by Shari Low
In the first few of years of their marriage they’d only seen Celeste a few times a year, when she’d come back to Glasgow. With two small kids, trips to London just didn’t make sense. The girls wanted beaches and swimming pools, not busy city centre holidays.
It was at their fifth anniversary dinner in a local Indian restaurant that Celeste announced that she was moving back to Scotland permanently.
‘You’re not!’ Aggs had screeched, before throwing herself across the table to hug her friend, narrowly avoiding her sleeves dipping in the korma. The irony was that Mitchell had been glad Celeste was coming home. It was obvious Aggs was struggling with two small kids, a busy café and her dad being ill, so maybe this would recharge her batteries. After a few years of building his business, they were starting to make a liveable salary, so they could afford a babysitter if Agnetha wanted to go out and have a bit of fun. Hadn’t that been what had attracted him to her in the first place? Her sense of joy and her zest for life? Maybe Celeste would help her find that again.
She slotted right into the family. He’d come home from work and she’d be there. Christmas Day, she’d have a stocking next to theirs on the mantelpiece. If they had a rare night out on the town, Celeste would come too. She was a permanent fixture; the sister Aggs didn’t have. She didn’t pitch in to take the pressure off his wife by babysitting or lending a hand in the café, but she made her smile more and that was enough.
‘I’ve decided to launch my own business,’ Celeste had announced one night over a Chinese meal at their kitchen table. He’d had a long day at work and come home at 9 p.m. to find a chicken curry, fried rice and prawn crackers waiting for him. Aggs had looked like she was struggling to keep her eyes open, but Celeste was oozing enthusiasm. ‘I’m getting too old to depend on modelling, so it’s time to diversify.’
He hadn’t been particularly interested, his mind still on the complexities of the case he’d been working on all day, but he didn’t want to be rude. ‘Great. What’s the plan?’
Celeste went on a roll. ‘Event management. Both corporate stuff and private parties. I’m going to use my contacts on the Glasgow social scene to get access to great venues…’
He knew that wasn’t bullshit. Celeste had done a high profile Scottish lager campaign at the start of her career and used it to build a network of friends and acquaintances across the city. Even though she’d lived in London for years, she still seemed to know all the movers and shakers.
‘… and I’ve got some pretty cool concepts that I came across when I was in London, so I just need to land my first client and get it off the ground.’
His curry was burning his mouth off, but he had managed to mumble his congratulations and make encouraging noises.
‘Mitchell, can’t you help?’ Aggs had asked him, before crunching down on a prawn cracker.
He was distracted and didn’t follow. ‘What? How?’
‘Well, couldn’t you have some kind of event? Invite all your clients? Celeste could take care of it all for you.’
He was about to dismiss it out of hand, but he’d stopped himself. Actually, that wasn’t the worst idea. If his fledgling firm was going to play on the bigger stage, they had to act like the bigger companies, the ones who had cash to throw about to make their clients feel valued.
Celeste had immediately seen how it would work for her too and ran with it. ‘I’d make it fucking spectacular and I’d do it at cost, as long as I can network. That’s all I ask.’
That’s how it had started. She’d arranged a successful function for him and managed to get a couple of spin-off bookings from it. For the next few years, it was a mutually beneficial relationship. As she grew to be one of the hottest event planners in the city, she’d make sure he was on the guest list for anything that would raise his profile or allow him to get in front of people who could be advantageous for him. In return, he’d throw a couple of tax-deductible events a year and put in a good word with his clients if he thought they would benefit from her services. A perfect partnership. Even if it did mean he was either working late or out every night of the week.
When had it turned to something more? A couple of years later, at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.
Mitchell could recall most of the details, but some were a bit fuzzy thanks to the dozen or so bottles of wine his table had consumed at his firm’s annual ball. Aggs was supposed to have been there, but she’d cried off because one of the kids had chickenpox. He wasn’t pleased. Celeste had organised a couple of suites for him and his business partners as part of the deal, and now he was going to be going to bed on his own. What a waste. That’s probably why he was still in the bar at 2 a.m., and happy that Celeste, this gorgeous goddess of a woman, had offered to keep him company.
Maybe what happened next was inevitable. Too much booze. Too little loyalty. A man with an ego that was out of control and who could only see the situation from his own perspective.
She’d unclipped the diamond drops that were hanging from her ears. Her slinky gold strapless gown had been turning heads all evening and at least half of the guys he worked with were in lust with her. ‘What a brilliant night. We make a good team, Mr McMaster.’
He’d thrown back his shot of Drambuie way too fast. ‘Yeah, we do.’
She’d taken a sip of her champagne. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Ah, fuck, I don’t know.’ He signalled to the bartender for another drink.
‘Tell me,’ she’d pressed, her beautiful eyes staring into his, her hand on his knee now. ‘Is it Aggs? It doesn’t take a genius to see that you two aren’t exactly hitting it off at the moment. Look, you know I love her, but anything you say will stay between us, I promise.’
