13. Cat
13
CAT
We had officially been in Georgia for a week now, and Vince and I had been having our couch chats, as I called them, and I loved them. Aside from one night when he said he was busy and wouldn’t be home until late, this had become a nightly ritual for us.
When Val wasn’t working, she joined us for dinner but then left to go to her room with Harry once Vince and I settled on the couch. It gave us time together to really get to know each other better, and I loved it. It could just be me, but I felt like this friendship was becoming more than just pen pals. There were times when we sat on the couch together and he looked at me in a way that I swear he wanted to kiss me, but then pulled back. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was imagining the whole thing, or if he was just too afraid to take the next step. Or maybe he was waiting until he was sure I wanted the same thing.
I also loved working out of the office. Ruthie and I got lunch together most days, even if it was just takeout. Several times Ellie had joined us too, and I found I really enjoyed hanging out with them. Val also stopped by to have lunch with me when she worked the late shift. But my favorite part of working in the office so far was watching the interesting dynamic between Ruthie and Jack .
It was clear he was interested in her. He flirted with her incessantly, but either she wasn’t interested or she was really oblivious when it came to his advances. I hadn’t had much experience with guys myself, but even I could tell he wanted a chance with her.
I thought back to some of the conversations with them and it made me laugh.
Jack walked in with a small box of chocolates and handed them to Ruthie .
“What’s this?” She looked at it like it was poisoned.
“Chocolate,” Jack responded. “ They’re for you.”
“Why?” Ruthie looked at him like if she accepted, she in turn owed him a million dollars and her first-born child.
“Most women like it when a man offers them chocolate.” Jack smirked like he was enjoying this back-and-forth with her.
“I’m not most women, and I’m definitely not interested in whatever you’re offering.” She scowled back at him.
“Harsh, but I’m going to ignore that comment for now,” Jack said.
“Oh gee, how magnanimous of you.” Ruthie rolled her eyes again, then turned back to face her computer.
“Go to dinner with me, and I’ll show you how magnanimous I can be,” he said back.
“No,” Ruthie said politely but without looking up. “ You keep your magnanimous in your pants and go back to work.”
Jack just laughed and headed back up to his office upstairs.
Those two cracked me up.
I was about to leave the office because I wanted to go back to Vince’s place a little early so I could cook him a special dinner. He had done so much for Val and me, and he wouldn’t even let us give him money for rent, utilities, or groceries. So , I decided I was going to cook pastelón , a Puerto Rican specialty that my parents used to make us all the time.
Just as I was packing up, I saw a beautiful blonde woman walk into the front office and head to Ruthie .
“Can I help you?” Ruthie asked her, looking a bit confused.
“Umm, yes. Is Vince Fletcher here?” she asked, and my ears perked up.
“Do you have an appointment? Because I don’t see he has any appointments on the schedule,” Ruthie said politely, but also making a point to this woman that you couldn’t just walk in here.
I took a better look at her, and she was gorgeous. Skinny , beautiful face with only a small amount of makeup on because she didn’t need it and long blonde hair that fell to her chest. She had on a tight black pencil skirt and a red blouse that had enough of the top buttons undone that I could see half her cleavage from my side office. Wanting to hear what this woman said, I started to make my way toward Ruthie’s desk.
“Umm, no, I don’t, but Vince and I are dating, so I don’t think he would have a problem with me wanting to see him,” she said, all smiles and cheerful, and my heart stopped.
He hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend, but I also never asked. A few nights ago, he said he was going to be late coming home. Now I wondered if it was because he was spending time with her, and now I found myself suddenly having the urge to punch her in the face.
I knew I didn’t have any claim on Vince whatsoever, but knowing that this woman did made me oddly jealous, and I didn’t like it. I decided to just leave the building and go make the meal because I didn’t want to be around if she started touching him or kissing him.
“Bye, Ruthie . See you tomorrow,” I said as I walked by the desk, interrupting their discussion.
“Bye, Cat !” she said back to me and went back to her conversation with skinny business Barbie as I walked out the door.
I spent the next hour prepping and cooking the pastelón . It required a lot of prep work, but I had been making it for so long I could normally make it with my eyes closed. Today , though, I couldn’t seem to concentrate. Maybe I was about to start my period, or maybe I was just tired. I knew deep down neither of those were the reason. No , the real reason for my frustrated state was skinny and blonde and had waltzed right into the office and shattered any hope I had of Vince looking at me any differently than just a friend. I couldn’t believe I ever thought the look on his face was that he might want to kiss me. Ugh . I didn’t have much experience with dating and men in general, and it was showing.
