And so after accepting the state of his fine keepsake, Vincent stepped away from the broken snow globe, and asked, "I am assuming you have finished helping Mary wind the yarn?"
To which Jacob answered, "Yes, just now..."
And then Jacob continued in wonderment, "...such a giving woman she is Vincent! Always thinking of others...never wanting anything for herself."
With a tone of nonchalance, Vincent noted, "This is nothing new Father. Mary has always been a selfless person."
Knowing this was so, Jacob thoughtfully responded, "I know, however lately, her kindness has struck me...struck me anew quite deeply."
Excitedly Jacob continued, "Which brings me to say, this Christmas, I want to give Mary something special...very special. As soon as I come up with an idea, I may be enlisting your help."
Happily Vincent replied, "Let me know Father, and I will be more than pleased to aid in the project."
With a determined look, Jacob happily said, "I shall."
And then hesitantly, Vincent asked, "Since we are speaking of Mary..."
To which Jacob acknowledged, asking, "Yes...something more you wish to add?"
With a pondering tip of his head, Vincent asked, "I only wondered if when you were with Mary, if you had mentioned you will be seeing Jessica tomorrow..."
To which Jacob admittedly said, "I suppose I should have been able to mention it...however it didn't seem right to. We were having such a lovely time. And if truth be told, I was hoping to slip in and out of the tunnels, without too much fan fare. So I thought why even mention it!"
As Vincent evaluated his Father's judgment on this matter, he himself did favor being more forthcoming with Mary, over the sneaky option his father preferred. However, because Vincent did not want to be accused of delving again, he simply said, "I am not sure if that is a very realistic approach, since news seems to travel quite quickly here..."
With a scratch to his chin, Jacob knew Vincent was right, but ended the conversation by saying, "If the subject comes up, I will tell Mary of my plans."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the theater-goers filed out into the wintry night, excitedly raving about the wonderful performances! And as they shivered in the cold, they waited their turn to flag down the next taxi.
To which Steven then eagerly said, "My Limo is right over there. Let me give you a ride home. It is the least I can do since you treated me to the play Charles."
And because being beholden to Steven was the last thing Catherine wanted, she quickly replied, "No thank you, we will be taking a Taxi."
Catherine's precise reply refusing a ride, caused Steven to expound, "That is crazy! Why would you want to wait for a taxi in this weather? Not to mention in the limo, you could be riding in style!"
To which Catherine in trying to keep a light hearted tone, answered, "Taking a Taxi is part of THE authentic New York experience. SO, no thanks Steven we are taking a taxi!"
Still trying to coax, Steven then in a take charge manner said, "You don't know what you are talking about! A limo is the way to go! Come on everyone, I will NOT take no for an answer!"
Looking up at Steven, Catherine more sternly said, "I am afraid you have to take no for an answer...as I have told you, we WANT to take a TAXI!"
Realizing he let his guard down and was pushing again, Steven then feigned humility as he said, "Of course Cathy...of course...ahem, well thanks again Charles, and..."
With a child like desperate plea, Steven tried to gain sympathy as he asked, "...will I...will I be hearing from you tomorrow Cathy? I still have so much to tell you about my trip..."
To which Catherine seemed to have no choice at the moment but to say she would be calling him. And so she curtly answered, "Yes, as I promised. Goodnight Steven."
And so after getting the answer he pushed for, Steven finally said, "Well good night everyone...and nice meeting you Gertrude and Robert."
Steven then stepped into his waiting limo, and off he went. And so with widened eyes, Charles turned to his daughter and asked, "What was that all about! I thought you and Steven were buds again!"
To which Catherine sighed, and with a frustration, she said, "I haven't had the chance to tell you what's been going on Dad. These past few days, I have been seeing a different side to Steven...his old familiar irate pushy, and angry side has re-emerged, and he has been quite demanding about sharing time with me lately. So I am just trying to distance myself from him...I will still help with any medical appointments and such but that will be it! AND for the record...it was no coincidence he happened by here tonight just as we arrived."
To which Charles apologized, and said, "Wow, had I known, I wouldn't have spoken up with the invitation to join us...sorry about that kiddo."
With a sigh, Catherine assured her Dad, "You didn't know, and that was really nice of you to give him the ticket, but even if you hadn't, Steven would have been in that Theater! I saw he had a ticket of his own...already peeking out of his pocket!"
With that being said, Jennifer spewed, "So running into us was all planned, well I wondered where he would have been shopping around here! And I called him out too."
With a nod, Catherine praised her pal, saying, "Yes, you did Jen!"
And then as she let out a shiver, Jennifer pouted, and whimpered, "Darn, why does he have to be a stinker? It would have been fun to ride in a Limousine!"
