CH1
The dick-wads taunting her outside of city hall are not his problem. Yet he's attracted to her boldness and resolve shown amongst a flock of vultures. She's representing a group of widows who are breadwinners for their families, demanding to have basic rights in the city of Chicago. The city officials take one look at her and write her off as white noise but she refuses to be silent until they hear her side. Finally, a nasty city employee tells her to shut up or get locked up. Raising his hand, he threatens to hit her.
"Well that's not very gentleman-like." Klaus stands next to Katrina on the city steps as if he appeared out of thin air. Surprised, the employee turns to him and issues a half hearted threat. "Mind your own business or get arrested with the whore." Casually, Klaus turns his back on him. "That is your second mistake after making the grave error of disrespecting the lady." "And what exactly is that, mister?" In a blink of an eye, Klaus grabs him and deposits both of them in an ally. "I don't take threats very well." Klaus says. When the man realizes where he is, he becomes scared and pleads with him. "Please mister, I didn't mean anything by it..." Before he could finish his sentence, Klaus chums down on his neck, feasting on his carotid artery .
Katrina cannot believe her eyes. The man who comes to her aid disappears with the city employee in a blink of an eye. She abandons her post at the city steps and goes looking for them. She isn't having any luck at the city hall representing the society of widows and seamstresses. But her stubborn nature makes her stay until someone, anyone, hears her out. Just when she believes her hope has been squashed by the condescending man, her rescuer shows up in the form of a fearsome gentleman. She analyzes his profile and decides that he's wealthy and educated. Definitely in the upper echelon of society, which brings the question, why is he helping her?
She walks around the buildings looking for any signs of them. Nothing suggests he even existed. Exhaustion settling in from the events of the day, she gives up her search and walks home. The starry night is full of bustle and energy, filled with party goers and socialites. The prohibition law seems to have no affect on those who love the night life. Katrina used to be one of them. Married to a business man, she had friends and a social life. They disappeared when her husband passed away. Now she has no friends or money. Forced to fend for herself, she now works as a secretary at a law office.
As she walks to her apartment in the seedy part of the town, loud noises of bar patrons interrupt the night. Katrina looks up to see a few well dressed men with their dates coming out of a hidden door to the side of an industrial building. Out of curiosity, her eyes lingered on the lot of them. That's when she spots the man who helped her earlier. Katrina quickly averts her eyes, knowing she should not look at a man that way. In the world she lives in, a widow's best hope is to marry a widower with children. Hurrying her steps, she runs home.