Shannon unlocked the front door of her apartment, kicking her heels off as soon as soon as she stepped inside. Her twelve-hour shift had overrun and she was seriously flagging. She crept towards the kitchen being careful not to wake Joe up since it was still early. As she'd been working most nights she'd barely noticed he was there, she could very easily drift into making it a permanent arrangement.

In the kitchen, she threw a ready meal into the microwave before sitting down and taking her cell phone out of her purse. There were yet more messages from Kelly apologising about Saturday night and demanding to know what was happening with Joe. She sent back a brief reply hoping to head off more questions. On the one hand, she was still annoyed at Kelly for setting her up, on the other it had worked out in her favour so it seemed churlish to hold a grudge. And Kelly had meant well in her own cack-handed way.

Yawning she then scrolled through a number of messages from Joe, shaking her head at his inability to remember she couldn't normally check her phone at work. Much like her mother refused to remember as well. With a weary smile, she opened a text from her mom but the gossipy message about Joe's cancelled engagement made her shiver. Before long, people would figure things out.

'Hey, why didn't you wake me when you came in?' Joe asked startling her as he entered the kitchen.

'It's still early, I didn't want to disturb you,' she said putting her phone down.

Joe yawned, sitting down beside her. 'I'm making an early start today, best to try and keep Adam off my back.'

'I'd ask what his problem is but he's always been a pain.' As a child, she'd sensed Adam didn't particularly like her, but then he hadn't seemed too fond of his own kids either.

The microwave pinged and she got up to stir her meal, ignoring Joe's disapproving face as she put it in for a few more minutes.

'You shouldn't eat that stuff,' he said. 'It's full of additives and shit.'

'When I get home in the middle of the night or early morning I'm not going to start making a three-course meal,' she said testily. 'Don't start telling me what to do, I'm not Katherine.'

Joe frowned. 'I know that, and I never told Kat what to do anyway.'

'No, but I bet she made wholesome, organic, vegan delights.'

Joe laughed. 'Not really, I just don't think you should eat that stuff. I could have made you something last night to heat up.'

She nearly asked him why he hadn't but she bit her tongue turning her attention back to her phone. She scrolled through her missed calls noticing she'd received quite a few from a withheld number.

'What's wrong?' Joe asked as she frowned at her phone.

'I've just had quite a few anonymous calls.'

'Probably sales calls.'

'I guess but I don't usually get so many.' She put her phone back down feeling strangely unnerved. 'I suppose they'll ring back if it's anything important.'

'Speaking of calls,' Joe said rubbing his forehead. 'Guess who called me yesterday?'

Shannon's heart sank. 'Katherine?'

'No although I was expecting more of a fallout.' He gave Shannon a half smile. 'I know you thought I dragged things out but it was better to wait until Kat was ready to split up.'

Better for you, Shannon thought irritably. Never mind that he'd kept her in limbo while he was slowly letting Katherine down. 'So who called you?' she asked not wanting to dwell on how he'd handled the break-up.

'My mom, she said she wanted to talk.' Joe let out a deep breath. 'I told her I had an appointment otherwise I might have said something I'll regret.'

Shannon got up and took her meal from the microwave, peeling the film back and stirring it. She ignored Joe's grimace, he was acting like it was dog food. 'Don't fall out with her, she is your mom and she probably means well.'

'Maybe,' Joe said with a shrug. 'But she never really warmed to Kat. I sort of expected her to be relieved we'd split up, she was right all along.'

'Aren't all mothers like that with their sons?' Shannon said as she began to eat her meal from the carton, barely tasting it.

'I genuinely think she didn't like Kat though, I mean-'

'God can you shut up about Katherine,' Shannon snapped putting her fork down. 'Do you think I want to hear you ramble on about her when I've been up for the past twenty odd hours?'

'Sorry, I was just trying to talk to you,' Joe said his voice sulky.

Shannon closed her eyes, pushing her meal away. 'I'm tired Joey, I need to go to bed.'

She stood up and he grabbed her hand. 'Is that all it is?'