To which Catherine apologetically said, "I know it would have been nice, and I am sorry everyone, I just cannot accept anything from him, if I do, he will use that to manipulate me later on."
Charles nodded in agreement, and said, "You are right Cathy...knowing the old Steven as he was, he most certainly would do that."
To which Gertrude supportingly expressed, "You did the right thing Cathy."
And then Jennifer added, "Yeah, and we really do need to suffer a Taxi for the entire New York City experience...I guess..."
In an effort to lighten the conversation a bit, Robert jokingly said, "Ah to Taxi, or not to Taxi that WAS the question!"
They all laughed at Robert's corny joke, and then Charles said, "Well, it looks like it IS to Taxi! Speaking of which, let's hail one, and hit some after Theater hot spot!"
Just then another Limo rolled up, and out stepped Jessica, and she cheerfully said, "There you are! We never saw you in the theater and thought we missed you!"
Jessica nodded back to her ride, where Sylvia and Evelyn were waving out of the open windows, and then offered, "We are going to Sardi's, won't you join us? There's plenty of room to ride together."
After hearing Jessica's generous offer, Catherine's bunch all looked pleadingly to her for permission to accept!
And as Catherine looked all around back at them, she excitedly asked, "What are you all looking at me for? Let's go!"
To which Gertrude squealed, "A limo ride to Sardi's! Oh my! This night just could NOT get any better!"
Happily they were all giggling as they hopped in, and headed for the iconic Sardi's at 234 West, 44th Street, which is nestled in the Theater District.
As Charles started to introduce everyone to the three ladies, he then said, "Oh my, I forgot! Everyone met this afternoon."
To which they all chuckled as Jennifer said, "Yes we literally bumped into them earlier today."
Charles then gleefully said, "Well since we are all acquainted, this makes it all the nicer then. And may I say, Sardi's is a great place to choose Jessica, not only does it have all the caricatures, which the kids will get a kick out of, but a most delicious Jumbo Lump Crabcake."
Jessica smiled and said, "Yes, it is one of my favorite haunts...and Vincent Jr. is a dear old friend of mine."
As they stepped inside the Restaurant, Jessica's group was treated like royalty as they were immediately seated in a cozy corner booth, and served some Homemade Mozzarella, with Vine-Ripened Tomato and Basil, Parma Prosciutto and Melon, Bruschetta, Prosciutto and Melon; Asparagus Rolled in Smoked Salmon; Roasted Bell Peppers, and last but not least, the Jumbo Lump Crabcake!
Yes indeed, they had a wonderful time in this quaint place, making a perfect end to an exciting night.
Meanwhile, as Catherine spoke with Robert, Gertrude and Jennifer about the play, she looked over at her Dad, who seemed quite happy sitting with these three charming ladies, Evelyn, Jessica and Sylvia, exchanging light hearted conversation, chuckles and smiles.
Meanwhile, since Jennifer was sleeping over at Catherine's too, Catherine and her gang made plans to watch a movie when they got home, and then upon realizing their choice should be something Robert would like too, Catherine said, "Awe wait a minute girls, maybe we should let Robby choose."
To which Robert informatively said, "Oh I forgot to tell you, I am staying at Uncle Charles'. He invited me to stay while you girls were getting ready for the play."
Upon hearing the conversation between the younger bunch, Charles inserted, "Yeah, I figured us guys can hang out together...Robby had expressed some interest in checking out the World War II documentary that is going to be on later tonight."
To which Gertrude mentioned, "How great of you Uncle Charley, Robert was disappointed he was going to miss it."
In reply, Charles told his niece, "Great of me? Are you kidding, finally I will have some one to kibitz with, someone who speaks my language."
Excitedly, Robert added, "Yes, and lucky for me, Uncle Charles is quite knowledgeable about the history and facts as well...AND the special will be highlighting the strategies of the battleship warfare, and so it should be riveting viewing...no pun intended..."
Wanting to make sure everyone got, what he considered to be a very clever comment, Robert asked, "...riveting get it? Ships have rivets...riveting viewing..."
In an effort to stifle her cornball brother, Gertrude giggled as she said, "We got it Robert, we got it!"
Everyone laughed at the Brother and Sister routine, and then Catherine suggested, "Well, how about if we pick you two up for breakfast, and then we can gather up all of our things we left in my room, at the same time."
With a nod, Charles replied, "Sounds like a great plan."
And then wanting to include the ladies, Catherine asked, "If you haven't any plans for breakfast, would you like to join us? I thought if would be fun to go to Cafe Lalo."
As the three lovelies looked to one another, they all smiled in agreement, saying they would love to!
Then as a thought struck Charles, he said he would call and invite Peter as well.
So because Sylvia like that, she compliantly said, "How nice, I hope he is able to meet us."
