| Sweet Dreams! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Thirty-One |
As they walked, Catherine remembered to tell Jennifer, their old friend Jimmy
said hi.
And so Catherine said, "I keep forgetting to tell you I ran into Jimmy, and he
asked all about you, and said to tell you hello."
To which Jennifer replied, "Oh really! I haven't seen him since he moved out of
the city. Where did you see him?"
Catherine not really wanting to mention she saw him when she went home to
contemplate her and Vincent's dilemma about children, and so she simply said,
"The last time I went to Dad's, he was visiting his Mom."
In a questioning tone, Jennifer asked, "And so tell me, has he gotten married
yet?"
To which Catherine thoughtfully said, "No, and I asked him if he was seeing
anyone, and he said no, and then said it was hard to find some one nice out in
the dating population. And I got to thinking about it, you know, I don't think he
ever dated anyone seriously after you two broke up! At least not that I am
aware of."
After hearing herself, she realized it was insensitive talking "girl talk" in front of
Ronald, and Vincent, so Catherine apologized, saying, "Sorry for the gossip
guys, I should change the subject, well this is some good news, Michael has
asked Brooke to be his date for our wedding."
To which Vincent teased, "So it looks like your match making efforts have been
successful..."
Defiantly, Catherine repeated, "Match making? I haven't had much to do with
their relationship at all! And besides, look who's talking!"
Looking up at Vincent, she happily reminded him, "I recall your giving Brooke
advice concerning Michael...and...you even helped her write the poem she gave
him!"
Defensibly he said, "I merely provided Brooke with some rhyming verbiage..."
Vincent then looked downward, and shamefully admitted, "And well yes...I
suppose I must agree with your insinuating assessment of my helping to direct Cupid's arrow a bit."
With a forgiving smile, Catherine said, "You are just a hopeless romantic too."
Ronald then yelled, "You both are hopeless, now take a turn pushing this cart
will ya Romeo?"
Relieved for this diversion, Vincent answered, "Gladly my friend."
As the joking settled down a bit between the four, the conversation took on a
more casual tone as Catherine said, "That's amazing you men managed to finish
Olivia's kitchenette all in one night."
Appreciating the compliment, Vincent then informatively added, "It went well
after the plumbing issues were solved."
To which Catherine surmised, "I imagine about now, Olivia is discovering her
surprise! I cannot wait to see it myself."
Informatively, Ronald laughed as he said, "Kanin said tomorrow, he figured on
giving tours!"
Vincent then said, "After we finished at Kanin and Olivia's, I enlisted Ronald's
help moving a few things from my chamber...over to ours. Anna's desk there
now. We positioned it into the reading alcove, in the far left corner adjacent to
your desk. I hope that location is to your liking Catherine?"
Smiling to herself because of Vincent sweet compliant nature, Catherine replied,
"Sounds perfect. We can do our correspondence there...together."
To which Ronald teasingly said, "I hope that is going to be the last move for
Anna's desk!"
With a slap on his friends back, Vincent assured him...it was!
As Vincent proceeded to tell Catherine about the other items he had moved in,
Ronald and Jennifer fell back, walking slowly behind them wanting a little time
alone.
He then took her hand in his, and admitted, "I must say Cathy got me thinking
with all of this Jimmy talk...so, were you two serious about one another?"
To which Jennifer sadly explained, "Yeah, he was pretty much my proverbial
First Love, and I suppose I was his. He had asked me to go steady, which my
Mom and Dad absolutely forbade. They said 16 was too young to go with one
boy, and so we had to break up."
To which Ronald seriously asked, "So do you think you and Jimmy would
have, well I don't know, maybe gotten married?"
Jennifer thoughtfully said, "I don't know Ronny...we could've dated after we
grew older, but by then, I guess I kinda changed, and had stars in my eyes for
another boy, and well, we just never did get back together."
To which Ronald inserted, "Any regrets?"
With honesty, Jennifer said, "There were times when maybe I did..."
Hesitantly, Ronald then asked, "And now hearing he is still single and asking
about you?"
Because of how she felt about Ronald, she was surprised he had to ask that
question, and so Jennifer replied, "Hearing he is single doesn't change how I feel
about you...you should know I am crazy about you. And I am sorry we got on
this subject, it is kinda rude of me to be talking about an old boyfriend."
