Cat Loveless and the Story of Her Life.
Name: Caterina Loveless
Nickname: Cat
Birthdate: November 21st, 1910
Place of Birth: Hoboken, NJ
Occupation: Jazz singer at Giorgio’s Ristorante.
Marital Status: single
No. of children: 0
Physical description: 5’3”; strawberry blonde, almost red hair; bright green eyes, frequently painted lips.
Bio: The reason everyone is willing to pay the high prices at Giorgio’s during the post war recession is because of the great entertainment. But be careful to get too close, because this Jersey girl is just as tough as any of you boys.
Favorite drink: Roman Punch
Favorite color: Indigo
Favorite book: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
Favorite movie: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Favorite possession: Lipstick tube that secretly packs a punch or two.
Personal motto: “We help those who cannot help themselves.”
From the day she was born, Jersey girl Caterina Loveless, more commonly known as Cat, has always been one of one of the boys. Perhaps it was a result of being surrounded by some pretty phenomenal ones throughout her childhood, namely her father and her best friend. Or perhaps because there was one particular woman missing from it completely.
Petite yet somehow extending on for miles, with curves in all the right places, her spicy locks hail from the emerald isle from which her surname originated, her eyes as bright as the jewel tones of its rolling hills. These bold features are the perfect complement to her subdued, creamy skin. If the stage lights of the cabaret hit her just right however, you might just catch a taste of something olive.
The only part of her life that Cat’s mother, Alessandra, had a hand in was giving her a life and a name. Italy was a place she fell forever in love with after attending cooking school at age 25. She knew it was from where her roots came, and once she returned to them, she was hooked. It was on the coast of Naples that she and Waldorf “Wally” Loveless met. Wally was stationed overseas during his stint in the Navy. They remained in correspondence and reunited in New York City. In the City That Never Sleeps they rekindled their passionate Roman romance, but the spark fizzled out. Cat always wondered why she was worth being left behind the winter after she was born.
Wally was very intelligent and received his doctorate in biochemistry upon completing his studies. Filled with a passionate zeal for his country, he decided he want to serve as a medical doctor with the U.S. Navy. Later on, he became became fully dedicated to his dear daughter. He provided for her by continuing his deceased father’s Jersey-based knife making business, providing the goods to butchers, chefs, and others in New York City.
Wally did a fine job of raising his daughter and helped her become not only flawlessly feminine but also brave and bold. He shared his favorite movie The Adventures of Robin Hood with her at a young age, teaching her “we help those who cannot help themselves”. She always kept that mantra close, and putting it into action led her to meet her best friend, Beauregard “Beau” Dasher. Your atypical “boy-getting-bullied-in-the-school-yard/girl-puts-an-end-to-it” story, Cat returned home from grade school that day with a new pal who inevitably ended up her only … But honestly, it was the only one she’d ever need. After that cloudy autumn day, Wally was reassured that if something should ever happen to him, his daughter would get along just fine.
Beau and Cat were fierce friends, and spending their teens immersed in the revelry and glamorousness of the Roaring Twenties was something quite magical. On Friday evenings, they would frequently escape to the city to sneak into the back of Giorgio’s Ristorante, a usual business partner of her father’s. They enjoyed hearing the restaurant’s band play the likes of Louis Armstrong, big band tunes, and smooth jazz, their mutual love for music one of the many things they bonded over as kids. Cat was always captivated by the gorgeous, talented flappers and chanteuses seen there and their ability to tell a story behind their songs while oozing utter beauty. Beau, on the other hand, was always captivated by Cat being captivated. In his opinion, she oozed quite a bit of beauty herself.
Before they knew it, they had entered their final year of school together. Rather than get caught up in figuring out their next steps that would take them out into the big world around them, they decided to enjoy the time they had left. That last winter together, everything changed when Wally went in for a routine surgery and never woke up, ironically dying under the knife. Now an orphan, Cat clung to her and Beau’s friendship as she desperately tried not to fall into utter despair.
As it normally does, springtime brought around a new bit of life and the urge for both Cat and Beau to continue theirs. For a brief while, Beau continued his studies at the university level and then ended up joining the military. In their few correspondences Beau could not disclose much, only that he was involved in “official government business”. Cat constantly wonders if he is okay, and frequently wonders the same about herself.
Cat has become both used to and numb to being abandoned countless times in her life, and she refused to do the same to her father. Becoming a jazz singer in the very restaurant she grew up, she simultaneously carried on her father’s business and legacy, vowing to help others who could not help themselves. Wally’s business thrived in ways they never had before, and as Cat works the city, she makes it work to her advantage, vowing to find out if foul play involved in her father’s case while eternally wondering if Beau will return home in one piece. Until these truths come to light, a part of her heart will forever be in pieces. But don’t be fooled … on the outside, she looks flawless.
