Cloaked

by Shore, Lauren

  Herbert knew his employer did not like to be disturbed when reading, especially from the certain collection he was reading from now, but Miss Richmond looked so desperate and was being nice to him, for a change. So, he interrupted, “Mr. Martin? Miss Richmond is here to see you.”

  “Goddamn it. I told you I didn’t want to be disturbed. Tell her the deal stands, I don’t care what information she has!”

  “But, sir, I think it might be pertinent—”

  “Herbert, after all these years, you know my answers are final and you always obey up until now. Also, you know never to disturb me, especially now. If you still want to keep your job, you better head my word.”

  “Yes, sir. I am terribly sorry.”

  Herbert walked slowly from the study to the library, only hesitating slightly because he was anticipating Catherine’s imminent feelings. He entered the library and said, “Miss Richmond, I’m sorry Mr. Martin won’t see you.” An immediate look of fury came across her face. “But, he did tell me to give you a message. He says the deal remains and he doesn’t care what information you have.”

  Catherine pursed her lips. “Great. Will you give him a message for me?”

  “Yes, miss, I will.”

  “Tell him Fuck You for me.”

  “Miss?”

  “You heard me!” Catherine screamed at the butler and slammed the door behind her.

  It was raining outside, but she was determined to walk. Catherine didn’t care if her hair got wet, if she got sick, or anything else. Her focus was solely on the problems she needed to deal with. Catherine decided Mr. Serentini had a right to know. He would probably find out soon anyway. He would be upset, but she needed him to know. If there was meant to be a relationship, there would be and she would see where the pieces lied after she told him this pertinent information that was continuously eating away at her. Either way, what Mr. Harrison had to say the other day probably pertained to her. If she didn’t tell him, someone else would and it should come from her. If Catherine could not get her Uncle to drop the deal, she would need to get out of Mr. Serentini’s office as soon as possible. Catherine really thought the whole situation was too bad because she liked the Serentinis, especially her boss. Catherine walked in the rain for an hour an a half. When her legs could barely move, she grabbed a cab and then walked doggedly into her apartment.

  Catherine walked in, soaking wet, to the sounds of, “Rrr, Food, Rrr, Food!”

  Immediately she softened, “I’m sorry Sweetie.” Catherine walked, soaked, over to her kitchen where her Cockatoo was, “I forgot to feel you this morning, didn’t I?”

  “Eetie, food! Eetie, food!”

  “Oh, I didn’t even uncover you. I’m so sorry. I was in such a rush this morning and I know that’s no excuse. It won’t happen again.” Catherine reached up and took off the black cover her mother purchased off the cage. It had a sign with a Cockatoo on it that said, ‘Do Not Disturb.’ She opened the cage and the bird jumped directly onto Catherine’s shoulder. Sweetie rubbed her feathers into Catherine’s neck which forced her to laugh. Every time she was near Sweetie, a name her mother chose because the bird was so nice and cooed whenever you would play with her, she remembered her mother. It was a good reminder and she felt bad forgetting the bird this morning. While Catherine went over to get the food she indulged the bird and started petting her neck feathers.

  When Catherine stopped petting, the bird piped up again. “Weetie, food!”

  She guessed the bird was pretty hungry. “It’s coming it’s coming.” Catherine tried to hold back the sobs while she thought of her mother and what she had to do. She fed Sweetie and vowed she would play more with her tomorrow as she put her back into the cage, half crying. Then she walked over to the bed and sobbed her way to sleep still in her soaked clothes, which only came after many hours of crying.

  Chapter 8

  Catherine awoke to the sound of her alarm feeling sick and tired because she slept with her wet clothes on last night and it probably didn’t help that she cried all night. She scolded herself for being so irresponsible that she didn’t even undress. Then she attempted to get up only to fall right back down. She managed to bring her arm up and leaned up slightly to get the phone and dialed Mr. Serentini’s direct line from her phone. Only two people knew the number, herself and Mrs. Upman, even close family did not have the number. That knowledge made her feel warm for a brief moment and then she felt the nausea come on again as her head fell down on the pillow.