Shaking his head, Ronald replied, "I am the one asking, its not rude to share
your past with me Jenny. I want to know all about you."
He then hesitated, before he continued, "And I have come to realize, maybe it
was time for me to share some of my thoughts with you about my life...my
thoughts for the future."
Ronald then continued, "What I am thinking is...after we complete our Pratt
sessions, I may be ready to move back into my old position at the accountant
firm. But until then...I don't feel I should ask for any kind of a formal
commitment from you...until I have something more to offer."
With understanding Jennifer replied, "There is no hurry Ronny...when you feel
ready..."
Ronald then expressively replied, "I needed to hear you are willing to be patient
with me Jenny."
He then lovingly kissed her, and they continued onward, catching up with the
talkative, "About-to-be-married" couple who had not even noticed they had
lagged behind!
As they arrived at Catherine's chamber, Jennifer expounded, "Oh I just
remembered, here's my copy of the Princess Bride you asked for Cath..."
To which Catherine thanked her friend, saying, "You remembered! Great, with
your copy, mine and Vincent's, we will be good, thanks so much Jen!"
Jennifer replied, saying Catherine was more than welcome, and as she continued
to fish around her huge purse, she finally dug out a framed picture, saying, "And
I also brought the copy of Anna's picture for Paraseltzers!"
As Vincent, Catherine and Ronald inspected the copy, they all complimented
Jennifer for doing such a great job!
Appreciating the accolades, Jennifer then quizzically asked, "How will we get it
to him?"
To which Vincent informatively replied, "I will be the one to take it to him."
Ronald quickly stated, "Not alone! I am gonna go with you."
Catherine hesitated a moment, before speaking because she knew it would most
likely cause an argument from her very protective Vincent. But finally, she
strongly added, "I am going along too."
Vincent turned to Catherine and sternly stated, "Paracelsus's lair is no place for
you!"
Catherine earnestly debated, "It was me he approached asking this favor
Vincent...and it was me he gave the stationary to. For some reason I am
wanting to go. I feel as if I should."
With a foreboding tone, Jennifer warned, "Remember what that blind lady said
at your shower...the danger was in the act of his gift giving! She told us not to
fall for any of his phony baloney! Now here you are, wanting to go visit him!"
Catherine seemingly ignored Jennifer's words of caution as she looked at the
picture of Anna, and said, "She really was beautiful...the sweetness in her
smiling eyes, clearly reveal the goodness within her heart. I understand why he
loved her...loved her so much, he requested her photograph...just so he could
look at her again..."
Astounded by the fact Catherine seemed to be so moved by this request from
Paracelsus's, Jennifer yelled, "Snap out of it Chandler! Even the Devil can
appreciate beauty."
Catherine then softened her eyes as she looked at Jennifer and said, "Don't
worry Jen, I won't fall for any of his tricks. But remember it was you, who first
reached out to him, trying to psycho analyze him! And doesn't it make you
wonder what qualities of his, Anna fell in love with? There must have been
something kind and good."
Vincent repeated the story his Father revealed to him, "It was his
experimentation with drugs that stole his soul, and fed his evilness. Any
goodness there within his heart, he chose to snuff out and destroy! We should
not forget Catherine...it was his choice to do so, not some unfortunate
happenstance."
Vincent then added, "I know his wanting Anna's photograph is very touching
and seemingly sentimental...it touches even me, however Jennifer is correct. We
must not be swayed by this, or by the affection he holds for me...the son he
considers to have been stolen away from him."
Taking in a deep breath, Catherine concurred, "I believe he does love you, and
for that fact alone is why I don't think he would harm either of us. Please allow
me to go with you Vincent."
With a questioning tone, Vincent asked, "Why do you want to go so badly?"
Catherine felt selfish to say, but felt she must tell what her true motivation was.
Helplessly she looked upward at Vincent, and then softly replied, "I guess I am
hoping one day, Paracelsus may soften his resolve enough, to reveal all he really
knows about your lineage."
To which Vincent said, "I have given up on learning anything more about my
origins, a long time ago Catherine. What difference could that make now?"