She smiled softly. 'Yeah, we can talk tonight. I might be halfway civil by then.'

~~~

Joe was throwing himself into work, making damned sure he made up for taking Monday off and then some. He wasn't going to let Adam criticise his work rate even if it meant working late every evening. Not that it mattered, Shannon was out of the apartment from mid-afternoon until God knows when. Her schedule was crazy, and he couldn't help thinking it was going to hinder their fledgeling relationship. She needed to find another job. He made a mental note to have a word with his uncle and see if he could line her up with something, maybe as a PA.

He felt his phone vibrate and saw it was another call from his mom. He let it go to voicemail, he'd talk to her when he could trust himself to be pleasant. Shannon was right, it would be stupid to fall out but he couldn't help feeling irritated about the deposits. It wasn't the money, it was her attitude. Adam wanted to punish him, to make him face the consequences of his actions and he could understand that. Respect it even. But his mom...she'd been deeply underwhelmed when he and Kat had announced their engagement even though it was partly down to her. If she hadn't made so many pointed comments about them living together they wouldn't have started having conversations about it themselves.

Now that was ironic.

No, he knew she was upset about the perceived loss of face, it would embarrass her that her son had broken his engagement. She would be cringing thinking she was the subject of gossip. He'd give it until the weekend, then he'd call her back.

'Joseph?' Adam poked his head through the door not bothering to knock.

'I'm kinda busy,' Joe said barely looking up but his dad came in regardless, making sure the door was properly closed behind him.

'That can wait.' He sat down in front of Joe eyeballing him. 'Your mom said you won't pick up her calls.'

Joe leaned back nonchalantly. 'I've been busy. I'll call her out of office hours.'

'Drop the attitude, this is your mom we're talking about. She's been in bits since Sunday so you will call her and you'll smooth things over with her.'

Joe raised an eyebrow. 'In bits? Cos her son isn't marrying the woman she never wanted him to marry?'

'That's not true,' Adam said his voice more placatory. 'She was always going to take her time adjusting to not being the number one woman in your life, it was no more than that. She was the same with your brother's wives but she got over herself.'

'Either way, she should be happy it's all off,' Joe said stubbornly.

'She's worried about you.' He paused for a moment. 'I'm worried about you.'

Careful you don't choke on your words there Adam.

'I'm fine,' Joe said smiling tightly. 'I've just got a lot to sort out and I don't need mom adding to my problems.'

'So where are you staying?' Adam asked. 'If you're stuck I'm sure we could find you somewhere-'

'It's okay, I'm staying with a friend.'

Adam's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. 'I didn't want to ask this in front of your mom but what exactly happened with you and Katherine? Why did you dump her?'

'I told you, it wasn't working out,' Joe said biting down his annoyance. 'The wedding brought things to a head.'

Adam sat back. 'I didn't come down in the last shower Joseph. I knew you weren't head over heels about Katherine but you seemed pretty well matched to me.' He let out a sigh. 'I actually thought you were going into marriage with your eyes open, using your head for a change.'

'Things weren't what they seemed,' Joe said dismissively.

Adam tapped his fingers on Joe's desk clearly making his impatience clear. 'You're seeing some other girl right? The grass is always greener.'

Joe avoided his gaze. 'No, I got cold feet. Katherine and I aren't right for each other despite how it might have looked.'

Adam scoffed. 'You don't call off an engagement on a whim, and cold feet is a whim. You've been seeing someone else.' Joe opened his mouth but Adam waved a hand. 'I've been making some inquiries. The past few months you've taken a lot of late lunches, disappearing for most of the afternoon?'

'I must have been meeting clients,' Joe said keeping his tone light. 'You know how these lunches always go on and on.'

'So why didn't you charge the lunches to your expense account?'

Joe swallowed, thinking fast. 'I must have forgotten.' He let out a hollow laugh. 'I can't believe you're giving me a hard time because I haven't claimed an expense.'

'You didn't claim because it would have been fraudulent to do so.' Adam gave him a rueful smile. 'I guess I managed to instil some values into you. So who is she?'

Joe squirmed. 'She's no one. There isn't anyone else.'

Adam's face darkened. 'Don't lie to me. Who is she?'

'Shannon...Shannon Slater.'

~~~

Thank you for reading :) The next chapter goes back to Katherine and I hope to upload it before Christmas 🎅