Steve
and Catie were out doing some shopping for an anniversary present for the
Lukelas’ in one of the finer jewelry stores in Honolulu.
Since it was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Steve wanted to get
something special. He didn’t want to get one of those traditional cups,
plates, plagues, etc., which say ‘Happy 25th Anniversary.’
A few weeks earlier on a burglary call Steve had observed a beautiful
antique Hawaiian marriage idol that made him think of the Lukelas’ anniversary
and how perfect it would look in their home.
While
Steve was discussing the price of the Lukelas’ gift, Caterina agreed it would be
perfect for the anniversary present and would be a little unusual.
Caterina looked around the store and caught a glimpse of several nice
pieces of jewelry that would look great on any woman.
As
Steve started to leave the store he detected his Cousin glancing at some of the
jewelry and requesting the price of several pairs of silver and gold pierced
earrings. “What’s up,
Kitten?”
“Are
they not perfect gifts for next Wednesday?”
Caterina asked to see if Steve remembered the new working holiday that
was now being celebrated.
“What’s
up on Wednesday, that you need a new pair of earrings?”
Steve wondered.
“I
knew you would forget. This is the
second year they are celebrating Secretary’s Day. A day that you tell your secretary how much you appreciate
what they do for you all year round.” Caterina
picked up a large pair of hoop earrings, “These would be perfect for Jenny,
don’t you agree?” Caterina held
the largest hoop earrings up to her own ears for Steve to see.
Steve
took the earrings from Caterina to look them over, “Come on Kitten, this is to
much for just a pair of earrings!!” Then
Steve gave her a look to say ‘NO WAY.’
“Now,
Steve, with the hell you put Jenny through, she deserves a matching bracelet,
but the earrings are perfect. After
all she got her ears pierced a couple of months ago and she needs something
really nice to wear.” Then
Caterina looked at a couple of the other pairs.
“One
pair is enough for Jenny,” Steve
informed her firmly.
“I
agree, but you do have two other secretaries in your office that you need a
little something for as well.” Caterina
looked through the rest of the earrings and came up with three other pairs,
“Pick the one you like the least and get the other two for your other two
ladies.”
Steve
looked at Caterina and realized she was not going to let up on him.
Then he looked at the three pairs and handed the one pair for Jenny to
the clerk and then continued to look over the other earrings on the counter and
picked the two that he thought would be preferable.
Then he paid for the three pairs asking for them to be wrapped in three
different kind of wrapping paper.
The
following Wednesday, Secretaries Day started out like a shoot.
An emergency call came in while Steve was getting dressed and out the
door he went. As he was driving to
the scene of the crime, something was nagging at the back of his head saying,
“you forgot me.” When he got to
the murder scene, that nagging stopped, but started again when he got to the
office. Steve couldn’t put his
finger on what was wrong until Danno came in just before lunch.
“You
ready to go, Steve?” Danno said
as he entered Steve’s office. “Everyone
is waiting for you, plus there are two HPD officers coming over to cover the
phones while everyone is out for the lunch hour.”
“Why
do we need coverage for the phones? The
ladies know that they have to take their lunches in shifts,”
Steve finished as the door to office opened.
“I
told you, Williams, that my Cousin would forget his head if it was not attached
to his shoulders when that damn phone rings in the middle of night,”
Caterina said as she closed the door and walked over to Steve’s desk.
“You left these on the kitchen table this morning.
Here is the florist’s bill for your expenses. Just make sure I get the cash back. I’m broke as usual.” Caterina handed the bill over and
watched Steve’s reaction. “You
know us college kids never have enough money, even if I’m working my way
through college.”
“Okay,
Kitten, give you the money later.” Steve
took the packages from his Cousin and put them into his pockets.
“Now
put this back on,” Caterina says as she handed Steve his gun.
“I don’t know why you take it off in this place, you never can tell
what crazy people will come through those doors.”
Just
then the doors opened and in walked Kono.
“See
what I mean?” Caterina and Danno
started to laugh at the timing of the door opening with her comment.
“What’s
so funny? You guys ready to
roll?” Kono stilling looking
puzzled, “I’m hungry. Let’s
go!!!!!”