In reply, Catherine explained, "Father told me, there had been times when an
undisclosed illness would take you to the brink of death, and only by the grace
of God, you were brought back to good health. He said without knowing your
background, neither he or Peter knew how to treat you. My hope is before you
ever contract such an illness again, Paracelsus will let go of any secrets he has,
before he takes them to his grave."
She then added, "I don't want to lose an opportunity, that might help us learn
more about you...and for that, I would gladly face Paracelsus again."
Just then Paracelsus stepped from the shadows, and said, "So....you would
gladly face me again, uh Dear Girl? A dreaded deed such as that?"
The four of them turned toward him, startled by his presence, to which Vincent
instinctively, and protectively stepped in the fore-front. And so with a strong,
powerful voice, he declared, "Paracelsus!"
As Paracelsus noted the photo on the table, he picked it up, and said, "There is
nothing to fear from me Vincent...this is all I desire."
Looking down at it the photograph, he softly asked, "Who do I thank?"
To which Vincent answered, "Jennifer had the photo replicated for you."
Looking up toward her, he said, "Ahh Jennifer, please accept my gratitude."
Empowered by her love for Vincent, Catherine stepped forth and said, "You
could show your gratitude by telling us all you know about Vincent's past."
With Anna's photograph in his hands, he stepped closer, and with a rare
exhibition of compassion, he sadly shook his head, and replied, "I know nothing
more than Jacob does. Anna found Vincent...she brought him here to care for
him, and she loved him...WE ALL loved him."
He then turned and left them all stunned and silenced.
Vincent quickly walked to the threshold to see which way he had gone, but he
was no where in sight!
The others quickly joined him, and it was Ronald who asked, "Which way did
he go?"
Heaving deeply, Vincent answered, "It is as if...he had vanished back into the
shadows..."
Placing his hand on Vincent's shoulder, Ronald asked, "Did you believe him?"
Nodding before he spoke, he softly said, "Yes..."
Catherine stood back, trying to hide her anguish at this loss of hope of learning
something more about Vincent's background.
Ronald and Jennifer both saw Vincent look toward Catherine, and knew they
needed to be alone.
And so they said, a caring goodnight, and left them.
To be continued
Chapter Thirty-Two
said hi.
And so Catherine said, "I keep forgetting to tell you I ran into Jimmy, and he
asked all about you, and said to tell you hello."
To which Jennifer replied, "Oh really! I haven't seen him since he moved out of
the city. Where did you see him?"
Catherine not really wanting to mention she saw him when she went home to
contemplate her and Vincent's dilemma about children, and so she simply said,
"The last time I went to Dad's, he was visiting his Mom."
In a questioning tone, Jennifer asked, "And so tell me, has he gotten married
yet?"
To which Catherine thoughtfully said, "No, and I asked him if he was seeing
anyone, and he said no, and then said it was hard to find some one nice out in
the dating population. And I got to thinking about it, you know, I don't think he
ever dated anyone seriously after you two broke up! At least not that I am
aware of."
After hearing herself, she realized it was insensitive talking "girl talk" in front of
Ronald, and Vincent, so Catherine apologized, saying, "Sorry for the gossip
guys, I should change the subject, well this is some good news, Michael has
asked Brooke to be his date for our wedding."
To which Vincent teased, "So it looks like your match making efforts have been
successful..."
Defiantly, Catherine repeated, "Match making? I haven't had much to do with
their relationship at all! And besides, look who's talking!"
Looking up at Vincent, she happily reminded him, "I recall your giving Brooke
advice concerning Michael...and...you even helped her write the poem she gave
him!"
Defensibly he said, "I merely provided Brooke with some rhyming verbiage..."
Vincent then looked downward, and shamefully admitted, "And well yes...I
suppose I must agree with your insinuating assessment of my helping to direct Cupid's arrow a bit."
With a forgiving smile, Catherine said, "You are just a hopeless romantic too."
Ronald then yelled, "You both are hopeless, now take a turn pushing this cart
will ya Romeo?"
Relieved for this diversion, Vincent answered, "Gladly my friend."
As the joking settled down a bit between the four, the conversation took on a
more casual tone as Catherine said, "That's amazing you men managed to finish
Olivia's kitchenette all in one night."
