Chapter 23
The woman’s stamp hovered over Kate’s form. “You’re sure about this?”
“Definitely. One hundred percent.”
“You’ll have to get all new identity documents. We’re talking a new driver’s license, passport, bank accounts, electoral enrolment, and insurance.”
“I can’t wait to do that stuff,” Kate said honestly. “Please stamp it?”
The woman eyed her once more, gave her a look that said if there was any way she could get out of doing this she would, then she thumped her stamp down on the form.
“It’s done?” Kate asked.
“It’s done.” The woman’s lips twitched upward. “Congratulations. Just lemme go get the documents you need to apply for new identification.”
As she stood up, Kate gripped the marble counter, dizzy with the truth of what she’d just done. She had a new name. Well, an old name, but it was officially new. “Set fire to the fairy,” she whispered.
“Pardon?” The woman was back with a fat sheaf of papers.
“I said erm, ‘thank you?’”
“Right.” The woman gave her another suspicious look. “I’ll just talk you through how these forms work and then you can leave.”
Kate listened, took the forms and headed outside. Only when she was breathing in the fresh spring air did she allow herself to say it out loud. “Kate Rhonda McGrath. Kate. Rhonda. McGrath. Finally.”
She pulled out her phone and updated the list she kept in the notes app, a digital version of the one Casey, Tam, and Rapunzel had helped her write all those weeks ago. She added ‘change name to Kate’ to the completed section and basked in the satisfying glow of crossing something big off her to-do list.
It was a little addictive—in the two weeks she’d been back in Melbourne she’d cut her hair to her shoulders, told her family to stop sniping at her or she wouldn’t come home for Christmas, and thrown her first party. It had been eighties themed, and she and Rapunzel had spent the next week picking glitter out of their hair, clothes, and rugs. Rapunzel and her cat Pebbles had moved in while Kate was still in Prague, helping to water the plants and check her mail and throw out her expired dairy products and whatnot.
When Kate arrived home, Rapunzel helped her tackle a few of the larger items on her list—organizing the party and selling Aunt Rhonda’s creepier naked lady statues on Greys.com so Kate could afford to re-decorate the apartment.
It had been hard, packing away her aunt’s beloved things, but one of the items on her list had been to finally accept the Elizabeth Street apartment was hers and make it a home rather than a shrine to her incredible but definitely deceased Aunt. As of now, there were only three things left on Kate’s list: buy new, non-princess clothes, delete Kinkworld account, and throw away dildo .
The last two items on her list were, in theory, the simplest, but Kate would have preferred to spend all day trying on ill-fitting cream blouses and bad skirts than tackle them. While she no longer felt comfortable on Kinkworld, she couldn’t escape the feeling that Ty might try to contact her there and for weeks the glass dildo he’d given her had been the only thing that could get her off. It was almost certainly a psychosomatic affliction, but still. Getting rid of both of them would feel like shutting a door on hope and pleasure. Her phone rang, and she answered it. “Hello?”
“Certified?” Rapunzel asked.
“Hell yeah, it’s certified.”
Rapunzel hooted so loudly Kate had to take the phone away from her ear. “Well done, Peach! Or should I say Just-Kate? Are you home to delete your perv account and chuck out the dildo, then?”
Kate grimaced. “I know I should, but—”
“Get your arse home right now.” Rapunzel’s voice was stony. “You made a promise, today’s the day.”
“But—”
“Do it, Middleton.” Rapunzel had developed the habit of calling her that whenever Kate was dragging her feet. She’d noticed that, probably because of all of Ty’s spankings, the word had a galvanising effect.
“I will, but—”
“You’d do it if Dexter asked you to do it. You’d be sprinting home to chuck out your dildo. Yes sir, no sir, I’ll have it in a landfill by midnight, sir.”
“Shh.” Kate glanced around as though Ty might be standing nearby, smiling his sardonic smile, his hands shoved into the pockets of his beautiful coat. “You know it’s redundant to invoke Ty’s name to make me do things designed to help me get over Ty, right?”