  Glen answered as she knew he would because he was always in the office at the crack of dawn. Since it was his private line, he only said, “Hello?” and sounded a bit tentative probably because the phone never rang that early because his secretary wasn’t there to transfer the call.

  Catherine sounded so quiet as she answered, “Mr. Serentini. It’s Catherine…” her voice trailed off.

  “Miss Richmond, is that you? I can barely hear you. You sound horrible. Catherine?”

  She muttered, “Thanks.”

  “I suppose that means you are not coming in.” He paused. “Don’t answer that, I can tell. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Feel better.”

  Glen hung up the phone; Catherine could hear the dial tone on the other end. She couldn’t even replace the receiver, her arm just wouldn’t respond. Catherine tried to get up so she could get her wet clothes off, to no avail. She just pulled the covers over her and fell asleep.

  Twenty minutes later Glen could not stop thinking about how sick Catherine sounded. Was she okay? Would she be okay? Did she need help? He decided to call to ask it he could send some chicken soup over. The phone was busy; he wondered why and even if she was sick at all. Who would be talking on the phone if they were sick? Then Glen considered the fact that she might be faking it to get out of seeing him because of his actions yesterday. He admitted it was inappropriate and would have apologized today, but she wasn’t here. He decided he would bring the soup over himself and apologize for yesterday. Either way, he would win; if she was sick, there would be soup and if she wasn’t, he would apologize and all would be forgiven. It was a win-win situation for him, except for the fact that he wouldn’t be getting any work done. Glen overlooked that and didn’t really care because he didn’t want to loose Catherine, she was great for him and, of course, the company.

  He went to the sixth floor to get some soup from the kitchen, which he was now invited into, because he made friends with the head chef. Glen gathered that the fact that he spoke fluent French helped his case a lot. He got the soup and then walked downstairs and got into the company limousine.

  “Where to, sir?”

  Glen realized he had absolutely no clue where his secretary lived. On the other hand, why should he? But, he was determined and called Mrs. Upman. He didn’t think she would mind at this hour, because she was always early to the office and it really wasn’t that early. So, he dialed her number on the car phone.

  “Hello?” A quiet voice answered the phone.

  “Mrs. Upman?”

  “Yes?” The groggy voice slowly got louder.

  “It’s Glen. By any chance could you give me Catherine Richmond’s address?”

  Fully awake now, Mrs. Upman didn’t know what had come over him to be asking for his secretary’s address, “At this hour? Whatever for?”

  “Well, she called in sick and I’m going to bring her soup.”

  Mrs. Upman laughed and yet she saw this coming, after all she was a pretty girl, combine that with the way Glen looked at her all the time, and she wondered why this hadn’t happened sooner. “Are you sure that’s all?”

  “What do you mean? Yes, I’m sure.” Getting frustrated now, Glen added, “If I was in my office, I would have looked it up myself, but I’m in the car.”

  Mrs. Upman stumbled out of bed and walked over to her cabinet. “Alright, the address is…hold on a minute…It is 2715 Broad Street.”

  “Thank you and a good morning to you.”

  “Good morning? I was still
asleep. You know, I’m not working for you early birds anymore.”

  “I see retirement is treating you well then. You get to sleep in during the day.”

  “Day? It’s early morning.” She yawned and got back into bed.

  Glen decided if she was being personal with him, he would return the guesture, “Oh, one more thing. Have you seen my father? I’ve been trying to get in touch with him lately and can’t.”

  “No, no I haven’t.” Glen could hear the hesitation in her voice but decided to ignore it. After all, what business was it of his where his father liked to spend his mornings?

  Too quickly, Mrs. Upman said, “Alright, bye then.”

