FanFic: BB The Camera - Ch 8 - Comrades
Title: BB The Camera
Chapter 8: Comrades
Pairing: Catherine/Vincent
Characters: Ensemble
Genre: AU/Ship/Angst
Rating: R
Warning: Language and Emotional Mayhem
Spoiler Alert: S1 E15
Summary: Catherine and Tess discuss the damage and the truth is revealed after angry posting.
A/N: I have no info to give, but I love VinCat and Tess is a well of fun.
Click if you need to go back to Ch7.
Tess leaned over and pushed the passenger door open. “So what happened?”
“It’s too horrible to even talk about. So let’s talk about this car. When did you get this?” Catherine locked up her vehicle and climbed into the blue GT500.
“Yesterday. It was a present. This 2013 baby has 662 hp and tops out over two hundred.”
“That’s a lot of horse power.” Catherine tried to distract Tess from talking about the reason why she was there.
“Yeah. My new bright and shiny toy is fast. Aren’t ya girl?” Tess ran a hand over the dash then revved the engine spinning the tires as she shot out into the road.
“So what’s the problem?”
Catherine took a breath thinking so much for distraction. “Speaking of fast. Fast turns out to be my problem. I moved too fast. With a guy. He was already taken.”
Tess almost snorted then squinted her eyes in disbelieve at Catherine. “Cat. You’re anything but fast when it comes getting dirty.”
“Not this time unfortunately.” Catherine stopped looking at Tess and watched the road knowing her face was red again.
“Seriously? Did you just get laid?” Tess sounded excited at the possibility. “Did you ride the Sexy Beast guy?”
“Don’t call him that.” Catherine spat out.
“You did. Now you have what? Riders remorse?” Tess stopped at a red light and turned to Catherine.
“No. More like riders guilt. Didn’t you hear me say he was taken?”
“Yeah. And by that flush I’d say for several laps around the Gawd Yes Track. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Catherine folded her arms. “It’s green.”
“Fine. Fine.” Tess raised a hand. “You said taken. He married?” Tess pretended to concentrate on traffic.
“No. Not yet.”
“Engaged?”
Catherine nodded, and her mind whispered in Heather’s voice that she was a tramp again.
“Did you find out before or after?”
“After.”
“Ok. You went at it hot and dirty, found out he’s engaged, left him and called me. Now, you feel guilty. That about right?”
“Not exactly, but close enough.”
Tess huffed out air. “Guy’s an ass, but you did nothing wrong.”
“What I did was meet her just after.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. I got sick and she helped me to my car.” Catherine put her hands over her face. “It felt like more than just sex. It felt like we connected like there was more there. He already knows me. He’s been following me. Protecting me. He knows my family and now it’s all too horrible.”
“He’s stalking you.” Tess’ voice took on an edge that Catherine recognized.
Catherine lowered her hands and peered eye to eye with Tess. “No. Not stalking. Protecting. Don’t go all cop on me. You’re here as a friend remember? Just tell me men are assholes and leave it at that.”
“Men are assholes. There feel better?”
“No. Not yet anyway.”
“You’ve only just met him and he messed you up this bad. What game was he playing?”
Catherine shook her head knowing she would sound like countless women before. “I was special and the only one who could…tame the Beast.”
“If we’re woman enough, we can save them. Fuck that. We’re not the doctor. It’s not our job to fix them just so they can turn right around and claim we are trying to change them. And we’re not their mothers either. It’s not our job to baby their fragile fucken male egos. Oooh you’re brave and big I trust you and will do whatever you say blindly.”
“Issues?” Catherine didn’t interrupt Tess till she ran a stop sign waving her hand in the air.
“Sorry. We got into it. I don’t like being told what to do. He knows that. I’m not some trophy wife. I have my own mind and career. The car is part of the makeup that’s supposed to be happening.”
Catherine pointed out a bar and Tess nodded.
“Ok thing is he got an offer at a great job, but it’s in Connecticut. What the hell am I supposed to do in doily-ville? Catch jaywalkers? He said I don’t have to move, but it will cause distance like he had with the ex you know because of the distance. I’m afraid if I don’t move with him then that means the start of the end. We’ve only been married a year.”
“I’m sorry Tess.”
“We’re not here about me. Tell me more about Mr. Taken Ass.” Tess pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off knowing they would sit for a while.