As the amiable group all agreed, they continued to enjoy the great food, as they critiqued the caricatures.
So because the hour was quite late, everyone concurred it was time to call it a night, and readied themselves to leave.
Upon which Jessica's driver delivered Charles and Robert home first, and when they saw his Christmas display, the ladies all commented on how festively beautiful it was, and then said what a lovely home he had as well.
To which with a nod, Charles said thank you, and said, "Yes its been a great bunk house."
With a humble sweetness, Evelyn mentioned, "Perhaps you could give me, or rather us a tour of your home sometime Charles..."
Feeling charmed by this very nice pleasant lady, Charles responded, "It would be my honor..."
Upon witnessing this exchange, Catherine, Jennifer and Gertrude exchanged subtle smiles, and then as Charles cleared his throat, he said he would be looking forward to breakfast in the morning, Charles then turned to include everyone, as he said, "Well good night."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Vincent closed his book, and looked over at the falling waters, as he sat alone in the Chamber of the Falls, and thought how much he wished Catherine was with him, because he missed her very much.
Preparing to head back to the tunnel main, he reflected on his lonesome evening, and realized it was how he used to spend all of his evenings...alone, in reflective solitude.
And then a thought struck him, and as the idea appealed to him more and more, his gait quickened, as he was now committed to go above into the city, to hopefully catch a glimpse of his Catherine.
As Vincent stopped by his chamber for his cloak, he passed by Jacob, who with concern asked, "Going out? I thought Catherine had plans."
And because Vincent was in a hurry, he expelled an exasperated breath as he admitted, "She has Father...however, I want to see Catherine enters her apartment safely."
To which Jacob queried, "Hasn't Catherine a doorman at the entrance?"
Conceding this fact, Vincent then explained, "With the muggings going on, I just want to be near-by, upon Catherine's arrival home."
To which Jacob helplessly sighed, "Very well then Vincent...go with care."
Vincent then lovingly kissed his Father's cheek, as he said, "I shall."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Jessica's limo traveled the snow covered streets, back into Manhattan, and the group of people it carried, talked about the festive decorated city, and of how exciting it was being there this time of year.
The out-of-towners were especially excited, and Sylvia, Evelyn, and Gertrude just could not get over how beautiful the city was!
As they arrived at Catherine's apartment building, the girls climbed out of the limo, and they thanked Jessica for the fun limo ride! Then they confirmed once more, they were going to meet for breakfast at the Cafe Lalo in the morning.
And so as they rushed through the snowy cold night toward the entrance, Catherine suddenly stopped in her tracks as her heart began to pound, and she searchingly looked to the shadows. And for only her to see, Vincent stepped forward to a single beam of light, to share a look with his Catherine.
Upon seeing Vincent was there, Catherine sweetly smiled, as she subtly acknowledged his presence.
And because Catherine had stopped, Jennifer looked back at her friend, wondering if something was wrong! And then curiously Jennifer looked in the same direction Catherine was looking, but because Vincent stealthily stepped back into the darkness, Jennifer didn't see anything. And so she quizzically asked, "What are you looking at?"
To which in response, Catherine looked at her friend, and warmly said, "Only at the night Jen...the beautiful, beautiful spirit of the night..."
To which in reply, Jennifer jokingly said, "Oh is that all? For a minute there I thought you spotted the Phantom!"
Jennifer then grabbed Catherine's arm, and said, "Come on you nut, it's cold out here!" And then they ran to catch up with Gertrude.
But Catherine held back long enough, to smile into the darkened shadows one last time, and whispered, "Good night Vincent..."
Satisfied Catherine was safely inside, and feeling so grateful he was there in time to have shared this one swift moment with her, Vincent stood thoughtful before he turned to leave.
But then, before he left, another limo come speeding to a screeching stop! And mysteriously, the back darkened window slid down, as if the occupant was waiting to talk to someone...but who? There was no one around but Vincent himself!
And it was then, from behind a city street sign, a guy came running up to the waiting limo.
And because of how this guy was dressed, Vincent recognized him! He was the one who had mugged both Catherine and Jennifer!
Meantime, the guy sitting in the back seat, opened the car door and gruffly told the mugger, "Get in! And you better not be empty handed again tonight!"
Upon hearing this exchange, Vincent knew it sounded shady, and also thought the man sitting in the back seat sounded familiar too!
Yes, Vincent was sure he recognized his voice! But from where?
Then it struck him...it was when he was at Pai's restaurant, sitting in the Sonata Room that he had heard this voice! And so, as Vincent thought more about it, he was positive, it was Catherine's friend Steven!
And from what Vincent could discern, the mugger acted subservient to Steven, as if he worked for him! And so he wondered, was Steven the ring leader to the muggers, who were mugging everyone in the city?
And as he stood contemplating, before he knew it, the limo sped away!
