The Catalyst | Joanne

Chapter 42

 Joe and Dianne offered to clean up after breakfast, since Zoe had cooked. As she left the room, she rested her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I'm going to call my therapist" she said, hoping Dianne wouldn't hear her. "I'll see what she can do."

Joe nodded and mouthed 'thank you' as Zoe left the room.

"What was that?" Dianne asked, busying herself by stacking plates in the dishwasher.

Joe shrugged. "She's just going to freshen up." He decided he needed to change the subject. "Did... did you hear the way she talked about Alfie?"

"Yeah" Dianne replied, "what's going on there, do you think?"

"I don't know. I know they argue more than we do. Alfie's quite serious and I think he takes things to heart way more than either of us do and he finds it harder to just laugh things off. I think I might have caused the argument, though, when I called Zoe last night and woke her up."

Dianne glanced at Joe. "Why did you call her?"

"Because I was terrified" Joe admitted. "She's my big sister. Whenever I'm scared, she's the one to sort it out. You weren't answering your phone and obviously I'd had that message from the Deliveroo guy and, well, my first instinct was to call Zoe."

"She's a good big sister" Dianne said. "And Alfie can't be mad about that. She's only doing what she always does; protect you."

Joe smiled. "She does protect me. That's how I knew you were... special. She liked you straight away and she trusts you."

"Still?" Dianne asked, closing the dishwasher. "After all of this?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Joe asked. "You've done nothing wrong."

At that moment, Joe's phone went off in his pocket. Pulling it out, he noticed a message from Zoe. "Someone called Linda is free tomorrow afternoon to see Dianne. She'll come to the house."

Joe tapped back a quick message to his sister before putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Anything interesting?" Dianne asked.

"Nah, just Caspar letting me know he's back off his holiday. He asked if I'll be in the office tomorrow. Obviously, I said no."

Dianne wrapped her arms around Joe. Pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek, she managed another small smile. "Thank you for doing all of this. I know you said it was for you as well but... I think we both know it's me you're worried about."

Joe turned around so that he was face to face with Dianne. "I worry about everything. You, me, the house, bloody Alan... everything." Dianne gave him a look that clearly said 'stop making excuses'. He sighed. "Yeah, I'm worried. That's why we're here. Out the way where no weirdo stalkers can find us. Even paparazzi with their long bloody lenses can't get us here."

Dianne paused for a moment, before looking directly at Joe. "Do you think she could be a paparazzi? Or, like, a photographer?"

Joe pondered the thought for a moment. "Maybe. Why?"

"Just..." Dianne walked over to sit on the large corner couch in the conservatory, "it's just that the pictures of me are very candid. And, if she had a long lens camera, I wouldn't have spotted her. And paparazzi are good at finding people and blending in. I remember watching Alfie's video where he followed you and you didn't..." A bitter taste seemed to grow in her mouth as her mind raced.

Joe tapped Dianne's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Dianne shook her head and looked up at Joe. "I'm fine. Sorry. I forgot what I was going to say."