As Catherine gingerly made a circle with her foot, she happily noted, "I think now since I have warmed up my ankle doesn't hurt so much and feels better already."
Despite what Catherine said, Vincent couldn't help but caution, "Still, try to restrict your activity as much as possible."
To which Catherine sweetly said, "I will."
As Vincent thought of how close Catherine was to being truly harmed tonight, he knew, it would be impossible to go on without her in his life.
And as he traveled deeply in these bleak thoughts, he woefully said, "If anything had happened to you tonight..."
Trying to thwart him from saying it out loud, Catherine interrupted his thoughts with her own, as she said, "I know, I was really scared too. Let's not think about it anymore, O.K?"
With a stern tone, Vincent replied, "To act as if the incident hadn't happened is not realistic Catherine...instead we must learn from it."
To which with a nod, Catherine compliantly replied, "I hear you...and I promise I have."
Feeling soundly satisfied with Catherine's answer, Vincent heaved an anguished sigh, and responded, "Good, this is what I needed to hear."
Feeling like they were NOW due for a change in subjects, Vincent noted a book on her table, and as he picked it up, he leafed through and asked, "I don't know this author Catherine..."
To which Catherine said, "Well, the author is a friend of mine, and though she is not well known, she worked hard at getting her book published, and sent me a copy. I was so excited for her."
As Vincent read through he stopped when he saw a poem which touched him, and so he read:
My forsaken wounded heart By Shern The knowledge of A dire happenstance That will occur when I part from your side Arriving uninvited as it has in the past Causes this coarse hovering pall To befall upon my lonely heart already broken leaving me to accept and bear A dreaded anguishing mist which filters through my wayward soul Numbing all my senses, except mercilessly The pain that consumes my forsaken wounded heart
Affected by his voice, incantation, and his emotion, Catherine was entranced and felt moonstruck by his manner, and complimented him by telling him, he read the poem so beautifully and she enjoyed listening so much. She then also offered to lend the book to him if he wanted to borrow it.
Humbled by her offer, Vincent then answered, that yes, he would like to read this book by her friend. And then with care he asked, "If you think you and Noodles are alright, I should go."
Knowing it was time, Catherine sadly said, "Yes of course, we are fine now."
And then Catherine humbly added, "How do I thank you?"
Ruefully, Vincent slightly shook his head, and whispered, "Having you and Noodles back home safely is enough...Until tomorrow Catherine."
To which, Catherine softly said, "Yes until tomorrow..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, thankfully Catherine's ankle felt fine, but as per Vincent's suggestion, she was still taking things slow, as not to irritate it.
And so after caring for Noodles, Catherine headed out early to do her grocery shopping.
Needless to say, the snowy streets and sidewalks made shopping a little challenging for all of the last minute Thanksgiving Holiday shoppers, and Catherine was one of them!
And so with list in hand, she picked up all the supplies she needed for the homemade pies she was baking.
And as she approached the dairy section, she found the cans of whipping cream, thinking 20 cans should do the trick, and so she loaded them into her cart.
Catherine then continued down the aisle, and smiled to herself, as the Sarah Lee Pies caught her eye. As she opened the glass freezer door, she saw there was an Apple, Peach and a Blueberry pie just sitting there, waiting for her to pick them up!
As Catherine considered snatching them up, she thought twice, saying aloud to herself, "Oh my, if I bought those, Jenny wouldn't let me live it down."
Just then a voice behind her said, "You're right, Jenny wouldn't!"
Catherine turned around, and burst out laughing at the site of Jennifer, standing there with her hands on her hips!
As Catherine then looked into Jennifer's cart, she shockingly asked, "You should talk! What are you doing with Mountain Top Pies in you cart?"
To which Jennifer said, "Hey, I never said I was a Martha Stewart!"
The girls started laughing, and then Jennifer suggested, "Hey, let's go pay for this stuff, and since I have a little time before I need to pick up Ma, why don't we get a danish or something in the coffee shoppe."
Catherine agreed, saying that sounded like a great idea, and so they parked their buggies, and sat down in the little corner of the market, and placed their orders.
And so they enjoyed a lite brunch, while Catherine filled Jennifer in about her evening with Vincent, leaving out the fact of course, she had been mugged by an assailant!
The reason being, is that Catherine knew Jennifer would tell her Dad, and she didn't want to worry him while he is so far away. So she thought it would be best to just leave that part out!
However because she wanted Jennifer to be aware, she did tell her there are muggings going on in her area, and to be extra vigilant. To which Jennifer stated she always was! And after Catherine gave a more intense warning, Jennifer calmed her friend by promising she really would be careful. And it was then Jennifer asked for some further details concerning Vincent.
To which after Catherine accepted Jennifer's assurances, she then told about Vincent's conversation with her Dad over the phone last night!
Upon hearing this scoop, Jennifer excitedly inquired, "How did that go?"
