Cloaked Read online

  Chapter 1

  The whole time Catherine was trying to focus on white rows of lights, the ceiling, the couch; anything to get her mind off of what she really wanted to think about: her mother and James Martin, her Uncle. She kept telling herself to just keep concentrating on the ceiling, anything to think about something other than why she was really in this waiting room. Look at the most comfortable couch in the world in the most perfect waiting room the other two people in the room were sitting on which doesn’t even compare to the feeling of the comfortable chair she was sitting on at this very moment.

  Catherine was thinking that everyone here was waiting to meet ‘Ebenezer Scrooge.’ After all, what would be so bad about me duping a man that is so horrible in the first place? What would be so bad if Mr. High and Mighty lost a few bucks? Never mind that Miss Catherine Elizabeth Richmond has never committed a lie, a wrong, a misdoing in my entire life. In fact, I’m known for it. That’s what everyone in the family says about me, so why in the world would my Uncle think I could pull this off? It’s just not possible, Catherine decided.

  As a nerve in Catherine stomach suddenly clamped, a wave of nausea came over her. Catherine thought at least her stomach doesn’t agree with what she was doing. Hell, she didn’t either. What is Miss Honest doing in this office ready to deceive someone because her Uncle has a stronghold on her? She should still be at home grieving, but no; her Uncle had given her no choice. How could he be so cruel, especially two days after her mother’s funeral? It was a loss she would never get over and her feelings weren’t close to in check or close to normal at the moment.

  A shrilly voice that just screams for you to jump and tell you at the same time to pay attention shrieked, “Miss Catherine Richmond.”

  At least there was an interruption, even if it was for her to face up to what she was there for.

  Again, that voice, “Miss Catherine Richmond.”

  Catherine thought, if there was a time to do it, now was it. She stood up, straightened her shoulders, smoothed her designer skirt, ran a hand through her long dark brown hair and walked, what appeared to be confidently, behind the secretary ready to greet the old foe of her grouchy Uncle, Mr. Albert Serentini. Upon closer examination the before thought shrilly secretary actually had an air of hominess about her and did not appear to be as harsh as she sounded.

  “I’m Mrs. Upman, Mr. Serentini’s secretary. The reason we are interviewing is because I will be retiring.” The shrill definitely misled most people to view her as very imposing and certainly arresting. You could tell people viewed her misleadingly because most people in the office did not question anything she had to say and others in the office acted quickly and swiftly for fear of a mistake. Catherine decided the ‘shrilly voice’ was to be considered a good thing because she was the secretary for the CEO of such a huge company. Most people did not bother to look that closely, but Catherine had an eye for details since she was brought up in the world of art. Upon closer examination of Mrs. Upman, Catherine decided she was a good hearted woman.

  Mrs. Upman showed Catherine down the corridor. When they got to the end she opened huge double doors to reveal an enormous room with a desk and chair, just like the ones in the waiting room, at the far, far end of where they were looking. The only other furnishings were four large leather couches that formed a large circle, a glass table, a few paintings, a bar, and a rug.

  As Mrs. Upman placed Catherine’s perfect resume, her Uncle constructed from scratch, on the desk she said, “Mr. Serentini will be with you in a little while, make yourself comfortable.”

  The office was so overwhelming, it unnerved her. With the little time Catherine had, she decided to further examine the office. Being a great lover of art, she walked over to the first painting and examined it. Her mouth fell opened as she gasped at the Monet in front of her. Since being around art since she was a child because her mother owned an art store and collected rare paintings, Catherine was positive it was real. As she reached up her hand, not to touch her painting, just to have her hand closer to it, she heard a small sound of rustling paper behind her. She quickly spun around and was greeted by the most dashingly handsome man Catherine ever saw. “Miss Richmond?”

  Catherine was still stunned by the man she was staring at but recovered enough, after was seemed like a half hour, to say, “Yes?”

