Yes indeed, it was Steven! And so Catherine made a split second decision, NOT to answer the door! She did not want to encourage him in any way, and knew even the smallest overture, may give him hope of rekindling their relationship.
And so as Catherine stood stone like, Noodles sat at her feet anxiously wagging his tail, waiting and wondering when were they going!
Thinking Noodles was so good not to bark, Catherine stooped to tell him, in a whispering tone, "We will go as soon as Steven walks away."
As Catherine stood back up to look out the peep hole again, she saw Steven leaning against the wall, looking as if he were about to faint!
And so without a second thought, Catherine opened the door for him, and with concern asked, "Steven! Are you all right?"
As Steven wiped what appeared to be sweat off his brow, he laughingly said, "Only I can work up a sweat when it is 30 degrees out Cathy."
To which Catherine seriously said, "What is wrong? Are you sick?"
As Steven looked up at Catherine, he philosophically said, "Sick is a relative term isn't it...really? Who in this world is not sick, either one has a sickness of the mind, sickness of the body...or sickness of the heart...I would qualify definitely for the last category, since I have lost you Cathy, well...as I was trying to tell you this afternoon...I have been very sick at heart. Let me come in, and sit down to catch my breath...and I will tell you everything."
And so with Catherine's assistance, they had just sat down on the couch, when Steven noticed Noodles, and said, "Hey! You've gotten a dog!"
To which Catherine looked at him sideways, thinking he was stalling, and said, "Yes I do, now tell me, what is wrong Steven...you don't look well."
In a resigning fashion, Steven dramatically laid his head back, and with a sigh, told her that yes, in answer to her question, he was sick, and what he had was...terminal.
Steven then said, since he did not have long to live, his last desire was to reconcile with her, if not romantically, then at least as friends.
As Catherine looked downward, contemplating what he had told her, Steven could tell he was gaining her sympathy, and so he dug in a little more, by asking her to at least be his friend, and confided since the tragic death of his parents...he was all alone, and he really needed a friend.
Empathy filled Catherine's heart, which was an instinctive reaction for her caring nature, and because of the past they had once shared, she wondered how she could turn away a fellow human being. And so Catherine carefully said, "I will be your friend Steven, but as a friend only. I didn't have the chance to tell you earlier at the restaurant, there is someone..."
Catherine then stopped, to contemplate her wording, because since Vincent had sent her away, she could no longer claim to be in a relationship.
However she knew she had to be firm, so Steven would know, she was not open to a relationship with him again, and so she carefully continued, "...someone I am very much in love with, I just don't want you to have any false expectations for us."
To which Steven painfully smiled, as he said, "I figured there had to be someone in your life. I am not that naive to think you would not."
Steven then nervously laughed, and optimistically said, "Well at least I have your friendship. That is more than I could have hoped for."
They then said goodbye, and Steven fumbled a bit, as he awkwardly hugged Catherine, and then as he stepped back, he said, "I am sorry Cathy...I guess old habits die hard."
And though she did not respond with an all out reciprocal embrace, she did kindly reply, "Take care of yourself."
Saying he would, he turned to leave, but before he left, he turned back to look at Catherine, and thought he would try his luck once more, and asked Catherine if she would be able to go to a small dinner party with him next week.
Thoughtfully, Catherine hesitated, as she contemplated Steven's invitation, and then said, "I will have to let you know, with Dad out of town, it will be quite hectic around the office, late hours and such."
To which Steven politely replied, "We'll play it by ear then, I will be in touch. Well Cathy...Goodnight."
With a small wave, Catherine softly said, "Good night Steven."
And it was then Catherine thought to ask, "By the way, how did you get into the building? I didn't buzz you up."
To which Steven confessed, "Since the door man was busy, I passed through with another tenant..."
Thinking this was quite a breach of security, especially with the muggings of late, Catherine was not happy Steven slid on in unnoticed, and would have to speak with the buildings security tomorrow!
And so Catherine sternly told Steven, "Next time, use the intercom..."
With a sheepish smile, Steven said, "Will do Cathy..."