‘I just think we…’ He’d stopped for a second to formulate the words, distracted by the fact that her hand was now gently moving up and down his thigh as they spoke and… Shit, she was totally giving him a hard-on. ‘… We want different things.’
‘I get that,’ she said, still stroking. More stroking. This wasn’t good. Strike that. What he meant was that it was too fucking good. ‘To be honest with you, Mitch, much as I adore Aggs, I can see that she doesn’t appreciate you. I think you need someone who will support you in what you’re doing here, someone who is on your level. You’re power-couple material, Mitch.’
He may have been drunk, but he could see the opportunity for a profitable merger when it was placed in front of him. Right at that moment, it made perfect sense. Celeste. Him. The unassailable fact that he was so turned on he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do more than unzip her gold dress.
She’d leaned in, put those perfect lips on his and it was a sealed deal. Done.
Of course, looking back now he’d have to question the morals of someone who would do that to her best friend, but back then, he’d slipped right into denial because if he questioned Celeste’s actions, then he’d have to have taken a long, hard look at himself, and he should have been disgusted with what he saw. Oblivion and living in the crazy, sex fuelled moment was a far easier option to live with.
Who’d made the first move? Technically, it was Celeste, but he’d wanted it too. Equal culpability. The question was, which answer would hurt Aggs more?
He analysed the consequences, taking his current issues with Celeste out of the equation. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. When it came to their relationships, on the surface at least, Aggs was amicable with him, but she’d never forgiven Celeste and they had nothing more than a polite tolerance of each other. Perhaps it was time to nudge open that door, for both their sakes. Maybe repairing their friendship even a little could bring some healing to both the women he’d loved.
The shrieks of a little kid playing footie with his dad on the grass in front of them brought him back to the moment. Aggs was still waiting for his answer.
‘It was me. I’m so sorry.’
A pause. A long, excruciating silence, before Aggs raised her eyes and tilted her head back.
‘Yo
u hear that, Mum? You were right.’ She turned back to Mitchell, resigned but surprisingly calm. ‘She always said it was you. Said you’d got above yourself and that you wanted Celeste because she matched with your new flash lifestyle. Like a Porsche for your penis, she said.’
‘She said that?’ He was stunned. Ella Sanders was not the kind of woman you’d expect to come out with something as… well… carnal.
‘No, actually that might have been me. I said a lot of critical things about your penis back then. You’re lucky it’s still attached.’
A deep, uncontrollable roar of laughter erupted from somewhere deep inside him. It appeared to be contagious, because, the next thing, Aggs was howling too and people were turning to look at the two strange people doubled over in stitches on the bench.
‘My mother is going to kill me for this,’ she spluttered. ‘If I get hit by a bus, you’ll know it was Ella Sanders, dishing out retribution because I was talking to my traitorous ex-husband about his penis.’ That set them off again, and all around them, other people were grinning now too.
God, he’d forgotten how much she could make him laugh.
It took him a while to calm down and get his breath back. ‘You’re some woman, Aggs, you know that?’
‘I do,’ she said, grinning, before taking his breath away with her next comment. ‘Friends again?’
‘I can’t tell you how much I want that.’ A flashback to a scene earlier in the day filled his head. ‘Can I ask you something now?’
She scrunched up her nose in the way that he used to find absolutely irresistible when they were dating. ‘Oh dear. Will it upset my mother?’
‘No. Maybe. I’m just wondering, why now? Why are you prepared to forgive me now? Is it anything to do with the…’ Say it. Say it! Problem was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
‘With what?’
‘With the guy? You know, the one from earlier?’
The wait for her answer seemed to go on forever and for some reason he felt a massive wave of relief when she said, ‘No. It’s more about me. My life. I’m having a… I don’t know what to call it really. An epiphany? A midlife crisis? I feel like I lost myself there for a long time and now that Mum and Dad are gone, and the girls are adults, it’s time to live my life for me again, to be a bit more like the person I was before. I liked her a lot. She was pretty good fun.’
‘I liked her too,’ Mitchell heard himself say.
It was true. No matter what happened or why, they’d had something great in the beginning and for a few years afterwards. And now, sitting here next to her, she was that bright, beautiful Aggs that he’d fallen in love with and he wanted to rewind all the shit that had happened.
Is this where they’d have ended up if they’d stayed together? Would they have weathered the storms and found their love for each other again, got to this stage in life and be reaping the rewards, hatching plans to make the most of the rest of their lives together? Did he take the wrong path? What was really bothering him about the prospect of losing Celeste? Was it because his ego couldn’t take the rejection? Was it because fifty was careering towards him and he couldn’t face starting all over again? Was it because he couldn’t imagine life without someone on his arm? Or was it because he was truly still in love with his wife? Sitting there right now, he couldn’t answer any of those questions. Which perhaps told him everything.
Aggs nudged her shoulder against his again. ‘Good chat, Mitch,’ she said, and he thought yet again how he didn’t deserve this kindness. ‘Slightly deranged, but good. Now I have to get back and get ready for my dinner with the girls. I’m wearing head to toe sequins. They’re going to be mortified.’
