Changing the subject, Catherine then asked, "So, are you still coming over tomorrow for our annual "Baking Day" ritual?"
Jennifer exclaimed, "Yes it is a must! Mom offered six fresh baked pies for the soup kitchen! So I have to bake three different types of pies tomorrow!"
Catherine laughed and said, "Well I will look for you in the early afternoon then."
Jennifer reminisced, "You know we have spent the last fifteen Thanksgivings together Cath...I hate breaking our streak this year..."
Catherine informatively said, "Fifteen? More than that Jen, I believe you started coming over two years after Mom died."
As Jennifer thought back, she agreeably said, "So that would be more like eighteen! I do know it was the year Mom and Dad started traveling to my boring Aunt Bertha's for the Holiday. And the only reason I didn't have to go, was Mom and Dad thought I was studying for exams at your house."
Jennifer then conditionally added, "They hoped and prayed your good study habits would rub off on their "Head in the Clouds" daughter!"
Catherine laughed as she said, "Oh Jen, my grades weren't any better then yours!"
With umbrage, Jennifer scoffed as she said, "That's because I studied hard to keep up with you, I really had to work at it! But you! You barely had to pick up a book, and you retained!"
To which Catherine kindly said, "I had to study for my grades too, but I loved school, and just didn't make a big thing of it."
Realizing she should get ready, Catherine then said, "Well Jen, I better scoot, Vincent is coming over!"
In reply, Jennifer sighed, and said, "Oh my...it must be true love! The only guy who ever wanted to be near me that much was Billy Boyle, and that was only because he was trying to steal my stamp collection!"
Catherine laughed as she recalled Billy Boyle the Cad, and warmly said, "Talk to you tomorrow Jen."
As Catherine put down the phone, she checked the time, and saw it was already six, and so she filled Noodles dog-dish with "Doggie Vittles" and drew her bath.
As she relaxed in her tub of deep bubbles, she closed her eyes, and thought of her Vincent, and of how she couldn't wait to see him again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the atmosphere within the Dining Hall was electric, as everyone was talking about Vincent's beautiful girlfriend Catherine.
Mary and the other women, who were all sitting together, happily agreed that Catherine was so much better suited for Vincent than Brigit!
And then Mary observed, "Oh Catherine has a graceful elegance about her. A quiet beauty. Nothing like the flamboyant risqué' style Brigit projected!"
Cora, a seemingly conservative woman who is in charge of overseeing the laundry, added, "Yes, flamboyant is right! I believe I have seen more cleavage this weekend than all the years I worked as a seamstress sewing costumes for the burlesque club!"
Mary thought about that, and for clarification she laughed, and asked, "Really Cora? You sewed for the burlesque dancers?"
To which Cora raised a brow and admitted, "Indeedy I did!"
As Rebecca contemplated Cora's previous profession, she shook her head in wonder, and said, "I never would have guessed! I don't think you ever talked about it before."
In response, Cora said, "Probably not...don't think about the old days much, I suppose Brigit's flirtatious nature of dress, prompted me to mention it."
And then Rebecca noted, "Speaking of flirtatious, one things for sure, I have never seen Pascal so attentive before!"
To which Cora agreed, and then added, "Or William!"
To which Mary added, "It was embarrassing how William doted over her!" She then laughed as she teasingly continued, "Honestly if I would have known all it took was to display your wares to receive an extra cup of tea..."
All the women laughed, and were maybe a little shocked too, by Mary's off color joking!
Meanwhile, Mouse inquisitively asked Vincent, a slew of questions about Catherine!
Vincent tentatively and patiently answered them all, knowing how his having someone special in his life, was a little unsettling for Mouse, and wanted to reassure his friend, that he was still special to him as well.
Seeming to feel a little more secure in his best friend's life, Mouse than asked when Vincent would be seeing Catherine again.
To which Vincent turned to Mouse and replied, "Directly."
As Jacob overheard Vincent talking to Mouse, he was about to voice his words of caution, when he thought better of it, and stopped himself, and instead, kept his words of concern unspoken, and to himself.
However since Vincent, who was always in tune with his Father, noted that the breath Jacob took in was never expelled, so Vincent waited for him to say what ever it was he was going to say! Until finally, Vincent asked, "Father? You were about to say something?"
And so, covering up the best he could, Jacob looked at Vincent and replied, "Do tell Catherine hello for me when you see her, won't you?"
To which Vincent thankfully said, "Yes Father, I will."
Unable to totally let Vincent go without warning, Jacob smiled a bit as he said, "Pardon me, but I do ask that you return back here at a decent hour tonight. I am afraid my rest is suffering from "Your" courting Catherine."
As Vincent put a loving arm around his doting Father, he promised, "I will return early for your sake, and for Catherine's."
As Mouse listened from his vantage, he humbly added, "And for me! I listen for you to come back too Vincent!"
As Vincent put a brotherly arm around Mouse too, he told him, "I wasn't aware of your concern Mouse. I will be more considerate in the future."
