As Vincent prepared to leave, Catherine walked with him to the balcony doors, and little Noodles, who was at her feet, wagged his tail, as he waited for some acknowledgment.
And so Vincent bent down to pet him, until he was contented, and said to him, "Ah, Noodles, you are a fine dog."
Catherine smiled as she watched on, and then went on to relay her plans for the upcoming evening, and said, "I will be having dinner with Dad..."
Hesitantly, Catherine added, "...and I will be telling him about my working at the D.A. And because of everything I shared with you tonight, I'm not sure how he will take it, or how I will say it..."
Because Vincent could feel the gravity this task weighed upon her heart, he brought her to him, and as he held her, he assuredly said, "You will find a way Catherine, you will tell him so he will understand."
Wistfully, Catherine nodded, hoping what Vincent said was so.
As Vincent slipped on his cloak, Catherine sorrowfully asked, "So this is officially the end of our Thanksgiving day together?"
To which with a stunning, and piercing gaze, Vincent said, "Yes Catherine... there will be others to share."
With one last look, Vincent then slipped over the wall, and faded into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well after a busy day like yesterday, both emotionally, and physically, Five o'clock came just a little too early for Catherine!
Aversely, she rolled over in her bed, to turn off the alarm, trying to be careful, as not to disrupt Noodles.
Once this was achieved, Catherine then quietly, hopped right into action! She hadn't a moment to spare, as Jennifer, and her Mom would be there to pick her up soon for the early bird Christmas shopper's sales!
First, Catherine put on some coffee, and then showered at record breaking speed! She then made sure Noodles had all he needed to get him through the morning, and peeked at him one last time, seeing he was still sleeping soundly atop her bed.
Catherine had just taken a sip of her coffee, when she heard her intercom buzz, and so quickly pushing the button, she said, "Good morning Jen!"
Urgently Jennifer said, "Hi Cath! Hey I'm double parked, so we are really going to have to scramble! It is a circus out here already this morning!"
To which Catherine assuredly said, "I will be right down."
And so Catherine boarded the elevator, which was full of other sleepy-eyed shoppers, who were armed with checkbooks, credit cards, and containers of coffee, ready for a day of shopping!
As Catherine hopped into Jennifer's car, she had no sooner closed the car door, when Jennifer hit the gas, and bolted!
As the "G" force pushed Catherine back into her seat, Jennifer yelled, "Put on your seat belt Cath, we are taking no prisoners!"
And because she was pushed back too, Mrs. Aranson hysterically screamed, "Jennifer! Slow down, or I promise you right now, I will never go shopping with you ever again!"
To which Jennifer replied, "Oh Ma, you always say that!"
And so the three of them had a hectic, but fun morning. Catherine enjoyed hustling the lines with the Aronson girls, aiming to be one of the first fifty to receive a coveted gift certificate!
And though this was a crazy shopping ritual people participate in every Christmas, Catherine knew this would never be something she would do by herself, but she went...because it was always fun being with Jennifer.
And so, as they stood in line, Mrs. Aranson chatted away with some of the other early bird's, which gave Jennifer a chance to ask all about Catherine's Thanksgiving Day with Vincent.
To which Catherine shared, that it could not have been a more wonderful day. She excitedly added her Dad and Peter unexpectedly returned home from Florida, so she was able to be with them for the latter part of the day too.
Catherine had to be careful of how closely she tied Peter to Vincent. That was a part of his life he had so sacredly kept hidden from everyone, this secret double life he lead, as a helper to the people of the tunnels below.
So Catherine just kind of generically said, her Dad and Vincent's second meeting went really nicely. And after telling her that, she changed the subject, and asked Jennifer about her day at the Soup Kitchen.
Jennifer dramatically brought her hand to her heart, and said, "Fulfilling, rewarding, and motivating! I felt so sorry for some of those people Cath. I swear though, I will never, ever be that down and out!"
Catherine had seen many homeless people herself, living along some of the back alley streets of the city, and said to Jennifer, "I am sure they never thought it would happen to them either Jen."
Catherine then too, thought of the people of the tunnels, and of some of their individual stories which had led them there. And she then compassionately said, "Sometimes things, life's circumstances arise, and spiral out of control, changing ones course forever. Society's programs and safeguards come up short, and are inadequately able to help these people, and agencies can't seem to close up the cracks small enough to prevent the consequent homeless from slipping through."
Jennifer looked astonishingly at her friend, and said, "Wow, where did that come from? That was heavy!"
To which Catherine embarrassingly said, "Well I don't belong on any soap box, but lately I do feel a change...a need to do something to help. In fact..."
Deciding she wanted to confide in her friend, Catherine hesitantly said, "Jen, I am going to quit the firm, and will be starting at the D.A. in a couple of weeks...and I dread telling Dad...so tonight when I go over for dinner, I will be telling him."
With concern, Jennifer asked, "How do you think your Dad will take it?"
Forlornly, Catherine replied, "I honestly don't know, I am afraid it will be a disappointment to him."
And as Catherine took a deep breath, she continued, "And I don't know how it will be working with Joe Maxwell, he is quite blunt, but he is committed, and I do like that about him. All I can say is, I am going to give it my best shot though Jen. As I told Vincent, I only know I have to try."
The shopping trio continued onward, and had a great lunch at Times Square Diner!
And as they ended their whole excursion, they pulled up to drop Catherine off, and after a round of hugs, Catherine expressed, "Thanks again for including me girls...I had so much fun."
To which Mrs. Aranson pishawed, saying, "Include you? I consider you one of us young lady...and it's OUR tradition! So don't forget it."
With a humbled smile, Catherine nodded, and then seeing the traffic coming, said, "I better let you go Jen before you get rear ended. Be careful! Bye Mrs. Aranson!"
