"What d'you reckon about Phil and Sharon, then?" Tina asked, throwing a dishcloth across the kitchen at her friend. "They're on and off more than a lightbulb, ain't they?"
Katy arched an eyebrow at her, leaning back against the counter and watching her. "She was stupid thinking Phil would take the kid in… why should he? She cheated on him; she was the one who was planning on running off with Keanu, Dennis and the baby… I think Phil's right. Far as I'm concerned, Phil's mistake was taking her back in the first place."
"Yeah, but–?"
"T… you've just moved in; are you really trying to fall out with me already?"
The brunette laughed. "Alright, alright."
"Look… I'm sympathetic and all about Denny – I can't imagine losing one of the girls – but she's made her bed. Phil ain't forgiving, everyone knows that, and she really hurt him." Katy pointed out, folding her arms. She shrugged, accepting the mug of tea that Tina handed her. "It's not exactly a secret that we don't really like each other. I ain't gonna be sorry not to have to spend time with her if I don't have to anymore."
"I bet you're happy that Phil's buying the Vic, though."
"Well yeah… there should be Mitchells in the Vic. No offence." Seeing Tina rolling her eyes, she huffed slightly. "What?"
"You and your Mitchell pride."
"I just… I loved living there with Mum, Rox and Aunty Peg when I was younger. It was the first time I felt like I had a family, you know? It felt like home."
Tina smiled at her, reaching out to squeeze her arm. "Home isn't a place, babe. It's the people."
"I know." Katy sighed, smiling weakly at her. "It just…"
"You wish you could buy it, don't you?"
Shrugging, the blonde sipped at her tea for a moment. "I'm not sure… I don't think it would be the same now. You can't live in the past, can you? Aunty Peg is gone and buying the Vic wouldn't bring her back. We've all moved on with our lives and, honestly, it wasn't all rainbows and roses back then, either."
Tina grinned at her. "It's always been rainbows for me, mate."
Laughing, Katy shook her head and nudged her friend with her shoulder. "Besides, we've got a bar to run, ain't we? I mean, I'm good, but I'm no Ian Beale. I need to concentrate on one business at a time."
"Talking of R&R, have you asked Kathy to work tonight?"
"Why?"
"Aren't you going to some posh dinner party?"
"Oh shit!" Katy almost spilt her tea down herself as she realised Tina was right. "I'd forgotten about that."
"Good job I hadn't and I asked her instead." Tina grinned.
"You're an angel, Tina, honestly." The blonde exhaled, shaking her head and downing the last of her tea. "You sure you're going to be OK watching the girls?"
"Of course I am." Tina rolled her eyes. "We're gonna have pizza and watch movies."
"They do need to be in bed by eight at the latest, T." Katy reminded her, hunting in her bag for her phone. "They have school tomorrow, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah… such a killjoy."
"Mmm… you can do tomorrow's school run in that case."
"Bed by eight, got it."
Shaking her head and laughing, Katy headed out of the house. Seeing as she was going out that evening she wanted to make sure everything was in place for Kathy. As she was heading through the gardens, however, someone fell into step beside her and pushed their arm through hers.
"Hey, sweetheart."
Katy paused, sending her mother a suspicious, narrow-eyed stare. "What d'you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?" Ronnie asked innocently.
"Right, so… you're not about to ask me a favour, then?"
"OK, maybe I am."
"I know you far too well." Katy chuckled. "What is it?"
"It's a big one."
"It usually is." Her daughter replied, rolling her eyes.
Ronnie nudged her with her hip, pouting at her. "Can you look after Matthew for a couple of days? Well, for a week, actually."
Katy was about to agree, when she hesitated. Stopping, she fixed her mother with a curious look, tilting her head and appraising her thoroughly. Ronnie huffed a little, turning her head away and running her free hand through her hair.
"Why?"
"Will you look after your brother, or not?"
"Not if you don't tell me why I need to."
"Fine, I'll ask Mum or Rox."
"Oh, come on." Katy rolled her eyes. "It can't be that bad. Why won't you just tell me?"
