The Devil's Sweetheart

174

''Where are you going, mom?'' Before Heather prepared to leave, Jennie pulled her mother back into the chair. She can understand her mom's curiosity about Catalina and Francy, but did she forget her actions are plain to see?

''I-I..'' Heather sought out a quick alibi. ''I mean...Francis doesn't know much about women. What if that so-called woman you mentioned is out for his fortune? I, as a close friend and family, should help him.''

''You are right! Why didn't it hit my muddy brain.'' Jennie ululated a cry like a Greek expression of sorrow for the dead. She got up and whispered into Heather's ears. ''Let's go to Hotel Harrison and secretly watch her moves.''

Heather nodded. That's her main motto. Her daughter eventually entered the right tracks.

''Bye, meemaw.'' Jennie playfully winked at her Meemaw, and they were off to hotel Harrison. Margaret glanced at Jennie's departing figure and smiled mischievously. ''It seems she is hell-bent on bringing these two fools together this time.''

Jennie pulled her mask up to her nose before getting down the car. She gave one to her mother, and Heather has to use this cover-up not to get exposed.

The second Heather set her foot into the hotel, her keen eyes scanned the fully crowded place, and at last, caught sight of a man's back, and undoubtedly, she knew it's Francis. But she couldn't believe the woman sitting opposite him was Catalina.

''Aunt Cat is beautiful, isn't it, mom,'' Jennie added fuel to the fire.

Aunt Cat? When did her daughter become close to that skeleton to call her nicknames? Never trust a woman whose name is a cat.

She resembled a skeleton during her twenties, but time and age have changed her completely. Her slender personality, the business attire she wore, and each move of hers, radiance exuded from her every fiber of her skin. No wonder Francis agreed to a date with her, Heather thought and looked down at her own appearance. She was starting to taste the bitterness of reality. In a rush, she didnot think of getting dressed up.

''Mom.'' A knock on her shoulder, Heather jolted and paid her attention back to the couple.

''You are zoning out. The seat behind Francy is empty,'' Jennie said. ''Let's go, and sit there. I suppose it gives us access to their talks without much effort.''

''But it's reserved,'' Heather spoke after her daughter in a muted tone. ''It's not good, baby-''

Jennie dragged her mother to the place, shutting her thoughts. Heather was skeptical about sitting at a reserved table, but her daughter pulled her to the seat like it's nothing. Hesitantly, Heather settled in the chair behind Francis with Jennie next to her. The first thing she did was to remove the mask, which was suffocating her to death.

As Heather leaned back on the chair, she caught a whiff of the perfume she gifted Francis, which she brought from Korea. A smile curled on her lips.

Jennie ordered a juice for herself while Heather waited and waited, but not a word she gathered from either Francis or Catalina's mouth. Are they having a muted conversation? According to her daughter, Francis himself had initiated talking. But it's completely opposite to what's happening here to what's she heard at home.

''Are you sure they talked-''

''We have been sitting here for around three hours. Yet you haven't spoken a word, Francis.''

Heather stopped breathing her words. Finally, they broke the silence?

''I am sorry that I wasted your time.. but this...I am not prepared for this.'' Francis trailed off, his words ambivalent. He woke up to Jennie's call in the morning, ordering him to come to hotel Harrison instantly. With extreme trepidation, he reached there only to know that Jennie slated him thoroughly. She introduced a woman and gave a brief introduction about her, and slipped off the place. It was strange that Jennie pulled him into this mess the day after learning about the truth. What is she planning? Is she in cahoots with Evelyn?