Stunned by what he had just witnessed, Vincent knew he had to let Catherine know as soon as possible...but since she had guests, he could not go see her now, and would have to wait until tomorrow! But because the span of time seemed so great, he decided to send a message via a helper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon entering Catherine's cozy apartment, the girl's changed out of their dresses, into their pj's, and warmed up with some Hot Chocolate!
As they sat sipping from their mugs, they talked about how wonderful the day had been! Shopping, lunching, sightseeing, dinner ala Willie, the Theater, and then taking a limo to Sardi's afterwards. The only downer was that Steven showed up! And because Gertrude didn't know about the recent developments as yet, both Catherine and Jennifer filled her in.
And so after a little more chit chat, they went through Catherine's VHS selection to pick out their movie. And without question, they all agreed on the movie "All that Heaven Allows".
A strangely compelling camp-fest movie, with the annoyingly unusual, yet delightful pairing of Jane Wyman, and Rock Hudson. It was a great old campy movie, of which they all three dearly loved.
And so as Jennifer and Gertrude set up the movie, Catherine popped some popcorn, and along with the baked goods from earlier, they had plenty to snack on. So as they watched and critiqued, they munched their way through the movie, and as the closing credits rolled, Catherine sighed as she said, "Well there you have it, proof that love is blind."
To which Jennifer added, "Yes, Rock Hudson, proved love was blind all right! Blind to Jane's really, really bad hair-do!"
The girls all laughed, but then Gertrude stuck up for Jane as she argued, "Well, Jane was the one who had to fight for their love! I mean she was the one who suffered the social injustice from her friends and from her own children! I guess it was because she was the one who had all the money, and because she was an older women."
With a nod, Catherine agreed, and said, "Yes...it may have taken the accident to help her come around, but in the end, it was really because of Jane's bravery, that she was able to face love head on, and they lived happily ever after."
To which Jennifer added, "And because she did, she ended up with the town's stud muffin!"
The girls all laughed, and then turning serious, Gertrude too said, "Yes...their love survived every test you could throw at it...just as it should...I guess we really do need to follow our heart, like Jane finally did in the end uh?"
Knowing Gertrude was really referring to her own situation with her secret crush, Catherine took in Gertrude's attention, and soundly said, "Yes...sometimes we really do need to follow our heart, and see where it leads us."
With a thankful nod, Gertrude thoughtfully said, "Yes...maybe we do..."
And so it was Gertrude who offered, "Let's clean up these dishes uh?"
To which because she knew they were all pretty tired, Catherine suggested, "Let's get it all in the morning...I think we are all pretty tired."
As they all agreed, and decided it was time to turn in, they settled into their spots. Jennifer nestled in on the sofa, and Gertrude and Catherine shared her bed, like old times, when they were young girls.
And it was at this time, with the lights low, and everyone was ready to retire, that the Helper, Vincent had sent, slipped his note warning Catherine about Steven under the door. Sadly, it would not be seen until morning...at least we hope it will be! After-all, what could go wrong?
So meantime, as they lay in the darkness talking, Jennifer soon drifted off to sleep, and the two cousins continued to talk for a while longer.
Talking once more about their childhood, the conversation rolled around to their dolls they loved so much. And so Gertrude asked if she could see Catherine's doll, Mandy, which was a best friend to her doll Becky.
To which Catherine happily said yes, and then hopped out of the bed, and knelt at her hope chest, to open the lid. And then brought out her carefully wrapped doll.
Catherine took her doll back to the bed to show Gertrude, to which she tearfully said, "Oh Cathy, seeing Mandy takes me back...I miss Aunt Caroline so much..."
Catherine with emotion agreed, and in comforting her cousin, she said "I know...Mom's death affected all of us, and when she died...everything changed...but at least we have our wonderful memories of her..."
As Gertrude smoothed Mandy's hair, she nodded in agreement, and then said, "You know, I think it was because of your Mom we were spoiled so rotten...when ever we talk about those days, Mom will admit that Aunt Caroline's enthusiasm and joy for Christmas was contagious and made it all so much fun. And she laughs about the ideas your Mom would come up with for us. They would shop and shop for just the right item, depending on the phase we were in."
And then through her tears, Catherine laughed as she said, "You know though, I think our Mom's enjoyed playing with our presents as much as we did."
Gertrude laughed too, and as she blew her nose, she replied, "I believe you are right!"
Catherine smiled as she suggested, "Well, I guess we better try to get some sleep, uh? Look at the time!"
To which Gertrude said, "Oh my, I guess we better."
Gertrude then handed Mandy back, and after Catherine swaddled her in to her blanket, she tucked her safe and soundly back into her hope chest, along side of her other precious keepsakes.