To which Jacob expounded, "Yes my boy, you must remember the rest of us seem to require more sleep than you do. OH, if we could only hone in on the reason for that remarkable trait within your metabolic make-up that lessens your requirement for sleep, we could bottle it and make a fortune!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Catherine hurriedly dressed, she lit some candles and started the fire in the fireplace, and found her appetite was returning to her now that things were settled between she and Vincent. And so because she was hungry, she went into the kitchen, to see what she could make to share with Vincent.
So as she opened her freezer door, she saw she had a few frozen pizzas! Deciding that should work, she heard Noodles yelp and excitedly dance at the balcony door.
As she came around the corner, she saw Vincent looking in and then shyly downward as he waited for her.
Happily, she opened the door, to welcome him, saying, "Hello Vincent. Please, come inside."
Vincent bent down to pet Noodles, and then followed Catherine, and as she took his cloak from his shoulders, she said, "Come, talk to me while I prepare us something to eat. Do you like pizza?"
To which in response, Vincent admitted, "I do."
Happy she had something Vincent liked, Catherine smiled as she answered, "Oh good..."
As Catherine placed the frozen pizza on the cooking sheet, she asked, "About meals in the tunnels, you had mentioned William, so he does all the cooking?"
To which Vincent explained, "He does, however there are times, events when he requires, and ALLOWS us to help. Ahh, but those times are rare. However he does need help with the daily food preparation, and for this task, we all do our part."
As Catherine sprinkled on a few additional toppings, she inquisitively asked, "You mean like peeling potatoes and such?"
In reply, "Yes, potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, as well as other root vegetables, and we also assist with other time intensive preparations."
Feeling totally intrigued by how the tunnels function, Catherine smiled and said, "Sounds pretty efficient."
To which Vincent answered, "Yes, and William's kitchen is in a constant state of flux, always preparing for the next meal."
And after Catherine popped the pizza into the oven, they settled in at their usual spot in front of the fire, and enjoyed some tea as they waited for their pizza to bake.
As they sat together, the telephone began ringing, and Catherine almost decided to let the machine take the message, until she heard Jennifer's voice! And because of the last message, Catherine thought she better pick up! And so she said, "Hi Jen, I'm here...and total disclosure, so is Vincent..."
To which Jennifer replied, "Tell him hello for me, and tell him your best friend wants to check him out! Well I won't keep you, but just wanting to let you know, I will be there as soon as I can tomorrow. I have to take Mom to the Post Office, just so she can mail her Clearing House Sweepstakes entry, evidently, she can't trust her questionable looking postman! Oh, and then we need to stop at Morty's Meat Market too."
In response, Catherine kindly said, "OK Jen, no problem, I will be here, and you can finally see Noodles again."
To which Jennifer said, "I know! I can't wait, well see you tomorrow, and remember I will want DETAILS!"
Catherine started to laugh, as she said, "Bye Jen! See you tomorrow."
As Catherine sat back down, she shared, "Jennifer's Mom is quite the character. She is always entering contests, and things. One day I hope she will win one. After all these years, the odds have got to be in her favor."
Vincent nodded, enjoying Catherine telling him about her friend's Mother.
Catherine then explained, "Tomorrow, Jen and I will be doing our Holiday baking for Thanksgiving. We always get together the day before and do any cooking or baking we need to do."
Imagining a domestic side to Catherine, Vincent kindly said, "Sounds like a nice tradition with your friend."
To which Catherine said, "Yes...it is, in fact we were just talking how much it means to both of us."
The two sat by the fire, talking about anything and everything, when the subject turned and focused on past relationships.
Vincent then asked, "Other than Tom, has there been any one else in your life."
As Catherine thought back on a heartbreaking relationship she had with someone, a relationship that ended badly, she nodded yes, and said, "There was someone, in fact, we talked of one day getting married. His name was Steven."
To which Vincent thoughtfully asked, "You talked of marriage? You must have loved him very much."
Although Catherine felt awkward talking about Steven with Vincent, but because he asked, she would tell him what he wanted to know. And so she answered, "Yes I did, or thought I did..."
Catherine looked downward as she continued, "At first, we seemed perfectly suited to one another. We enjoyed the same music and going out dancing, the Ballet, the same restaurants, and it seemed wonderful, we seemed to enjoy doing everything together."
Vincent set his tea down, and as he slowly looked up at Catherine, he asked, "What caused you to fall out of love with this man?"
Because it was so many years ago, Catherine thought back, and then shared, "He changed Vincent, it is hard to explain, but we grew up and grew apart. I ended it when I felt the beliefs we once shared were no longer the same. It seemed like we were heading in different directions."
Catherine then in wonderment added, "Funny, I haven't thought of Steven in ages, and he was someone I shared my life with."
Vincent looked downward, and hesitated before he asked, "Shared your life...and your heart..."
Catherine didn't like talking about Steven, but ultimately had to admit, "Yes Vincent..."
Catherine then explained, "We were young and in college, and as I said, I thought I was in love with him."
Vincent could feel his possessiveness overtaking his heart, and realized talking about Catherine's past relationship effected him in ways that were hard to control.