Appreciating the compliment, Vincent then informatively added, "It went well
after the plumbing issues were solved."
To which Catherine surmised, "I imagine about now, Olivia is discovering her
surprise! I cannot wait to see it myself."
Informatively, Ronald laughed as he said, "Kanin said tomorrow, he figured on
giving tours!"
Vincent then said, "After we finished at Kanin and Olivia's, I enlisted Ronald's
help moving a few things from my chamber...over to ours. Anna's desk there
now. We positioned it into the reading alcove, in the far left corner adjacent to
your desk. I hope that location is to your liking Catherine?"
Smiling to herself because of Vincent sweet compliant nature, Catherine replied,
"Sounds perfect. We can do our correspondence there...together."
To which Ronald teasingly said, "I hope that is going to be the last move for
Anna's desk!"
With a slap on his friends back, Vincent assured him...it was!
As Vincent proceeded to tell Catherine about the other items he had moved in,
Ronald and Jennifer fell back, walking slowly behind them wanting a little time
alone.
He then took her hand in his, and admitted, "I must say Cathy got me thinking
with all of this Jimmy talk...so, were you two serious about one another?"
To which Jennifer sadly explained, "Yeah, he was pretty much my proverbial
First Love, and I suppose I was his. He had asked me to go steady, which my
Mom and Dad absolutely forbade. They said 16 was too young to go with one
boy, and so we had to break up."
To which Ronald seriously asked, "So do you think you and Jimmy would
have, well I don't know, maybe gotten married?"
Jennifer thoughtfully said, "I don't know Ronny...we could've dated after we
grew older, but by then, I guess I kinda changed, and had stars in my eyes for
another boy, and well, we just never did get back together."
To which Ronald inserted, "Any regrets?"
With honesty, Jennifer said, "There were times when maybe I did..."
Hesitantly, Ronald then asked, "And now hearing he is still single and asking
about you?"
Because of how she felt about Ronald, she was surprised he had to ask that
question, and so Jennifer replied, "Hearing he is single doesn't change how I feel
about you...you should know I am crazy about you. And I am sorry we got on
this subject, it is kinda rude of me to be talking about an old boyfriend."
Shaking his head, Ronald replied, "I am the one asking, its not rude to share
your past with me Jenny. I want to know all about you."
He then hesitated, before he continued, "And I have come to realize, maybe it
was time for me to share some of my thoughts with you about my life...my
thoughts for the future."
Ronald then continued, "What I am thinking is...after we complete our Pratt
sessions, I may be ready to move back into my old position at the accountant
firm. But until then...I don't feel I should ask for any kind of a formal
commitment from you...until I have something more to offer."
With understanding Jennifer replied, "There is no hurry Ronny...when you feel
ready..."
Ronald then expressively replied, "I needed to hear you are willing to be patient
with me Jenny."
He then lovingly kissed her, and they continued onward, catching up with the
talkative, "About-to-be-married" couple who had not even noticed they had
lagged behind!
As they arrived at Catherine's chamber, Jennifer expounded, "Oh I just
remembered, here's my copy of the Princess Bride you asked for Cath..."
To which Catherine thanked her friend, saying, "You remembered! Great, with
your copy, mine and Vincent's, we will be good, thanks so much Jen!"
Jennifer replied, saying Catherine was more than welcome, and as she continued
to fish around her huge purse, she finally dug out a framed picture, saying, "And
I also brought the copy of Anna's picture for Paraseltzers!"
As Vincent, Catherine and Ronald inspected the copy, they all complimented
Jennifer for doing such a great job!
Appreciating the accolades, Jennifer then quizzically asked, "How will we get it
to him?"
To which Vincent informatively replied, "I will be the one to take it to him."
Ronald quickly stated, "Not alone! I am gonna go with you."
Catherine hesitated a moment, before speaking because she knew it would most
likely cause an argument from her very protective Vincent. But finally, she
strongly added, "I am going along too."
Vincent turned to Catherine and sternly stated, "Paracelsus's lair is no place for
you!"
Catherine earnestly debated, "It was me he approached asking this favor
Vincent...and it was me he gave the stationary to. For some reason I am
wanting to go. I feel as if I should."
