Driving Miss Catherine

For the first time since he started his new job, Sebastian felt like a chauffeur. He was the invisible person who got the occupant of the car from one place to another. He sat in the Phantom, with the engine off, absently sliding his gloved hands over the smooth leather steering wheel. He pictured them over and over, walking up those marble steps. ‘I don’t even want to know what they’re doing right now,’ he said to himself and closed his eyes, letting his head tilt back against the head rest. Sudden images from that frightful race several months ago flashed through his brain, and his eyes shot open. He blinked a few times to clear his memory of the flames and pieces of burning car. ‘I need to go fast, I need to race,’ he said irritably as he sat up and started the Phantom. ‘But not in this car,’ he thought as he drove off into the night.

After the formal introductions were over, the rest of the night could begin. The ‘fun part,’ as Cat’s date called it. They were seated at a table far away from her father, which Cat enjoyed, but very close to the bar, which her date enjoyed. She had yet to see him without a glass of scotch in his hand, his perfectly gloved hand. As she admired his white gloves, she had a faint glimpse of a memory from that evening of a black gloved hand helping her out of the car, but other than that she had no thoughts of her driver at all. And how could she, with an actual prince charming next to her all night. She glanced back up him in his impeccable white uniform.

“Would you like anything else to drink?” He asked and she politely declined. She looked down at her untouched glass of champagne and decided to take a sip, even though she didn’t like it. She scrunched up her nose as the bubbles tickled her throat.

“You don’t like champagne much?” her date laughed as he sat down next to her. “Why don’t I get you something else?”

Cat thought about it before declining again. “I really shouldn’t, I’m supposed to be on my best behavior for my dad’s colleagues, impress them or something…” Cat trailed off and changed the subject before he could try to offer her any more alcohol. “So, Heikki, you’re a Lieutenant in the Finnish Navy? What’s that like; do you get to fight pirates or anything exciting?” Cat laughed in a girly/polite kind of way and smiled.

“No, no pirates,” he laughed and set his glass down for the first time that night. “It’s a nice job. I rose through the ranks fast probably because my mother is a diplomat, not because I’m particularly fantastic at being a sailor, or had high scores at university,” he sighed, and sounded slightly resentful of that fact, “but I get to go to fun events like this, and meet beautiful American heiress’s like you.”

He smiled, and his prefect, white, shining teeth almost dazzled Cat into forgetting that he had just called her an heiress. She wasn’t really an heiress, not yet at least. She still lived at home and had everything paid for with ‘daddy’s credit card.’ She hated being one of those girls, getting labeled as ‘the rich girl’ before she even had a chance to prove herself, and now her prince charming had just done the same thing. Her face must have been showing all of these feelings, because he instantly tried to retract his statement.

“I mean you’re like, um, American royalty or something, you’re upper class, and smart, and educated- you said you were studying something like science, what was it…” he was frantically trying to cover his tracks, prove he had actually been listening to her and not just admiring the way her low-cut, periwinkle dress clung to her midsection.

“Environmental engineering.” Cat replied in a flat tone.

“Exactly. Environmental engineering; it was on the tip of my tongue, I just couldn’t quite remember. So how did you get into that field?” he asked, and Cat dove into the usual explanation she gives everyone who asks. No, she was not pushed into it by her father. Yes, she was aware that there were not many girls in engineering. Yes, the environment had been a huge passion of hers since she was young. And no, she didn’t just do it because caring for the environment was ‘popular’ and ‘trendy’ or anything else like that.

“So what did your dad want you to study instead?” he asked, now looking genuinely interested.

“Business, like he had studied, but I’m not good at that,” Cat sighed.

“I completely understand. I kind of got pushed into the Navy by my mom, because that’s what my dad had done. And he died when I was so young that I kind of idolized him, and I wanted to do this in his memory, but…” he leaned forward and his face drew in, lined with seriousness. “I sometimes feel like I’m in something way over my head. I’m pretty sure I’ve only gotten promoted because of my mom’s influence, or because my father was an important admiral.” Heikki stared into his glass while Cat watched him thoughtfully, wondering if this is what he told all the girls.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be rambling about stuff like that,” he said as he sat up, looking a little embarrassed as he self consciously ran a hand through his perfect hair. “I don’t even know why I told you that; I guess you’re so easy to talk to.” He laughed nervously and looked at Cat, taking in her soft brown eyes for the first time. She may seem plain at a first glance, even all dressed up as she was tonight. She unfortunately inherited her father’s British features, including dull brown eyes, and even duller brown hair. She had her mother’s nose and jaw, which she was thankful for, but she always wished she wasn’t quite so average looking.