“Not sure what that means, Peach, don’t really give a shit either way. Catch the tram home and throw out your magic dildo.”
Kate groaned. “Okay, god, I will.”
“Excellent. I’ll expect you within the hour. If you’re any later than that I’ll start setting your books on fire.” She hung up.
For a weed-dealing dropout and Uber Eats driver, Kate suspected Rapunzel would make an excellent Fortune 500 corporate dictator.
She put in her ear buds and caught the tram home, listening to happy music and trying to brace herself for what was about to happen. Her broken heart had scabbed over a little on her trip to Prague, but she still missed Ty like fire. Part of her longed for her early days at GGS when he was her unobtainable crush and their future was way out in front of them. Back then, she’d thought just getting to sleep with him once would make her the happiest girl in the world. The truth was both lovelier and more painful than that. There was a glossiness to loving someone from afar that loving someone up close couldn’t match.
Part of her still hoped Ty would reach out to her and say that he changed his mind and was ready for a real relationship, but seeing as he hadn’t, she’d set herself a deadline—a month of pining, and then no more.
And hell, Kate thought as she strode into her building, if I miss the dildo that much, I can always buy the same one again then take a leaf out of Casey’s book and sage it.
“Katie?”
She looked up to see Stephen the security guy smiling at her from the front desk. “What’s up?”
“Can you please empty your post box? It’s reached bursting point again.”
“Shoot.”
Kate always forgot to check her mail because why the hell were people sending her mail, anyway? She headed back outside toward the metal rack of post-boxes. Stephen was right, several corners of brightly coloured paper were protruding from her slot. She unlocked it and despite her best efforts to contain the explosion, brochures burst out like bad confetti.
Sighing, Kate picked up all the Domino’s fliers and ads for two-for-one mud facials before spotting something unusual—a thick white envelope gleaming with pearlescent lustre in the afternoon sun.
She groaned. One of her lesser known cousins had to be getting married. Kate was on slightly better terms with her family now that she’d confronted them about being buttholes, but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend nine hours with them at a wedding. She picked up the envelope and turned it over, expecting to see a little heart sticker and a ‘save the date’ and instead saw something that made her jaw drop.
“Are you okay?” Stephen said, sticking his head through the front door. “Need a hand?”
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Really.” Kate scooped all of her mail into a big messy pile. “Thanks for letting me know about the mail, I won’t let it happen again. I’ll see you later!”
Stephen barely had time to agree before Kate sprinted toward the elevator. The thirty-second journey up was agony and as soon as she reached her floor she ran toward her apartment with the fervour of someone being chased by Predator. She flung the door open, dumped all her junk mail on the floor and tore into the white envelope.
“Whoa!” Rapunzel called from the couch. “The fuck’s happening, Peach?”
Kate was too wound up to answer. From the moment she’d seen Ty’s return address on the back of the envelope, she only had room for one thought—why?
Why would Ty have written to her? Was he mad? Happy? Sad? Dead and his funeral invites were really flipping fancy? Re-engaged to his old fiancée and inviting her to his wedding as a final cuss-you?
She pulled out a card, the same shining white colour as the envelope, and read it so quickly she only took in half the words. Safe in the knowledge he wasn’t dead or getting married, she took a deep breath and read it again.
Middleton,
I’m in love with you. I’m sorry for what you overheard at The Breton Club, I was an idiot and I didn’t mean a fucking word. You were never my dirty secret, I was ashamed of what I felt, I couldn’t believe a girl like you could ever really love me. I was wrong, and for that I’m sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, come over to my house this Saturday at 7 pm. Wear a nice dress.
–Ty
A smile like warm butter spread itself across her face. “Oh my gosh.”
“Language!” Rapunzel bellowed from the couch.
“Oh my god!” Kate said obligingly. “Fucking hell!”
“Better.” Rapunzel sat up, her braid flopping over the couch like a lethargic snake. “So, old mate’s come crawling back, has he?”
“It would seem so.”
“Thought he would. What did he say?”
Kate stared down at the envelope in a daze. “He says he loves me.”
Rapunzel grinned. “Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t throw out that dildo, hey?”