(Chapter 7)
"Tess, it's okay. I just really need some time alone right now." Catherine told her partner while putting another set of clothes in the overnight bag. She needed to let her partner know the amount of time she was taking off and where she was heading. Just because she didn't want to worry Tess as much.
"At least ask Evan to go with you," Tess suggested, figuring Catherine would need a doctor's care while she's away at the cabin.
"Tess, I'll be fine, trust me." Catherine insisted, while heading to her dresser to get some makeup and jewelry. The last thing she needed was to have Evan with her, trying to come onto her as he did on her birthday. She didn't want him to take things further, especially his feelings for her. "Besides I won't be going alone."
"You won't?" Tess's voice sounded interested in knowing more.
Catherine let out an annoying sigh, knowing her partner wasn't going to let it go easy on getting answers. So she told her. "No, uh you remember that fake boyfriend I told you about before."
"The one you made up, yeah."
"Well,... he's not fake," Catherine informed her as she held up the picture of Vincent and her dancing at her father's wedding. His arms around her waist, holding her close against him swaying to the music. She looked up at him and saw his eyes smoldering with intensity. He looked incredibly sexy in that tuxedo that night. She finally convinced Heather that she wanted the picture for herself and managed to get her not to post his particular pictures online. Saying the reason being he was dealing with certain things, mainly his ex. Which she added tends to be a little jealous at the moment and Heather seemed satisfied with that answer.
"But didn't you tell Brooke and the bridesmaids that he wasn't real..." Tess's voice sounded confused over the phone.
"Yeah I know, but I only told them that, because they kept threatening to put me at the singles table." She lied, thinking of the best explanation she could come up with, and continued. "Besides we're still navigating, you know, where we are exactly in the relationship."
"Still navigating where you are exactly?" Tess responded with an incredulous voice while raising an eyebrow. She knew something was up with her best friend.
"Yeah, you know how long-distance relationships can be,"
"Not exactly, but go on." Tess inquired as she never really experienced that type of relationship besides Joe.
"Tess," Catherine stressed over the phone, not wanting to go further with that conversation. Making sure she had enough clothes for the trip.
"Wait." Tess paused as if to think about something, then she realized. "Isn't that the same doctor that called a couple of days ago…."
"Yes," Catherine interrupted and rolled her eyes. She remembered the chance Vincent had taken when he called the precinct on her leaving the hospital, she needed to talk to him about it still.
"And how did you meet him again?" Tess inquired again through the phone, leading into her desk with interest. She thought she knew her best friend better and the guys who she was dating, but apparently, that wasn't the case anymore.
"Well, I had this huge crush on him since kindergarten." Catherine lied again, noticing the time on her clock radio. It was nearly time for her to meet Vincent back at the warehouse.
"I'm sorry Tess, but I got to go." She hastily hung up the phone before Tess could respond, not wanting to deal with her partner's 20 questions right now. She took another look around, making sure she got everything before going into the bathroom to check herself. She grabbed the hairbrush off the shelf, brushed her hair back again, and applied some light makeup to her face. She knew she didn't need any, but she wanted to look good for Vincent. She checked the black lace top with the tight-ass blue jeans she had on. Then carefully grabbed her bag and red leather coat before grabbing the keys off the counter before heading out. She was thankful that Heather decided to go over to her friend's place and stayed there for a few days, this way she didn't have to explain a lot to her sister. She knows if her sister sees her with a guy, she Googles him down to his high school yearbook. Which tends to be annoying at times. On her way out she was about to lock her door when one of her neighboring tenants greeted her with a smile.
"Weekend getaway? Going somewhere fun? Romantic again?" Mrs. Garrison inquired with a smile, watching Catherine close the door and lock it.
"Yeah, actually this time it is." Catherine paused and thought about the last time she bumped into her neighborhood. It was before Vincent had the blackouts and they were going camping that evening. At that time they were starting to get their friendship back on track, now there was a different reason for the trip, to move forward with their friendship and see where it takes them. So she smiled and commented. "Fun and hopefully romantic too,"
"Ah." Mrs. Garrison gave her a knowing look, she had never seen Catherine so content since her mother was murdered. Whoever she was spending time with must have been making her happy.