  “Bye.” Glen smiled and hoped his father knew what he was getting into. Glen turned his attention back to the task at hand and gave the driver the address. Ten minutes later they pulled up to Catherine’s apartment complex. Glen got out and walked up to the security officer guarding the door. He asked him to call up so he could get access to the apartment. The doorman told him what he already knew, the line was busy and he wouldn’t be allowed up until confirmation was given by the attendant. Mr. Serentini gave him 300 dollars, a business card, and in return got access to the stairs. When Glen got upstairs, he took a deep breath, hoped he did the right thing, and knocked at the door. The third time there was no answer Mr. Serentini got impatient. He was really wondering what Catherine was doing that she couldn’t answered the door or if she really there. He wanted to know so went back downstairs to get the doorman.

  After five minutes of convincing and another $300 given to the doorman, he gave Serentini the spare key to Catherine’s apartment. But, the doorman did not feel too secure and accompanied Glen up the two floors. They both knocked again on her door and waited because the doorman, as well as Mr. Serentini, didn’t want to use the key unless it was absolutely necessary. So, they both knocked again. Again, no answer. So, Glen took the key, unlocked, and opened the door.

  “Catherine?” He waited at the doorway and looked around. He thought it was a nice enough apartment, for this side of town anyway. There was a descent sized kitchen, a living room with a couch and entertainment center that he could see. The floors had an off white carpet on them with nice wooden furniture. He called again, “Catherine?”

  “Wha?” Catherine muttered from under the covers.

  Glen barely heard her and walked into the bedroom to see what looked like a wet rag doll. He cursed himself for thinking she wasn’t telling the truth on the phone. He felt bad she looked this way and wanted to make everything feel all better. All he could think to say was, “Are you okay? I brought soup.”

  “I’m fine,” she said but did not sound it.

  The doorman decided to interject, “Miss Richmond, would it be alright if I left this gentleman here?”

  “Mmm,” she mumbled. Then directed her energy as best as she could towards Glen, “What are you doing here? Go away.”

  The doorman took the hint and left after the glare Glen gave him. Then he looked over Catherine, “Why are your clothes are all wet? Didn’t you take them off last night? You know there was a terrible storm.”

  Before Catherine got a chance to answer, a loud noise interrupted her thoughts, “Hello!”

  Glen knew that sound wasn’t Catherine because she was directly in front of him. “What is that?”

  “Sweetie, shhhh.” Catherine barely got out.

  “Sweetie? So, you have someone else here.” A pain of jealously touched him, Glen got up and walked away towards the noise. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”

  “Hello!” The noise again rang out in the direction of her kitchen.

  Glen headed towards the sound. He stopped in front of a huge black covering in the corner of the room. It had a picture on the front and out of curiosity he looked beneath. He saw a gorgeous white large bird in the middle, “Hello!”

  Glen was in awe. His father was allergic to animals, so he wasn’t allowed to have any growing up. “Hello.”

  “Hello! Rrrr, Sweetie, food.”

  “Are you hungry?” Then it dawned on him, Sweetie was the Sweetie that Catherine was muttering about. He felt badly and remembered the image of Catherine in wet clothes in bed, sick. “You’ll have to wait, Sweetie.” He walked back into the bedroom, “Now, why are you in wet clothes?”

  “I don’t know. Go away, find my sweetie.” Catherine muttered.

  Glen thought it was at least good she had somewhat of a sense of humor even though she looked like a wet noodle. “Alright, I’m sorry. I should have known you wouldn’t have a man in here.”

  Even though Catherine was sick, she still was offended. Scarcely loud enough she said, “What makes you think I can’t get a man to stay the night?”

  Back on the defensive, he thought she could get a man to stay very easily but didn’t think she was that kind of girl so tried to cover himself, “I just didn’t think you’d have a man stay in your condition.”

  Catherine took in what he said in and let the conversation dissolve. She was in no mood to argue.