“He was wonderful and complicated. It was great until it wasn’t. I thought I might have found the one.” Catherine became silent and watched people getting in and out of cars.
“Yes. He could be the one. Then there is the Mr. Two then three. That’s why you need to date more. I’m not saying sleep around, but just date more. Try out different kind of guys and see what works for you. You can’t pin your hopes and dreams on one guy. You have your own life.”
“I know. It just makes me a cheater because he was already taken.” Catherine took her driver’s license and debit card out of her purse and shoved them into her pocket.
“Hey it’s not that bad. You didn’t know remember?” Tess did the same with her cards.
“Yes that’s right. I’m not that woman. I’m not some slutty tramp who knowingly slept with a taken guy.” Catherine jutted out her jaw and ground her feet into the floorboard.
“Thanks a lot. Heather.” Tess raised an eyebrow.
“I’m just talking about me. I didn’t mean you. Joe was already separated and getting a divorce when the two of you started up.” Catherine spoke quickly.
Tess’ eyebrow rose higher.
“Well, they were separated.” Catherine tried to correct.
Tess took a deep breath and huffed out.
“They were sleeping in different beds.” Catherine grasped at anything that might help.
Tess folded her arms.
“They were pretending to be a couple?” Catherine’s voice went up at the end.
“It’s alright. Yes. They were pretending that they were still a happy couple. They rarely saw each other, but when they did they tried to pretend. She even told me that after the divorce. She said maybe I could make him happy that he deserved it. I think she really cared for him once upon a time.”
Catherine didn’t know what to say to that.
Tess shrugged her shoulders. “Joe and my relationship is strong and should stand some distance. We would just have to work on seeing each other as much as possible. Right?”
“Right.”
“And what was up with you channeling Heather?”
“She’s talking in my head, so it just came out my mouth.”
“Uh hu. I think we need that drink.”
“I think you’re right.” Catherine was thankful to get out of Tess’ make up present and closer to the liquor. She wanted to erase most of the day. “It wasn’t all bad or fake I think.”
Tess knew Catherine was meaning the Beast and that she was probably right, and Tess knew that it was also true of Joe and his ex’s relationship.
Tess decided to make light with her reply. “That’s what she said.”
Catherine laughed as she watched Tess pantomime and shimmy her hips, which caused a couple of men to yell out as they walked into the bar.
…………………….
Catherine woke up the next day to her cell phone ringing. “Hello?”
“Catherine. It’s me. I want to explain.”
His deep reverberating voice shot her awake, and she dropped the cell phone on the floor off the edge of her bed.
She practically fell out of bed and pressed the end button. She set it down on her nightstand only then realizing what just happened.
Catherine climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over her head as if it would protect her.
The ringing sounded again. She checked, and it showed unknown. It went to messaging.
This happened again then on the next time she answered it but did not speak.
“Catherine? Catherine. I’m sorry. Let me explain…”
“No. You don’t have to explain anything to the camera woman.” She ended the call and was proud her voice stayed even and low.
When the cell phone rang again, she waited for it to go to message then called in sick to work. There was no way she was going to be able to keep a straight dry face if her clients and everyone around her complained about their problems.
She wanted peace. She wanted quiet. She powered off her phone.
Catherine then forced herself to take yet another too hot shower as she did when Tess dropped her off early that morning. She ate Mini Wheat’s and checked emails.
By the time she was done eating, she had worked herself up into a state of anger thinking about how gullible she was with Vincent and how he was calling pretending like it would be ok.
She kept faltering and her eyes filled up with tears, but the anger rushed in to save her from hyperventilating in a crying fit…again.
She instinctively went to her DVD player and dropped in her favorite movie for when she was feeling down. She grabbed ice cream and sulked in her robe.
Half way in watching the Return to Snowy River, she started arguing with the fictional characters on her television. “Don’t Jess her. It’s your fault for being stupid. How dare you? And she can play whatever music she wants!”
Catherine turned off the movie and went to her laptop that was sitting near a closed window. She opened it while looking out over the fire escape and the street below.
“I may have fallen for it, but no one else is if I have anything to say about it.” Catherine spoke to herself as she logged in at the Beast fan site.