“Hey, do you want to step outside for a minute, get some fresh air? It’s kind of stuffy in here,” he said as he stood up. Cat sighed and reluctantly got up after him. He held out his arm for her, and she draped her thin, gloved hand around his elbow and let him lead her outside. He held the big glass door to the balcony open for her and let it close behind them, blocking out the bustling noise of the ball. It suddenly felt so much more intimate, the two of them alone on this big, empty, balcony. He leaned against the railing and set his ever present glass of scotch on it. He leaned against the railing and carefully surveyed the well manicured landscape below.

“How far up do you think we are?” Cat asked as she leaned over the balcony far enough to see the ground clearly.

“Maybe fifteen meters?” Heikki guessed after trying to gage the distance. Cat looked down over the edge of the balcony at the garden far below.

“I’d love to be down there, walking in the garden, instead of up here,” she gestured back toward the ball, still thriving behind them.

“Yeah?” Heikki got a mischievous grin and took her hand. “Then let’s find a way down there.” They slipped back through the big glass doors and skirted around the outside of the ballroom until they found what looked like a service exit for the caterers. Cat giggled as he helped her down a back staircase into a part of the estate they were obviously not supposed to be in. After trying a few doors, Heikki found one that opened and pulled Cat through. She laughed as they appeared in the beautiful garden she had been admiring ten minutes ago from up on the balcony. After taking one last glance at the balcony, Cat and Heikki disappeared into the hedges of the garden to get lost in its twists and turns.

After exploring nearly the entire garden, they found a bridge over a little fish pond. They stood on it, looking over the edge of the railing at the fish swimming among the lily pads. Cat couldn’t decide if they were koi fish or not, though Heikki was sure they were.

“I’m a lieutenant in the navy, trust me,” he said sarcastically and she laughed. “You have a lovely laugh, Cat. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“I-I don’t know if they have,” she replied hesitantly, having never actually been told that before. She smiled shyly and looked down, hoping he wouldn’t see her blushing. He carefully placed his thumb under her chin and slowly pulled her face up.

“You don’t need to hide; you’re beautiful,” he smiled as she blushed even more. “Now, you must know that, at least. You probably see yourself in the mirror every day, you must know how beautiful you are, right?” He laughed as she started to shake her head. “Then that means you haven’t been told enough. Girls who know they’re beautiful hear it every day, but girls who are truly beautiful, like you, will always blush when they hear a compliment like that.”

She turned her head slightly and her hair fell away from her face, exposing her cheek. Taking this hint, Heikki leaned closer to her, and paused centimeters away from her face. He could see her heart beating faster, her breathing shorter, and her pink, flushed skin. He quickly moved in those last few inches and kissed her cheek tenderly. As he pulled away she turned slowly to meet his gaze. Fiercely, almost desperately, she jerked forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Just as Heikki was beginning to respond to it, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Cat!” Her father’s coarse accent shocked her back to reality. Heikki immediately stopped and turned around. He braced himself for some kind of verbal or physical response from her father, but he wasn’t even looking at him. Instead, Cat’s father was watching her closely.

“We’ve been looking for you, you can’t run off like that.” He scolded her, like she was a child, and grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” Heikki apologized.

“Albert, nice to meet you,” her father brusquely introduced himself, only glancing at Heikki long enough to make eye contact, before turning back to Cat.

“But dad!” She protested as he pulled her through the garden, Heikki not far behind.

“Nope, I’ve already called your driver, you’re going home.” He practically pushed her around the corner of the house and onto the gravel driveway. As they were walking toward the marble steps, where just a few hours earlier Cat had tripped and fallen into Heikki’s arms, they heard the sound of screeching tires followed by the unmistakable sound of a car sliding on gravel. They all tensed as they waited for whatever was coming around the bend; Heikki moved a step closer to Cat.

Headlights illuminated the decorative trees that lined the driveway and as it became apparent that there was a car heading down the drive way at impeccable speed. Cat’s father tried to pull her back a few steps, but she stayed where she was a smile on her face. She knew exactly who this was, and she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

The black Ferrari came around the last corner and into view of Cat, Heikki, and her father. Seb pulled the car up to Cat and stopped shortly, splashing gravel several feet away from the tires. He dutifully got out of the car, with a huge grin on his face.

“Good evening Miss Catherine!” He called to her as he opened the door for her. Cat giggled as she slipped into the car, and Seb tipped his hat at Albert before getting back into the driver’s seat. He revved the engine several times before taking off into the night, leaving as quickly and immodestly as he had come.

“Bollocks!” Albert swore as the car sped out of sight. He chuckled once and shook his head. “This is what I get for hiring a Formula 1 driver to be my daughter’s chauffeur.”