And so Vincent humbly told Rebecca and Pascal, "Father has concerns...you see, I told Father I met someone last night."
To which Pascal asked, "You mean Brigit at the Masquerade Party?"
Realizing Brigit was an obvious guess, Vincent gingerly answered, "No not Brigit...although I had met her as well..."
Upon hearing himself repeat the same conversation he had with his Father earlier, Vincent then cut to the point by saying, "I met someone who is extradinary...and her name is Catherine....and the difference of opinion occurred, when I told Father...I planned on seeing her again."
Wanting to clarify why meeting a top-sider was such a big deal, Rebecca asked, "Yes...so hmmm, well I guess I don't get why Father would object, or why there should have been a disagreement over seeing Catherine again, I mean we know a lot of top-siders, many of whom are helpers to us."
Realizing he needed to be more specific, Vincent thoughtfully said, "Father has concerns about my being in a relationship, which is deeper than a friendship, or knowing Catherine not only as a helper, but more...he fears I will be hurt..."
Because now they understood, Vincent was talking about having a "Girlfriend", both Rebecca and Pascal exchanged looks, and by saying nothing at all, their silence was more deafening than any protest his own Father had made!
Vincent sadly bent his head, as he walked to the basin to place the last of the stacked plates inside, and softly he said, "I see. You both also feel this is a foolish notion..."
As they saw how hurt Vincent looked, both Rebecca and Pascal felt terrible their immediate reactions had not been of the supportive nature Vincent needed so desperately from them.
And so Pascal was the first to speak, as he then tried to explain, "Vincent, don't jump to conclusions!You caught me off guard that is all."
Rebecca too, implored, "Yes, Vincent please don't take our surprise reaction wrongly."
And then with a loving smile said, "It just took me a moment to understand what you were telling us."
To which Vincent softly replied, "I know this happenstance is beyond all of our notions."
Then Rebecca, with kindness asked, "So this Catherine...you really like her?"
To which Vincent brought his hand to his heart, and humbly said, "All I can tell you is this bond between Catherine and I, is genuine, we both know it to be true. I have never experienced such a powerful thing."
Vincent then looked to his friends as he continued, "I feel as if we were destined to meet last night...Catherine's love of all the arts mirrors mine, we spoke of music, poetry, art and we discussed the great authors as well! Point of fact, we both requested the same Wordsworth tome from Mr. Smythe's! Too coincidental to be merely branded coincidental! And beautiful...Catherine is beautiful, with the warmest of smiles, revealing all the kindness, and the compassion her heart possesses..."
Suddenly realizing how he had been going on and on about her, he shyly looked downward, and said, "Perhaps everyone needs time to adjust to the thought; that there could be someone in my life. I admit my confidence has been shaken by Father's cautious council..."
To which Rebecca teased, "I love Father dearly, but really Vincent...Father gives cautious council to all of us, about everything!"
With a nod of concurrence, Vincent still shared, "Even still, I pray I am not being a romantic dolt in a fool's dream."
In reply, Pascal kindly told his Dear friend, "You have never been a fool about people Vincent; all my life...I have seen how your intuitions have always been right on."
And then Rebecca too, said, "Pascal is right! A fool? Never you Vincent...you are always quite insightful, and the way you speak about Catherine...she sounds quite wonderful indeed...and I think I like her already."
To which Pascal light-heartedly said, "I do too! However, we must meet her, to be sure she is worthy of you, my friend!"
Rebecca too nodded in agreement, and said, "To be sure, we must meet her."
As a warm smile came to Vincent's eyes, he told them, “I am going to see Catherine shortly, and will tell her I have two friends I wish for her to meet."
Upon hearing Vincent's plans, Rebecca then suggested, "Vincent, if you have to get going, we can finish this."
Happy to receive this reprieve, Vincent dried his hands on a towel, as he compliantly said, "I did write Catherine I would arrive at seven, and I do not wish to be late."
To which Pascal chimed in, "Yeah, I think I owe you one anyway.”
With a thankful nod, Vincent stopped at the threshold, and with a raised brow, replied, "Actually my friend, you owe me two..."
Vincent then returned to his chamber, to ready his self, to call upon Catherine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so...as Vincent arrived on Catherine's darkened balcony...his heart dropped, as it appeared she was not at home.