"It's not bad at all; it's just nowhere near interesting enough for you to be making such a big deal about it." Ronnie replied with a shrug. "I'm just going to visit an old mate who's opening up her own bar and wanted my opinion on it."
"Which mate?"
"Alison."
"Alison who?"
"Cartwright."
"How d'you know her?"
"We were in the same biology class in school."
"You obviously failed that one." Katy pointed out, a smirk twisting her lips as she indicated towards herself.
Ronnie rolled her eyes at the terrible joke. "So? Satisfied?"
"Yeah, course I'll look after Matthew. We've missed having him around. The girls will be delighted he's coming to stay."
"I'm going on Saturday morning, is that OK?"
"He can stay over on Friday night, if that makes things easier?"
Leaning in, Ronnie pressed a kiss to her cheek, before smiling at her brightly. She thanked Katy quickly, already pulling out her mobile as she turned to walk away. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, the younger Mitchell watched her go, wondering what she'd missed. She didn't buy that Ronnie was going to see a mate for a second, but could only think of one other explanation.
Arching an eyebrow at her mother's retreating figure, Katy changed direction and headed for her father's house. She waited for him to answer the door, smiling innocently as he frowned when he saw her on the doorstep. Muttering something about needing to get to work, he rolled his eyes as she pushed past him and promised she wouldn't be long.
"I need a favour."
"What's new? Is it money?"
Katy grinned. "No, of course not. Is there any chance you can have the kids at the weekend? There's an event I need to go to and Tina's working."
"This weekend?" Jack rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm busy, actually. I've got a training course."
"Really?"
"Yeah… it's a CID thing in Hendon."
"Oh…" Katy feigned surprise. "Well how long will you be gone for? Just the weekend, or…?"
"A week; Saturday to Saturday."
"D'you need me to have the kids while you're gone?"
"Would you?" He asked, looking a little relieved. "I was gonna ask Dee, but if you're offering I'm sure they'd prefer to stay with you? Well, Amy might be at Roxy's, but Ricky…"
"Yeah, course, it's no problem." She replied with a shrug. "I'm already looking after Matthew for the week… apparently Mum's going to visit a friend who's opening a new bar or something."
"Is she?" Jack did his best to look disinterested, not fooling her for a second. "I've got to be there early on Saturday so–"
"They can stay over Friday night, that's no problem."
Thanking her, glancing at his watch and making it obvious that he had somewhere to be, Jack hurried her out of the house. Katy paused on the step for a moment, deep in thought, before descending the steps and making her way slowly towards R&R.
"You're quiet tonight?"
Katy glanced sideways and smiled. "Sorry… got a few things on my mind… family stuff. I'll be fine when we get there."
"Are you sure? You don't have to come if you've got things you need to–"
"No, no it's fine." She shook her head. "I said I'd come, so I will."
Graham smiled gratefully at her and they lapsed into silence again. He glanced down at the newspaper spread over his lap, his attention caught by one of the stories. He made a snorting sound of derision, before glancing in Katy's direction again.
"Have you heard about this warehouse raid?"
Katy stiffened for a moment, before looking at him with what she hoped was a curious expression. "What warehouse raid?"
As he briefly explained the situation that had been outlined in the paper, Katy pretended to listen carefully. "… but it's a friend of a friend who owned that warehouse. He was supposed to be coming tonight, but he's had to take a rain check."
"I'm not surprised. It must have been a massive blow."
"Mmm…"
"Has he got any idea who it was?"
Graham chuckled. "He's got an idea."
Katy froze, doing her best to keep her expression neutral. "Yeah?"
"A villain called Danny Hardcastle. They've had a couple of run-ins recently and he's the obvious culprit." He glanced at her lazily. "You heard of him?"
"Danny Hardcastle? Nah, I don't think so?"
"He's a nasty piece of work. Maybe you could keep your ear to the ground and let me know if anything's mentioned at your bar?"
Katy laughed softly. "I run a gay bar, remember. It might be stereotypical, but we don't tend to get many east end villains in."
"Let's hope it stays that way."