“I’m pleased to say she signed the confidentiality agreement, but I still feel awful about the whole thing — poor Alice.”
Penny’s lips twisted into a smirk. “Poor Alice? I think she came out all right from it all. She enjoyed a sordid affair with her boss’s wife, and then got a juicy payout to stay quiet about it. Some girls have all the luck.”
Catherine grimaced.
“Too soon? I’m sorry.” Penny leaned in and placed her hand over Catherine’s. “Truth be told, it’syouI feel awful for. Babe, if I may?—”
Mateo returned to present the bottle of wine, making a grand gesture of uncorking it and pouring a taste for Catherine. She gulped it down and nodded. He filled their glasses andshuffled away.
Penny leaned in again. “I was about to say, don’t you think it’s time you broke away from the Daltons and all their nonsense? I know you have history, but isn’t it holding you back?”
Catherine tensed.
“Look, the last thing you need right now is a lecture, but it could’ve all blown up and implicated you too.”
Catherine held up her hand to stop her friend from venturing on; she already felt foolish enough and hated being seen as an enabler for the Daltons’ toxic behaviour. But that’s what she was, wasn’t she?Sweeping everything under the rug and lying to herself about Jeremy being a good man. It made her complicit, at best.
She blinked away the tears prickling her eyes. “Thank you again for stepping in to help; I really appreciate it, Pen.”
“Of course.” Penny clinked their glasses together. “To fresh starts.”
“It’s not that easy though, is it?” Catherine frowned as she sipped her wine.
“Change of subject?” Penny asked with a sympathetic smile.
Catherine nodded.
“You won’t believe it, but Lawrence has been on about me taking his name again.” She swirled her wine before taking a sip.
“Really?”
“Really.” Penny glared through wide eyes. “It’s like some sort of joke to him. He walks around the househumming that blasted song all the time, so I absolutely refuse.”
Catherine chuckled. “Well, Penny Laine has got a nice ring to it.”
“Don’t you start as well.” Penny lifted her glass to hide her grin. “Can you imagine? Penny Laine — lawyer and laughing stock. I will not have my identity reduced to a sappy Beatles song.”
“It wasn’t their best. But Loz has a point; it’s much less terrifying than Penny Weiss. You know how that sounds, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course I know how it sounds. I have a terrifying reputation to uphold. It’s advantageous for a lawyer to be formidable.”
“Hmm, yes, advantageous for homicidal clowns and lawyers alike.” Catherine laughed, and Penny playfully nudged her foot under the table.
“There, that’s better. You’re much hotter when you’re laughing, babe.”
Mateo bustled over, holding a tray laden with their dishes. He muttered the names of things as he placed them on the table, finishing with a flourish as he set down the Pan Tumaca. “And this dish is from my hometown. Bon profit!”
Penny picked up a slice of the toasted bread spread with ripe tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. “Oh my God… mmm,” she mumbled through a mouthful.
Catherine winked. “I may not have got her number, but I did get her top menu tip.”
“You’resuch a flirt!”
Feeling pleasantly tinglyfrom half a bottle of wine, Catherine let herself into her apartment, kicked off her shoes, and hung her things in the hallway, intentionally leaving her phone tucked away in her bag. She’d charge it in the morning. Why lose herself now in the red-dot deluge from Jeremy? He could do with exercising a little patience, like she had doneall these years.
Whilst the company of her closest friend had been enough to lift the load and keep her out of her own head for a while, of course nothing had really changed — her professional career was still hopelessly entangled with Jeremy’s, another unwitting woman had fallen prey to Francesca, and guilt gnawed at Catherine that it had happened right under her nose.
Catherine padded barefoot through her apartment — her sanctuary. The muted colours and low lighting of her home filled her with calm; a welcome contrast to the often-chaotic inner worlds of her patients, which she spent her days wading through with them.