In reply, Catherine raised a brow and said, "Good actually, Vincent handled the grilling pretty well I think."
Jennifer shook her head and said, "Well there you go...if he didn't go running out the door after the phone call, then he must have the cojones to stay!"
Catherine laughed as she said, "The words you come out with shock even me...even after all these years!"
Jennifer matter-of-factly said, "Well it is true. If a conversation with "The Father" does not send a guy off running, then he has stones!"
Upon finishing their coffee, Jennifer promised to come over as soon as she could, and went their separate ways.
And so after all the shopping was done, Catherine ventured home, and was kindly met by Noodles! And so he curled up contented she was home, and watched her put all the groceries away.
And just as Catherine prepared her and Jenny's two separate baking stations, just like clockwork, Jennifer showed up. Happily Catherine greeted her, and so did Noodles!
After bending down to pet him, Jennifer joyfully said, "Hi Noodles! Oh you are cuter than I remembered!"
So after the reunion, Catherine playfully held up two aprons, and asked, "Which one?"
And because they were both so festively cute, one with a turkey, and one with a Pilgrim, Jennifer couldn't pick! So she recited, "Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish, which piece of Bubble gum do you pick? I pick this one!”
And so after tying on the Turkey apron, Jennifer expressed, "These are darling! Sure puts me in the mood to BAKE!"
To which Catherine replied, "I thought so too. I just got them from a sidewalk vender the other day."
So no both fully geared, they toiled around the kitchen, baking their hearts out.
Jennifer firstly, baked a batch of "Slice and Bake" cookies, and then her three Mountain Top Pies, while Catherine constructed her home built pies.
Well after she rolled out her dough for the second time, Catherine was beginning to think Jennifer's idea of buying frozen wasnt' all bad, especially since the lattice-top pattern on Vincent's Blueberry Pies was becoming quite a challenge!
As she assessed the appearance of her final attempt, Catherine decided to do an old fashioned full-top crust on Jacob's Apple.
And because Catherine recalled Jacob had a hard time deciding on a favorite pie, Catherine baked a Cherry and a Peach too.
So, as Catherine made her pies, and in between her own baking, Jennifer had fun taking care of Noodles and ordered their lunch, which was Pizza from Corleone & Gozdowski's! Home of Authentic Italian/Polish Cuisine!
Meantime, as the buzzer went off, Catherine took out Jennifer's beautifully baked Mountain Top pies, and then set her slightly lopsided ones into the oven.
Oh my! Catherine only hoped they would taste better than they looked!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, The Tunnels were filled with numerous activities, as everyone had been appointed a job, to get ready for the Thanksgiving Day celebration.
And so just as Vincent was heading down to the storage chamber, he heard Lin, calling his name, saying, "Vincent, there you are! Your book came in, and I wanted to get it to you right away! It is the book you requested for Brigit."
Humbly, Vincent lowered his eyes, as he began to explain, "No Lin, this book is not for Brigit."
Upon hearing she was under a misconception, Lin winced as she assessed, "Your letter said this book was for someone special, so I assumed it was for her..."
And then informatively said, "Brigit is just a friend, and had in fact, has left the tunnels."
To which Lin responded, "I feel badly I did not get to say good bye to her. I liked her Vincent, I liked her very much."
To which Vincent agreed, saying, "She left quite suddenly, in fact I did not say goodbye either..."
With surprise, Lin asked, "You didn't? That seems strange! Was she ill or something?"
Self consciously, Vincent explained, "Not ill...you see Lin, the intentions of why she came to visit, were different from my intentions for welcoming her here...and well..."
Putting two and two together, Lin then asked, "You mean she had stars in her eyes, but you however, did not?"
With an affirming nod, Vincent admitted Lin was correct...Lin then smiled suspiciously, as she next asked, "Then if the book is not for Lin, who is it for?"
To which Vincent sheepishly replied, "For another I have met, and her name is Catherine."
Vincent then filled Lin in on all the events, both the good and the bad, that had transpired between he, Brigit and this beautiful woman named Catherine.
And then informatively said, "Brigit did know my heart was Catherine's, however she still hoped that she and I...that perhaps I might...suffice it to say, Brigit left, and to be honest, though she apologized, I am uncertain what can be salvaged of our friendship."
Lin thoughtfully said, "I see, awe...I am really sorry. I know what her correspondence has meant to you through the years."
She then switched the topic to Catherine, and asked, "...and Catherine? After all the misunderstandings and drama, how are things between you two now?"
With a slight tremble to his voice, Vincent replied, "Harmonized...and brilliant...Catherine has this exceptional, caring, generous spirit, and is so pure of heart, when you meet her you will understand."
Lin gave Vincent a sisterly hug, and said, "Well she makes you happy, anyone would be able to see that! And if Catherine is special in your eyes, then she truly must be! Well I am most anxious to meet this beautiful woman, by the name of Catherine!"
And because Vincent wanted Lin to meet her too, he then promised to introduce them at Winterfest.