  As Catherine was close to staring at him, she realized he had the most beautiful blue eyes she ever saw along with beautiful silky blonde hair. All she wanted to do was run her hands through his hair, she couldn’t think of anything else, only of how amazing this man looked. Who was he? Yet, again, sound tried to interrupt her thoughts. Catherine was wondering what that sound was, it sounded so peaceful and soothing. Just about the same time she noticed the man before her was looking in anticipation of an answer. It was his voice! But, what did he say?

  By just looking at the woman’s face, the man realized she didn’t hear him. After all, he hardly heard himself speak because all he was doing was thinking about how beautiful the young woman in front of him looked. He found himself thinking about how he wouldn’t have to lean down much to kiss her because she was taller than most of the woman he had dated and more beautiful. What was such a young woman doing applying for this job? So he restated, “My name is Glen Serentini, I’ll be interviewing you today to become my secretary.”

  Catherine needed to recover before she fell into those blue eyes she kept staring intensely at. They were like the morning sky with a dark blue circle around that gave a sense of intensity that said those eyes could give away his emotions as well as control any situation. But, at the same time she was dumbfounded at what she thought was his name, “Glen Serentini?”

  “Yes, are you surprised for some reason?” Glen tried to sound nonchalant as he couldn’t help wondering how a girl who had brown hair could be so beautiful. Why did he want to run his fingers through her hair to find out if it felt as silky as it looked? Just as he was asking himself how he could dote so much on a woman when he had never so much as looked at one before for more than two seconds. Even in those initial moments he never thought about kissing women, just bedding them. He always found kissing so intimate and could usually judge a relationship by just one kiss. So, why with this woman was he thinking about making her drown in a pool of his kisses? Glen brought himself back to reality, here he was in is office, at work and when that is all he should be concentrating on, he thoughts drifted to the very woman he should be interviewing. Glen was half disgusted and half intrigued, but told himself to concentrate on work and with that silent statement sat down on his chair and waited for her answer.

  But, Catherine wasn’t ready to give one. She was utterly confused. Wasn’t she supposed to be interviewing with the CEO, Albert Serentini? Who was this, some relative? Even more puzzling she wondered, why did his eyes change from welcoming to some sort of intense in less than a second? Oh well, Catherine thought. She calmed herself and asked, “I only thought I was supposed to be interviewing with the CEO. A Mr. Albert Serentini.”

  “Well, I am the CEO, or will be officially next week when my father retires. It wasn’t made public yet. Now, about your resume, it’s very impressive. It must have taken you years to have done all of this. If I might say, you don’t look like you are that old…”

  Catherine could tell Mr. Serentini was studying her for a response and she wondered what to do? She told her Uncle James not to put all of that in the resume and told him it wouldn’t work. But, NO, he said she wouldn’t be hired if he didn’t and now look where that’s gotten. She wondered what would he say in this situation, what would any person with experience say? Seeing the man was still staring at her, Catherine smiled and hoped that was enough of an answer.

  “Miss? Or is it Mrs.?”

  �
��Miss and thank you about saying I don’t look old, that’s always nice to know” Is that response okay? Did I sound too nervous? Will he buy it? Will he make me leave? What is going to happen? Can I really do this?

  “Okay, Miss Richmond, what kind of work have you done with these companies? In your own words, of course.”

  At this point Catherine palms were sweating. She just had to remember everything her Uncle told her to say at this point. So she stated, rather calmly, “I did secretarial work. I did computer work, took down dictation, answered phones, looked up anything and everything, as well as basically all else that needed to be taken care of, I handled. At one job I even had an employer make me pick up his laundry” as she smiled remembering the idiocy of that very task, she solemnly added, “But, I won’t do that again.” And hoped she wasn’t pushing it.

  Just the questions Catherine was hoping and praying not to hear, came out of Glen’s mouth; “I have two questions for you. One, how did you get to have such high positions at these top firms and two, why did you end up leaving?”