With a foreboding tone, Jennifer warned, "Remember what that blind lady said
at your shower...the danger was in the act of his gift giving! She told us not to
fall for any of his phony baloney! Now here you are, wanting to go visit him!"
Catherine seemingly ignored Jennifer's words of caution as she looked at the
picture of Anna, and said, "She really was beautiful...the sweetness in her
smiling eyes, clearly reveal the goodness within her heart. I understand why he
loved her...loved her so much, he requested her photograph...just so he could
look at her again..."
Astounded by the fact Catherine seemed to be so moved by this request from
Paracelsus's, Jennifer yelled, "Snap out of it Chandler! Even the Devil can
appreciate beauty."
Catherine then softened her eyes as she looked at Jennifer and said, "Don't
worry Jen, I won't fall for any of his tricks. But remember it was you, who first
reached out to him, trying to psycho analyze him! And doesn't it make you
wonder what qualities of his, Anna fell in love with? There must have been
something kind and good."
Vincent repeated the story his Father revealed to him, "It was his
experimentation with drugs that stole his soul, and fed his evilness. Any
goodness there within his heart, he chose to snuff out and destroy! We should
not forget Catherine...it was his choice to do so, not some unfortunate
happenstance."
Vincent then added, "I know his wanting Anna's photograph is very touching
and seemingly sentimental...it touches even me, however Jennifer is correct. We
must not be swayed by this, or by the affection he holds for me...the son he
considers to have been stolen away from him."
Taking in a deep breath, Catherine concurred, "I believe he does love you, and
for that fact alone is why I don't think he would harm either of us. Please allow
me to go with you Vincent."
With a questioning tone, Vincent asked, "Why do you want to go so badly?"
Catherine felt selfish to say, but felt she must tell what her true motivation was.
Helplessly she looked upward at Vincent, and then softly replied, "I guess I am
hoping one day, Paracelsus may soften his resolve enough, to reveal all he really
knows about your lineage."
To which Vincent said, "I have given up on learning anything more about my
origins, a long time ago Catherine. What difference could that make now?"
In reply, Catherine explained, "Father told me, there had been times when an
undisclosed illness would take you to the brink of death, and only by the grace
of God, you were brought back to good health. He said without knowing your
background, neither he or Peter knew how to treat you. My hope is before you
ever contract such an illness again, Paracelsus will let go of any secrets he has,
before he takes them to his grave."
She then added, "I don't want to lose an opportunity, that might help us learn
more about you...and for that, I would gladly face Paracelsus again."
Just then Paracelsus stepped from the shadows, and said, "So....you would
gladly face me again, uh Dear Girl? A dreaded deed such as that?"
The four of them turned toward him, startled by his presence, to which Vincent
instinctively, and protectively stepped in the fore-front. And so with a strong,
powerful voice, he declared, "Paracelsus!"
As Paracelsus noted the photo on the table, he picked it up, and said, "There is
nothing to fear from me Vincent...this is all I desire."
Looking down at it the photograph, he softly asked, "Who do I thank?"
To which Vincent answered, "Jennifer had the photo replicated for you."
Looking up toward her, he said, "Ahh Jennifer, please accept my gratitude."
Empowered by her love for Vincent, Catherine stepped forth and said, "You
could show your gratitude by telling us all you know about Vincent's past."
With Anna's photograph in his hands, he stepped closer, and with a rare
exhibition of compassion, he sadly shook his head, and replied, "I know nothing
more than Jacob does. Anna found Vincent...she brought him here to care for
him, and she loved him...WE ALL loved him."
He then turned and left them all stunned and silenced.
Vincent quickly walked to the threshold to see which way he had gone, but he
was no where in sight!
The others quickly joined him, and it was Ronald who asked, "Which way did
he go?"
Heaving deeply, Vincent answered, "It is as if...he had vanished back into the
shadows..."
Placing his hand on Vincent's shoulder, Ronald asked, "Did you believe him?"
Nodding before he spoke, he softly said, "Yes..."
Catherine stood back, trying to hide her anguish at this loss of hope of learning
something more about Vincent's background.
Ronald and Jennifer both saw Vincent look toward Catherine, and knew they
needed to be alone.
And so they said, a caring goodnight, and left them.
To be continued
Chapter Thirty-Two