"I need some time to recover, so uh, I figured a nice retreat at a cabin in Adirondack State Park would be nice away from here. It'll be for a couple of days." Catherine explained while putting her keys back in her purse. Then said her goodbyes to Mrs. Garrison, who told her to be careful with all the craziness that's been going on with the world today. She assured her that she will be just fine and well taken care of by her 'doctor' friend.
Vincent waited for Alex standing in the alleyway wearing his black baseball cap and had the collar of his wool coat up. As he continued to wait for Alex to go to lunch, his ears started picking up people talking to one another while approaching their cars coming back from the hospital. Listening to them commenting about their friends and loved ones, whether they were going to make it or not. Whether it was because they were in an accident or because they had cancer and it was never easy. He remembered when he used to do his residency there at the hospital and how good it felt helping people. Still thanks to Muirfield and their screw-ups, Vincent can never experience being a doctor again. He pulled the collar of his coat up to block out the wind as it blew against his clothing and tousled his hair a little. A few hours later he watched her exit the building using the side door, then made his move.
"Vincent?" Alex gasped as he quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her with him behind one of the hospital trash bins.
"We need to talk, Alex,"
"What about me talking to Catherine?" Alex inquired, and she could tell by Vincent's tone that he wasn't pleased. Catherine probably confronted him already about the ideal cabin.
"Yeah, you didn't have to go and uh, asked Catherine permission to go away together."
"I-I thought maybe I had to check with her before..." Alex tried to explain, but Vincent didn't want to hear it right now.
"Uh, no you didn't..." Vincent interrupted, he stepped away for a moment briefly cupping the back of the neck with one of his hands and turned to face her. "there's probably some things we should talk about."
"Okay?"
"Well uh, Catherine and I..." Vincent continued to hesitate, struggling to find the right words to explain things to her without hurting her feelings. He knew how Alex can be when pursuing things. He didn't like the fact she kept trying to interfere with Catherine and their time together.
"What? Talk to me, Vince." Alex begged him, she had never seen Vincent this frustrated before with her. Her heart grew nervous, pounded against her chest as she came closer to him and reached her hand out to touch his arm.
"Okay, I uh, I'm going away with her," Vincent mentioned to her while stepping back from Alex. Even though JT didn't think it was a good idea at the time, he had to tell her, to make it clear what was going on.
"With your handler?" Alex looked at him with an incredulous stare.
Vincent clenched his jaw, trying carefully to control his voice and tone, retorted. "I told you, Alex, Catherine is a close friend. Not my handler!"
"On My God! It is personal," Alex gasped, covering her mouth with her fingers in shock. It was true that something was going on between them.
"Yes. We were, uh, planning this for some time, before the accident." He told her honestly, even if it was before the stupid blackouts. He wished it had never occurred but was relieved when both JT and Catherine figured how to fix the problem.
"But-but, you know how much I love you." Alex pleaded her lower lip quivered while taking hold of his jacket and started to press her body against him. Begging him not to leave her again. "and want to be with you."
"Yes, I do and that's the…...uh problem." Vincent started to push her away, he should have figured that she would react this way. She can be a little too obsessive at times. "I don't anymore."
"Vince," Alex muttered while forcefully grabbing his arm trying to stop him from leaving.
"I'm sorry Alex, but we can't do this anymore," Vincent stated pulled his arm away from her reach, and stalked off, exiting the alley.
"No." Alex stood shocked still at what just happened, how could her fiancée fall in love with someone else. When it's always been them together since childhood, she couldn't comprehend it, when they grew up and were planning a life together. How could Vince not love her anymore?