Catherine stabbed at the keys creating a new thread in the forum called Cheating Beast and typed the words… ‘I Ammmm No Longer Hot for the Beast. I only found out after that The Ass has a fiancé. FIANCE!!!! He has been with Alex forever apparently. Don’t fall for the touch of his heated skin. Don’t fall for his glowing amber eyes. He is not a Sexy Beast, but a Cheating Beast and an Ass!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she is not reading this. But to all you Beasties out there……..Don’t fall for the Cheating Beast because he will only break your heart like he broke mine.’
Catherine logged out feeling energized and empowered. She slammed the laptop shut harder then she meant to then headed to her back up gym. It was one she used whenever she didn’t want to be spotted by coworkers.
She felt no guilt as it had been more than a year since she called in for any reason and there was nothing important on the roster that day seeing as the following day was Christmas Eve.
Catherine spent the rest of the day trying her best to ignore that her world had fell apart.
…………………….
The following day, Catherine was dressed in a tight black dress for her family’s Christmas dinner party when she decided to check her emails. She wanted to see if there were any time changes that her mother might have sent via email.
“Oh my gawd.” Catherine gaped at a folder she made for the Beast fan site. It boasted 1,823 new emails.
“What? Must be a glitch.” She continued talking to herself.
She clicked on the folder knowing that she only told the site to send emails to her when someone replied to her posts.
Catherine froze and didn’t open any of the emails as her mind offered that she had posted yesterday in anger.
She stood up and walked away from the laptop in denial as fear rolled over her body. She pondered if he had perhaps tricked that many women with his sad story. She stopped backing up when she realized if it was true just how un-special she was to him. Every time she thought about it the emotions smacked her as if it just happened.
The last flicker of hope died as she thought of her mortification of him seeing how badly she took it when she knew about Alex. “Nothing but a notch.”
It was something that she had heard a client the week before say when she complained she was just another notch on a man’s headboard.
Her hands trembled as she went to the site and clicked on her main post knowing she could just scroll over the replies.
The first one said: You met him? Saw him naked? Touched him? OMG OMG! Really? Seriously? Who cares if he has a fiancé! I’d bang him anyway. Lucky bitch.
The second one said: Shut up. Can’t you see she’s hurting? He used her. Men can be scum and he is an ass…The Ass. Don’t feel bad. It’ll be ok. Stop angry posting.
The third one said: Were you the photographer? There was a post on the ‘I Spy the Beast’ thread that said he was going to a Conservatory and they believed it was for a photo shoot since the place was closed early. You’re the photographer right? For the book right? Is that right? You found out after you had sex with him that he has a woman. That’s not your fault. I agree his is scum, but what hot scum at that. The Cheating Beast is henceforth dubbed the Cheating Scum Beast.
The fourth one said: Shut up all of you. Don’t you people know who Alex is? Don’t any of you follow or read the Vincent (yes he has a name) Facts thread? Obviously not! Alex is not his fiancé. Alex was his brother’s fiancé. His brother died in the towers on 9/11 and Alex became unstable. Stephanie where are you? Post something here because they have lost their minds. Stephanie was in nursing school with Alex. They called her Lexie back then and when he died she lost it and had to leave the program. They said she had a mental break down and kept thinking that Vincent was his brother. Vincent has known her since they were teens and probably before that. He cared for her as a person and it is because he is an honorable guy that he is probably going along with Alex. He is obviously trying to help Alex! She is not nor has she ever been Vincent’s woman. Get your facts straight before you bash an honored veteran who served his country. And he is not some stud to gawk at…he is a person and his name is Vincent.
Catherine stopped reading and sat back after she read several replies after that confirming the fourth poster’s facts. Alex was not his fiancé. She was unstable mentally.
Catherine turned on her cell phone remembering that just before she turned it off that she erased his number and history. She wondered if he would call again or if he left a message.
Catherine’s mind told her it made sense now, but she could not listen. She spaced out and sat there till her cell phone beeped with a text from Heather saying that Catherine needed to remember to bring their mother’s gift.
Catherine absently texted back that she would.
Her eyes kept going to her screen. There were people angry at her and others writing in her defense saying that she could not have known and that her feelings are justified. Others just wanted sexual details.
Catherine tried to delete the post, but it said she could not because there were already replies to it. “No shit.”
She settled for editing it saying that she met him and misunderstood him. She went to the very end and left a reply saying she met Alex and didn’t understand she had mental issues. She further wrote that Vincent did not say anything to the contrary at the time and now she knows why. She ended with saying she was sorry.
