The Things We Crave

Chapter Sixteen

It has been two years since Catherine’s sister’s wedding. At this point in her life she is at an all time low. Her mother has lost her battle with cancer. At the funeral, Tammy offered to let her stay with her while she grieved. Tammy knew her sister shouldn’t be alone at this time. Catherine has been unstable with her choices since their mother was diagnosed. In the past two years Catherine has become restless, reckless, and fearless. She worked as an escort up until her mother’s death. After experiencing her first adrenaline rush speeding on her new motorcycle that her mother bought her, she started looking for new ways to get that rush.

She started testing her boundaries by a one-night stand, street racing, sleeping with a mob boss’s son, then running from the mob in a high-speed chase. She did eventually call them to agree she pay the value of the bike and what they spent to fix the bike while she raced for them. She put down seven grand she had been saving to buy a new bike. She could have just let them have the bike, but it was the last gift from her mother, Catherine would treasure it forever.

From there she found a group on f*******: for thrill seekers like her. She learned to rock climb, went white river rafting and parasailing with a regular client, another client took her ziplining once a month. Getting the rush made her feel alive, because her reality made her feel numb and out of control. Now that her mother was gone, she didn’t know what to do with herself. She had taken care of her mother basically by herself this whole time. Her father had to keep working to pay the hospital bills and chemo, her sister lived in Denver, and her brother she hadn’t seen since he was eighteen.

She found herself in Denver, Colorado at her sister’s doorstep. Tammy knew she was coming. Catherine rode her bike and sent her things in a moving van. They lived in a country house in the suburbs. They had turned it into a small ranch with horses and cattle. It reminded her of their house back home. She had thought Tammy couldn’t live in the city. Tammy answers the door with a little boy a little over a year, on her hip with another one in the oven.

Catherine steals the boy off his mother’s hip and peppers his face with kisses. The boy explodes with laughter. Tammy throws her arms around her baby sister sandwiching the child between them.

“I’m glad you made it here safe. I worried about you the whole time.” Tammy says as she pulls back and takes her son from his aunt and puts him on the floor.

“Not nothing I couldn’t handle. Before I come in, I want to show you something. Come outside and see what I did to my bike.” Catherine said with a wink.

Tammy rolls her eyes but follows her out to the driveway. Catherine’s bike was now a metallic pink with a cancer ribbon decal on both sides of the gas tank. On the ribbon it said, Pam’s Wildcat, in palace script. On the fenders has the same font saying, I have an angel in heaven, I called her Mom.

“Aww, Catherine! I love it! She would have too. Come inside, we’re in the mountains here so it gets colder this time of the year. Unfortunately, your bike will be seasonal here. Don’t worry, Brad has a few SUVs, so you can borrow one until you get on your feet.” Tammy says.

After settling in her room, they have dinner around six when Brad gets home.

“Who’s pink bike is out in the driveway?” Brad asks kissing his wife and sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Mine.” Catherine says after she sneaks up behind him and wraps him in a hug.

“oh hey, Catherine! You made it. Is that the bike your mom got you?” He asks as she sits down next to her sister.

“Yup, I dedicated it to her. By the way, sissy, I put her on the bookshelf in the living room on the top shelf. At least I was able to giver her that ride I promised her. Too bad she wasn’t alive to enjoy it.” Catherine said sadly.

“Wait, put who on the shelf? I’m lost.” Brad asks confused.

“Our mother. Father had her cremated. Tammy wanted to keep her for a little while, then it goes back to Dad.” Catherine explains.

“Oh, ok, I see. Catherine, you have lost weight since I last seen you. Have you been sick?” Brad asks concerned.

Tammy scowls at him. Naturally he doesn’t understand her hostility.

“It’s ok, Sissy. No, I haven’t been sick. I just have been more active. I picked up a few hobbies trying to cope with Mother’s illness. That and the stress, the fat melted away. I don’t look that bad Brad, I still weigh about the same, my face has thinned out and my body is leaner, but I also have a six-pack and my arms and legs are muscular and firm.”

Brad laughs. “What hobbies have you picked up?” He scoops mashed potatoes into him mouth.

Catherine rolls a pea around her plate with her fork. “I like to be outdoors, so I took steps to learn to rock climb. I had to weight train so I could pull myself up. I joined this club called Dare Devil Association. We get together and plan outings where people teach new thrill seekers the safe way to have fun with extreme sports. I’ve done a few other extreme sports too.”

“I like to be outside too, Catherine, but why go the extreme route?” Brad asks.

“Why not? I don’t know how to explain it, Brad. It just helped be deal with things better. Otherwise, I think I would have had a mental breakdown.” Catherine said passively. She releases a heavy sigh and starts to eat.

“To each their own.” Brad shrugs. “What are your plans now? Stay here in Denver? I think you might like it here. It’s a bit of an environment change for you, but you needed to get out of California. Try something new. I could probably get you a job, you know when you’re ready. It’s time for you to think about you. You have set your life aside for your mom. Now that time has passed. I’m not trying to be cold, Catherine, I'm just thinking of your well-being. We care about you.”

“Brad’s right. Take as long as you need. Think about what you need to do for yourself. You have our support and we’ll do what we can to help. I think you should stay here. I know we didn’t get along as kids, but I still love you. We need to stick together during these hard times.” Tammy says gently.

Catherine knew they were right. She also knew she was going to get this lecture when she agreed to live with them. They were afraid she was going to overstay her welcome. She couldn’t blame them; they have a growing family. She just needed time to acclimate to this new place. A new city, a new start. Here, no one knew the mistakes of her past. No one has ever heard of the name Wildcat. A clean slate. The downside was there was no reputation to lean on for leverage. She shouldn’t need though, she needed to settle down and be an adult.

After a few weeks of being antisocial and crying out her pain, she pulled herself together. It was the fall, but she still rode her bike into the city. She found the Zoo, a few museums, Red Rocks Park, an aquarium, even a few state parks that has rock climbing, a place to go kayaking. She had a good feeling about Denver. Curiosity got the best of her while driving around Denver.

I wonder about the clubs and night scene are here? She thought.

She checked out a few, Tammy didn’t ask the next morning. She didn’t care as long as she didn’t wake up the baby.

After a month of living with her sister, Catherine went to Brad and asked him for help to get a job. She was surprised to find out that Vincent was actively looking for an assistant. He had finally accepted the fact that he needed help. So, Brad convinced him to put an ad for the position. Brad knew Catherine had the credentials for the job, she lacked experience, but he knew Vincent would hire Catherine in a heartbeat. Vincent has been looking for a way to get Catherine to Denver. It was unfortunate that it had to happen out of loss.

Catherine was now sitting across from the man she had a one-night stand with around two years ago. She didn’t know if he would remember her. Tammy said he was a player, so why would he? Oh yeah, because she played him, rode him hard, and put him away wet. Then hung him out to dry without a word. She never thought they would cross paths again, now he could be her new boss. So much for a clean slate.