Catherine then closed the door, and as the realization of the day, began to set in, Catherine's heart broke all over again. How could Vincent really think she would be better off without him?
And so, as the evening descended upon New York City, she hoped somewhere below the city, Vincent has had a change of heart, and maybe later...he would come...
But...as for now though, Noodles needed to go outside!
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So after brewing himself some tea, Jacob thought it would be a good time to call Catherine...and so he did. But when there wasn't an answer, he thought aloud, "Ah well, I will try again in a bit, in the meantime, I will check out Camelot!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Mary decided to stop by Vincent's chamber, to give him some unsolicited advice, before he ventured up top to see Catherine!
And so Mary nervously wrung her hands as she offered, "Remember to be humble...when one is at fault Vincent...well, one cannot apologize enough! A woman loves when a man is manful enough to say he is sorry...and Oh yes, also remember to..."
As Vincent arrived at the point, when he had heard enough advice, he then turned to Mary, to say, "I know you mean well, however you are making me more anxious. Catherine is a caring, and very forgiving person, I am certain she will hear me out."
Realizing she had been going on and on, humbly, Mary then said, "Of course, well I will leave you to get ready then."
As Mary headed for the chamber's threshold, she hesitantly turned, and apologetically suggested, "Vincent? I was wondering what you were going to wear? I do hope you were planning to wear your brown vested tunic, Oh, you look very nice in that."
Feeling badly he had admonished Mary a moment ago, Vincent with a smile in his eyes told Mary, "Upon your suggestion I shall."
With relief, Mary took in a deep breath, and smiled saying, "Good Vincent. Well...be careful, and should the opportunity arise to speak with Father, tell him hello for me won't you...I miss...miss him very much."
To which Vincent assured her, "If possible, I will pass on your sentiments Mary."
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Meanwhile, as Peter, and Charles sat enjoying the company of their two lovely companions over dinner, Peter received a page, instructing him to call his service.
Being a Doctor, these type of interruptions were as much a part of his life, as sleeping or eating, and so he excused himself, as he intrinsically rose to go and answer his page.
When he returned to the table, Charles noticed Peter looked a little shaken, and so he asked what was wrong, to which Peter answered, his great-nephew Petey, was back in the hospital again.
With concern, Peter then added his sister was not handling this setback of her Grandson very well, and he was quite concerned for her, saying, "Sis has been through so much during the past two weeks."
To which Charles assured, "If you feel you should be there for Pauline, then you should go Peter."
Charles then also suggested, "I can tie up the loose ends tomorrow without ya, and then I will fly home myself as soon as I can."
As Evelyn and Sylvia nodded, they both agreed with Charles, and told Peter his place was with his sister.
Incredulously, Peter agreed, and as they dropped the two ladies off at their condo, they exchanged numbers, and said they would stay in touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Peter and Charles unlocked the door, they entered Mother Alcott's home, to find Jacob asleep on the couch with, "Camelot" still playing on the VCR!
As Peter woke Jacob, he in sleepy state, spouted, "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood!"
And though Peter felt anxious and concerned for his great nephew, he couldn't help but share a chuckle with Charles, at Jacob's dreamy outburst!
Realizing he had been dreaming, Jacob responded, "I dare say, I must have fallen asleep!"
To which Peter replied, "You did my friend..."
Peter then explained to Jacob what was going on, and said, "I hate to cut your R&R short, but since you came with your doctor...you better leave too, I still wanna watch over you."
To which, Jacob humbly said, "If truth be told, even though I have enjoyed my time near the ocean, my heart is with my community, and may find more serenity back home."
Thoughtfully, Jacob turned to Charles, and asked, "So you will be staying on?"
To which Charles assured him, "Just for a day or so more. I have a few more meetings that are scheduled, and then I will fly out too."
With everything discussed, Peter said, "OK, so I guess we better pack up Jacob, we have a late flight to catch."
As Jacob stood up to pack up his things, he turned to Charles and said, "Oh, I must ask, should you see Blanche, do give her my apologies, won't you? She was so looking forward to us all joining her at the beach tomorrow."