‘Yup, I’d pay money to see their faces,’ he joked, clamping his jaw shut so he didn’t let anything slip about the surprise party.
They wandered back to the car in companionable silence. Coming to see Aggs today had seemed like a ludicrous idea, but it was the best thing he could have done. How had he managed to fuck it up with such a special woman? What a complete fool he’d been.
They were back at the café in less than ten minutes. When he pulled up outside, she unclipped her seat belt. ‘What’s the plan then? Are you going to speak to Celeste or just keep commando-crawling round restaurants trying to catch her in the act?’ She was teasing him, but doing it gently so he couldn’t help but smile.
‘I think I need to talk to her.’
‘I think you do too. Good luck, Mitch.’ She stretched over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘I hope you get the answers you want. Whatever they are.’
‘Thanks, Aggs. For listening. And happy birthday.’
‘You know what? It really is.’
With that, she was gone and Mitchell was left watching what might have been the best thing that ever happened to him walk back into a life that didn’t include him.
As he slipped the gears into drive and pulled off, he realised that he couldn’t wait to see her again at the party later that night.
But for now, it was time to go home and sort out his own life.
19
Agnetha and Celeste – 1997
As soon as the lift doors closed, Aaron slipped his arm around Agnetha’s waist. ‘I can’t believe you said yes.’
She kissed him slowly, sexily. ‘I can’t believe you asked me.’
‘I can’t believe I haven’t vomited,’ Celeste murmured behind them.
Agnetha immediately broke off from the embrace, suddenly self-conscious and worried they were being insensitive to Celeste. Zac had run out on her friend this morning and now she, Agnetha Sanders, was having the most wonderful, romantic day of her life.
However, that didn’t stop the warm fuzzy rush that made her tummy flip again. They were doing this. They were actually doing it. The hotel manager had tracked them down after the proposal had caused a sensation at the pool and offered to arrange the whole thing for them. They were getting married tonight, at 7 p.m., at one of the wedding chapels in the hotel. At the pool earlier, Aaron had gone back on the microphone and invited everyone at the pool to join them, to uproarious cheers. The hotel had laid on a car to take them downtown to pick up a Nevada marriage licence at the Clark County Marriage License Bureau.
It had taken less than an hour until they were back and riding the lift up to their hotel floor.
The doors pinged open. ‘Come to our room, Celeste, so we can decide what we’re doing.’
Celeste wasn’t exactly radiating love and joy, but hopefully she’d get used to the idea. Of course it was a shock. Agnetha was struggling to take it in herself, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t right or that they were doing it for the wrong reasons.
When the fuss at the pool had subsided, and the two of them were alone again in the cabana, Aggs was still in a state of shock. ‘Did that really happen?’
Aaron had kissed her neck. ‘It happened.’
She’d needed more clarity. ‘Wait a minute though. Why now? Why today. Why like that?’ If anyone had asked her to guess how Aaron would propose, the last thing she’d expect was a public spectacle. Not that she was complaining about the outcome.
‘Because I love you. Because I want you to be my wife. Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Because I don’t want you to leave next week. And because now you’ll be able to extend your visa because you’ve married an American citizen.’
That had stunned her into silence. He’d done it for a visa?
There was a split second of doubt. Would he have wanted this anyway? Was his hand being forced? Was this going to be a huge mistake?
Then she’d felt his arms go around her and all her doubts had disappeared. This incredible man was actually going to marry her so that they could be together. That might just be the most romantic thing she’d ever heard.
She was in, 100 per cent sold. Even if her best friend clearly wasn’t.
A welcome blast of cool air hit them as they entered the room. Aggs dumped her beach bag on the bed,
while Celeste immediately hit up the minibar, flipping the cap off a bottle of beer, then flopping down on the bucket chair by the window.
Aaron threw his arms out wide, laughing. ‘Okay, future Mrs Ward, what’s the plan?’
A jolt of reality hit Aggs when he said it. Shit. Mrs Ward. By the end of the day, she was going to be a whole other person. She ran that around in her mind for a minute and decided that she liked it. No, she loved it.
‘Well, looks like I’m marrying you, otherwise all those people round the pool are going to be mighty disappointed.’
‘So you’re doing it for them?’ Aaron teased, grabbing her and kissing her, making her purr with laughter.
‘Nope, I’m doing it because I fricking love you, Aaron Ward.’
‘I really am going to vomit,’ Celeste muttered, staring out of the window.
The happy couple ignored her.
‘Right, so what do we need to do then?’ Aaron prompted again. ‘I’ve got no idea on account of the fact that I’ve never asked someone to marry me before. Or had a wedding the same day. Jeez, everyone is gonna think we were wasted or high.’
Aggs sat down on the bed, trying to make her mind work. Okay, what first?
A shadow crossed her face, wiping her smile away.
Aaron spotted it immediately. ‘What? What’s up?
‘My parents,’ she whispered, the words breaking as she said them. She’d been so carried away with the excitement and romance of it all (and a few pina coladas) that the logistical realities were only just hitting her. ‘They won’t be at my wedding.’
