Chapter 427: Katrina XIV—Missed By a Moment

“What would you think if my wife found out about you?”

Katrina frowned and looked into the mirror, at Pierre’s reflection behind her. He sat lazily on one of the beds in the room, lazily but not unkempt. His clothes were neat and arranged as if they’d never been touched, his shoes polished and gleaming, smooth and fresh and soft. At his feet sat a briefcase full of “state secrets” in his hand he held his cell phone which never ceased to ring at regular intervals unless shut off. She’d been admiring her new pair of earrings that he’d given her just moments ago, rather than put on her clothes she put them on, figuring he’d better appreciate her appreciation that way.

Rubies so red they looked like blood drops, set with perfect sparkling diamonds, they glinted on her ear lobes and she grinned happily. “Has she found out about me?”

Pierre looked at her briefly, she saw his gaze over her body, before he sighed and picked up his briefcase, setting it on his wide lap. “No she hasn’t.”

Warning signal, she knew that sort of hesitation, that sort of question, that sort of reluctance to appreciate her body’s natural endowments. Her palms itched and she turned around. “Then it doesn’t matter. Does it?”

Pierre didn’t look at her; he pulled out a notepad, some papers, setting up shop. “It’s always good to be prepared little one, I wondered if you were.”

Katrina shrugged. “Prepared for what? If Columbe found out, do you expect she’ll try to kill me or something; it couldn’t be anything worse for me than a scene or a slap on the cheek. And how much did you spend on these earrings if you’re not even going to admire them on me, hm?”

He glanced at her, “You’re beautiful. I’m glad I bought them; now put your clothes on.”

Burn, not anger, but annoyance, irritation, really an unwillingness to deal with the sudden onset of conscience that seems to inflict married men after their delight and fun with a new toy had lost its luster. Still, Katrina didn’t let her irritation burn in her cheeks or her face, she didn’t want to show him any displeasure, just yet, she slowly put on her clothes but Pierre didn’t even glance at her. As she slipped into her shirt, she lost some patience. “Alright Pete what’d I do?”

He smiled, a small smile and looked at her, “Nothing at all.”

“Well?”

Lacroix raised his eyebrows. “Well?”

Katrina sighed. “So what was the point of asking me that question, am I prepared, bullshit Pete, what’s on your mind this morning?”

Lacroix sighed, “Nothing much I have to tell you, don’t take me the wrong way yes? Let’s forget it kitty cat?” He went back to a thick clipped stack of papers, perusing, oblivious, expecting life to go on.

“Well are you gonna tell your wife about us or what?” Katrina crossed her arms over her tummy, holding onto her elbows.

His eyes flashed, like burning coals, “Do you want me to?”

Katrina shook her head, she thought of useless dreams, useless whims, being tied down, the allure of being forbidden gone, miserable. “No I don’t. Not at all.”

“Ever?” he asked.

“Marriage doesn’t interest me, I don’t dream, Papa.” Katrina said and she leaned forward and kissed him. “I like the way things are now.”

“Then things shall stay that way,” he replied and he pushed her back gently, his hands on her wrists. “But they will always stay that way, I love Coco, I love you too in a way, but I don’t want you ever getting ideas….”

Katrina rolled her eyes. “Know what, you’re annoying me right now, okay?”
He smiled. “Good.”

Well the end of that situation. Relieved now seeing that he’d been worried about her intentions rather than bored of her, Katrina sat down at the edge of the bed, separated from him by stacks of papers and notebooks. She could have any man she wanted, young men, good looking men, men with more money, men with more power, but she felt so comfortable here, with this man. And it didn’t bother her at all that he had the physical attributes of a water logged couch, she grinned. She liked him as he sat, a teddy bear with a briefcase. And she also loved his ability to shut off, go cold and business like and not bother with anymore emotionally and physically than what needed to be done. A very un-taxing man, and the jewels didn’t hurt either.

She blew out a loud sigh, as if she were bored and abandoned, just for show really, just to remind him that he couldn’t be completely free of duty to her when he felt like it. He put the papers down on his lap and smiled; she smiled back, and felt warm. He didn’t need to touch her to make her feel warm, friendly, safe, a man who would never hit her or yell or dominate, manipulate yes but everyone did that when they had money.

“I saw the funniest thing yesterday,” he said. “It amused me.”

“Oh?” Katrina said expecting the beginning of one of his intricate, sometimes hard to understand but ultimately funny jokes or anecdotes. Wild tales and exaggerated follies, he had the gift of story telling and entertaining, she could imagine he’d always been wonderful with children, actually feeling bad that he didn’t have grandchildren yet.

“Yes I saw a kitten, with pretty green eyes and a little tiny kitten mouth and cheeks, and pretty black hair.”

“A black cat? Where?”

“No not cat, kitten,” Pierre held his finger up. “Right outside on the sidewalk.”

“Oh poor thing,” Katrina replied, “How old was it? Was it abandoned? Could it take care of itself?”

“She may or may not have been abandoned,” he said folding his hands together, “But she was certainly alone at that time. I half felt like taking her home to my wife, whether or not she had someone to take care of her, Coco loves kittens, she would have treasured her, I know.”

“I like kittens too,” Katrina said smiling and yes feeling a little jealous, “Why wouldn’t you want to give her to me? You don’t think I could take care of kittens? I get lonely alone sometimes, a good kitty to warm my feet would be a wonderful gift.”

His eyes widened and sparkled boyishly, “You mean you would appreciate a kitten for free than the nine hundred dollars I spent on those earrings?”