  Since she was not adding anything else, Glen stated his place and added, “No I won’t go away. I’m going to help you feel better.” He walked over to the side of the bed and asked, “That’s a real pretty bird, what’s her name?”

  Catherine just pulled the covers over her head in response. So, Glen already standing next to the bed, pulled back the covers, and lifted Catherine out of the wet bed in one swift move. Catherine started struggling and then thought better than it, in her weak state. She had no strength and could barely move anyway. So, she allowed him to pick her up.

  Glen brought Catherine to the bathroom and carefully sat her down on the toilet seat and started the bath water at a very warm temperature. “Can you undress or do you need help?”

  Catherine looked suspiciously at Glen. He felt a twinge of pain that Catherine thought he would take advantage of her and tried to ease her worries. “Just to make you feel better, I promise.”

  “I can do it myself, thank you.” She told him feeling more and more self conscious as he stood over her. After all, he looked stunning in his suit and Catherine didn’t want to even know what she looked like. She just prayed he would leave her to bathe herself.

  “Alright.” Glen said and walked out of the bathroom. Once in the bedroom, he sent her sheets out with his driver to be cleaned and dried, considering they were soaked from her clothes. He turned on the television to wait for Catherine to finish her bath. “Sweetie, food!!” Glen walked over to play with the bird, after all he was sitting there close to twiddling his thumbs, from boredom. Glen was never really around birds as a kid. The only time he was around other animals was when his father wasn’t around because of the man’s allergy to everything. So, Glen walked over to the cage, picked up the package of food, and put some in the container next to the door. The whole time he hardly was concentrating because of the worry he was feeling for Catherine. Every five minutes or so Glen would check on her to make sure she was okay. After about an hour of playing with Sweetie and listening to her intense vocabulary as well as watching some television while Sweetie sat on his shoulder cooing, Catherine finally emerged from the bedroom in an oversized robe.

  She humbly looked at him thinking of the mess she looked like before, “Thank you. I do feel a lot better.”

  “Not back to a hundred percent yet, I see.” Glen said as he examined her still red nose from what Glen guessed was the beginning of a cold or possibly something worse.

  “Well, I did hear something about some soup.” Catherine started cautiously.

  Glen was glad she showed some senses of life, and wasn’t completely out of it. “Yes. I did bring some. I’ll heat it up for you. Why don’t you lay on the couch?”

  Catherine figured she wouldn’t get this kind of treatment often, so lied down on the couch as Glen put a blanket on top of her. He made sure she was tucked in securely, copying some of what he remembered his mother doing when he was sick. Finally sat
isfied, he asked, “Where are your pots?” At Catherine’s look of wonder he added, “I have to heat up the soup, it’s probably cold by now.”

  She quickly responded, “Oh, top cabinet above the stove. You know, you didn’t have to do all this, it wasn’t necessary at all.”

  “It wasn’t that it was necessary, it was that I wanted to,” Glen said as he poured the soup in the pot and turned the flame up to just above a simmer. Before he walked over to sit with Catherine, Glen gently put the bird away, and then sat on the end of the couch as he raised her head to rest on his lap.

  As Catherine looked up at Glen’s gorgeous eyes and thought how considerate Glen was, he started rubbing her hair back around her face. Then Catherine’s thoughts led her to her abrupt departure yesterday. “You still shouldn’t have done this. Especially after I left so abruptly yesterday. I shouldn’t have, I’m sorry.”

  Catherine’s words brought Glen back to a purpose of his coming over. He immediately stopped touching her face and thought she probably didn’t want that touch either. He immediately felt uncomfortable with the proximity and wanted to move. He swallowed his pride and stayed seated for the moment, “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should not have tried to kiss you. I’m going to keep our relationship strictly professional for the rest of the time you are working for me, which will hopefully be a long time. I hope you understand. I am really never like this around women. It is just that you are special and beautiful.” He smiled and moved a piece of hair out of her face, “Even when you are sick, please forgive me?”