Chapter 5

When Doris opened the door of her apartment, Bill just shook his head and murmured, “Doris Jefferson, you are gorgeous!”

She was wearing a yellow sleeveless dress that was perfect on her; the color worked perfectly with her magnificent green eyes and tawny golden hair. Looking beyond her, Bill saw Caitie standing looking very uncertain. Moving around Doris he stopped to look. The woman standing before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life and he said so.

“You sure got that right,” Doris commented. Then she laughed and added, “You missed the comedy of the century this afternoon. Never in my life have I seen so many people turning somersaults over a single customer: your bride-to-be. William Corcoran, she is utterly exquisite. But as I noted earlier, as magnificent as she is on the outside, it pales against her beauty within.”

Then she turned to him and added, “The dress she’s wearing is from Bergdorf Goodman. And, dear heart, believe it or not, they gave it to us at their cost! Honest to God, their cost! They didn’t make a dime on the sale. But there is a small charge: They asked Caitie as a very special favor to them to tell anyone who might ask that the dress came from them.

“And you know what? Although they didn’t say so, I’ll bet you a dollar that if even one person comes in asking for a dress similar to the one Caitlin Collins wore to ‘21’, they’ll refund her money. And you know what else? I’m sure at least one woman will.”

While Doris had been speaking, Bill went to Caitie and just looked at her closely. Finally he shook his head and asked, “But what happened? Where are all the lacerations? I don’t understand. Caitie’s skin looks flawless.”

“That’s only because it is,” Doris responded. “I haven’t gotten the time down for sure, but it appears that there is at least one day’s healing for every hour. So what you’re looking at is about nineteen days’ healing. So with a little body makeup, she looks great.”

“She sure does,” Bill agreed. With that he took Caitie into his arms. She came to him with a rush and a sigh, then their lips met. It was like their other kisses, yet with even more power, love, and pure passion.

When they finally eased apart, Caitie said, “Bill, there’s one thing I must tell you: I have to thank you for introducing me to my very best friend in the whole world, Dr. Doris Jefferson. Bill, I really do love her. And beauty? Darling, we shared a shower before you came over. You saw her bare earlier, so you do understand. She is incredible!”

She cocked her head and with the cutest grin he had ever seen she added, “Can we go to ‘21’ now? I can’t tell you how thrilled I am, or how grateful I am to your former patient for providing us with the opportunity.”

Standing outside of Caitie’s sight line, Doris winked at Bill and then grinned.

Caitie was wearing a white lace shawl over her shoulders. There was not a mark on her body showing anywhere. When they went outside and Caitie saw the Rolls limousine, she gasped. “My God! Are we going ... in that?”

“What’s wrong?” Bill asked, feigning a lack of understanding. “It’s really a very nice car, and quite comfortable...”

“William Corcoran,” Caitie nearly screamed, “that’s a Rolls-Royce!”

“I know,” he replied casually. “And they’re reputed to be very reliable cars, too. Our chauffeur is Bill Noble, and he certainly seems very competent to me. Do you have a problem with arriving at ‘21’ in a limousine? They’re quite status-conscious over there, I understand, and since it seems to have been a part of the gift, and everything...” He allowed his voice to just fade away.

“It’s unbelievably neat!” Caitie exclaimed. Bill found that he just loved the exuberance of his lover. She had the enthusiasm of a small child, and was obviously just as unspoiled.

Bill Noble was standing holding the rear door open waiting for them to get in. Before she did, though, Caitie introduced herself to Noble, thanked him for driving them, and then gave him a light kiss full on the lips.

Noble, an Englishman, blushed and seemed close to passing out from the power of her kiss. As Doris followed Caitie into the car, he had a chance to whisper to Bill, “She’s an extraordinary young woman, sir. Please don’t let her get away!”

“She won’t, Bill, if I can do anything about it,” Corcoran reassured him.

The girls just adored the sensation of driving in Manhattan in a Rolls-Royce. In line with the marque’s tradition, the limousine, gunmetal gray in color, moved silently through the city streets. Moreover, they were fascinated to see the way all the other drivers made room for the beautiful machine. Finally, Noble turned east from Avenue of the Americas onto 52^nd Street and eased to a stop at “21.”

It was immediately obvious to Bill that the restaurant was honoring his instructions. Although he was well-known there, they were greeted by the doorman with the deference normally accorded to any stranger rolling up in a Rolls limousine.

The girls alighted first, and he was greeted deferentially by the doorman, but not by name. He surreptitiously slipped the man a $100 bill, and the doorman winked using the eye that was hidden from the girls’ view. Entering the club, they were greeted and ushered to a corner table, one of the top tables there. Again, the greeting was appropriate to a distinguished — but unrecognized — guest. No sooner were they seated than a waiter appeared with a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne.

Caitie had one sip, then closed her eyes and just savored the taste. “I never knew champagne could ever taste this good!” she exclaimed. Then with her eyes wide she turned to Bill and asked, “If we could do this after every time I’ve been raped and whipped, I could arrange to be the regular Friday-night attraction at that horrible place downtown. Could we do that, darling?”

Bill appeared to think for a moment, then grimaced and said, “Naah, you’d get spoiled. I guess not.”

“But isn’t there something I could do to come back here sometime?” she asked with her eyes sparkling with merriment.

“Sure,” he replied. “Just marry me. I promise I’ll bring you back when we announce our engagement, and maybe once after we’re married ... For our 50^th anniversary, or something.” He paused, shook his head and said, “No, that’s not right. After you give birth to our tenth child. I promise.”