He then pondered the possibility, that perhaps she had not found the book and letter he left her!
With hope this was so, he walked over to the little bench where he had left these things for Catherine, and he could see...they were both gone!
As Vincent now knew, she did find the gifts he had left her, he then began to anxiously pace, trying to decide what to do. Should he leave another note saying he had been there tonight?
But then he knew, this was not an option for him, after promising if Catherine had a change of heart and chose not to reply, he would not be brash as Tom had been, but rather....he would quietly slip away...
So since there was nothing awaiting him indicating Catherine's intent, he could only assume, the magic was gone...Catherine had chosen not to respond to his letter, and this thought shook his spirit...to the core!
And so as the realization, Catherine must have seen things differently on this day, resonated through out his being, a heart-broken Vincent, slowly made his decent from Catherine's balcony.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so as Vincent returned to the safety of the tunnels, he resignedly closed the iron door behind him, the final barrier which separated his world...from Catherine's.
It wasn't long for word to travel through the community that Vincent had returned.
And with concern as Jacob heard this information, he thought to himself, "If Vincent is back this soon...this can only mean, things went dreadful for him..."
Thinking on this scenario, Jacob did have mixed emotions. Though he knew this would mean heartache for Vincent, he also felt it was an inevitable outcome and considered, perhaps it would be better for it to happen now, rather than later.
As Jacob sat wondering, still not knowing what occurred, his concern grew for his son. And so silent and reverent Jacob sat with his eyes closed in a silent petition for Vincent.
And then it happened, a mournful cry rumbled through the tunnels, declaring for certain things had not gone in Vincent's favor, and Jacob's heart broke for his pained son.
Deciding to seek Vincent out, Jacob picked up his walking stick, and headed in the direction of the bellowing heartbroken cry.
As Jacob traveled the tunnel main, he passed by Mouse, Pascal, Mary, Rebecca, as well as other concerned tunnel dwellers, all wondering what was wrong with Vincent. But because he didn't want to make a big show of it, Jacob motioned for them to stay, and leave it to him to check on his son.
And so as he rounded a corner, Jacob was taken aback when he found Vincent, doubled over as if in great pain. And as he approached, he softly asked, "Vincent?"
Vincent raised his head, with a pleading expression on his face, causing Jacob to lovingly ask, "Please tell me?"
Grievously Vincent answered, "Catherine was not there...and there was no reply to my letter awaiting as I had requested...it is unfathomable to think she would not leave me some sort of reply since both my gift of Wordsworth and correspondence were accepted...but there was nothing...she left me nothing..."
As Jacob stepped closer, he lovingly said, "Vincent, Dear Vincent, I am sorry."
Because of his Father's warnings earlier, Vincent was unable to look at his Father as he asked this profound question, “You knew this was to be...didn't you Father?"
In reply, Jacob sadly replied, "I feared the outcome would be as such...yes Vincent, in truth I did..."
As Vincent brought himself to his feet, he nodded in a resigned manner, and as he touched his Father's arm, he then turned to walk away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Catherine hugged her good friend goodbye, and promised to call Jennifer if she heard anything more about Peter's Mother, and or IF she heard anything from Vincent.
As Catherine exited the taxi, she thought thank Heavens for Leo her doorman, because she was still juggling her over-night bag! And so she acknowledged, "Thanks a million Leo!"
To which he replied, "You are sooooo welcome Cathy! Have a good evening."
With a smile Catherine answered, "You too!"
And so feeling an urgency of sorts, Catherine hurriedly entered the empty elevator, which seemed to be taking forever to reach her floor tonight!
Finally as the doors opened, she headed for her apartment, and after unlocking her door, she stepped inside, dropped her things, and raced for the balcony doors!
Eagerly she stepped out to see if Vincent was there...however...sadly he was not.
She then scanned the balcony, and searched for any thing, a note...a sign, anything at all from Vincent, but sadly...there was nothing.
Rationalizing it was only 7:30, she then lit the candle on the patio table, so he would know she was home.
As the hours of the evening waned on, Catherine's disappointment grew and grew, as she continued to check for Vincent, hoping he would come, but only to find a balcony void of him...
And as it grew later and later, she knew the window of opportunity was coming to a close for Vincent to visit her tonight.