It was moments like these I wished I had girlfriends. Women I could ask about these things. Ellie and Ruthie had been super sweet, and we were even going to go out for a girl’s night after Thanksgiving weekend, but we weren’t there just yet. Plus , they knew Vince , so that might be a conflict of interest for them—especially Ruthie , since she worked there. I loved my sister, but she couldn’t keep her mouth shut and would absolutely say something in front of Vince , even if it wasn’t on purpose.
The food was cooking, and I was still frustrated, so I decided to use some of that pent-up energy to clean the apartment. Vince said he had a housekeeper come by once a month, but with three of us living here now, we were definitely making more of a mess. I wanted to help out. I also needed to work out this frustration before I did something stupid. Cleaning was like therapy, except cheaper and with lemon-scented results. Now , the whole kitchen was spotless, the spices were alphabetized, and I didn’t need bail money for what I wanted to do to skinny business Barbie . It was a win-win.
I was just about to put the cleaning spray away when Vince walked into the kitchen.
“Smells good in here,” he said, smiling at me, but I shrieked, having not heard him come in. How someone as big as him could move around so quietly was scary.
I leaned down to pick up the cleaning bottle I had just dropped, when Vince apologized.
“Sorry. I thought you heard me come in the door,” he said, and I was unable to answer since I was still breathing hard, clearly because I had just had five years scared off my life.
“Did you cook and clean the house?” he asked with a stunned look on his face, and I realized maybe I should be doing this more often so he wasn’t so shocked when I actually helped out.
“Yes, but I need to help out more around here since you won’t let us pay for anything,” I told him, and admittedly, there was a bit of a sharpness to my voice. “ I didn’t clean the whole house. Just unloaded the dishes, wiped down the counters, alphabetized your spices, mopped the floor, and cleaned and reorganized your refrigerator. I’ll try to do more tomorrow in some of the other rooms.”
The smile that had been on his face while I detailed all the cleaning I did was now suddenly gone.
“Cat, I have a housekeeper for most of that. You don’t need to do it,” he said. I started to speak, but he held his hand up to stop me. “ And while I appreciate your help, I don’t use those spices often enough for it to matter if they are alphabetized.”
I knew he was teasing me, especially with the smirk on his face, but it angered me that he wouldn’t let me help more and was just brushing it off. And he didn’t even like me. Not that if I was his girlfriend, it would mean I didn’t need to cook and clean, but at least I would feel like I was contributing to something meaningful in his life, like his happiness. But now that I knew he already had a girlfriend, his jabs at my offering to help bothered me even more.
“Laugh all you want, but when you’re looking for paprika, you’ll thank me,” I spat back at him, sensing my full Latina attitude, as Val liked to call it, coming out with a vengeance. “ I’m sorry. I just wanted to ensure you’d never mistake your coriander and cardamom!”
He snorted and looked at me with a small smile. “ I don’t even know what any of those are, but I’m sure one day it will be appreciated.”
Yeah, by his girlfriend. She would probably appreciate it. The thought of that made me even madder.
“You won’t let Val and me pay you for rent or utilities or help out in any way!”
“That’s because family does those things for each other for free,” Vince said softly with kindness in his voice.
“But I’m not family, Vince ,” I tried to tell him.
“Yeah, you are,” he said sternly to me, almost as if he was mad at me for even thinking otherwise, but I corrected him.
“No, I’m not,” I shot back forcefully as he walked toward me and into my space. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face.
His hand came to my left cheek, and he spoke quietly but firmly.
“You may not be family by blood, but you mean just as much in every way that matters.”
Before I had much time to even think about what he said, his mouth was on mine. The kiss was soft and gentle at first, and then his lips pressed harder and shockwaves sprinted through my body. Then , what felt like too soon, he pulled away slowly. His eyes were intense on me, and I felt the need to break the silence.
“I don’t think family kisses each other like that.” I grinned at him, light, happy feelings coursing through me.
“No, but I’ve wanted to do that since the day I met you in person, and you stood there full of attitude with your hands on your hips arguing with me,” he said, grinning at me unrepentantly.
“You did?” I asked, a little shocked at his words. Then , when he nodded back at me, I smiled and decided to tell him my honest thoughts. “ I’m glad you did.”
“Good, honey, ‘cause I’m gonna do it again,” he said, right before he kissed me again, this time with his hands on each side of my face.
He tilted my head to the side and deepened the kiss, and I gasped, trying to take a breath. He took advantage of that and slipped his tongue inside my mouth. He tasted amazing. His smell was also intoxicating. It was a combination of his soap, leather from his jacket, and just his own natural woodsy scent. Between his taste and smell, plus his touch on my skin, my senses were overwhelmed.
I didn’t know how long we kissed, because time seemed to stand still. I loved every moment of it, and he was an amazing kisser. Not that I had much to compare to since I’d only ever kissed two guys before.
