"Ms Mitchell?"

"Jesus!" Katy jumped at the sound of her name, pausing beside the alley that ran along side the R&R and whirling round to see who'd spoken. "Nick?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, you're fine." She told him, wafting away his concern. "What's up?"

"I've got information for you on Jason Williams." He explained quickly. "I had a mate of mine get chatting to him in the pub. He was talking about some scheme he's got going. He was talking about doing over the bar of an old acquaintance. A bar Walford way."

Katy stiffened, her eyes narrowing. "Here?"

"Possibly. Probably."

Scoffing, she folded her arms. "I'd like to see him try."

"He seemed determined, boss." Nick told her, clearly thinking she wasn't taking it seriously.

With a chuckle, Katy nodded at him. "I don't doubt it, but so am I. Thank you. Just… keep on it."

Smiling at him, she carried on into the bar. Stopping for a chat with Tina, nodding her head towards their newest barmaid who was busy wiping tables down, she asked how Frankie was getting on. As the brunette blushed slightly and started gushing about how great their new barmaid was Katy forced a smile onto her face that didn't meet her eyes.

As if sensing her boss was less than keen, Tina frowned at her. "What?"

"Huh?"

"Why have you gone all… Mitchell?"

"I dunno what you're talking about." Katy shrugged, attempting to walk away.

Tina followed, unwilling to give up on the conversation. "That face you're doing; I know that face. You don't like her."

"I don't like most people."

"But you don't even know her." Her friend reasoned, closing the office door behind them and dropping onto the sofa. "She's a hard worker and she's really nice but just because you've decided you don't like her you won't even give her a chance."

"Uhh… I thought you were anti-Frankie seeing as she stole Mick's job?"

"Yeah, but then I actually took the time to get to know her."

Katy shot her a disdainful look. "You know I don't associate with the staff."

Knowing that she was joking, Tina rolled her eyes. "You live with me."

"You're management; it's different."

"Right…"

"Besides, staff are your area – which you seem to be taking quite seriously in this case – so I'm trusting you to make sure she's up to scratch."

"Whatever you say."

"Is that all?"

"I guess… are you OK?"

Katy shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Are you?"

"Katy… you're being really weird." Tina told her bluntly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Standing up, the blonde strode towards the door, yanking it open and pausing on the threshold. "I'm going for a coffee… I'll be back in a bit."

"But–"

"Kathy should be in soon."

Leaving Tina in the office, the younger woman headed out of the bar and towards the Square. She inhaled deeply and paused, leaning heavily against the wall beside the café and attempting to settle her stomach. She assumed it was morning sickness causing the concrete-mixer sensation in her stomach.

"Katy, can I have a quick word?" Denise called, spotting her boyfriend's daughter.

Katy sighed, wondering what the older woman was going to ask her, dreading another conversation about her parents' questionable relationship, but straightened reluctantly and waited for her to catch up. Denise smiled at her, apparently sensing the tension radiating off her and trying to set her at ease. It had little to no effect. Katy simply stared at her blankly, evidently expecting some kind of attack.

"Look… this is a bit delicate," Denise started in a low voice, "I spoke to Isaac yesterday… it seems that Amy has a crush on him and I'm not sure that it's appropriate for him to be tutoring her."

"What?" Katy's eyebrows shot up and she nearly laughed. "Amy's got a crush on Isaac?"

"Yeah. Surely you can see that it would put him in an awkward position?"

"She's eleven, Denise." The blonde pointed out. "Kids get crushes on their teachers all the time."

"I know that, but–"

"What did Isaac say about it?"

"Pretty much the same as you." Denise admitted reluctantly. "He didn't seem to think it was much of an issue, either."

"Right, so…?"

"I just think it would be better for everyone if he stopped tutoring her and they had a little space from each other for a while. For Amy's sake, if nothing else."

Katy snorted. "He's my boyfriend and she's my sister… you know how often she's at my house. Where would you and Dad be if her and Ricky didn't come round all the time? Surely you can't afford to turn down free childcare because Amy has a crush?"

"You really don't think we should be concerned about this?"

"Of course not." The blonde shrugged. "Amy's eleven. She's got a crush, but she's a good kid. She'll get over it soon enough; especially if she spends enough time around Isaac."

"I doubt your father would agree."

"Dad doesn't know?"

"Can you imagine his reaction? Besides, Amy would be mortified. Jack wasn't even thrilled when you and Isaac started seeing each other."