To be continued
Chapter Sixteen
To which Jacob answered, "Yes, just now..."
And then Jacob continued in wonderment, "...such a giving woman she is Vincent! Always thinking of others...never wanting anything for herself."
With a tone of nonchalance, Vincent noted, "This is nothing new Father. Mary has always been a selfless person."
Knowing this was so, Jacob thoughtfully responded, "I know, however lately, her kindness has struck me...struck me anew quite deeply."
Excitedly Jacob continued, "Which brings me to say, this Christmas, I want to give Mary something special...very special. As soon as I come up with an idea, I may be enlisting your help."
Happily Vincent replied, "Let me know Father, and I will be more than pleased to aid in the project."
With a determined look, Jacob happily said, "I shall."
And then hesitantly, Vincent asked, "Since we are speaking of Mary..."
To which Jacob acknowledged, asking, "Yes...something more you wish to add?"
With a pondering tip of his head, Vincent asked, "I only wondered if when you were with Mary, if you had mentioned you will be seeing Jessica tomorrow..."
To which Jacob admittedly said, "I suppose I should have been able to mention it...however it didn't seem right to. We were having such a lovely time. And if truth be told, I was hoping to slip in and out of the tunnels, without too much fan fare. So I thought why even mention it!"
As Vincent evaluated his Father's judgment on this matter, he himself did favor being more forthcoming with Mary, over the sneaky option his father preferred. However, because Vincent did not want to be accused of delving again, he simply said, "I am not sure if that is a very realistic approach, since news seems to travel quite quickly here..."
With a scratch to his chin, Jacob knew Vincent was right, but ended the conversation by saying, "If the subject comes up, I will tell Mary of my plans."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the theater-goers filed out into the wintry night, excitedly raving about the wonderful performances! And as they shivered in the cold, they waited their turn to flag down the next taxi.
To which Steven then eagerly said, "My Limo is right over there. Let me give you a ride home. It is the least I can do since you treated me to the play Charles."
And because being beholden to Steven was the last thing Catherine wanted, she quickly replied, "No thank you, we will be taking a Taxi."
Catherine's precise reply refusing a ride, caused Steven to expound, "That is crazy! Why would you want to wait for a taxi in this weather? Not to mention in the limo, you could be riding in style!"
To which Catherine in trying to keep a light hearted tone, answered, "Taking a Taxi is part of THE authentic New York experience. SO, no thanks Steven we are taking a taxi!"
Still trying to coax, Steven then in a take charge manner said, "You don't know what you are talking about! A limo is the way to go! Come on everyone, I will NOT take no for an answer!"
Looking up at Steven, Catherine more sternly said, "I am afraid you have to take no for an answer...as I have told you, we WANT to take a TAXI!"
Realizing he let his guard down and was pushing again, Steven then feigned humility as he said, "Of course Cathy...of course...ahem, well thanks again Charles, and..."
With a child like desperate plea, Steven tried to gain sympathy as he asked, "...will I...will I be hearing from you tomorrow Cathy? I still have so much to tell you about my trip..."
To which Catherine seemed to have no choice at the moment but to say she would be calling him. And so she curtly answered, "Yes, as I promised. Goodnight Steven."
And so after getting the answer he pushed for, Steven finally said, "Well good night everyone...and nice meeting you Gertrude and Robert."
Steven then stepped into his waiting limo, and off he went. And so with widened eyes, Charles turned to his daughter and asked, "What was that all about! I thought you and Steven were buds again!"
To which Catherine sighed, and with a frustration, she said, "I haven't had the chance to tell you what's been going on Dad. These past few days, I have been seeing a different side to Steven...his old familiar irate pushy, and angry side has re-emerged, and he has been quite demanding about sharing time with me lately. So I am just trying to distance myself from him...I will still help with any medical appointments and such but that will be it! AND for the record...it was no coincidence he happened by here tonight just as we arrived."
To which Charles apologized, and said, "Wow, had I known, I wouldn't have spoken up with the invitation to join us...sorry about that kiddo."
With a sigh, Catherine assured her Dad, "You didn't know, and that was really nice of you to give him the ticket, but even if you hadn't, Steven would have been in that Theater! I saw he had a ticket of his own...already peeking out of his pocket!"
With that being said, Jennifer spewed, "So running into us was all planned, well I wondered where he would have been shopping around here! And I called him out too."
With a nod, Catherine praised her pal, saying, "Yes, you did Jen!"
And then as she let out a shiver, Jennifer pouted, and whimpered, "Darn, why does he have to be a stinker? It would have been fun to ride in a Limousine!"
To which Catherine apologetically said, "I know it would have been nice, and I am sorry everyone, I just cannot accept anything from him, if I do, he will use that to manipulate me later on."