With much gratitude, Vincent then thanked Lin for getting the book so quickly for him, and expressed his heart-felt gratitude for all her help.
Lin told Vincent he was most welcome, and then explained, "I almost didn't get to place the order at all! The bus was coming, and Mr. Smythe was in the store room assisting another customer, so if it wasn't for this beautiful kind lady agreeing to pass your letter on to Mr. Smythe for me, well then your special Catherine would not be receiving a Thanksgiving gift tomorrow!"
Gratefully, Vincent said, "Then I not only thank you, I thank the beautiful kind lady, who assisted us in this very important endeavor."
Lin laughed and said, "Look at you Vincent! Well, I must go. See you in a couple of weeks."
Vincent embraced Lin with a thankful hug, and bade her goodbye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the pies were baked, and out of the oven, the girls settled into the living room to enjoy their pizza, and chocolate chip cookies Jennifer had also baked.
Then as per tradition, they watched their favorite Holiday flick, which was, "The Gift of Love" with Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms. A movie patterned after O' Henry's story "The Gift of the Magi".
The two friends had a wonderful afternoon together, and expressed their sorrow that they were breaking tradition by not spending Thanksgiving Day together.
However, they planned to meet up Friday morning as usual, and take Jennifer's Mom around to all of the early bird Christmas shopper's sales.
And after hearing the taxi was there, the girls shared a sisterly embrace, and then Catherine, without wanting to sound too obvious, issued another warning of sorts, by saying, "Remember to be cautious Jen."
Looking a bit suspicious, Jennifer said, "That's the second time you said something about being careful! Is there something more you're not telling me?"
To which Catherine carefully replied so she wouldn't be lying, said, "It's just that there had been a mugger sighting around this very apartment building..."
With an unbelievable tone, Jennifer asked, "A mugger, around here?"
With an affirmative nod, Catherine replied, "Yes, believe it or not, its true."
And then the thought struck Catherine, that she and Noodles, should walk Jennifer out! And so she grabbed her coat, keys, and the leash, and informatively said, "In fact, we will go with you, and at the same time, Noodles can get a little exercise."
In reply, Jennifer argued, "You two stay put! I will be fine, I'll just run right out to the Taxi..."
Assertively, Catherine butted in, saying, "I am walking you out, and that is that! Remember they always say, there is safety in numbers."
And so as they road down in the elevator, Jennifer kept looking at Catherine, thinking she was keeping something from her. But right or wrong, Catherine did not want to freak her friend out by telling her that she, herself was the victim of the attack last night.
As she kept feeling Jennifer's eyes upon her, Catherine finally said, "Quit looking at me Jen! I only thought we, as single girls, should be more vigilant until this mugger has been caught! And when you are coming and going from this area, I want a call. Deal?"
To which Jennifer replied it was a deal, and expected the same from her then too.
Upon promising she would, Catherine waved as Jennifer safely hopped in the Taxi, and then, she and Noodles ran back into her building. And as they rode back up, Catherine wondered if she should have confided in Jennifer about the incident, but knew she would worry, and fret, and would drive her crazy with words of warning, not to mention telling her Dad too.
Back now in the apartment, Noodles excitedly pranced around a bit, and brought Catherine the ball to throw. And so they had fun playing throw the ball, until little Noodles tired out, deciding to curl up on the bed, and rest.
As Catherine sat down, she heaved a contented sigh, because the wonderful day she had with Jennifer and Noodles.
And then as she picked up the living room area, she noticed the time, and with a smile, she thought, Vincent would be coming soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, after a busy day of helping in the Dining hall, arranging, and doing a few repairs that needed to be done, Vincent realized it would not be long, until he would be visiting Catherine. A mere week ago, he could not have imagined progressing to this point, but here they were, together again.
After supper, Mary turned to Vincent, and Jacob as they were leaving the Dining Hall and surmised, "The meal was quite delicious this evening. I don't believe William's true culinary skills had seen the light of day, until Brigit's visit! And now, I hate to say, we are spoiled! Fortunate for us this evening, William had already planned the meal before Brigit's departure."
Sarcastically, Mary then teased, "Who knew it would take a visit from Brigit to inspire William so!"
Jacob raised a brow, and said, "Yes I have heard several reports, from Cora, and a few of the other LADIES, that William had shown some bias in my absence."
To which Vincent amusingly said, "I had to field several comments on this matter myself. I tried to convey Brigit is a free spirit, and we should not judge her solely on her dress. And as far as William is concerned, perhaps he did go above and beyond in his attempts to be a good host."
Mary then said, "Well he succeeded in his attempts! He was the "Host with the most", and it was "Brigit who got his MOST-EST!"
Jacob smiled, and said, "Mary, you can be quite humorous in an antagonistic sort of way..."
Jacob then patted his stomach, and sighed as he continued to say, "...and correct as well, as I agree with you, the cuisine tonight was superfluous in the tasty department!"