Catherine then inquisitively asked Vincent, "So William does allow others cooking privileges in his kitchen?"
Vincent nodded and cautiously said, "On occasion...however...only on occasion."
Curious what prompted such an intuitive question such as this, Vincent then inquired, "Why do you ask?"
Catherine noted, "The little I have heard, and have seen of William...he seems quite territorial. I suppose I am surprised he would allow someone else to have access to his kitchen."
Vincent with a smile in his eyes, thoughtfully said, "You are very perceptive Catherine. Your insights into people, and in this instance, of William...are very sound. It is true he takes his duties very seriously, and is perhaps a bit assiduous about his kitchen. "
Catherine took a deep breath as she reticently said, "Some of his ways have reminded me of my Mom's mother, Grandma Cunningham. She was always cooking, and was always serving everyone goodies. She loved seeing to it everyone had plenty to eat...however, no one was to cook in her kitchen but herself. She loved knowing where everything was, and she always had it tidied up, and spic n span!"
Catherine then raised a brow as she relayed, "My Mom would always attest to the fact that though her Mother was a wonderful cook, she did not learn to cook from her. Mom said she had not learned to cook until she was in High School, when she took Home Economics."
Catherine then chuckled as she said, "I guess Grandma was too impatiently anal, to teach Mom herself."
Reflectively she then added, "Ah, but to Mom's credit...she became a wonderful cook...and very patient teaching me."
To which Vincent thoughtfully added, "Maybe her patience was born of her Mother's impatience."
In Reply, Catherine nodded and said, "I think you may be right."
Just then the intercom's buzzer sounded, prompting Catherine to speculate, "That may be our food!"
As she hit the intercom, she answered, "Yes?"
The reply that came over the intercom was a soft woman's voice, saying, "Delivery for Chandler."
To which Catherine said, "Yes thank you...come on up."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lin, then said to her husband, "Henry it is silly for us both to run up...please allow me to do it. We don't need a parking ticket, and you are double parked!"
As Lin shivered, Henry tenderly adjusted his sweet wife's "Ali McGraw" type knitted hat, and looked back at his poorly chosen parking spot, and then reluctantly agreed, saying, "All right Lin, I will be waiting...but promise to go right up, and then right back down! AND don't talk to strangers!"
Happy that her husband agreed with her, Lin crossed her heart, and said, "I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, as the doorbell rang, Catherine said, "I'll just be a moment Vincent."
Catherine then met Noodles, who was also coming out to see who was at the door.
Petting his little head, she said, "Come on Noodles, let's see who is here!"
As she then opened the door, Catherine bent down to rein in a prancing Noodles, and kindly addressed the delivery person, "Hi...thank you for delivering so late. Come on in."
And because Noodles looked so friendly, Lin couldn't help but bend down to pet him too, and kindly mentioned, what a cute little dog he was.
To which Catherine thanked her, and said she thought so too.
And so as Lin stood back up, patiently waiting for Catherine to find the right change, she glanced around her apartment, and Lin noticed the ambiance was quite lovely! The candlelight, the music, the fireplace was ablaze, with a cozy crackling fire.
Yes, Lin thought it looked so warm and cozy, and also thought it was way too much food for a single girl who was seemingly home alone, and so Lin then surmised, it could be she was awaiting someone.
And it was then Lin noticed on the coffee table, a book which looked like the same William Blake book, she had just picked up for Vincent from Mr. Smythe's!
Thinking about this coincidence, it was then Catherine turned around, and with her mouth agape, Lin recognized Catherine as the beautiful kind lady she spoke to at Mr. Smythe's!
And so Lin mentioned, "Pardon me, perhaps you don't remember, but we have met before...at Mr. Smythe's..."
As Catherine pulled some money from her wallet, she looked up at Lin once more too, and as she not only recognized her, she knew from Vincent Lin was a friend. And so Catherine nodded, as she cautiously said, "Yes...and you are Lin, and you know Vincent..."
Lin stood feeling a bit shell shocked, before finally acknowledging, "I am...and so if you permit me to ask, as I am trying to put the pieces together, but so you are not only the lady who helped me at Mr. Smythe's, but you are Catherine...Vincent's friend, Catherine?"
In reply, Catherine nodded, and hesitantly answered, "I am..."
Meantime, Vincent who had heard the exchange from the kitchen stepped out, and although he too was surprised, he in his commanding suave demeanor said, "Hello Lin."
Stunned, Lin then astonishingly said, "Vincent! My head is spinning, as I had just recognized the book on the table as the same book you planned to give to your friend Catherine!"
As Vincent saw a bit of humor in the situation, he noted, "Had I known Catherine was ordering takeout, I could have saved you a trip earlier to the tunnels."
Both Lin and Catherine laughed at the scenario Vincent painted, and because Catherine had actually held the red leather book in her own hands at Mr. Smythe's shoppe, Catherine chimed in, "Or better still, I could have saved Lin a few trips if I had picked up my gift myself that day!"
And after the levity died away, Vincent sincerely said, "I suppose it goes without saying, how indebted we are to you Lin."
To which Lin replied, "No Vincent, it is my family who is indebted to you and the whole tunnel community."
Humbly Vincent nodded, and then turned to Catherine to say, "Lin is part of the family in China Town, I told you about Catherine, who are helpers to us."
But because she ordered from Pai's, Catherine never put it together, and so she said, "But you mentioned the Wong family, not Pai's."
With a nod, Lin answered, "My Grandfather is Dr. Wong, and I married into the Pai family. I married Henry Pai."
To which Catherine said, "I see, well, another happenstance which ties us all together."
In reply, Lin said, "Yes! Very harmonious I would say...and well, as I told Vincent earlier, I could not wait to meet the woman who had captured his heart, and tonight I have."
In reply, Catherine looked up at Vincent, and back to Lin, and said, "He has captured my heart too."
Lin looked sincerely at them both, and said, "Confucius had once said, "Words are the voice of the heart." And I wish to express my desire, you are both gifted with happy voices."
Lin then gave Vincent a loving hug, and as she smiled at Catherine, she anxiously explained, "My husband Henry, is double-parked and waiting for me! You know him Vincent, he gets very up tight, and worried if I am out of his sight for 10 minutes!"
Vincent nodded, as he agreeably acknowledged Henry's over-protective nature, and then said, "Tell Henry hello for me, and I will look forward to seeing you at Winterfest."
Lin cheerfully waved, and as she dashed out the door, she said, "We will be there, and perhaps at the celebration we can have a better chance to become acquainted Catherine. Goodnight to you both."
After saying goodbye to Lin, Catherine closed the door, and as she leaned against it, she said in wonder, "What an amazing coincidence THAT was!"
To which Vincent in agreement, said, "Yes it was..."
Catherine then took a deep breath, and as she looked at Vincent, she said, "The food smells so good, shall we?"