considered how he could possibly have come into contact with Tyler. "I doubt it."

"Doesn't work in finance, then?"

She snorted. "Not remotely."

"I'm sure I'll work it out."

Katy shrugged as he rounded the back of the car and got in beside her. "So, do I get to see my outfit yet?"

"It's at the hotel, ready for you to change." Seeing the expression on the young woman's face, he chucked. "I'll be waiting in the bar. I won't even walk you to the lifts."

"I should think not. What colour is it?"

"Blue."

"What kind of blue?"

Graham shrugged. "Blue. I thought it would bring out your eyes."

Katy snorted. "That's the oldest line in the book."

"It's true, though."

"Whatever."

Chuckling again, Graham started filling her in on the people that she'd be spending the evening with. Katy listened with amusement as he described them, imagining the types of people she would be forced to make polite small talk with.

Before long, they drew up outside a relatively expensive looking hotel. Handing her a key card and telling her which room she was looking for, Graham watched Katy walking towards the lifts before keeping his promise and heading for the bar. She shouldered her bag and took a deep breath before stepping inside the lift and punching the button to take her to the fourth floor.

When Katy let herself into the room, she was surprised to see that it was obviously in use. She frowned, checking the number on the door, before moving to put her things on the bed. Curiously, she poked around for a clue as to whose room it actually was. Finding an empty envelope discarded on the side, she read the name and realised that Graham must be living there. Filing the information away to ask him about later, the young woman unzipped the garment bag to get her first look at her dress.

It was, as Graham had said, blue. More specifically, it was a dark, midnight blue with long sleeves, a high neck and covered in lace. Arching an eyebrow as she caught sight of the label, Katy turned her attention to the shoebox. Yet another pair of patent designer heels greeted her and she smiled appreciatively.

Dressing quickly, she retouched her make up and attempted to (and gave up on) make her hair look a little better than vaguely presentable before gathering all her things. Hesitating before she left the room she took a couple of photos in the full-length mirror to send to Tina, before heading for the lifts to join Graham at the bar.

"Vodka?"

"Thanks."

"Then we should get going." Graham told her, signalling for the barman's attention. As he placed their orders, he looked closely at her, no doubt wondering whether she was going to ask the question he knew she was thinking about. "Yes, I'm staying here at the moment."

"Oh… I wasn't…"

"Yes, you were."

Katy laughed. "OK, yeah, I was gonna ask. Why?"

"Slight disagreement with my plumber about how long it should take to upgrade a central heating system."

"Sounds boring."

Graham nodded in agreement. "Incredibly. Shall we?"