Catherine walked away from the laptop when her cell rang, and she saw that it was Tess.
“Tess I messed up.”
“Ya think so? What do you mean angry posting?”
“What?” Catherine had meant in reacting to the situation without letting him explain who Alex really was and that he was trying to help her.
“Angry posting is always a bad idea.”
“You saw that? You knew it was me?”
“Cat. After the story you told me last night of course I knew it was you. Who else knows you were taking pics of the Sexy Ass last night?”
Catherine sputtered for a few moments then found the ability to speak. “Heather. Maybe Evan…maybe not. Oh my gawd I don’t know.”
“Delete the post.”
“I tried that. I could only edit it in the end.”
“Contact the site and tell them you want the post deleted.” Tess’ voice was firm.
“Ok. I’ll do it now.”
Catherine was even too distracted to ask Tess how she came across the post in the first place, so Tess offered. “I was the second post. I still think he is an ass.”
Catherine hung up on her and sent a message to the site asking the post to be removed and her account deleted. She prayed that Heather did not see the post and know it was her.
Catherine clicked on it seeing that there were several comments after hers.
The very next comment after her ‘I’m sorry post’ said: You stopped taking my calls, so this is the only way I have to contact you. It’s ok. There was no way you could have known. I wanted to explain and I do feel like an Ass because of how it made you feel. I had to play along for her sake. She’s very fragile right now. I took her back to her aunt’s house where they take care of her. Just so you know it’s me…I Beasted out, but didn’t throw the bench. Can I still come tonight? V.
Catherine blinked several times and read it as many. She saw the account was just created, there was only one post and the username was The Ass.
“It’s him. He’s The Ass.” Catherine practically yelled into her cell phone when Tess picked up.
“Cat? Please tell me you’re not angry posting again.”
“No. I replied that I was sorry and he replied back. He’s the Ass.”
“Why what did he say?”
“No. His username is The Ass. Read it. Wait. I’ll read it to you.”
Tess listened to the post being read then about ten minutes worth of Cat freaking out. “Ok ok. Call him.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes you can. Just call him and say it was a misunderstanding and clear the air.”
“No. I can’t. I deleted his number and all my call history.”
“Fine. Reply to him and say he can come tonight and talk.”
“Wait. You’re telling me to comment again?”
“Just this once. You know your family thing is in like an hour. I’m trying to get ready.”
“You’re coming?”
“Didn’t you get Heather’s text? Between her and your father they invited half of New York.”
“It is supposed to be a family dinner party.”
“Not anymore. See ya there.”
Cat replied just as Tess told her and glanced over some of the replies to his reply. There were countless women and men throwing themselves at Vincent. They said things like yes he could come tonight and with them naked. They were asking what throwing a bench was code for and they would be willing to try it.
“What a mess.” Cat almost logged off when she saw a reply to her reply.
It said: I’ll be there. V
It was the second comment by The Ass.
Catherine logged off hoping that the post would be deleted soon. She opened her window and stepped out on the fire escape. The moon was just as bright as the night before.
She remembered her wish that they could walk hand in hand under it. She wanted to go back to that happy place before she misunderstood what happened, but feared she could not. The pain came from what felt to be real at the time and telling herself it was not what happened did not make the damage go completely away.
Catherine stood in the chilling December wind that started to sprinkle snowflakes on her coatless form.
She spoke trying to hold herself to reality and to let go of the phantom pain that lingered. “Alex is not his fiancé. She’s not. He cares about me. And, I care for…”
Catherine couldn’t say the ending that she cared about him, but saying that he cared was enough. She pressed her hand to her heart willing it to be put back together.
The winter gusts pulled at her hair, and she took the clips out not caring how she looked.
She closed her eyes with a smile feeling the slow restoration of her heart never knowing she was being watched by the man who was the reason for the breaking and the mending.
Heat moved over her body as her heart beat again to the unspoken word…Vincent.
AN: I can practically hear her heart BuBum in time with his name VinCent. This is also not how I imagined I would write this chapter. I think I like writing it with an idea and not fully knowing. I feel better now that the problem has been averted. This one anyway…muuuahahhahhaaaaa. Now I need to edit ch 7 then ch 8 since I wrote this in one sitting. 18 pages? Ok. Maybe I will edit and post 7 then work on 8. Not angry posting mind you. Maybe angsty-hurt/comfort posting.
