Chapter 455: Katrina XVI—Vulnerable

“You should dump him, you really should,” Katrina said as she tossed her keys onto the coffee table, and she looked over her shoulder at Cathy. Although not close at the hip, she was as close a friend as Katrina ever dared to entertain, which meant that they talked on the phone more than they met in person, although living only blocks away from each other. That time had dwindled recently with Cathy’s immersion into a “serious” relationship. Apparently that relationship’s initial glamour had begun to wear off. “There’s no good reason for letting a man ruin your life, if he’s being a pain in the ass, you don’t need a pain in the ass. Get it?”

Cathy shrugged and went straight to the kitchen, raiding the fridge for a bottled icy coffee. She popped off the cap and looked at the floor. “He’s not like that all the time, really. It’s just; he’s been under a lot of stress lately, with his work. He’ll be better when things sort themselves out.” Her face was angular and determined, and she had beautiful cocoa colored skin, she was the type of pretty that made Katrina wonder sometimes why she didn’t just chuck everything and just become a lesbian.

Katrina shook her head. “Cathy men just use stress as an excuse not to be polite,” she leaned forward and widened her eyes, “You know, gentlemanly.”

Cathy laughed, “You sound so Southern when you say it like that.”

Katrina covered her mouth, “I don’t have an accent do I?” How disgusting!

Cathy shrugged. “Sometimes it sounds like you do, actually you do have a weird accent Katrina, I can never tell if it’s Southern or something else, like European. You know in the years we’ve known each other, I don’t think you’ve ever told me where you’re originally from. I’m gonna guess South Africa or something.”

Katrina wrinkled half of her nose, “No, Montreal, I spent a little time in Georgia before coming here Miss Nosy. Don’t piss me off I’m not in the mood.”

Cathy rolled her eyes, “You’re never in the mood Katrina, look thanks for keeping me company through aerobics, but I gotta go and take a shower before I my first client show up so I’ll call you later. And you can tell me about the man in your life.” She grinned with white teeth and mischief.

“What man!” Katrina scowled.

Cathy waved her hand as she sauntered towards the apartment door. “Or woman whatever, but honey someone’s paying for the rent here and it’s definitely not you.” She winked. “You concubine.”

“Fuck you,” Katrina snapped and she went to her answering machine and hit the button. “That’s all I have to say.”

Cathy laughed.

Then the machine delivered its first message, “Miss Volanges,” an irritatingly familiar voice droned, “I know you must be tired of these messages but if you want to know about your….”

Not waiting to hear about anything, Katrina scowled and stopped the message, and deleted it. “Bastard.”

“Is that him?” Cathy asked.

“Nope,” Katrina replied, “Some weirdo, I think I have a stalker, he keeps trying to get into touch with me, a priest actually if you can believe that.”

“A priest?” Cathy laughed. “Kinky. What’s his name?”

“Patrick Mallory,” Katrina sniffed. “Father Mallory I suppose.”

“No shit!” Cathy exclaimed. “Father Mallory? Patrick Mallory?”

Oh great. Katrina squinted. “You know him or something?”

Cathy nodded. “Yeah!” She crossed her arms. “If this is the same guy, Father Mallory is with the Church downtown, he’s a huge supporter of charities and building projects for the inner city, he’s done a lot for the Hispanic and African American communities. He helped a cousin of mine off some issues last year. The man’s a saint, Katrina, and he’s stalking you? What does he want?”

“Uh..” Katrina curled her lip. “I… this can’t be the same guy.”

Cathy shrugged. “Maybe it’s not but I haven’t heard of any other Father Mallory’s maybe you should find out what he wants. I mean, it might really be important.”

Katrina shook her head, “Whatever, I’ll talk to you later.”

Cathy kissed her cheek goodbye and closed the door behind her as she left, and Katrina went to the next message on her machine, not thinking anymore on kooky charitable priests. Scott Parker again, bragging about his free entrance into an exclusive night club in LoDo and wouldn’t she like to take advantage of it. He knew she was a girl who would just love a good time; she should loosen up a little and let a real man…. Deleted. A message from James, one of her co-workers wondering if she’d like to meet for lunch and…. Deleted. A message from Pierre, sorry kitten but no dinner tonight at her place, he had a sudden engagement pop up and… Deleted.

“Men suck,” she muttered. But she did notice an interesting absence. Patrick hadn’t called her and she pursed her lips. That’s about a hundred bucks she was out of. Patty was good money. Plus, well, she wrinkled her nose, he was actually pretty funny, she kind of liked listening to him talk with boyish nerdish honesty about one of his quirky hobbies or making horrible jokes in attempts to flirt. Well he sucked too then.

With time on her hands, Katrina looked over her schedule. Her vacation time was during the summer and she wasn’t given a whole lot of leeway during the season. She scribbled a name onto a blank sheet of paper, over and over again, Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. She had to go back to Los Angeles, she needed to go. Pierre would understand, she could explain everything to him, he’d seen the girl himself; perhaps he could find a way to help her. This time she would find her, she could feel it.

The world wasn’t big enough to keep blood apart.

After lunch, Katrina took a nap and then made her way to the Pepsi Center, early. They had a game tonight, and she loved arriving before everyone else, it left her in prime territory for snagging players and perhaps tips before the rest of the massage staff could get them. She expected Patty would be wanting a massage, he would be playing tonight more than likely…

As she crossed the empty parking lot towards the building she heard a car driving in behind her, slowly, wheels crunching over the snow and ice and then she heard his voice, “Katrina! Katrina!” Boisterous and boyish, Katrina turned around and she saw the most bulky, cumbersome, boxish ugliest black hunk of junk she’d ever seen and Patrick Roy grinning at her out its window after he’d pulled it to a park. He honked the horn twice, “What do you think?”

Oh my god, her thighs trembled first and it spread to her palms and then to her lips, she gazed over the top of her sun glasses, “Holy shit,” she muttered. He did it, the crazy son of a bitch did it, she’d dared him to and he actually went out and bought a Hummer, a stinking Hummer. God damn but those cars were even uglier and more worthless looking in person. She walked briskly to the car, meeting Patrick as he stepped out, leaning against the shining new black exterior with the smuggest look on his fat face.

“How much did you spend on that gas guzzling piece of shit?”

Patrick grinned, “About sixty thousand.”

Katrina pulled off her sunglasses and just gazed, she felt that hollow glassy weakness in her breast whenever presented with a dazzling gift by a man, an expensive one. “Because I told you to?”

“Because you told me to,” he grinned.

Katrina swallowed. Keep your head girl, keep your… “You’re not even going to give it to me, you just went out and spent money, you just threw money away because I said so? Sixty thousand?” Her heart wouldn’t sit still either. Men! So easy, so wont to do things like this and the more they spent on her the more useful she found them, her heart could only be softened with cash and valuables, a sensible way to carry a relationship she knew this. All of her life the one weakness…. Keep your head…. Keep…. “It’s not even that great of a car.”

Patrick grinned.

Well he had done it just for her. She half grinned. “Show me the back seat, let’s break it in partner, right now.”

Patrick wrinkled her nose, “Well I don’t know Katrina, I mean I just got it and I don’t want to make a mess of….”

No way in HELL a man told her no when she was actually in the mood. No one told her no! Ungrateful bastard. Well a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s…. Katrina tilted her chin up. “You don’t have to use protection.”

Patrick narrowed his eyes, and then opened the back door. “Get in there,” he snapped.

Ah it even smelled like new car she inhaled as she hopped in, like worthless old overpriced car aaaaaaah……