Katrina laughed, “Well warm things are nice too.”

He nodded. “Well, this kitten you would not have wanted, at any price.”

“Why was it deformed?”

He laughed, “No SHE was quite attractive, too attractive, I’d think you’d be jealous of her, I know how you pretty girls are, you’re always jealous of each other.”

“Oh that’s insulting,” Katrina said, “You’d think I’d get jealous of a cat?”

Pierre grimaced, Katrina tagged that face as “the Frenchman’s grimace” because she noticed Patrick Roy, Alex Tanguay, and other Quebecois’ using that same face which meant nothing other than to fill an awkward moment. So he felt uncomfortable, and she thought about it as he seemed to have ended his story and began to put his papers away back in the briefcase.

“What happened to the kitten?”

“I left her behind, and thought about her, but when I came back to the hotel, she was gone. Someone must have taken her home, I was kind of sad to be honest with you. Columbe would have loved her.” Low, bass, subdued tones overtook his voice and as big a heart as she knew he had for his players, for other people, for news stories, she couldn’t imagine him being so broken up over a…

“She, how did you know it was a she? You’re not talking about a real kitten are you? Are you trying to tell me something else?”

He clicked his briefcase closed, “I don’t know if I’m trying to tell you something, if I were at breakfast right now with Bob, or Patty, I would be telling them the same story, you do not factor in it so much. She just struck me as intriguing.”

“A woman? Some other woman caught your eye?” She asked, oh great he’s thinking of shopping around, where does that leave me?

“No a girl, a little girl.”

Katrina scowled. “Pete EW! I never took you for a pederast.”

Lacroix shook his head, “And I am not, I resent that you would even joke about that. No, the girl intrigued me not because I felt lustful to her, just intrigued. He grinned, she looked just like you Katrina. Only as a kitten, it amused me, another kitten version of you on this world, and here I thought you were an unusual jewel.”

Crashing screeching trauma clanged in her breast, her heart paused and in her mind she couldn’t process anything, his name, her own name, and her own reason for being, because she didn’t want to know. “A little girl? Are you talking about a little girl? She looked just like me?”

Pierre nodded, “Just like you, perhaps she was twelve or thirteen, she seemed malnourished a little, but yes, just like you.”

Twelve or thirteen? “Are you saying she looked just like me?” Katrina stood up and she couldn’t stop her pulse from throbbing so hard in her veins that her ears felt stopped up. “Just like me?” She clenched her fists wanting to hit him, or someone.

Pierre laughed, “See what did I tell you, pretty girls are always jealous of each other, regardless of age.”

“Screw that!” Katrina cried and she felt her cheeks burning and her eyes itching. “Pierre tell me you’re joking, the girl, she didn’t look like me? How much did she look like me, tell me every detail right now.”

Lacroix lost his smile and he put his hand on her cheek, “What is wrong kitten?”

“Tell me!”

Pierre shrugged. “Little, tiny girl, she had black hair like yours, a little nose like yours, and bright green eyes like yours. It struck me as funny that there could be more than one of you. I thought you’d be amused, I wouldn’t have told you if I knew you’d react like this.”

“No!” Katrina gasped and she kissed him. “I’m glad you did. Tell me, she was outside, this hotel, she was outside?” Her chest closed, her knees buckled but she maintained her balance. “Did you speak to her, did you hear her voice, did she look, did she look okay?’

“She looked fine,” Pierre said somberly, “I didn’t interact with her, but she looked fine, bored maybe but, why is this so important.”

“And she was just standing there?” Katrina asked, feeling her pulse calm, telling herself that she was an idiot, that she was dreaming and that she was riding a pure coincidence. “In front of the hotel?”

“Yes, she didn’t seem to be doing anything but stand there, against the wall. I saw her twice yesterday, that’s why I remembered her, you didn’t see her?”

It couldn’t be her. “No I take the back entrance.” Katrina said quietly. “Why would a little girl be hanging around the outside of the hotel like that, unless her parents are staying here or….” NO! No that couldn’t be it. The second option just flashed in her mind, and it boiled her guts with disgust and horror. “No!”

She ran, she flung the door open, she ran down the long thin red carpeted hallways of the hotel and she ran to the gold doors of the elevators. She wouldn’t be there and even if she was, it wouldn’t be Chloe. It couldn’t be. Wiping tears away, she dashed through the cavernous lobby and onto the sidewalk littered with patrons and valets and cabs and people just passing by. “Chloe!” she called out. “Chloe!” But she saw no girl anywhere, why would there be?

The tears fell freely now, a valet asked her if she’d lost a dog, and Katrina flipped him off and walked briskly down the sidewalk, not wanting to go back into the hotel like this or let Pierre see her crying. She turned into an alley next to the hotel, not unlike the one Rob Blake had the dumbass luck of falling into and she put her hands over her eyes. Before she could let loose and sob, however, she heard a groan, a low male groan.

Annoyed that this world of men wouldn’t even allow her to cry, even at this moment, she sniffled and glared at the pavement to see two men laying face down in the wet newspapers and litter. They wore nice clothes, fairly soiled but new and they didn’t smell too bad, they couldn’t be homeless. Probably a couple of frat boys out on a binge, but then she noticed the sculpted V-shaped physique stretching their jackets in an all too familiar way. She squatted next to the men who were barely awake and grabbing one roughly by the back of his head she lifted it to see his face. Oh figures!

“Hello there Tiger.”

“Oof,” Alex Tanguay replied, “My head hurts.”

Katrina dropped it and rolled her eyes. “Of course.”