chapter 2

The week wore on and true to her word Kat had stayed out of the way of the other women when they met for coffee. But she couldn't help but feel aggravated that the women seemed to be spending more time chatting and laughing than they did looking for work for her not entirely welcome house guest. Or was it the fact that they hadn't invited her to join in on their gossip session? Either way, Kat was now keenly aware of how much noise travelled in her house and resigned herself to wearing headphones to block out the noise.



Another couple of days of inactivity followed for the leggy blonde interloper which further served to annoy Kat who made no bones about it when discussing it in hushed tones with Paul.

"She's doing nothing to find work you know"

"Oh give her time, she's only just finding her feet"

"She's finding my last nerve is what she's doing! Did you know she ate my chocolate?"

"Your chocolate? I didn't know you had any"

"It was in the drawer, I'd been saving it!"

"Well I'm sure she'll replace it or I can buy you a new bar"

"That's not the point!" spat Kat but quickly hushed her words when Joanne suddenly entered the kitchen



"Hey guys, I'm just heading off to the gym. I've been sitting around the house too much and I don't want to get pudgy" the last part was said deliberately as she made eye contact with Kat.

Through sneaky listening she had learned that Kat was a little self-conscious of her figure and was desperately trying to lose a good 10lbs before the wedding.

"Why don't you join me Kat?"

"I'm sorry Jo, I've got some things to do here but have fun" lied Kat, she was going to go for a workout later but she had no intention of going with Jo.

"Suit yourself, I'd ask you Paul but it looks like you already live there, am I right Kat?!" she asked as she ran her fingers down Paul's chest.

Kat just sat and seethed as Paul did nothing to remove the wandering fingers of his ex-girlfriend.

"Ha, not quite but I do like to keep in shape"

"Well anytime you fancy a real workout you know where to find me" remarked Joanne before winking at him and strutting out the door.

His eyes followed the sway of her hips as she did so, a fact not lost on Kat and it was the sound of her slamming their bedroom door that bought Paul to his senses.

"Oh dammit. Kat! Kat!"





Since that little incident Jo had kept out the way of Paul and Kat but Paul was still truly in the doghouse with Kat. The only time Kat and Joanne had spoken had been when Joanne had interrupted Kat as she worked in her bedroom.

"Whatcha doing?" Jo asked from the doorway.

"Working" replied Kat curtly.

"Well yeah, I know that, what you working on?"

"Just designing some dresses for the bridesmaids"

"Oh lemme see" replied Jo with a full mouth

"What are you eating?" asked Kat as Jo looked over her drawings

"Oh I found this chocolate in the fridge"



The chocolate in question had been the bar that Paul had bought Kat in a sorry attempt to apologise to her over their falling out a few days earlier.

"That is my fucking chocolate!" cried Kat as she grabbed the bar from Jo's hand

"Gees sorry, I thought I'd be doing you a favour by eating it" retorted Jo

"What's that supposed to mean?!" asked Kat indignantly

"Well you have a dress to fit into, don't you? Paul's not going to want some blimp of a bride"

"Argh! Get out, get the fuck out of here!"

"Whoa! Calm down bridezilla just trying to help"

"I don't need your help just leave me and my fiancé alone!"

Kat sat back on her bed sobbing frustrated tears. She would need to have it out with Paul when he got home from work.





Joanne on the other hand retreated from Kat's bedroom door with a smirk on her face, her plan was coming along nicely. Moving in with Kat and Paul was simply step 1, now step 2 was well under way. Needling Kat, subtly mind you but with intent to drive Kat crazy.

She surmised that if she could bring the worst out in Kat then it would be easy picking to steal Paul away from her. You see Joanne had no intention of finding work again. Paul made more than enough to take care of Kat so why not her? And to make things even better, Marcie unwittingly played right into her plan, acting as an unofficial tag-team partner in operation drive Kat mad. Yes, it was surely just a matter of time before Joanne's plan came to fruition.