Charles nodded in agreement, and said, "You are right Cathy...knowing the old Steven as he was, he most certainly would do that."
To which Gertrude supportingly expressed, "You did the right thing Cathy."
And then Jennifer added, "Yeah, and we really do need to suffer a Taxi for the entire New York City experience...I guess..."
In an effort to lighten the conversation a bit, Robert jokingly said, "Ah to Taxi, or not to Taxi that WAS the question!"
They all laughed at Robert's corny joke, and then Charles said, "Well, it looks like it IS to Taxi! Speaking of which, let's hail one, and hit some after Theater hot spot!"
Just then another Limo rolled up, and out stepped Jessica, and she cheerfully said, "There you are! We never saw you in the theater and thought we missed you!"
Jessica nodded back to her ride, where Sylvia and Evelyn were waving out of the open windows, and then offered, "We are going to Sardi's, won't you join us? There's plenty of room to ride together."
After hearing Jessica's generous offer, Catherine's bunch all looked pleadingly to her for permission to accept!
And as Catherine looked all around back at them, she excitedly asked, "What are you all looking at me for? Let's go!"
To which Gertrude squealed, "A limo ride to Sardi's! Oh my! This night just could NOT get any better!"
Happily they were all giggling as they hopped in, and headed for the iconic Sardi's at 234 West, 44th Street, which is nestled in the Theater District.
As Charles started to introduce everyone to the three ladies, he then said, "Oh my, I forgot! Everyone met this afternoon."
To which they all chuckled as Jennifer said, "Yes we literally bumped into them earlier today."
Charles then gleefully said, "Well since we are all acquainted, this makes it all the nicer then. And may I say, Sardi's is a great place to choose Jessica, not only does it have all the caricatures, which the kids will get a kick out of, but a most delicious Jumbo Lump Crabcake."
Jessica smiled and said, "Yes, it is one of my favorite haunts...and Vincent Jr. is a dear old friend of mine."
As they stepped inside the Restaurant, Jessica's group was treated like royalty as they were immediately seated in a cozy corner booth, and served some Homemade Mozzarella, with Vine-Ripened Tomato and Basil, Parma Prosciutto and Melon, Bruschetta, Prosciutto and Melon; Asparagus Rolled in Smoked Salmon; Roasted Bell Peppers, and last but not least, the Jumbo Lump Crabcake!
Yes indeed, they had a wonderful time in this quaint place, making a perfect end to an exciting night.
Meanwhile, as Catherine spoke with Robert, Gertrude and Jennifer about the play, she looked over at her Dad, who seemed quite happy sitting with these three charming ladies, Evelyn, Jessica and Sylvia, exchanging light hearted conversation, chuckles and smiles.
Meanwhile, since Jennifer was sleeping over at Catherine's too, Catherine and her gang made plans to watch a movie when they got home, and then upon realizing their choice should be something Robert would like too, Catherine said, "Awe wait a minute girls, maybe we should let Robby choose."
To which Robert informatively said, "Oh I forgot to tell you, I am staying at Uncle Charles'. He invited me to stay while you girls were getting ready for the play."
Upon hearing the conversation between the younger bunch, Charles inserted, "Yeah, I figured us guys can hang out together...Robby had expressed some interest in checking out the World War II documentary that is going to be on later tonight."
To which Gertrude mentioned, "How great of you Uncle Charley, Robert was disappointed he was going to miss it."
In reply, Charles told his niece, "Great of me? Are you kidding, finally I will have some one to kibitz with, someone who speaks my language."
Excitedly, Robert added, "Yes, and lucky for me, Uncle Charles is quite knowledgeable about the history and facts as well...AND the special will be highlighting the strategies of the battleship warfare, and so it should be riveting viewing...no pun intended..."
Wanting to make sure everyone got, what he considered to be a very clever comment, Robert asked, "...riveting get it? Ships have rivets...riveting viewing..."
In an effort to stifle her cornball brother, Gertrude giggled as she said, "We got it Robert, we got it!"
Everyone laughed at the Brother and Sister routine, and then Catherine suggested, "Well, how about if we pick you two up for breakfast, and then we can gather up all of our things we left in my room, at the same time."
With a nod, Charles replied, "Sounds like a great plan."
And then wanting to include the ladies, Catherine asked, "If you haven't any plans for breakfast, would you like to join us? I thought if would be fun to go to Cafe Lalo."
As the three lovelies looked to one another, they all smiled in agreement, saying they would love to!
Then as a thought struck Charles, he said he would call and invite Peter as well.
So because Sylvia like that, she compliantly said, "How nice, I hope he is able to meet us."
As the amiable group all agreed, they continued to enjoy the great food, as they critiqued the caricatures.
So because the hour was quite late, everyone concurred it was time to call it a night, and readied themselves to leave.