Catherine took her usual precautions when coming to the warehouse, parking her car far away and making sure she wasn't followed. She parked her car this time on the other side of the plant towers that sat on the property, hiding from plain viewing. She decided to leave the bag she got from the grocery store and her overnight suitcase in the trunk of her car. It felt more comfortable to her this time, coming inside the warehouse felt different this time for some reason. Probably because she was used to it by now. Just like the first time she came to the warehouse and found him. The clanking sound of her heels on a metal set of stairs echoed through space while climbing the stairs to his loft. He stood by the shelves trying to hide from her when she confronted him, he looked so lost and lonely at the time. She did mean what she said to him that day, that he did look pretty good for a dead guy, handsome and sexy as hell. Every time she kept thinking about spending some time alone with Vincent, she recalled what Connor said before about Muirfield getting to him. She grew more worried about the outcome of the conversation and hoped that getting away with Vincent would help her to relax more. She went up another set of stairs and her heart started pounding more as she reached the top floor of Vincent's loft. That's when she just noticed JT sitting at a table over by one of the shelves, looking through some papers. She approached the table. and asked. "JT, Where's Vincent?"
"I'm assuming with Alex." JT guessed, going through papers on his desk, looking for something.
"With Alex?!" Catherine's voice was worried, he already exposed himself once and now it's in the middle of the day. Had Alex made him do another reckless thing that the rest of them have to protect him from.
"Yeah, he said he had to go see Alex before you guys left." JT replied as he looked up at her and could see the uncertainty on Catherine's face. "What?"
"We're about to leave for the trip." Catherine ran her hand frustrated through her hair again. She figured that Vincent would want them to get a head start before it gets dark. "I don't think it was such a good idea. Why didn't you stop him?"
"I tried, but he insisted on going to talk to her," JT answered while continuing to grade the test papers from his students.
"And I've tried calling him, but he's not picking up his burner," Catherine complained.
"Maybe he didn't want to get distracted while he was talking to Alex," JT guessed as he looked up at her, shrugging his shoulders before going back to grading the papers again.
"Seriously." Catherine sighed heavily, worrying still something may happen to him.
"What's wrong?" JT looked concerned, something was bothering Catherine or she wouldn't be this edgy being here.
"Nothing, I'm okay."
"You're sure? You seem a little more anxious than usual." JT commented, looking on with concern like something was bothering her still.
"Yes. I'm-I'm just concerned, what if something happens to him after the night before..." Catherine couldn't bring herself to wonder if what Connor said before, about Muirfield getting to him, was true and by using Alex. Just as she was about to explain that to JT, Vincent entered his loft looking a bit relieved.
"JT, I'm back man, has..." Vincent announced while entering his loft and stopped in his tracks when he saw her standing by JT. "Catherine."
"Hi" Catherine greeted him with a smile and her heart rate went up a bit.
"Hey, you're ready?" Vincent greeted her, came closer to her and looked down at her with concern. Either she was excited to see him or something was troubling her.
"Yeah. So how did Alex take it when you told her?" Catherine asked while watching him go over to his bed.
"She took it as well as she could." Vincent simply said while closing his bag up, knowing how his ex was going to react when he finally told her. He walked back over to where Catherine was and took her hand in his. "If it means that we get to spend more time together..."
"Yeah, there's that." Catherine gave him an uncertain expression, she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't think that Alex would just be okay with some woman spending some time with her fiancée. Especially after wanting to go away with him.
"You okay?" Vincent looked at her with concern and gently squeezed her hand. He could hear the pounding of her heart loudly. He knew something else was bothering her.
"Yeah, yeah just a little excited about the trip that's all." She lied while giving him a reassuring smile and tried to slow her heartbeat down.
"Uh-huh." Vincent continued to look down at her, he wasn't sure if she was telling him the whole reason.
"I'm okay." Catherine held his gaze while looking up at him and assured him. "Really."
"You guys better head up there before it gets too dark, then," JT suggested after a long pause from both of them gazing at one another. He didn't need the beast's senses to know the sexual tension going on between them. Ever since his best friend met her all his attention and time has been with her. Even when he was against them being together, he realized Catherine would do anything to protect him. Especially when he turned himself into Muirfield at that time. He knew after that and before the blackouts his friend had feelings for her. He just wished he would have expressed it better.
"You're right, man." Vincent tore his eyes away from Catherine for a moment to answer his best friend, letting go of her hand, and went back over to his bed.
"Don't forget to text me when you guys get there, big guy."
"Yes, dad." Vincent teased as he grabbed his bag off the bed and headed back over to where Catherine stood.