My first was Jimmy when I was fourteen. He was terrible and had bad breath, which was why I never kissed him again. The second was my first real boyfriend, Mitch , and he was better at kissing, but he only dated me because he thought I would have sex with him. When I told him I wasn’t ready to go all the way with him, I found out he lied and told everyone at school I was a terrible lay. I broke up with him the next day.
Because of Mitch , I hesitated to go out with any guys for a while after that. My plan was to try again with a more mature guy while in college, but that never happened the way I thought after my parents died. I was sure Vince had more experience than I did with girlfriends.
Oh my God ! Girlfriend ! How could I forget?
“You have a girlfriend!” I gasped, breaking away from him and covering my mouth. “ Why did you kiss me when you have a girlfriend?”
“What are you talking about?” He looked at me with genuine confusion on his face.
“Your girlfriend!” I said, trying to point out the obvious to him and feeling my anger rising again. “ I met her today when she came to the office looking for you!”
His face went from confused to a small smile, as if the light had just turned on in his brain and he remembered something important.
“Tall, skinny blonde, fake tits, and tight clothes who told Ruthie she was dating me. Is that who you’re talking about?” Vince asked me.
I thought back to what she had looked like and gave a curt nod back to him.
“Mercedes is not my girlfriend. I met her at the Watering Hole one night a while back. We both had too much to drink and ended up at her place afterwards. It was a one-time thing, but Mercedes obviously feels differently. Tammy was the bartender that night and was asking me about work, Mercedes must have overheard, and decided to show up at work today to see if I wanted a repeat. I did not, so I politely declined.”
Part of me was relieved they weren’t dating, but the other part of me was upset that he had sex with her. I knew people had casual hookups, and it was obviously before I had moved here, but it still bothered me. She looked nothing like me, so I definitely was not his type.
“So that’s what’s got you all riled up today?” he asked. “ You met Mercedes , who lied to you and Ruthie about being my girlfriend, and that got you all worked up.”
I didn’t want him to think that I was that pathetic, so I stuck with the reason I had been giving him up to this point.
“Umm, no,” I defended. “ I’m upset because you won’t let Val and me help out.”
“Sweetheart, I’ve been telling you for a week I didn’t want you contributing, and it never seemed to bother you before,” he said and moved one step closer, removing the gap I had just put in place. He was within mere inches of my face again, and a smirk began to take over his face. “ If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous and upset when you thought I had a girlfriend.”
Blast this man for knowing my inner thoughts and feelings. This was not good.
Beeeep.
Thankfully, I was saved by the buzzer.
“Dinner’s ready!” I all but yelled in his face and hurried away from him to the oven.
I tried to take deep breaths as I pulled the casserole dish out of the oven, hoping I could get my heart rate to slow down and not feel like it was about to jump out of my chest.
“Mmm. That smells good, whatever it is,” Vince said.
I avoided looking at him because I was sure my face was still pink, so I spoke to him while looking down at the meal.
“It’s pastelón . It’s kind of like the Puerto Rican version of lasagna,” I said just as I heard the door to the apartment open.
“Honey, I’m home,” Val yelled from the entryway, and I could hear her footsteps walking into the kitchen. “ Is that smell what I think it is?”
She entered the kitchen with wide eyes and a big, hopeful smile on her face. When she looked down at the kitchen island, she gasped, and her smile got bigger.
“ Pastelón ! Oooh , what’s the special occasion?” Val asked me.
She knew I didn’t make this often, so while her question was valid, I didn’t want to get into the specifics with her because I was afraid it would start another argument with Vince , but apparently, he felt differently.
“Apparently, your sister feels the need to clean my place and cook special meals in exchange for me letting you both stay here,” Vince announced. I also noticed the way he emphasized the word special, noting he caught the significance of this particular meal.
“I get it,” Val replied. “ We don’t want to be freeloaders. But I also hate cleaning, so if Cat wants to do that part, I’m willing to let her, and so should you.”
Val gave him an exaggerated thumbs up, and he just shook his head in amusement.
“Both of you get something to drink. It’s ready,” I told them, hoping we could move on from this topic.
We enjoyed the meal, Val filling most of the conversation talking about how much she loved her new job, how much she hated her statistics class, and how she was looking forward to her girls weekend with Ruthie , Ellie , and me.
After dinner, I avoided Vince like the plague. Val offered to do the dishes since I cooked, so I went back to my room and pretended to sort laundry then finally moved over to Val’s room to hang out with her. However , if I were being honest, I also needed her advice.
As soon as I walked into her room, she stared at me knowingly. She clearly suspected something was up and the grin on her face told me she was determined to figure it out.