Click for Ch9!
~~
Chapter 8: Comrades
Pairing: Catherine/Vincent
Characters: Ensemble
Genre: AU/Ship/Angst
Rating: R
Warning: Language and Emotional Mayhem
Spoiler Alert: S1 E15
Summary: Catherine and Tess discuss the damage and the truth is revealed after angry posting.
A/N: I have no info to give, but I love VinCat and Tess is a well of fun.
Click if you need to go back to Ch7.
Tess leaned over and pushed the passenger door open. “So what happened?”
“It’s too horrible to even talk about. So let’s talk about this car. When did you get this?” Catherine locked up her vehicle and climbed into the blue GT500.
“Yesterday. It was a present. This 2013 baby has 662 hp and tops out over two hundred.”
“That’s a lot of horse power.” Catherine tried to distract Tess from talking about the reason why she was there.
“Yeah. My new bright and shiny toy is fast. Aren’t ya girl?” Tess ran a hand over the dash then revved the engine spinning the tires as she shot out into the road.
“So what’s the problem?”
Catherine took a breath thinking so much for distraction. “Speaking of fast. Fast turns out to be my problem. I moved too fast. With a guy. He was already taken.”
Tess almost snorted then squinted her eyes in disbelieve at Catherine. “Cat. You’re anything but fast when it comes getting dirty.”
“Not this time unfortunately.” Catherine stopped looking at Tess and watched the road knowing her face was red again.
“Seriously? Did you just get laid?” Tess sounded excited at the possibility. “Did you ride the Sexy Beast guy?”
“Don’t call him that.” Catherine spat out.
“You did. Now you have what? Riders remorse?” Tess stopped at a red light and turned to Catherine.
“No. More like riders guilt. Didn’t you hear me say he was taken?”
“Yeah. And by that flush I’d say for several laps around the Gawd Yes Track. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Catherine folded her arms. “It’s green.”
“Fine. Fine.” Tess raised a hand. “You said taken. He married?” Tess pretended to concentrate on traffic.
“No. Not yet.”
“Engaged?”
Catherine nodded, and her mind whispered in Heather’s voice that she was a tramp again.
“Did you find out before or after?”
“After.”
“Ok. You went at it hot and dirty, found out he’s engaged, left him and called me. Now, you feel guilty. That about right?”
“Not exactly, but close enough.”
Tess huffed out air. “Guy’s an ass, but you did nothing wrong.”
“What I did was meet her just after.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. I got sick and she helped me to my car.” Catherine put her hands over her face. “It felt like more than just sex. It felt like we connected like there was more there. He already knows me. He’s been following me. Protecting me. He knows my family and now it’s all too horrible.”
“He’s stalking you.” Tess’ voice took on an edge that Catherine recognized.
Catherine lowered her hands and peered eye to eye with Tess. “No. Not stalking. Protecting. Don’t go all cop on me. You’re here as a friend remember? Just tell me men are assholes and leave it at that.”
“Men are assholes. There feel better?”
“No. Not yet anyway.”
“You’ve only just met him and he messed you up this bad. What game was he playing?”
Catherine shook her head knowing she would sound like countless women before. “I was special and the only one who could…tame the Beast.”
“If we’re woman enough, we can save them. Fuck that. We’re not the doctor. It’s not our job to fix them just so they can turn right around and claim we are trying to change them. And we’re not their mothers either. It’s not our job to baby their fragile fucken male egos. Oooh you’re brave and big I trust you and will do whatever you say blindly.”
“Issues?” Catherine didn’t interrupt Tess till she ran a stop sign waving her hand in the air.
“Sorry. We got into it. I don’t like being told what to do. He knows that. I’m not some trophy wife. I have my own mind and career. The car is part of the makeup that’s supposed to be happening.”
Catherine pointed out a bar and Tess nodded.
“Ok thing is he got an offer at a great job, but it’s in Connecticut. What the hell am I supposed to do in doily-ville? Catch jaywalkers? He said I don’t have to move, but it will cause distance like he had with the ex you know because of the distance. I’m afraid if I don’t move with him then that means the start of the end. We’ve only been married a year.”
“I’m sorry Tess.”
“We’re not here about me. Tell me more about Mr. Taken Ass.” Tess pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off knowing they would sit for a while.