And as they peeled off, Catherine laughed to herself, as she could hear Jennifer getting yelled at by her Mother!
As Catherine herded onto the elevator with the other spent shoppers of her apartment building, she listened as they chatted, bragging about getting this sale, or that bargain, and all the while she listened, she felt set apart somehow.
Yes, it is true, she along with all of them, partook of the savings on this busiest shopping day of the year, however, none of the promotional sales really mattered. Not because Catherine was wealthy, but because it was all about stuff, materialistic stuff. Her heart had grown beyond earthly goods now. Her life now was all about issues of the heart...since she had met and formed this bond...with Vincent.
Yes, this morning's shopping trip was all about the loving friendship she shared with Jennifer, and she wouldn't miss it for the world!
As Catherine entered her apartment, she plopped all of her packages on the couch, and scooped up Noodles, asking, "How are you boy? Do you wanna go outside for a walk?"
As Catherine hooked the leash to Noodle's collar, she ventured outside to the back of the building, with other pet people. And after greeting them, she listened as they talked about the muggings that were going on, and because they already knew, she felt no need to add any additional information.
Again feeling so thankful Vincent had saved Noodles and her life the other night, Catherine realized Vincent was becoming everything to her, her confidant, defender, guardian, and her love, and she hoped to see him later tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the Tunnel community enjoyed a delicious luncheon, made with all the Thanksgiving leftovers!
As Vincent sat with his Father, Mary, Rebecca, Pascal, and several others, they all excitedly spoke about meeting Catherine's Father!
To which Rebecca noted, "My goodness he is tall! I believe he is as tall as you Vincent! Don't you think so too Mary?"
As Mary took a nibble of her hot cross bun, she cluelessly said, "Oh really? I hadn't noticed!"
Upon hearing the conversation, Jacob squinted slightly, as he glanced Mary's way, and thought to himself, the fact she said she had not noticed...proved, she indeed, must have noticed, because Mary notices everything!
Clearing his throat, Jacob then interjected, "Hadn't noticed? Gracious me, how could you not? I myself felt as if I were in the land of the giants, as I stood with Peter, Vincent and Charles!"
Everyone laughed at Jacob's observance, and then he also said, "Yes, and did you all know, Charles and Peter have been friends for years. In fact Peter had been the doctor who had brought Catherine into the world!"
To which Mary marveled, "Oh my! No, I did not know that!"
Mary then turned to Vincent and noted, "Vincent, isn't it remarkable, the whole time Peter has known you, he in turn, has known Catherine?"
In reply, Vincent nodded in agreement, and said, "Yes Mary...it is. In fact the more we learn about one another, the more common ground we discover."
It was then Pascal excitedly relayed, "Charles would like a tour of the pipe chamber the next time he comes below Father. He seemed quite interested in our communication system, didn't he?"
To which Jacob nodded, and agreeing said, "Yes, he did Pascal, indeed he did."
Mary then made more of a statement, than an inquiry, as she admiringly said, "So Catherine followed in her Father's footsteps, and is a lawyer as well."
And so Vincent affirmatively, informed Mary, that yes, Catherine is indeed a lawyer, and is currently working at her family's Corporate Law firm.
To which Mary asked, "Forgive me if you told me already, but what did you say Catherine and Charles' last name is?"
"Chandler, their last name is Chandler" Replied Vincent.
To which Jacob reminded Mary, that Chandler was also a noun as well as a proper noun, and was another name for candle maker.
To which Mary raised her eyes, and said, "Oh yes of course!"
Jacob then scratched his chin, as he pondered aloud, "Chandler...hmmm I wonder if they could be any relation to the man who was my...ah never mind, at any rate, it was a wonderful celebration yesterday, was it not?"
They all agreed with Jacob, and as they all went their separate ways after lunch, Vincent however, escorted his Father back to his chamber.
It was then, Jacob wearily mentioned to Vincent, he just may lie down for a bit.
To which, Vincent with concern inquired, "Are you feeling all right Father?"
In reply, Jacob smiled as he said, "Just tired Vincent. When you get to be my age, you are entitled to lie down in the afternoon for a rest. Now run a long, I will be fine. I know you will be expecting the children shortly for their lesson."
Vincent then placed his Father's walking stick against the bedside table, and with a tip of his head, he looked back at his Father once more as he observed him wearily lie down upon his bed.
As the children all excitedly filed in, Vincent understandably said, "Children, I know we are all still in the Holiday mood, however we must take a small part of our day, to concentrate on our studies."
As Vincent spanned the little faces of the children, he said, "I promised you yesterday, we would take time to document your heights. So what do you say, let's line up, and see how tall you are becoming."
The children all excitedly agreed, and Natalie was first in line, and smiled as she saw Vincent had his "Friendship Charm" attached to his belt.
And so after he measured Natalie, Vincent measured each child as well, and he gave them a card, which included their Name, date and height.
Vincent then told them in six months, they would be measured again, so after they all compared their information with one another's, Vincent then collected the cards saying, "I will keep these cards, until the day of our re-measure."
Curiously, Zach asked, "What day will that be Vincent?"
To which Vincent answered, "Today is November 28th, who can tell me what the date will be six months from now?"
Because they all now had a question to answer, they all raced to be the first to say!
And so it was Kipper who loudly said, "It would be May 28th!"
Upon saying he was correct, Vincent turned back to the lesson of the day. However needless to say, the lesson did not necessarily go as planned, as they all had a million questions to ask about the beautiful nice lady Catherine, and about her Father too.
To which, Vincent happily answered what he could, and what he couldn't answer, he suggested, they ask Catherine, the next time she visits.