Jacob then hopefully surmised, "Unless of course you plan to go in representation of us all! She had mentioned she has not seen such healthy, eligible bachelors in quite a while, and she was hoping to be seeing more of us."
Charles and Peter looked to one another, and because of the serious nature the evening had taken, they both needed a good laugh!
So, as the two stood there laughing, Peter was able to say, "See more of us....well if we went to that Pot Luck, she WOULD definitely see more of us all right!"
Charles was then able to contain himself, long enough to add his own quip, saying, "I don't believe I will be going...I haven't a thing to wear!"
Seeing his two cronies laughing so immaturely, Jacob brought his hand to his chin, and said, "I am not following you two at all! You are both acting quite silly really!"
As Peter then put his hand on Jacob's shoulder, he enlightened him, saying, "Sorry Jacob, allow me to clarify...you see, Sylvia and Evelyn told us tonight, that Blanche is a practicing nudist, and the Pot Luck she invited us to, is at Stark Beach, which is a beach for nudists!"
The look of surprise on Jacob's face, made Peter and Charles start laughing all over again.
To which Jacob, then questionably looked to them, and wryly said, "I understood she leaned toward a naturalistic constitution, however I had no idea, how natural, she had leaned!"
As he began to laugh himself, he said, "Well, I suppose I shall tuck my Wiener Schnitzel recipe away, and get packing for home."
It was then Charles thought to ask if Jacob had called his daughter, to which Jacob replied, "I did, however there was no reply. I intended to call again, but dozed off!"
To which Charles responded, "She may have worked late at the office...maybe I will call her when I get back from the airport."
So then, as Charles helped load the car, he noticed he was not feeling so great, and so he asked Peter if there was any ant-acid around the house, saying, "I don't believe the Swordfish is agreeing with me."
With concern, Peter said there was some in the medicine cabinet, and hoped he did not have anything more, than a little indigestion!
As Charles popped a few tablets, he said, he would be fine, and added, "Let's get this show on the road shall we?"
It was then, out of the blue, Jacob spouted, "Hey Peter, Catch!"
Turning just in time to catch the orange ball Jacob threw at him, Peter laughed as he put Noodle's favorite ball into his carry on, and said, "Glad you remembered! Cathy would have been disappointed if I had forgotten this little gem."
To which Charles noted, "Hey, you still have the reflexes of a ball player Peter!"
Humbly chuckling, Peter replied, "Some things stick with ya I guess..."
With a compliment in mind, Jacob added, "Yes, as THEY say, when you've got it, you've got it!"
In response, Peter joked, "Mind telling me who THEY are...I always wondered..."
The three then headed to the airport, and as they travelled along, Peter guiltily said, "This is a heck of a way to get out of all those boring meetings uh?"
To which Charles assured an apologetic Peter, "All you need to worry about is taking care of your family."
And then Charles added, "And of our good friend Jacob here too."
With a warm smile toward Charles, Jacob replied, "Good friend indeed."
Heartfelt touching goodbyes were said between the three men, and then they parted ways.
Charles however did remain, and even though he was feeling a bit queasy, he wanted to make sure their plane took off safely, and without any delays.
And so just as the plane was out of sight, Charles could not deny to himself, how much worse he was feeling! And as he tried to make his way to a chair, he waved down an airport personal, who aided him the rest of the way.
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Meanwhile Jennifer who was just around the corner from Catherine's apartment, realized she did not have any cash for The Center's Parking Garage, and so she decided to run up and ask Catherine's if she could borrow five dollars.
And so as she temporarily parked in front of Catherine's apartment, she plucked a couple of coins in the parking meter, and buzzed her intercom.
And so as Catherine hung up her coat, and put Noodles' leach away, she hesitantly answered the buzzer, hoping it wasn't Steven again! And so she said, "Hello."
To which Jennifer expounded, "Oh good you are home! Can I borrow five bucks? I need it for parking at the Center!"
Without hesitation, Catherine hit the buzzer to let her in, and because of the muggings, urgently said, "Of course, just hurry inside..."
To which Jennifer happily replied, "I'm in!"
And so with a five dollar bill in her hand, Catherine then waited at her open door for her dear, sweet, eccentric friend.