Upon which Jessica's driver delivered Charles and Robert home first, and when they saw his Christmas display, the ladies all commented on how festively beautiful it was, and then said what a lovely home he had as well.
To which with a nod, Charles said thank you, and said, "Yes its been a great bunk house."
With a humble sweetness, Evelyn mentioned, "Perhaps you could give me, or rather us a tour of your home sometime Charles..."
Feeling charmed by this very nice pleasant lady, Charles responded, "It would be my honor..."
Upon witnessing this exchange, Catherine, Jennifer and Gertrude exchanged subtle smiles, and then as Charles cleared his throat, he said he would be looking forward to breakfast in the morning, Charles then turned to include everyone, as he said, "Well good night."
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Meanwhile, Vincent closed his book, and looked over at the falling waters, as he sat alone in the Chamber of the Falls, and thought how much he wished Catherine was with him, because he missed her very much.
Preparing to head back to the tunnel main, he reflected on his lonesome evening, and realized it was how he used to spend all of his evenings...alone, in reflective solitude.
And then a thought struck him, and as the idea appealed to him more and more, his gait quickened, as he was now committed to go above into the city, to hopefully catch a glimpse of his Catherine.
As Vincent stopped by his chamber for his cloak, he passed by Jacob, who with concern asked, "Going out? I thought Catherine had plans."
And because Vincent was in a hurry, he expelled an exasperated breath as he admitted, "She has Father...however, I want to see Catherine enters her apartment safely."
To which Jacob queried, "Hasn't Catherine a doorman at the entrance?"
Conceding this fact, Vincent then explained, "With the muggings going on, I just want to be near-by, upon Catherine's arrival home."
To which Jacob helplessly sighed, "Very well then Vincent...go with care."
Vincent then lovingly kissed his Father's cheek, as he said, "I shall."
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Meanwhile, Jessica's limo traveled the snow covered streets, back into Manhattan, and the group of people it carried, talked about the festive decorated city, and of how exciting it was being there this time of year.
The out-of-towners were especially excited, and Sylvia, Evelyn, and Gertrude just could not get over how beautiful the city was!
As they arrived at Catherine's apartment building, the girls climbed out of the limo, and they thanked Jessica for the fun limo ride! Then they confirmed once more, they were going to meet for breakfast at the Cafe Lalo in the morning.
And so as they rushed through the snowy cold night toward the entrance, Catherine suddenly stopped in her tracks as her heart began to pound, and she searchingly looked to the shadows. And for only her to see, Vincent stepped forward to a single beam of light, to share a look with his Catherine.
Upon seeing Vincent was there, Catherine sweetly smiled, as she subtly acknowledged his presence.
And because Catherine had stopped, Jennifer looked back at her friend, wondering if something was wrong! And then curiously Jennifer looked in the same direction Catherine was looking, but because Vincent stealthily stepped back into the darkness, Jennifer didn't see anything. And so she quizzically asked, "What are you looking at?"
To which in response, Catherine looked at her friend, and warmly said, "Only at the night Jen...the beautiful, beautiful spirit of the night..."
To which in reply, Jennifer jokingly said, "Oh is that all? For a minute there I thought you spotted the Phantom!"
Jennifer then grabbed Catherine's arm, and said, "Come on you nut, it's cold out here!" And then they ran to catch up with Gertrude.
But Catherine held back long enough, to smile into the darkened shadows one last time, and whispered, "Good night Vincent..."
Satisfied Catherine was safely inside, and feeling so grateful he was there in time to have shared this one swift moment with her, Vincent stood thoughtful before he turned to leave.
But then, before he left, another limo come speeding to a screeching stop! And mysteriously, the back darkened window slid down, as if the occupant was waiting to talk to someone...but who? There was no one around but Vincent himself!
And it was then, from behind a city street sign, a guy came running up to the waiting limo.
And because of how this guy was dressed, Vincent recognized him! He was the one who had mugged both Catherine and Jennifer!
Meantime, the guy sitting in the back seat, opened the car door and gruffly told the mugger, "Get in! And you better not be empty handed again tonight!"
Upon hearing this exchange, Vincent knew it sounded shady, and also thought the man sitting in the back seat sounded familiar too!
Yes, Vincent was sure he recognized his voice! But from where?
Then it struck him...it was when he was at Pai's restaurant, sitting in the Sonata Room that he had heard this voice! And so, as Vincent thought more about it, he was positive, it was Catherine's friend Steven!
And from what Vincent could discern, the mugger acted subservient to Steven, as if he worked for him! And so he wondered, was Steven the ring leader to the muggers, who were mugging everyone in the city?
And as he stood contemplating, before he knew it, the limo sped away!