“He was wonderful and complicated. It was great until it wasn’t. I thought I might have found the one.” Catherine became silent and watched people getting in and out of cars.
“Yes. He could be the one. Then there is the Mr. Two then three. That’s why you need to date more. I’m not saying sleep around, but just date more. Try out different kind of guys and see what works for you. You can’t pin your hopes and dreams on one guy. You have your own life.”
“I know. It just makes me a cheater because he was already taken.” Catherine took her driver’s license and debit card out of her purse and shoved them into her pocket.
“Hey it’s not that bad. You didn’t know remember?” Tess did the same with her cards.
“Yes that’s right. I’m not that woman. I’m not some slutty tramp who knowingly slept with a taken guy.” Catherine jutted out her jaw and ground her feet into the floorboard.
“Thanks a lot. Heather.” Tess raised an eyebrow.
“I’m just talking about me. I didn’t mean you. Joe was already separated and getting a divorce when the two of you started up.” Catherine spoke quickly.
Tess’ eyebrow rose higher.
“Well, they were separated.” Catherine tried to correct.
Tess took a deep breath and huffed out.
“They were sleeping in different beds.” Catherine grasped at anything that might help.
Tess folded her arms.
“They were pretending to be a couple?” Catherine’s voice went up at the end.
“It’s alright. Yes. They were pretending that they were still a happy couple. They rarely saw each other, but when they did they tried to pretend. She even told me that after the divorce. She said maybe I could make him happy that he deserved it. I think she really cared for him once upon a time.”
Catherine didn’t know what to say to that.
Tess shrugged her shoulders. “Joe and my relationship is strong and should stand some distance. We would just have to work on seeing each other as much as possible. Right?”
“Right.”
“And what was up with you channeling Heather?”
“She’s talking in my head, so it just came out my mouth.”
“Uh hu. I think we need that drink.”
“I think you’re right.” Catherine was thankful to get out of Tess’ make up present and closer to the liquor. She wanted to erase most of the day. “It wasn’t all bad or fake I think.”
Tess knew Catherine was meaning the Beast and that she was probably right, and Tess knew that it was also true of Joe and his ex’s relationship.
Tess decided to make light with her reply. “That’s what she said.”
Catherine laughed as she watched Tess pantomime and shimmy her hips, which caused a couple of men to yell out as they walked into the bar.
…………………….
Catherine woke up the next day to her cell phone ringing. “Hello?”
“Catherine. It’s me. I want to explain.”
His deep reverberating voice shot her awake, and she dropped the cell phone on the floor off the edge of her bed.
She practically fell out of bed and pressed the end button. She set it down on her nightstand only then realizing what just happened.
Catherine climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over her head as if it would protect her.
The ringing sounded again. She checked, and it showed unknown. It went to messaging.
This happened again then on the next time she answered it but did not speak.
“Catherine? Catherine. I’m sorry. Let me explain…”
“No. You don’t have to explain anything to the camera woman.” She ended the call and was proud her voice stayed even and low.
When the cell phone rang again, she waited for it to go to message then called in sick to work. There was no way she was going to be able to keep a straight dry face if her clients and everyone around her complained about their problems.
She wanted peace. She wanted quiet. She powered off her phone.
Catherine then forced herself to take yet another too hot shower as she did when Tess dropped her off early that morning. She ate Mini Wheat’s and checked emails.
By the time she was done eating, she had worked herself up into a state of anger thinking about how gullible she was with Vincent and how he was calling pretending like it would be ok.
She kept faltering and her eyes filled up with tears, but the anger rushed in to save her from hyperventilating in a crying fit…again.
She instinctively went to her DVD player and dropped in her favorite movie for when she was feeling down. She grabbed ice cream and sulked in her robe.
Half way in watching the Return to Snowy River, she started arguing with the fictional characters on her television. “Don’t Jess her. It’s your fault for being stupid. How dare you? And she can play whatever music she wants!”
Catherine turned off the movie and went to her laptop that was sitting near a closed window. She opened it while looking out over the fire escape and the street below.
“I may have fallen for it, but no one else is if I have anything to say about it.” Catherine spoke to herself as she logged in at the Beast fan site.