  At that moment, Catherine decided to make a go of the situation and even joke about it. After all, he Uncle did prep her for this enough. So, she said, “Well, the reason I got those jobs are because I’m that good and I ended up leaving for personal reasons I don’t care to discuss. But, I can assure you that it had nothing to do with the work itself.” Catherine thought her voice sounded level enough, hoped she was not being too confident, and prayed that she got this job. She needed this job; if not for her mother, for herself.

  Glen could not keep from wondering how this beautiful woman ended up in his office. Why hadn’t he heard of her before or seen her at conferences in the past. Surely, he would remember a face and a body like hers. But, a little flag of suspicion waved in front of Glen’s head. Could she be spying on him for the competition? But, he erased that thought away from his head. Surely, a woman that looked as innocent as she did could not be doing or planning anything so devious. Especially, since she kept looking at him with eyes that a man could not mistake as yearning. Glen thought he didn’t hire her for her unmistakable secretarial skills, due to her resume; he would have anyway to get her to be near to him. For some reason he couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her again, even though they only just met. Glen wondered what was coming over him. But, he knew she had to have great skills for this kind of resume and it wouldn’t be so bad for his piece of mind looking at a gorgeous woman every day. So he finally subsided his inner struggle and agreed, “Alright, Miss Richmond, I will hire you on a trial basis for three months. At the end of that time you’ll have your review. But, if something is unsatisfactory to me, I’ll have to let you go. So, to start with, why don’t you go see Mrs. Upman and she can show you around. You did meet my secretary when you came in, didn’t you?”

  Catherine was so excited that she could barely sit still just to look as if the job didn’t faze her at all. “Yes, I met her briefly.”

  As Catherine smiled Glen felt he knees go week. He watched Catherine stand up and walk across the room and out the doors. Glen wondered if he just made a mistake, but just pushed that doubt aside, walked over to his desk, and got to work.

  Chapter 2

  The day after Catherine received the job she desperately needed, her boss left on a business trip for just over a month. She was trained by Mrs. Upman, the retiring secretary, whom Catherine learned was really a sweet woman at heart, despite her rough exterior. Straight after Mr. Serentini got back from his trip to Italy, Catherine would be given the job on the full time basis, with no more training and no one looking over her shoulder. Catherine hoped she could pull this job off with no assistance, guidance, or even the pure kindness from Mrs. Upman.

  Catherine had never had any experience at secretarial work, her entire resume was a fake, and she was so nervous all her nails were bitten clear off. At the moment, she was working on running a hole in her Uncle’s carpet from pacing. James Martin, her Uncle, had set this whole thing up and Catherine was having serious second thoughts. Along with her doubts from before, she was a bundle of nerves.

  James Martin was seated in his living room in a huge apartment style house. The room was of gorgeous decor; anyone could just tell it must have cost a small fortune for the furniture alone, much less the artwork. There were beautiful couches, rugs, and an entertainment center any person could die for within each wall of each room. But, the surroundings in no way matched the man. No one would look at her Uncle and call him elegant or gorgeous like his surroundings. Once in a while Catherine even had an inside laugh about the decorating, knowing someone was hired to do it all over the phone. She knew if the person ever met her Uncle, the house might be in all morbid colors instead. Her Uncle was an older man who looked as though he did not get sleep in years and was not cordial to everyone. You could tell he was not kind to someone he could not use for one purpose or another.

  James was getting tired of watching his niece pace, “Sit down! Listen, Catherine you are not doing any good pacing, sit and speak instead of mumbling. You know my time is very valuable and I cannot be bothered with listening to rubbish.”

