Questionnaires

Vincent could hear JT grumbling in the background but he couldn't respond, he was thinking hard. He understood why it would be impossible for him to be Catherine's fake boyfriend even for her father's wedding, he understood why it was better for JT to take his place. It was the wiser, safer thing to do, but as he went through Catherine's answers to the matchmaker's questionnaire he began to change his mind.

Strong…..

Vulnerable…..

Intelligent…

Heroic…..

She wasn't, was she? She couldn't possibly be writing about him, could she? He was probably dreaming and projecting. He was hoping beyond hope that she felt the same as he felt about her.

He opened the next page and read Catherine's idea of a perfect date. It was too…incredible he had to read it aloud to JT.

"Her ideal date is dinner on a rooftop, while hanging out on a fire escape."

"What are you talking about?" JT was confused.

Vincent couldn't believe it. "This is about me," he said. 'This is about me,' he repeated silently to himself. Maybe he could do this; maybe he could go for the wedding and be Catherine's fake boyfriend. He really wanted to and if her answers to the questionnaire were anything to go by so did she.

000

Catherine sat by herself at the table and looked around at the couples dancing on the floor. Everyone, especially her father, seemed to be having fun and she was happy for them. She consoled herself that it was better to be dateless than to hang with some guy she wasn't interested in. Being alone was much better than that and it gave her a chance to think about Vincent.

She really wished she was at her apartment, in the bedroom, talking to Vincent. Over the past week she had spent more time with him in her bedroom than not and it was reaching the point whereby if she didn't find him there sitting on the window, waiting for her, somehow her flat felt empty.

000

"What?" Heather asked Catherine in shock.

"I lied," Catherine replied. Why had she even ever come with that ridiculous idea in the first place? She knew the answer to that question…she had lied because she did have someone in her life. She had Vincent. She had Vincent, and although she couldn't tell anyone about him…yet, just saying aloud that she was dating a doctor called Vincent had filled her with joy. She had been happy to lie to her sister and the rest of the bridal party because she was ready to let the world know that she had someone special in her life, she only wished that he wasn't supposed to be dead. She wished that some ominous group of people didn't want him dead and that he didn't have something wrong with his DNA. But mostly she wished that he was here, now, with her, at her father's wedding.

000

Catherine couldn't explain it but somehow she knew that Vincent was near and as she turned slowly…just in case she was wrong…and looked through the French windows she saw him standing there.

He looked absolutely amazing in the tux.

He had risked exposure to be there with her, to dance with her at her father's wedding. Catherine hadn't thought she'd enjoy her father's wedding, she's thought she'd have the most magical night she could remember, she'd certainly never thought that she would be dancing with Vincent tonight. She almost wanted to pinch herself to see if she was really in his arms in a room filled with people.

Hearing him say that he was there because he wanted to be there, that he was ready to meet the people she'd confessed to, that he was her plus-one, and that he was willing to be Vincent Salinski forever for her, made Catherine happier than she'd been in a very long time.

"I don't want this night to ever end."

Catherine didn't know that she'd said those words aloud until she heard Vincent whisper, "me neither." She looked up at him and smiled.

000

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