“Why aren’t you having one of your nightly chats with Vince ?” she questioned me, crossing her arms. “ Is this related to why you made pastelón or why you hardly looked at him during dinner, instead choosing to stare at your plate like it was the most fascinating thing in the world?”
She narrowed her eyes at me, letting me know she was calling my bluff and I was not going to walk out of there without explaining myself.
I sighed deeply and sat on the edge of the bed. “ I don’t know what to do, Val .”
“What’s wrong?” Val asked, now with a bit more concern in her voice rather than just simply teasing me.
I knew I couldn’t hide anything from her. She was always too good at reading my mind. Deciding I also could maybe benefit from her advice, I laid it all out there.
“Vince kissed me.” My voice sounded stronger than it really was.
“Bout time.” Val’s voice was full of attitude.
I turned to look at her with wide eyes.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. You know I don’t believe in destiny, Cat , because then there is some part of us that has to accept Mom and Dad were supposed to die when they did, and I don’t like that. But maybe destiny is more about giving us a sense of direction and purpose and whether or not we choose to use it. And maybe Vince is your destiny.”
“Wow. When did you become the Dalai Lama ?” I teased her light-heartedly, impressed that I was seeing my sister grow up and mature right in front of my eyes.
She shrugged the compliment off, not used to praise from me apparently, and I vowed to give her more of it in the future.
“Well, we had a lot of time on our hands these last few years, and I liked to read,” she defended. “ Just sharing the stuff I read from other really smart people, that’s all.”
“You’re smart too, you know that,” I complimented Val , and she blushed a little.
Yeah, definitely going to give her more compliments going forward.
“Whatever. Back to the important stuff.” She clapped her hands together, clearly ready to move on. “ Tell me everything about the kiss. Was it awesome? Did it lead to more?” Her eyebrows went up and down as she smiled at me.
“Yes and no,” I responded, and immediately she rolled her eyes at my very vague answer.
I sighed and then fell onto my back on the bed. She came over and did the same thing next to me. We had done this a lot. There was something about being able to tell somebody something without looking them in the face that made it easier. Val and I had had many conversations like this over the years. Topics covering everything from our parents, new identities, moving to yet another new location, lack of friends, and everything in between.
I gave a happy sigh before breaking down the whole encounter with Vince , from the moment he caught me cleaning in the kitchen to the kiss, to my awkward conversation about the woman who showed up at the office claiming to be his girlfriend to more kissing, to my abrupt ending when the oven went off.
Val chuckled beside me. “ And now you’re avoiding him. Cat , the last three hours of your life have been more like a telenovela or Real Housewives episode. I love it.”
My grunt of disapproval was hopefully loud and clear. “ Val , because of WITSEC and the fact that we moved so often, we never really did the whole boyfriend scene or even tried making genuine friendships either, so I don’t really know what I’m doing here. My only experience is with boys in high school, and trust me when I say they weren’t even on the same level as Vince . Hell , I’m not even sure they were on the same planet!”
I may not have been able to see Val’s smile, but it could be heard through her voice. “ Oh , I believe you. Cat , I know we don’t have much experience with guys, but if there was ever a guy you should take that chance on, I would think it would be Vince . If I had a guy like him, I would jump at that chance. What are you so scared of?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“I’m going to take a guess that it’s because he already means something to you, and you’re afraid of losing him again,” Val surmised, and I knew deep down she was right, even if I didn’t see it as clearly as she did. “ The difference here is that we aren’t under WITSEC protection anymore. Even if we do move to a new apartment, or even decide this city isn’t for us, you can stay in touch this time. You don’t have to hide from him. You guys can email, text, Zoom , whatever. Do it, Cat . Just take the leap.”
“What if it goes horribly wrong?”
“What if it turns into marriage and babies and the best decision you ever made?” Val countered.
I took a deep breath and really thought about that scenario. “ I’m scared.”
She scoffed. “ Duh .”
I smiled at her comment. She knew me so well, and I loved her for her honesty. “ You may be right.”
“I’m always right and also pretty much the perfect sister.”
“And so humble,” I jested back to her.
“Just think about it,” Val remarked. “ Alright , enough sappy talk. Come help me paint my nails on my right hand, because when I try to do it with my left, it looks like I let a drunk person do it.”
We both laughed, but I ultimately decided to help her.
We spent the rest of the night catching up on her job at the pub, the new podcast she was listening to, and whether we really wanted to bring Harry to Vince’s family’s Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. Vince’s mom had insisted we bring him. She’d even stopped by the pub a few days ago, cornering Val into promising to bring Harry with her.
It was a good night, one that I realized both Val and I needed. Now I just needed to think about another important decision. One that related to Vince . Or maybe I’d put that decision off for a few more days.
Yeah, definitely putting it off.