Forgive Me, Katherine

Chapter 3: Wedding Bells

Katherine's family was more than pleased the day I sporadically showed up at their doorstep needing their attention. Her mom was elated when she answered the door upon my arrival. That day she was her normal and chipper self. Dressed in a pleated skirt dress you'd normally see on your every day housewife dating back to the 1960's-1970's era, her beautifully blonde hair was done in tight ringlets coming down just to her shoulders with the help of hair products, and she always kept her face fresh and clean of make-up. She believed beauty came from the soul, not by the products you caked on your face to hide the imperfections, a trait Katherine had well inherited. "Stefan," she greeted me with a small but warm hug, "To what do we owe the pleasure? Katherine isn't home at the moment. She's at the office, that busy bee, they're always keeping her with something to do."

"Actually," I adjusted my tie and corrected my posture, "It is you and her father I wish to speak with. Could I treat the both of you to a little late brunch on the town?"

She waved one of her hands refusing my offer, "Stefan, you must not spoil the likes of us, that's preposterous. Let us treat you to brunch, come inside. I just put some water in the kettle for some hot tea, we'll have some finger sandwiches. Katherine's father is just outside in the den enjoying the rest of his paper."

She opened the door allowing me entry into the home which always screamed at me with a homely vibe. The walls were decorated from top to bottom with family pictures throughout years time; Christmas get togethers, family unions camouflaged with faces I hadn't come to recognize just yet, and pictures of Katherine during her school days. The house was flooded with the aroma of fresh apple pie, which I had suspected was baking in the oven. The air was cloaked with the warmth blazing from the fireplace in the living room.

Katherine was never brought up in poverty, but she wasn't in the upper class. Her parents raised her in an upper-middle class family lifestyle; her father was a very successful businessman whom owned three car dealerships throughout the state of Washington, and her mother was a homemaker with her only real job being to raise her children. I envied Katherine's lifestyle; the kind where you didn't have to worry about going without anything but you knew you weren't entitled to every beckoning 'want.' She knew you had to work hard for everything you had, that even the little things don't come cheap.

Katherine's mother maneuvered herself throughout the kitchen seemingly moving in all sorts of directions; one moment she was preparing tea cups, the next she was peering into the oven at her masterpiece of a pie, finally she'd be peaking into the refrigerator gathering the essentials for the finger sandwiches. "Nicholas," she chimed, "Come inside and sit with Stefan, will you? He's joining us for brunch this morning."

I heard Katherine's dad let out a small grunt just as he went to reply, "Stefan, what is he doing here? I'll be in there in just a moment darling, I'm just wrapping up the sport's section of the paper."

"You must have dozed off somewhere then," she gave out a slight chuckle, "You were stuck on the sport's section just half an hour ago. Come in and have a seat." 

"It's not an urgent matter I can assure you of that Ms. Jennings," I held up my hand to pause her words as I took a seat at the dining table to make myself more at home, "He can finish the paper, I'm in no rush at all."

Just as I had gotten out my words, Katherine's father stood in the doorway. He was a middle-aged man; his hair was beginning to thin and bald out at the top of his head, he was dressed in his usual buttoned down plaid shirt and jeans. His posture wasn't what it was years ago, age had taken his toll and he now walked with a constant hunch, and with the aide of a cane. 

"Katherine is at the office," he said as he pulled up one of the dining room chairs and seated himself across from me, "I'm sure you knew that. What brings you here on this fine morning?"