Caitie was sitting beside him on his left, with Doris sitting to her left. Looking at Bill, she cocked her head, grimaced, and said, “That’s not fair, Bill Corcoran. How about after every fifth child? You know, 5, 10, 15, 20 ... That way you’ll be taking me here at least four or five times.” Then she paused, thought for a moment and continued, “Bill, are you planning to keep me barefoot and pregnant?”

“Of course not!” he protested. “I’ll even buy you a pair of slippers. How’s that?”

“Will you really?” she exclaimed. “Honest?” Her eyes were still dancing with merriment when she added, “How about a dress? Will you ... I mean ... Could you ... buy me a new flour-sack dress every five years or so?”

Bill thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. Suddenly he snapped his fingers and said, “No, that would be much too much. But I’ll tell you what I will do: I’ll buy you a new flour-sack dress after every fifth child. That way, not only will I take you to ‘21’, but you’ll even have a new dress to wear, too! Isn’t that neat?”

“Oh, Bill, you do spoil me so. Just think! After only five children I’ll get a new dress. I’ll be the envy of the whole neighborhood...”

Then the playacting suddenly ended and she said softly, “Bill Corcoran, I love you so. And you may have been kidding, but I wasn’t. If God were to bless us with twenty children, I would rejoice. Honestly, I really would.” Then her face fell and she said, “But how can I have a lot of children and teach, too? How will we live? It just wouldn’t be fair to the kids to have their mother gone all the time...”

Bill looked at her and said, “Caitie, it’s a real problem, and one I don’t really know how to handle. You’re a great teacher, and God knows, there aren’t nearly enough of them. But at the same time, if you’re serious about having a lot of kids, I just don’t know...”

The subject remained in abeyance. They sipped their champagne and then food began to appear. There was an appetizer of paté de foie gràs followed by smoked trout. The entrée was filet of beef, Wellington. The restaurant served a magnificent California Chardonnay with the first courses, and a superb Chateau Lafitte Rothschild with the entrée. Bill Corcoran watched Caitie surreptitiously and was both pleased and humbled by her behavior.

The girl just seemed to savor life itself. She so impressed the waiter that when she complimented him on the filet of beef, he disappeared and reappeared moments later followed by the chef himself. To Bill’s amazement, the man actually blushed at her compliments and then, reflecting his French ancestry, lightly kissed her fingers. Moreover, it was apparent to Bill that it was no act: Caitie was just being Caitie. The result was that the meal was an utter masterpiece, the finest meal the chef was capable of preparing — and he was very capable indeed.

Moreover, he noticed that the combination of Caitie and Doris was unreal. The two had, in a matter of a few hours, become the very best of friends. They teased, they giggled, and most of all they brightened the place. So much so that the maître d’hotel personally served Rémy Martin’s Louis XIII cognac, compliments of the house. When he passed the cigar box, both girls took light panatellas while Bill took a Corona corona.

The maître d’ winked at Bill when, subsequent to the girls both taking cigars, virtually every woman in the restaurant took one, too. It was a lesson in the degree to which they were being observed by the other patrons. To his mild surprise, both girls loved their cigars which they puffed while drinking their coffee and sipping their cognac.

As they were leaving, the maître d’ asked Caitie her name. When she told him, he said, “Miss Collins, you are welcome here at Club 21 at any time. It has been a genuine pleasure for me and the staff to have you here with us as our guests tonight. You brighten our establishment with your presence.”

Then he took her hands lightly in his own and looked into her eyes. Finally he shook his head and said, “They don’t know the half of it, do they? As incredibly beautiful as you are on the outside, it is but a shadow of your goodness inside.”

He paused and then added, “Of course, we’re not totally blind, either. It is clear that you and Dr. Corcoran are deeply in love. Here at the club we hear great things about Dr. Corcoran, too. I’m sure you will both be very happy.” Then he smiled broadly and added, “And I hope you will give serious consideration to announcing your engagement here at Club 21.”

Bill breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that Caitie hadn’t noticed that the maître d’ knew his name. Then he realized that it was on — or would have been on — the gift card that he was supposedly using to pay for the dinner.

“Engagement?” Caitie replied with her eyes bright with merriment. “What engagement? These are the ‘90’s. An engagement means a wedding. Nowadays, we just sleep together.”

“Perhaps many do,” the maître d’ replied, “but you do not.”

Then he reached out for Doris’s hand and pulled her closer, too. After looking into her eyes in the same way he had looked into Caitie’s he just slowly shook his head. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Here we have two of the most beautiful young women in New York — possibly the two most beautiful — and they are both virgins.”

Then he grinned broadly and said, “Would you like to select a date for the engagement party now? For I can assure you that Dr. Corcoran will not be willing to live for very long in a platonic relationship. And since the price of sharing your bed is a wedding ring, you two will be married very soon.”

“Bill, what’s wrong with me?” Caitie pretended to cry. “Am I made of glass? Why is it that people can see right through me?”

“You heard the man,” Bill replied with a broad smile. “It’s the incredible beauty you exude from inside. It is the overflow of God’s Sanctifying Grace from your soul.”

To the maître d’ Corcoran said, “You have Caitie figured out exactly right. She is an utterly incredible woman. She combines incredible beauty with the joie de vivre of a small child. I’ve never seen such a combination.”

“Nor have I,” the maître agreed.

Just then the chef emerged from the kitchen and rushed over to them, ignoring the dozens of people standing in the lobby. “I couldn’t allow you to leave without saying goodbye, Mademoiselle,” he said to Caitie. When the maître told him of the upcoming engagement, the chef, André, was beside himself. He kissed both of Caitie’s hands and shook Bill’s.