Driving Miss Catherine

The Side Effects of Having Money

After an absolutely rapturous night at The Plaza, Cat awoke to the sound of Heikki arguing with someone on the phone in Finnish on the terrace. He was speaking quietly, but she was pretty sure she heard her name a few times. He glanced at her a few times, and realized she was awake and staring back at him. He was mostly dressed, sipping a cup of coffee, and holding a newspaper (which he immediately pretended he was reading). His shirt was unbuttoned, exposing the sculpted abs Cat had often pictured (although they were better in person). She blinked as her vision slowly came into focus and ran a hand through her messed up hair. Compared to Heikki, she must have looked like a wreck, at least that’s what she thought.

“Good morning beautiful,” he said as he came back into the bedroom. He poured another cup of coffee and handed it to Cat. “I’ve ordered some breakfast from room service, I hope you don’t mind. It’s on the terrace.”

Cat stepped out on to the terrace and set her coffee cup on the table before admiring the view of New York below. Heikki wrapped his arm around her waist, lightly tracing her hip bone with his thumb. He leaned over and lightly trailed kisses down her neck, and even though her head was screaming ‘yes’ she gently stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked and she turned to face him. “We only have a few hours left together before I leave, and I might not be back for months….I just thought we could-”

“Maybe after breakfast.” Cat smiled and kissed his cheek before turning to see what he’d gotten them for breakfast. “Strawberry crepes? My favorite, how did you know?”

Heikki sighed as he sat down across from her and looked frustrated (Cat assumed it was because he wasn’t used to being denied). For a second, she thought he was going to say something else, but he smiled his usual smile and returned to the Heikki Cat was used to seeing. “You told me about your trips to France to visit your grandmother, and how much you loved the crepes her personal chef made for you.”

“Thank you, these are almost better than ones I’ve had in Paris,” Cat replied after taking a bite. The rest of the morning continued in this pattern: moments of tension interrupting Heikki’s usually serene and confident disposition. Cat thought it was because he was being shipped off to deal with whatever was happening between Russia and Finland, potentially war, and excused his behavior as perfectly normal. He was being more physical than usual, which Cat didn’t mind at all, so the next time he asked, she did not decline his advances.

It was 2:00 in the afternoon by the time all of that ended, and Cat and Heikki reluctantly started packing to leave. He had spent the whole summer here, yet he didn’t have nearly as many things as Cat would have thought. Cat had fit almost all of her stuff into one bag, but she couldn’t find one, very important, thing. She searched the room one more time before reluctantly asking Heikki if he’d seen it.

“Medicine? What kind? Was it in bottle?” He asked, brows furrowed in concern.

“No, it was in a square, um, thing, and it looks-” She caught something out of the corner of her eye and turned back to face him. He had something square in his pocket, and the corner of it was pink, exactly like the pills she was looking for. Cat reached forward quickly and snatched it out of his pocket, and stared up at him in disbelief. “-like this! What the hell was my birth control doing in your pocket?”

His face froze with an unreadable expression. His heart started beating faster, and he was sure his cheeks were turning pink. “It’s not what you think,” he tried to smile. He reached out to lightly stroke her cheek but she pulled away.

“Then what is it!” Cat yelled. She shoved his hand away and took a few steps back.

“I-I just…” his mind was going a mile a minute trying to come up with a good excuse. He certainly was not going to tell her the real reason he had it. “I thought maybe if you forgot something important that you would come back for it. And what else would you notice more than this…hopefully…” He gave her a slight smile and counted the seconds before her icy cold/terrified expression changed.

“That’s…that’s kind of sweet, I guess,” Cat looked at him warily, not sure of what to think. She texted Seb to pick her up at The Plaza immediately and shoved her medicine safely in her purse. “I have to get going.”

“Okay,” he nodded, as if he realized there was really nothing more he could do. Cat slung her bag over her should and started to walk toward the door before she stopped to say one last thing to him. “I hope this was a mistake and we can get past it. And be safe, okay?”

Hot, angry, disappointed tears were running down her face by the time she reached the lobby. She rushed outside, hoping to see the black Ferrari waiting for her, but Seb was nowhere to be found. ‘This is what I get for sneaking out and not telling my driver where I’m actually going,’ she rolled her eyes and found a bench to sit on. She buried her face in her hands, and a few seconds later she heard the familiar sound of the Ferrari decelerating.

“I have never been happier to see you,” she said as she got into the car, ignoring Seb’s questions. “Let’s go. But not home, not yet at least. I need to calm down.” Seb took off into the city and Cat closed her eyes, letting the sound of the car’s revving engine distract her. After a while she realized they were out of the stop and go traffic and heading on a long straight stretch at some speed. Slowly opening her eyes, Cat saw trees and other signs that they were out of the city.

“Where are we?” She asked. “Is this Connecticut?”

“Yes, I hope that’s okay,” Seb said as they pulled off onto a side road. Cat looked out the window at their surroundings as they came to a relatively secluded area.

“Wait, I know where we are,” Cat said. “Are we going to the country house?” By ‘country house’ Cat meant, a small manor in the countryside. Her father sometimes spent weekends there, and it was one of her favorite places to relax. “How did you know?”

“You’re father requested I take you here,” Seb paused. “Actually, he told me to pick you up at The Plaza this morning. I was almost there when I got your text.”