Catherine stabbed at the keys creating a new thread in the forum called Cheating Beast and typed the words… ‘I Ammmm No Longer Hot for the Beast. I only found out after that The Ass has a fiancé. FIANCE!!!! He has been with Alex forever apparently. Don’t fall for the touch of his heated skin. Don’t fall for his glowing amber eyes. He is not a Sexy Beast, but a Cheating Beast and an Ass!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she is not reading this. But to all you Beasties out there……..Don’t fall for the Cheating Beast because he will only break your heart like he broke mine.’
Catherine logged out feeling energized and empowered. She slammed the laptop shut harder then she meant to then headed to her back up gym. It was one she used whenever she didn’t want to be spotted by coworkers.
She felt no guilt as it had been more than a year since she called in for any reason and there was nothing important on the roster that day seeing as the following day was Christmas Eve.
Catherine spent the rest of the day trying her best to ignore that her world had fell apart.
…………………….
The following day, Catherine was dressed in a tight black dress for her family’s Christmas dinner party when she decided to check her emails. She wanted to see if there were any time changes that her mother might have sent via email.
“Oh my gawd.” Catherine gaped at a folder she made for the Beast fan site. It boasted 1,823 new emails.
“What? Must be a glitch.” She continued talking to herself.
She clicked on the folder knowing that she only told the site to send emails to her when someone replied to her posts.
Catherine froze and didn’t open any of the emails as her mind offered that she had posted yesterday in anger.
She stood up and walked away from the laptop in denial as fear rolled over her body. She pondered if he had perhaps tricked that many women with his sad story. She stopped backing up when she realized if it was true just how un-special she was to him. Every time she thought about it the emotions smacked her as if it just happened.
The last flicker of hope died as she thought of her mortification of him seeing how badly she took it when she knew about Alex. “Nothing but a notch.”
It was something that she had heard a client the week before say when she complained she was just another notch on a man’s headboard.
Her hands trembled as she went to the site and clicked on her main post knowing she could just scroll over the replies.
The first one said: You met him? Saw him naked? Touched him? OMG OMG! Really? Seriously? Who cares if he has a fiancé! I’d bang him anyway. Lucky bitch.
The second one said: Shut up. Can’t you see she’s hurting? He used her. Men can be scum and he is an ass…The Ass. Don’t feel bad. It’ll be ok. Stop angry posting.
The third one said: Were you the photographer? There was a post on the ‘I Spy the Beast’ thread that said he was going to a Conservatory and they believed it was for a photo shoot since the place was closed early. You’re the photographer right? For the book right? Is that right? You found out after you had sex with him that he has a woman. That’s not your fault. I agree his is scum, but what hot scum at that. The Cheating Beast is henceforth dubbed the Cheating Scum Beast.
The fourth one said: Shut up all of you. Don’t you people know who Alex is? Don’t any of you follow or read the Vincent (yes he has a name) Facts thread? Obviously not! Alex is not his fiancé. Alex was his brother’s fiancé. His brother died in the towers on 9/11 and Alex became unstable. Stephanie where are you? Post something here because they have lost their minds. Stephanie was in nursing school with Alex. They called her Lexie back then and when he died she lost it and had to leave the program. They said she had a mental break down and kept thinking that Vincent was his brother. Vincent has known her since they were teens and probably before that. He cared for her as a person and it is because he is an honorable guy that he is probably going along with Alex. He is obviously trying to help Alex! She is not nor has she ever been Vincent’s woman. Get your facts straight before you bash an honored veteran who served his country. And he is not some stud to gawk at…he is a person and his name is Vincent.
Catherine stopped reading and sat back after she read several replies after that confirming the fourth poster’s facts. Alex was not his fiancé. She was unstable mentally.
Catherine turned on her cell phone remembering that just before she turned it off that she erased his number and history. She wondered if he would call again or if he left a message.
Catherine’s mind told her it made sense now, but she could not listen. She spaced out and sat there till her cell phone beeped with a text from Heather saying that Catherine needed to remember to bring their mother’s gift.
Catherine absently texted back that she would.
Her eyes kept going to her screen. There were people angry at her and others writing in her defense saying that she could not have known and that her feelings are justified. Others just wanted sexual details.
Catherine tried to delete the post, but it said she could not because there were already replies to it. “No shit.”
She settled for editing it saying that she met him and misunderstood him. She went to the very end and left a reply saying she met Alex and didn’t understand she had mental issues. She further wrote that Vincent did not say anything to the contrary at the time and now she knows why. She ended with saying she was sorry.