“They’re
coming, Kono, as soon as this guy gets his jacket on.”
Caterina held Steve’s jacket to help him put it on again.
* Man, I would love to have
someone like that help me out the way Catie helps her big Cousin Steve,
* Danny thought to himself as he headed out the door behind Kono.
“Now
on the back of your business cards, write a little note to the ladies,
individually. Then put the cards
into the flowers that are on your car seat, waiting for you.”
Caterina advised her Cousin as she smooth the jacket across his
shoulders.
“Thanks,
Kitten. Sometimes I don’t know
what I do without you.” Then
Steve kissed her on the cheek in appreciation.
They
both headed out the door, Caterina went over to Jenny’s desk and Steve waited
for Jenny to lead the way out the door.
“Have
fun, you two,” Caterina called out.
“You
can count on it, unless these guys get called for an emergency,” Jenny
replied.
“No
problem, Jenny, I’ll take care of that problem for at least an hour.”
Caterina picked up the phone and called dispatch.
“Hello Central, this is Officer Caterina, please mark McGarrett out of
reach for the next ninety minutes, he is on an important investigation that
can’t be interrupted.”
Steve
was about to say something but decided not to.
* It might be nice not to be
disturbed during lunch, * Steve thought.
“Officer Caterina, when we get to the restaurant, I’ll call and let
you know where we are.” Then
Steve closed the door behind him.
Danno
and Steve drove to the restaurant together, while Kono rode with the ladies.
And as Chin drove by himself, they decided to go this way just in case
they did get an emergency call and needed to take off.
Once
in the car, Steve wrote his little notes out and put them into the flowers as
Danno drove the car. * These
flowers are beautiful. Kitten has a
nice taste in picking some of the prettiest flowers. *
“Very
nice flowers, Steve.” Danno
remarked as he noticed Steve smelling the flowers.
“Yes,
they are beautiful.” Steve took
another sniff of the flowers, “Kitten has some very good taste in gifts and
flowers. I think she picks out
things that would make her happy.” Steve
remarked absently more to himself then his friend. Then he thought to himself, *
Her taste matches her Mother’s taste in
various things. It’s amazing how
much alike they are, and Kitten barely knew her Mother well enough to pick up
her excellent taste in beautiful things in the world. *
Dan
noticed for the second or was it the third time in the past month or so, that
Steve feelings for his Cousin ran deep, very deep. He didn’t dare comment on this because he knew Steve was a
private man. They rode in silence
the rest of the way to the restaurant following Chin in his car.
A
few minutes later, Steve and Danno entered Uncle Lee’s restaurant for an
enjoyable lunch. The first thing
Steve did was present each secretary with a bouquet of flowers and got a
wonderful reaction from each of the ladies.
During
lunch the conversation was light and pleasant with no discussion of the present
workload. Ninety minutes later,
Steve was handed a note that ‘Governor was looking to talk with him, that is
as soon as he has finished his luncheon with his secretary.’
With
the note in hand, Steve reached into his pockets and gave each of secretaries
their individual gifts. These gifts
surprised everyone at the table because they were not expecting Steve to have an
additional gift beyond the flowers.
“Oh
Steve, they are beautiful.” Loni said.
“Oh
perfect. Just the style I like.”
May remarked
“Oh
thank you very sweet Steve, my first pair of hoops.” Jenny smiled as she said
it.
“I’m
glad you all like them. I’m sorry
to say this, but the Governor wants to see me,” in a more boss like tone,
“and you all have to get back to work.”
Steve took the bill to the register to pay for it and left the group to
finish up and get back to work.
“Governor,
I’m sorry it took so long to get here but the note you called was just given
to me a few minutes ago.” Steve
said.
“No
problem, Steve, Officer Caterina told me were you out to lunch with your staff
for Secretary Day.” The Governor
told him, “Besides, I just got back from lunch with my own secretary.
I think if it were not for Caterina, I would have forgotten that I had a
lunch date with Grace.”
“Kitten
does have a habit of being helpful in that way,” Steve commented to himself.
To
all my Fellow Secretaries
HAPPY
Secretary’s Day.
Betty
Original content © 2001
Betty's Book-Me Danno
Last modified: April 27, 2002