Steve thought it over and decided not to visit his father on his days off. He traveled to the interior of the state for a few days and felt lonely. Catherine's mother had to go through an emergency surgery and Catherine stayed with her at the hospital. Steve missed her even though he talked to her on the phone almost every day.

Carol noticed that Catherine was a little sad the last few days. "What's going on, daughter?"

Catherine sighed. "It's Steve, Mom."

Carol looked at her with an interrogative look. She didn't understand what Catherine meant.

"I think he likes me, and you think so too, but he doesn't step forward. It's always the same thing: he calls me, we talk, sometimes we go out to eat or drink, and that's it. That never changes."

"Catherine, I don't know why he hides his feelings. Maybe he's shy, or maybe he's afraid you'll reject him if he declares himself to you," Carol told her.

"I know he has trust issues. In his mind, all the people who could care about him betrayed him: his mother when she died, his father when sent him to a boarding school and his sister who never looked for him after they separated, but I don't know why he acts like this with me. Maybe he just doesn't like me, Mom".

"Have you let him know for sure that you like him? If not, maybe he's not sure of that and that's why he doesn't declare himself to you. There are some signs you can give him so that he is sure of your feelings for him and so take the initiative to say that he also has feelings for you, dear".

"What can I do, Mom?"

"I think you should declare yourself to him, but I know you won't do it. So let him miss you. Don't answer promptly when he calls, don't talk to him for about three days."

"Do you really think I should do this?"

"I do, Catherine."

Catherine hung up the phone at that moment and on the third day Steve showed up at the hospital. He knocked on the door before he came in even though the door was open.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Rollins." He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands and he gave it to her.

"Good afternoon, Steve. It's very kind of you to come visit and bring me flowers," Carol told him.

"You deserve it." He then looked at Catherine who was sitting by the window. "Hi, Catherine. I tried to talk to you, but your phone was off."

"Hi, Steve. You weren't traveling?" She asked. She did as her mother advised and didn't give a reason for the phone being disconnected.

"Yes, but I decided to come back early."

"I'm glad you're back. Catherine was missing you," Carol told him.

"I was also missing her, mainly because I was used to talk to her every day," Steve was answering Carol but was looking at Catherine and again she did not explain herself.

"Go eat something in the cafeteria, Catherine," Carol said to her daughter and then spoke to Steve. "Go with her, Steve, and make sure she gets something to eat. She hasn't had lunch today."

"That's a good idea, Mrs. Rollins, I didn't have lunch today either. It was a pleasure to see you're all right."

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the visit and I'll wait for you at my house to have lunch with us any day," Carol told him.

Half an hour later, Catherine returned to her room and Carol had expectations that were frustrated when Catherine said that they talked normally, that he had told how was his trip and then left.

'That's it? Didn't he even take your hand, nor a little kiss on the cheek?"

"No, Mom. I think he only sees me as a friend and I will never be anything more than that. I have to forget how I feel about him, but let's work together for the next few months. How can I forget?"

Carol felt sorry for her daughter and held her hand. "Allow yourself to look at other men, daughter."

A few months later, it was Christmas and Catherine traveled with her parents to an aunt's house and Steve spent Christmas at Freddie's family home. He had always been welcome there. Steve was outside the house talking on the phone when Freddie approached.

"Were you wishing Lieutenant Rollins a Merry Christmas?"

"No, Freddie. I was talking to my dad," Steve answered.

"Great, Steve. I'm sure he was happy with your call. But what about Lieutenant Rollins?"

"I'll call her now, if you'll excuse me, obviously. I don't want you to hear my conversation."

"Freddie raised both hands. "Okay. I'm walking away."

Away from there, Doris was talking to Joe in a hotel restaurant.

"Thanks for coming to spend Christmas with me, Joe. But now tell me how my boy is doing."

Joe smiled. "Your boy is in love, but he seems afraid to admit it."

"What about the girl? Is she a good girl?" Doris asked.

"Yes, she's a great girl. She has a good family, she's elegant and polite, smart, beautiful, and I think she has a good influence on him. But he seems afraid to start a real relationship".

"He's insecure, and I think this is my fault. I hope he gets over it and be happy with her. Encourage him to stay with her, Joe."

"I'll see what I can do, Doris. What about Mary?"

"I don't worry so much about Mary because I know Debby does a good job with her. I'm sorry about John, but I know he's been dating a little bit. My biggest worry is Steve."

In the new year, Catherine's parents threw a party and Steve was invited. He was talking to Catherine when a man arrived and Catherine walked away from Steve to hug him. "My special guest has arrived!" Steve heard her tell the man.

"I thought I was her special guest," Steve thought.

Catherine approached Steve bringing her friend by the hand. "Steve, this is Marcus. Marcus this is Steve."

"Nice to meet you, Steve," Marcus said stretching his hand to him.

Steve hesitated at first, but greeted Marcus. "Likewise."

Marcus hugged and kissed Catherine's face and Steve shook inside. "I'll talk to your mother, Catherine," Marcus said to her and walked away.

"Who is he?" Steve asked.

"He's a long-time friend. We studied together from kindergarten to high school."

Steve just nodded and didn't answer anything. He saw Catherine's mother hugging Marcus and smiling at him like a son-in-law. "I think I should go," he thought.

Carol asked Catherine's help in the kitchen and she would need to get away from Steve for a few minutes. "I'll be right back, Steve. Make yourself at home."

Several minutes went by and Steve didn't see Catherine or Marcus anymore. He felt a wave of jealousy invading him from the inside and he had never felt that way. He left the house determined to leave, but stopped when he saw Marcus kissing a girl in the garden of the house. For a moment he thought it was Catherine, but saw Catherine coming towards the garden when he looked at the house. He went back to the house and stopped her at the living room door. "Don't go outside."

Catherine didn't understand. "Why can't I go outside, Steve?"

Steve didn't know what to answer and Catherine asked again. He got into an inner conflict. Would telling her that Marcus was kissing another girl be revenge or wouldn't he be letting Marcus cheat on her?

"Your friend is out there kissing a girl," Steve told her.

Catherine smiled. "That's great."

"That's great? But you two...," Steve got confused and didn't finish his sentence.

"Wait a minute, you were thinking I had a relationship with Marcus?"

"Yes, I was," Steve answered.

Catherine laughed. "I invited him because my cousin wanted to meet him. And it's probably her he's with in the garden."

Steve smiled in embarrassment. "I'm feeling like an idiot," Steve told her. "A happy idiot," he thought.

At midnight, the fireworks announced the arrival of 2002. An important year for Steve and Catherine.

"Happy new year, sailor."

"Happy New Year, Cath."

PS: Thank you for your review.