“What?” Cat looked at him, and tried to think. “How did he know I was there? And why would he think I would want to come here after…”

“I don’t know, but he said he thought you might need ‘some cheering up’ or something,” Seb parked the car. “It’s not your birthday, is it?”

Cat shook her head. She sat in the car for a few minutes, lost in thought. ‘How was her father a part of this? Did he know what was really happening?’

“Cat?” Seb asked. He was leaning over the car door, waiting for her to get out. She quickly got out of the car, mumbling an apology. He trailed behind her, carrying her bag, as she unlocked the door and turned on the lights.

“He’s not here?” Cat turned to Seb.

“Albert? No he’s away in….Singapore?” Seb looked at her questioningly as he tried to remember what foreign city his employer was visiting. Cat slumped down on a couch and Seb sat in a chair next to her. He could tell something was wrong, but he didn’t know if he should ask, or let her tell him about it.

“Did he say anything else?” Cat asked suddenly. “Like how he knew I was at The Plaza?”

“No, he just said when and where to pick you up. As a rule, I don’t ask questions.”

“Did he know why I was there? Or who I was with?” Cat leaned forward and eyed him curiously.

“I don’t know, I’m sorry…” Seb wanted to ask her what was wrong, but it wasn’t his place. He wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be alright, even though he had no idea what was bothering her. Well, he had a slight idea of what, or who, might be upsetting her.

The more Cat thought about it, the less it made sense. Slowly, tears began rolling down her face, and once she started crying, she knew there was nothing stopping her from telling Seb everything about Heikki. And ten minutes later, she had done just that, although she regretted telling him all the details. Seb had moved to sit on the couch next to her and handed her a box of tissues he found on an end table, and when she leaned on his shoulder, he didn’t hesitated to wrap his arm around her. By the time she finished telling him everything, his hands were angrily balled into fists and he was muttering angry things in German about Heikki.

“And you believe him?” He replied, not hiding the anger in his voice. For a moment, Cat had believed him. She stared blankly back at Seb, not knowing what to say. “He’s tricking you! I knew he was trying to use you for your money, but this? This is just sick.”

“What do you mean?” Cat started to sit up, and she could see the anger and pain in Seb’s face.

“He stole your birth control! Do you not realize what that means? If he wanted to get your attention, he could have taken your phone, or an article of clothing, or anything! It happens to be after the first time you’ve slept together; do you not see what he was trying to do?” He looked Cat in the eye, and watched as she slowly realized what he was saying.

“He was trying to get me pregnant?” Cat started laughing before she could finish her sentence, and Seb looked at her amusedly.

“You never stop surprising me, Miss Catherine,” he said with a smile. “Why, exactly, is that funny?”

“It isn’t really, but,” Cat started. “I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, but my mom kind of did that to my dad.” Seb looked shocked and stammered an apology, so Cat continued. “They ended up falling in love and getting married or at least that’s the story I’ve been told.”

“Honestly, the things people do for money. No offence to your mother, I’m sure she had a good reason, but really, that’s…” Seb trailed off, not sure what else to say. He’d never met her mother, and no one ever talked about her, so he was starting to think this was why.

“It’s kind of obvious why she did it, and I’d ask her about it but she died shortly after I was born,” Cat explained quietly, and interrupted Seb when he started to say something apologetic again. “I never knew her, and my dad’s always been there for me, so I never really missed having a mom. Although, I could really use one now…”

“Miss Catherine, I am really sorry, I didn’t know-” he was cut off by a sharp, but gentle nudge in the arm from Cat.

“Stop calling me that! How would you feel if I called you Sir Sebastian?” Cat giggled, but her eyes were still sad.

“Okay, I get it, I’m sorry,” he smiled. He opened his mouth and was about to say something else, but stopped.

“I know you tried to warn me about him, but I was stupid; I thought I was grown up and I could take care of myself….and he was just so gorgeous and perfect. Too perfect, I should have seen it coming.”

“Cat it’s not your fault. Anyone would have fallen for him, he was very convincing,” he put his hand on hers and tried to seem reassuring. Cat looked like she was either going to cry or laugh; either way, he wanted to be there for her. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. Perhaps you should call your father, maybe he can help you.”

Cat thought about it for a minute before sending her dad a text, asking how he knew she was at The Plaza. She watched her phone, waiting for a reply.

“He’s probably busy, or asleep; it’s like 2AM where he is,” Seb slowly took her phone out of her hands and placed it on the table. “Why don’t we watch a movie or something, to take your mind off it?”

Cat sighed. She wanted her dad to respond immediately and explain that everything was alright, and he had nothing to do with Heikki’s weird actions. She wanted to believe Heikki, and for things to go back to normal, but the more she thought about it, the more scared she became.

“You’re right; I need to stop thinking about this. Why don’t you pick something to watch and I’ll go make some popcorn?” Cat handed Seb the tv remote before leaving for the kitchen.

As he flipped through the channels trying to find something good, he thought that perhaps under different circumstances, this might be considered romantic, almost like a date. Almost.
♠ ♠ ♠
If you think this chapter's kind of weird, I promise it gets better : )
We finally see Heikki for what he really is (or do we?)
If you have any questions please ask! I will answer them if I can!

PS: I just realized I never explained this before, but our Heikki is based on Heikki Huovinen, Seb's former physio (google him if you don't know who he is, he's absolutely gorgeous!). But for the purposes of my story, I have borrowed his name and his face to create a new, fictional character. (meaning that he and Seb do not actually know each other).