And so as she waited well into the night, Catherine now felt it was too late...and she had to accept he would not be coming tonight.
As she settled into bed, she wondered how she would ever be able to sleep with such an aching heart, and so with hope, Catherine thought maybe...he will come to her tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vincent alone in his chamber, felt such despair, he did not know what he was feeling was intensified two-fold, as he was experiencing an echoing heartache, which mirrored his. And because his bond with Catherine was so new, he could not differentiate Catherine's pain, from his own.
But it was because of this very bond, Vincent rationalized that because of all they shared, if it were the other way around...he would have left her something...something for her heart to reason with...and it hurt him she did not do this for him.
Sadly, sleep would not come to either Catherine or Vincent this first night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning as Catherine turned off her alarm; she arose from her bed and went to shower.
Feeling the pounding water splash down upon her, she let her tears mix and mingle with the other droplets, as the questions repeated themselves this morning, how could Vincent stay away? If it were the other way around Catherine would've went to Vincent.
But as things are, she doesn't even know how to reach him. And now with Peter gone to be with his mother, which Mother Alcott's illness was also an emotional issue, well, contacting Vincent seemed quite impossible.
Though it had only been a day, she tried to reason he may have been tied up with his tunnel world stuff, and hoped tonight...he would come.
But still she couldn't keep the doubts from creeping in, which tauntingly alleged Vincent had decided things were too complicated after all...
Meanwhile, as she arrived at work tired, and sullen over Vincent and Mother Alcott, Catherine managed to make it pass the office tempt who was filling in for Rita, and she successfully bypassed the Monday morning chit chat at the coffee maker, and slipped into her office, seemingly undetected.
So as she closed her office door, her plan was to pour herself into her work, hoping this would keep her mind from thinking the worse about Vincent...at least for now.
Upon hearing a knock on her door, Catherine reluctantly answered, "Yes come in."
With a smile, her Dad entered, lovingly saying, “Good morning Princess."
And even though Catherine smiled, and tried to sound normal, alas, her Dad knew her too well, and so his own smile quickly faded, as he asked, "Hey, what is it, what's wrong?"
To which Catherine replied, "Nothing Dad, just a bit tired, that's all."
As Charles walked over to his daughter's desk, he took her hands in his, and with a tone of assurance, said, "We have shared enough sadness and tears together for me to recognize something is wrong. Now out with it. Does this have something to do with that new fella of yours?"
After feeling depleted from her disappointment, Catherine didn't have the strength to put up a front, and so she sadly confessed, "Yes, I suppose it does. I hoped to hear from Vincent yesterday, and I guess I am disappointed that I didn't. Maybe I will hear from him today."
Charles gave his daughter a loving hug, and told her, "I am sure you will hear from him Cathy. Maybe he's playing a little hard to get, you know the ole' trick of waiting a day to call a gal."
As Catherine listened to her Dad, she thought this could be something another man may pull, but not Vincent...but still it gave her some hope, and she began to think, well, maybe!
Charles then sternly continued, "However...if he does turns out to be a player with my little girl’s emotions though, then he will have to deal with me!"
Catherine smiled at her Dear Dad, and said, "A girl can always count on her Dad. At least us lucky ones can."
Surprisingly Charles did manage to make his daughter feel better, and as he turned to leave her office, he told her "Keep me informed Cathy, I want to keep an eye on this new beau of yours."
To which Catherine replied, "I will Dad..."
And then because the Alcott family was also on her mind, Catherine asked, "Have you heard anything from Peter today?"
With concern, Charles answered, "Not as yet...but I will let you know..."
Charles then remembered why he knocked to begin with, and so he warmly asked, "Oh by the way, I came to ask if you would care to join me for lunch?"
As Catherine spanned the top of her desk, she asked, "Oh would you mind if I said no Dad? I am swamped and I thought I would work through lunch today."
Accepting his daughters excuse, Charles, with a demanding look, insisted, "Then promise me you will at least order in."
To which Catherine softly replied, "I will Dad."
Even though she said she would order lunch, however, she knew the way she felt as this moment; she didn't think she would be able to eat a thing.
And because of the way she was feeling, it was becoming more and more clear, how much she cared for Vincent, and until Catherine would hear from him again...her world would stand still.