A Sense of Guilt ✔

Chapter 49

'Finally,' Katherine exclaimed opening the door to Joe and standing aside, while her heart pounded in her chest. 'What took you so long?'

'I had an errand to run,' Joe said brushing his hair out of his eyes, looking more dishevelled than usual.

'Come in,' she said, relieved that her voice was steady despite her stomach performing summersaults. Joe followed her through to the living room and briefly greeted Donnie while studiously ignoring Danielle who shot daggers at him.

'So how come you're over an hour late?' Danielle asked, forcing Joe to acknowledge her presence. 'We're helping you out here.'

He slowly turned towards Danielle. 'Shannon dropped her phone. I took it to get repaired, that's all.' For all his voice was quiet, Katherine could tell he was annoyed.

'So your girlfriend smashed her phone cos you were doing something for Kat?' Danielle said smirking. 'That sounds about right, anything for a bit of attention.'

'That sounds more like something you'd do,' Joe fired back startling Katherine.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Slating Kelly's business. She's worked her ass off to get where she is and you've badmouthed her to anyone who'd listen out of some misguided sense of loyalty to Kat.'

Danielle's face turned scarlet and Katherine cringed. Danielle's support had been amazing in the early days of the breakup but now it was bordering on humiliating. She wouldn't want Joe thinking she'd put her up to it.

'All I did was leave some legitimate feedback on public forums,' Danielle said testily. 'I was deeply unimpressed with her services.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, really.'

Joe scoffed. 'So the fact that she's a friend of Shannon's has nothing to do with it?'

Danielle tossed her hair over her shoulder. 'None whatsoever!'

Katherine looked from Danielle to Joe and struggled to stop herself from laughing. The pair of them were squabbling like a pair of first graders. She caught Donnie's eye and he raised his eyebrows, clearly thinking along the same lines she was.

'Okay guys, how about we make a start?' Katherine said raising her voice. 'I'm sure Donnie doesn't want to waste more of his day off work than he has to. Joe, why don't you get all the small stuff out of the study, and then we can move the bulkier items.'

Joe turned to her, frowning slightly. 'Wouldn't it be quicker if you did that, and Donnie and I can move the heavier stuff from the other rooms while you get started?'

Donnie nodded, and Katherine felt unreasonably annoyed. Joe's suggestion made sense, and yet it irked her that they'd disagreed with her. 'Fine,' she said trying to hide her irritation. 'I just didn't think you'd want me going through your things.' From the way they all looked at her, she knew her explanation was silly. She'd had weeks to go through Joe's stuff, presumedly he'd already taken anything of importance. She gave them a tight smile and left the room before she said something even sillier.

Entering the study she allowed a small wave of misery wash over her. This was it, the end. There would be no reason for them to maintain contact, and she suspected Joe would gently rebuff her if she tried to. Looking around the room she realised there wasn't much of anything to empty out. The paperwork in the filing cabinet could stay there, the PlayStation and printer she could carry to Joe's car. She threw some computer games into a box along with some stationary as she contemplated her next move.

'Are you done in here?' Joe asked popping his head through the door. 'I didn't think I'd left much.'

Her heart leapt and then sank. 'You didn't, you did a pretty efficient job of clearing out already.' She didn't attempt to hide the accusation in her voice.