Knowing Me Knowing You by Mandy Baggot Page A

unoccupied rowing machine. She banged her shin; the pull bar unfastened and made a loud clank as it hit the metal frame.
    Joel and the woman he was working out with both sat up and Joel quickly came to her assistance.
    ‘ Are you OK? ’ he asked, arriving at her side.
    ‘ Fine, thank you . H ello, again, ’ she greeted her cheeks reddening as she turned to face him.
    ‘ Kate, ’ he replied surprised to see her.
    ‘ Don’t worry, I haven’t come to join the gym or to stalk you or anything. I just wondered if I could talk to you, for a minute, in private. I have - a proposition for you - it’s nothing illegal or dirty or anything like you think, I don’t think . B ut if I could just ask you, I … ’ Kate began.
    ‘ Sure, I’m intrigued to know what it is. Susie, do another twenty and I’ll be back with you in a minute, ’ Joel called to his training companion.
    He led the way to the end of the room where the water cooler was positioned. The electrical hum of the equipment lessened. He filled a plastic cup with water and offered it to Kate. She shook her head and Joel took a sip.
    ‘ I should have remembered, all but allergic to water aren’t you? ’ he spoke with a smile.
    ‘ Hmm, look, about Friday night - first of all, I want to apologise for whatever happened then. I don’t really remember all of it, well the getting home part mostly, that’s very blurry and I want to say sorry if I did anything or said anything that was insulting or rude or in any way inappropriate, ’ Kate began, sweeping her hair behind her ears and trying to avoid Joel’s huge eyes.
    ‘ I think it’s the taxi driver that needs the apology, not me, ’ Joel responded with a smile.
    ‘ God really? I don’t want to know any more . A nyway I’m sure he’s had much worse on a Friday night, at least I wasn’t sick in his cab. I wasn’t was I? ’
    ‘ Well … ’
    ‘ Stop! Enough! OK, right, the thing is, I have a bit of a financial problem at the moment and things with my husband - my ex-husband - are a little bit difficult. B asically I really need to find a whole lot of money so that I don’t have to rely on him any more , ’ Kate started, shifting from foot to foot as she tried to say what she wanted to say. This was so difficult!
    ‘ I see, ’ Joel replied.
    ‘ OK, good. Right well, I know Friday night was a disaster and I know I wasn’t the easiest of dates, but when I thought about how to get a lot of money easily and quickly without robbing a bank I thought about Knowing Me Knowing You . I know, it’s crazy, it was the most terrible thing I’ve had to endure but I just thought I, that is, we , shouldn’t throw away the chance of winning that money, ’ Kate blurted out as best as she was able.
    ‘ I’m sensing there’s a “ but ” coming on, ’ Joel spoke, drinking more of his water.
    ‘ No, well, yes, maybe. T he thin g is, I can’t do it without you can I ? I mean it was us who got through to the next round, Kate and Joel - I can’t really do it alone. I’m sure they don’t allow for break ups in the rules and answering questions on your own wouldn’t really work with the format would it? ’
    ‘ No. ’
    ‘ Look I’ll just say it. I can’t do it without yo u but I can’t afford to pay you for your time - you know - like dates and stuff. S o I thought maybe we could strike a deal with the winnings. If we win, which we probably won’t and then neither of us will have got anything out of it, but I thought and eighty/twenty split in my favour - seeing as it was my connections with Frank Peterson that got us into the game show in the first place. ’
    Joel didn’t reply.
    ‘ Look, I know you don’t really know me at all and I know that there’s absolutely no reason why you should give your services free of charge to someone you barely know , but I’m not asking for me - I’m asking for my daughter . T his is all for her and I’m just being a mum and trying to do all I can to give her the