Catherine walked away from the laptop when her cell rang, and she saw that it was Tess.
“Tess I messed up.”
“Ya think so? What do you mean angry posting?”
“What?” Catherine had meant in reacting to the situation without letting him explain who Alex really was and that he was trying to help her.
“Angry posting is always a bad idea.”
“You saw that? You knew it was me?”
“Cat. After the story you told me last night of course I knew it was you. Who else knows you were taking pics of the Sexy Ass last night?”
Catherine sputtered for a few moments then found the ability to speak. “Heather. Maybe Evan…maybe not. Oh my gawd I don’t know.”
“Delete the post.”
“I tried that. I could only edit it in the end.”
“Contact the site and tell them you want the post deleted.” Tess’ voice was firm.
“Ok. I’ll do it now.”
Catherine was even too distracted to ask Tess how she came across the post in the first place, so Tess offered. “I was the second post. I still think he is an ass.”
Catherine hung up on her and sent a message to the site asking the post to be removed and her account deleted. She prayed that Heather did not see the post and know it was her.
Catherine clicked on it seeing that there were several comments after hers.
The very next comment after her ‘I’m sorry post’ said: You stopped taking my calls, so this is the only way I have to contact you. It’s ok. There was no way you could have known. I wanted to explain and I do feel like an Ass because of how it made you feel. I had to play along for her sake. She’s very fragile right now. I took her back to her aunt’s house where they take care of her. Just so you know it’s me…I Beasted out, but didn’t throw the bench. Can I still come tonight? V.
Catherine blinked several times and read it as many. She saw the account was just created, there was only one post and the username was The Ass.
“It’s him. He’s The Ass.” Catherine practically yelled into her cell phone when Tess picked up.
“Cat? Please tell me you’re not angry posting again.”
“No. I replied that I was sorry and he replied back. He’s the Ass.”
“Why what did he say?”
“No. His username is The Ass. Read it. Wait. I’ll read it to you.”
Tess listened to the post being read then about ten minutes worth of Cat freaking out. “Ok ok. Call him.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes you can. Just call him and say it was a misunderstanding and clear the air.”
“No. I can’t. I deleted his number and all my call history.”
“Fine. Reply to him and say he can come tonight and talk.”
“Wait. You’re telling me to comment again?”
“Just this once. You know your family thing is in like an hour. I’m trying to get ready.”
“You’re coming?”
“Didn’t you get Heather’s text? Between her and your father they invited half of New York.”
“It is supposed to be a family dinner party.”
“Not anymore. See ya there.”
Cat replied just as Tess told her and glanced over some of the replies to his reply. There were countless women and men throwing themselves at Vincent. They said things like yes he could come tonight and with them naked. They were asking what throwing a bench was code for and they would be willing to try it.
“What a mess.” Cat almost logged off when she saw a reply to her reply.
It said: I’ll be there. V
It was the second comment by The Ass.
Catherine logged off hoping that the post would be deleted soon. She opened her window and stepped out on the fire escape. The moon was just as bright as the night before.
She remembered her wish that they could walk hand in hand under it. She wanted to go back to that happy place before she misunderstood what happened, but feared she could not. The pain came from what felt to be real at the time and telling herself it was not what happened did not make the damage go completely away.
Catherine stood in the chilling December wind that started to sprinkle snowflakes on her coatless form.
She spoke trying to hold herself to reality and to let go of the phantom pain that lingered. “Alex is not his fiancé. She’s not. He cares about me. And, I care for…”
Catherine couldn’t say the ending that she cared about him, but saying that he cared was enough. She pressed her hand to her heart willing it to be put back together.
The winter gusts pulled at her hair, and she took the clips out not caring how she looked.
She closed her eyes with a smile feeling the slow restoration of her heart never knowing she was being watched by the man who was the reason for the breaking and the mending.
Heat moved over her body as her heart beat again to the unspoken word…Vincent.
AN: I can practically hear her heart BuBum in time with his name VinCent. This is also not how I imagined I would write this chapter. I think I like writing it with an idea and not fully knowing. I feel better now that the problem has been averted. This one anyway…muuuahahhahhaaaaa. Now I need to edit ch 7 then ch 8 since I wrote this in one sitting. 18 pages? Ok. Maybe I will edit and post 7 then work on 8. Not angry posting mind you. Maybe angsty-hurt/comfort posting.
Click for Ch9!
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