  “I can’t do this. I’m not going to be able to fool Mr. Serentini, himself. I don’t even think I fooled the secretary who trained me. Oh, and another thing, I’m not even working for Albert Serentini, but his son. What do you have against him? I already feel guilt ridden for lying to the old secretary, Mrs. Upman, not to mention everyone else at the company. I have been learning so much from her and each and every person has treated me so kindly. I have been trying to get Mrs. Upman not to notice how much I’m really learning but I think she suspects a little bit, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t after the elaborate resume you thought up when I haven’t even had a day of experience? This is getting ridiculous, cruel, and unfair and I don’t feel comfortable. When Mr. Serentini comes back tomorrow I don’t know if I can pull it off or deal with this deception anymore. Can’t I do something else, anything else?” Catherine tried to encourage her Uncle to let her off the hook. But, as she was sitting there looking at the man before her, Catherine knew he wouldn’t budge.

  “No. This is what I decided. If you want me to give you your mother’s art store, the house, the art, as well as I’m sure many other things you treasure she had; you have to do something of equal value for me. Since you want a lot, I require a large sacrifice for you to do. Your mother borrowed money from me to get her business started. I’m sorry she passed away Catherine. But, money is money and if you want to pay it back and have no monetary means to do so, this is the offer I can give you. All you have to do is be his secretary and get back to me on anything that is noteworthy for six months. You act like I’m asking for you to put your life in harms way.” Martin sighed and shifted. “Live in the apartment I got you, it is perfect and everything fits who you are supposed to be. And about the information, Catherine, I am talking noteworthy. You will need to make a report for me every other week. We will meet for lunch or you can just send it to me.” Catherine thought there was no way she would meet him for lunch, ever. Doing this alone was hard enough. “Now, don’t be nervous. Get out of here, go to sleep, and have a good day at work tomorrow. Remember; keep your eyes and ears open.” James reminded Catherine.

  Catherine felt disgusted she had to keep up this charade. She had no family, wasn’t that enough for her Uncle? He father’s family was even unreachable. But, that had been the same way for a long time. The only clear memories she had of family were her mother. In order to keep those memories close to her, she needed the store, house, and everything that was truly hers. The store was all her mom ever wanted and Catherine would continue that dream until she met it. If that meant conforming to her Uncle’s plan, she would. Catherine got up and walked out the door to go to her apartment. But, not before she shot her Uncle a look of death.

  After grabbing a taxi from her Uncles posh apartment in the most lavish part of the city, she directed the driver to her favorite Chinese restaura
nt. If she was going to be upset, Catherine thought she might as well go all the way and drown her sorrows in a huge plate of Lo Mein and Fried Rice. She had the taxi wait while she ran inside and paid for her meal, as her hopes brightened every so slightly because her Uncle was out of sight. As she walked back outside Catherine caught a glimpse of a limousine and her worries came back again as she thought of her employer. Catherine thought of how upset she was and how much she would hurt the man that was so trusting in her. He offered her a job on the spot and she returned the favor by betraying him. Upset, Catherine got back into the taxi, went home, and prayed for the following day to go well.

  Chapter 3

  Catherine jumped out of the taxi and walked into the imposing building in a renowned part of the city, into the elevator, and hit the button for the top floor. She made the assent to her work fifteen minutes ahead of schedule where Mrs. Upman was already waiting for her. In the month Catherine was training she had yet to beat the woman to the office. It had almost become a game for Catherine and made getting to work each morning fun and enjoyable, instead of anticipatory. It gave her something to look forward to each day. Catherine thought Mrs. Upman had thought it fun as well, but knew she would never openly show it.

  “Good morning Miss Richmond. Early, aren’t you?” Mrs. Upman said to Catherine with a tight smile coming across her lips.

  “Aren’t you the one who is very early? What time do you get here anyway?” Catherine wondered a loud as she was disappointed she didn’t beat her friend to work.

  “Early enough to be here whenever I’m needed.” Mrs. Upman tried to seriously state as she ended up smiling.

  As Catherine put her purse away and smiled, she asked, “Is he here already?”

  “Yes.” With that very statement Catherine felt her nerves tighten. She was worried. He must wake up before dawn Catherine was thinking as the center of her thoughts walked into the room.