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure that you guys are safe, that's all," JT called out as they headed towards the door.
"I know man," Vincent replied to JT while grabbing a hold of her hand. He looked down at Catherine asking before exiting his loft with her beside him. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Catherine answered while following him outside and headed for her car. She watched Vincent place their bags in the trunk of the car before coming around to where she stood.
"Hey, uh let me drive, okay," Vincent suggested.
"Why, are you afraid I might get us lost?" Catherine joked, giving him a teasing smile.
"Uh, no. It's just since I know where the place is..." Vincent stated while coming over towards her. It was just a better option since she was still coming over an injury, he didn't want her to injury herself more.
"Right." Catherine returned the smile as she dug through her coat pocket and fished out her keys, handing them to Vincent and watched him enter the driver's seat. Before getting into the passenger side.
Claire waited a couple of minutes for Vincent to leave his fiancée, stunned and shocked. So she could have the opportunity to talk to her and help Muirfield out with catching their 'experiment' giving this was a perfect time. Catching Alex off guard saying to her. "The guy who you thought you knew, isn't the same anymore. That's why he's not going away with you."
"I'm-I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about" Alex wiped her tears away and turned around taken by surprise. She needed to get back to work.
Claire took a step closer to Alex and stood in front of her. Blocking her from leaving she said with a low voice. "Look you wanna know why he hasn't shown up after 9 years."
"What are you talking about?" Alex was still flabbergasted by the woman's accusation of Vincent's disappearance from her life.
"Don't you want to know why he hasn't come back to you?" Claire decided to approach the statement from a different angle. She figured maybe if she can convince her that Vincent would rather pursues another woman than be with his own fiancee. Then she can get the fiancee to take care of the detective.
"Who are you?" Alex wasn't sure how this person knows about her relationship with Vincent. Who was this woman?
"Someone who knows Catherine and knows about Vincent...the way he's been following her around and watching her." Claire lied.
"Following her around?" Alex gave the woman a confused look, what the hell was she talking about?
"Alex, he's been pursuing that detective over the last 10 years you thought he was dead." Claire insisted, hoping to convince her.
"No." Alex with a disbelieving voice shook her head while taking a step back. She needed a moment to process the information. She wondered if this was the reason why Vincent's been acting so strangely around her. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because you know how he is when he's around her. The way he looks at her and talks to her." Claire lied, taking Alex and pulling her to the side away from the hearing range.
"No, that can't be true." Alex shook her head again refusing to believe that her Vincent would ever be interested let alone attractive to someone else.
"You do want that, don't you? To have the man you fell in love with back?" Claire asked as she could tell by the look on her face that she was uncertain by it.
"Yeah, but..."
"Alex, his attention for that cop…..they'll only grow more and more serious. It's only a matter of time before you lose Vincent to her." Claire's voice sounded malicious as she reached into her purse, pulling out the handgun that was there. "Unless you take matters into your own hands." She handed her the gun. "Here, take this. You might need it." She saw the uncertainty on Alex's face and knew she was having second thoughts about it, so she came up with another plan. She pulled out the business card from Muirfield and handed it to her. "Here's a number to some people that can help get rid of any evidence. Just tell them Claire suggested."
Alex was hesitant at first, not wanting to face the fact that her fiancee was pursuing someone else. Still, how can she explain the time he just showed up at the hospital after detective Chandler's accident. It was sure as hell wasn't because of her being there. She noticed the way he's been looking at the detective too, it was the same way he used to look at her and realized that this woman had a point. She gripped the gun tighter in her hands, feeling the cool metal against her skin and the weight of it. She didn't know where he was taking the detective, the corner of her mouth quirked up as an idea came to her. To get her Vince back, she must get rid of the problem and that problem was Catherine Chandler. She wasn't going to lose him again like she did when he went off to war all those years ago.
To be continued….
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, but real life got in the way again and I'm still in the process of continuing though. I've been switching between writing updates for both stories. Don't worry the next couple of chapters will have Vincent and Catherine's relationship moving forward as it should be. Please keep the reviews coming still and let me know what you guys think so for.