Stunned by what he had just witnessed, Vincent knew he had to let Catherine know as soon as possible...but since she had guests, he could not go see her now, and would have to wait until tomorrow! But because the span of time seemed so great, he decided to send a message via a helper
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Upon entering Catherine's cozy apartment, the girl's changed out of their dresses, into their pj's, and warmed up with some Hot Chocolate!
As they sat sipping from their mugs, they talked about how wonderful the day had been! Shopping, lunching, sightseeing, dinner ala Willie, the Theater, and then taking a limo to Sardi's afterwards. The only downer was that Steven showed up! And because Gertrude didn't know about the recent developments as yet, both Catherine and Jennifer filled her in.
And so after a little more chit chat, they went through Catherine's VHS selection to pick out their movie. And without question, they all agreed on the movie "All that Heaven Allows".
A strangely compelling camp-fest movie, with the annoyingly unusual, yet delightful pairing of Jane Wyman, and Rock Hudson. It was a great old campy movie, of which they all three dearly loved.
And so as Jennifer and Gertrude set up the movie, Catherine popped some popcorn, and along with the baked goods from earlier, they had plenty to snack on. So as they watched and critiqued, they munched their way through the movie, and as the closing credits rolled, Catherine sighed as she said, "Well there you have it, proof that love is blind."
To which Jennifer added, "Yes, Rock Hudson, proved love was blind all right! Blind to Jane's really, really bad hair-do!"
The girls all laughed, but then Gertrude stuck up for Jane as she argued, "Well, Jane was the one who had to fight for their love! I mean she was the one who suffered the social injustice from her friends and from her own children! I guess it was because she was the one who had all the money, and because she was an older women."
With a nod, Catherine agreed, and said, "Yes...it may have taken the accident to help her come around, but in the end, it was really because of Jane's bravery, that she was able to face love head on, and they lived happily ever after."
To which Jennifer added, "And because she did, she ended up with the town's stud muffin!"
The girls all laughed, and then turning serious, Gertrude too said, "Yes...their love survived every test you could throw at it...just as it should...I guess we really do need to follow our heart, like Jane finally did in the end uh?"
Knowing Gertrude was really referring to her own situation with her secret crush, Catherine took in Gertrude's attention, and soundly said, "Yes...sometimes we really do need to follow our heart, and see where it leads us."
With a thankful nod, Gertrude thoughtfully said, "Yes...maybe we do..."
And so it was Gertrude who offered, "Let's clean up these dishes uh?"
To which because she knew they were all pretty tired, Catherine suggested, "Let's get it all in the morning...I think we are all pretty tired."
As they all agreed, and decided it was time to turn in, they settled into their spots. Jennifer nestled in on the sofa, and Gertrude and Catherine shared her bed, like old times, when they were young girls.
And it was at this time, with the lights low, and everyone was ready to retire, that the Helper, Vincent had sent, slipped his note warning Catherine about Steven under the door. Sadly, it would not be seen until morning...at least we hope it will be! After-all, what could go wrong?
So meantime, as they lay in the darkness talking, Jennifer soon drifted off to sleep, and the two cousins continued to talk for a while longer.
Talking once more about their childhood, the conversation rolled around to their dolls they loved so much. And so Gertrude asked if she could see Catherine's doll, Mandy, which was a best friend to her doll Becky.
To which Catherine happily said yes, and then hopped out of the bed, and knelt at her hope chest, to open the lid. And then brought out her carefully wrapped doll.
Catherine took her doll back to the bed to show Gertrude, to which she tearfully said, "Oh Cathy, seeing Mandy takes me back...I miss Aunt Caroline so much..."
Catherine with emotion agreed, and in comforting her cousin, she said "I know...Mom's death affected all of us, and when she died...everything changed...but at least we have our wonderful memories of her..."
As Gertrude smoothed Mandy's hair, she nodded in agreement, and then said, "You know, I think it was because of your Mom we were spoiled so rotten...when ever we talk about those days, Mom will admit that Aunt Caroline's enthusiasm and joy for Christmas was contagious and made it all so much fun. And she laughs about the ideas your Mom would come up with for us. They would shop and shop for just the right item, depending on the phase we were in."
And then through her tears, Catherine laughed as she said, "You know though, I think our Mom's enjoyed playing with our presents as much as we did."
Gertrude laughed too, and as she blew her nose, she replied, "I believe you are right!"
Catherine smiled as she suggested, "Well, I guess we better try to get some sleep, uh? Look at the time!"
To which Gertrude said, "Oh my, I guess we better."
Gertrude then handed Mandy back, and after Catherine swaddled her in to her blanket, she tucked her safe and soundly back into her hope chest, along side of her other precious keepsakes.
To be continued
Chapter Sixteen
Catherine's Doll Mandy |
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| Treasure of my Heart! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Fifteen _____________________________________________ |