"Fair point." Katy agreed. "Just… don't do anything about it. I'll speak to Isaac later and, if necessary, I'll have a word with Amy."

Denise didn't look convinced, but agreed to leave things as they were until Katy had the chance to speak to her boyfriend. The blonde watched her heading away before rubbing her forehead tiredly. She had more than enough on her plate without having to deal with whatever pre-teen crisis her younger sister was going through as well.

Shaking her head a little, Katy pushed through the door into the café and smiled weakly at Marie behind the counter. She didn't even need to open her mouth before the woman was asking whether she wanted her usual. Nodding gratefully, Katy moved to perch at one of the tables tapping her nails absent-mindedly on the surface while she waited for her drink, her mind trying to filter through everything that she had to deal with at the moment.

Reaching for her phone, sure that she should have received an email that morning about the upcoming week's promotions, Katy furrowed her eyebrows when she realised she couldn't immediately lay her hands on it. Irritated that she must have left it in the office, the blonde smiled gratefully at Marie as soon as she handed over the takeaway cup and left the café hurriedly.

"You had a call while you were out." Kathy informed her the second she walked into R&R, holding out her phone almost sheepishly. "I wasn't going to answer, but then I saw it was the Healthwise Clinic and thought it might be important."

Katy thought quickly, trying to stop herself panicking and blurting out the truth. "Oh, it's… I didn't quite believe that things could be so positive and booked a private appointment to get a second opinion on my cancer status."

"Oh, that's…" The older woman trailed off, smiling sympathetically.

"Please don't mention it; I can't deal with Gran and Mum fussing."

"My lips are sealed. But they did want you to ring them back as soon as possible."

Katy forced herself to smile. "Thanks."

Keeping her head down, the Mitchell hurried up to her office and closed the door firmly behind her. She started pacing while she waited for the clinic to answer her call, hastily explaining who she was and why she was phoning.

"Ah, Ms Mitchell, yes…" The woman on the other end said, recognition dawning in her tone. "Sorry, we've had to postpone your appointment."

"Oh…" Katy gripped her phone tightly, swallowing thickly. "Really, I…"

"Dr Pargeter is ill at the moment. We can fit you in next Thursday, though?"

"Actually I… no." She inhaled sharply, taking the situation as a sign. "I want to cancel. Thank you, but… I just want to cancel."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Katy nodded decisively. "I'm sure."

Ending the call, she let out a long breath, feeling as though a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. Biting her lip, she looked down at her stomach, running one hand over the almost unnoticeable bump and allowing a small smile to twist her lips.

"So… Amy's got a crush on you, eh?" Katy teased her boyfriend, turning to lean against the cupboards and chuckling. Seeing the expression his face she laughed even more. "Denise told me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… she seemed to think it's a problem, but it's not, right? I mean; she's just a kid."

"Right. She's at the age where their hormones are out of control… happens all the time."

"Does it now?" Katy asked, arching an eyebrow at him and taking a couple of steps towards him. She frowned as he moved around the room, putting the island between them. "Isaac?"

"Denise reckons I need to stop tutoring her."

"Right…"

"I guess she thinks it's inappropriate or something." He elaborated with a shrug.

Katy sent him a hard look. "Surely it's only inappropriate if there's something else going on… if it wasn't just a one-sided crush."

"You what?" Isaac looked outraged. "What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing, that's my point," she sighed. "I'm saying that surely it would only be inappropriate if there was something more going on."

"Right…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Seriously, Isaac? Why are you pissed off with me?"

"I could lose my job or go to prison if–"

Katy rolled her eyes. "Isaac. I do not think that there is anything remotely inappropriate going on between you and my eleven-year-old sister, alright? If I did, you wouldn't still be walking, would you?" She shook her head at him. "Amy is a kid with a crush. It doesn't mean anything, does it? Besides, she's eleven; she'll have moved on in a week."

"I'm not encouraging it."

"I didn't think you were. Bloody hell… I wish I'd never mentioned it."

"Yeah? Me either."

As he slammed his way out of the room, Katy rubbed her forehead tiredly. She knew she was difficult, that she was an incredibly hard person to deal with a lot of the time, but she really had been trying to make things work. The harder things got, the harder it was for Katy to make the kind of effort she assumed was required to keep things on track. She was rapidly getting to the point where she was ready to hold up her hands and admit defeat.