Deciding that she will hang up her clothing later, Celeste leaves the bedroom she has chosen for herself in search of Jenny. She finds her through the one door she did not enter. Jenny’s room is almost identical to Celeste’s except that her bedspread is wine in color.
“Hey, Jenny,” Celeste says.
“Hey, Celeste,” Jenny says while turning to face Celeste. Holding her hands up in a mock surrender, Jenny continues, “Before you start, I’m sorry if I was a little presumptuous in assuming that you wanted to come along for the little get together,” Jenny says as she clasps her hands together underneath her chin. As Jenny twists her body to left, her jet ebony hair swings away from her body through the air.
Jenny is a beautiful girl with the kind of killer looks that could have certainly made her a model to rifle with the best of them. She has flawless dark skin, shiny jet black hair, large brown eyes with long curling eyelashes, and perfectly arched eyebrow. Jenny stands just a few inches shorter that Celeste and sports a fabulously curvy figure.
“I just want so badly to be with Mario every moment I can,” she continues. “You might not be sure what’s going on with yourself and Stephen, but I have already decided I want Mario as my man.” Holding up one well-manicured hand to stifle any criticism Celeste had been about to make, she continues, “No, I haven’t known him all that long, and truth be told, I don’t know him all that well. For me, that is what this weekend is about. Either I will go home more determined than ever that Mario and I should be together or else he will have shattered my disillusions, and I will have decided that he is not worth my time and effort.”
“Well, it sounds to me that at least you are not going about this weekend blindly.”
“No, I’m not.”
For the first time ever, Celeste catches a glimpse of something that she has never before seen in Jenny’s eyes. A need for Celeste’s approval. Not dare wanting to shatter her friends hopes, Celeste replies, “Then I wish you all the best on your quest.”
Relief washes over Jenny, and she comes to embrace Celeste. “I have to check my make-up,” Jenny says before rushing off to her in suite bathroom.
Not having been the type to wear much make-up herself, Celeste doesn’t usually have to check her appearance. Having nothing better to do at this moment, she decides to apply a little eyeliner and mascara to bring out her eyes. Not stopping there, she applies a little lipgloss as well. Checking her reflection in her own en suite, she gives herself a nod of approval before turning off the light and exiting to go through to the entertainment area.
Just as Celeste enters the entertaining area, there is a powerful knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, she sees handsome Stephen standing on the other side of the door with Mario. She opens the door and breaths a breathless, “Hello,” as if she has just run a marathon.
‘Manly,’ no other way to describe the smell of him, Celeste thinks while inhaling the incredible aroma of Stephen’s cologne.
Celeste steps aside to allow them entry.
“Hi,” Stephen says upon walking through the door.
“Where’s my girl?” Mario asks with a smile on his face.
“Here I am,” cries Jenny as she runs through the living space entrance and catapults herself into Mario’s arms. Mario entwines his arms around her and swings her around while kissing her passionately.
Feeling a tad bit shocked at their open display of affection, Celeste lowers her head and heads to her room to retrieve her purse.
Returning, she asks, “So where are we going?”
“I was thinking we could stroll the strip. It won’t be too crowded in the daytime. It’ll give us a chance to talk and get to know each other better. I don’t want to go too far because I only have a couple of hours before I need to head on over and get ready for the show tonight,” Stephen volunteers.
“That sounds good,” says Celeste, more casually than she feels. Her insides are twisting with nervousness, all the while wanting to know more about Stephen yet keep him at a distance. A stroll down the strip sounds like just the thing, nothing too intimate.
As they head out of the hotel with Stephen’s hand at her elbow, they can hear the sounds of automobile horns honking and a continuous drone of conversation dispersed with laughter. The sounds of Vegas.
Upon turning to the left of the hotel, the first thing they come upon is an ice cream shop. Celeste looks at Stephen and inquires, “Would you mind if we stopped here? I would love a root beer float. It’s been ages since I’ve had one,” she stops, noticing that her nervousness is causing her to ramble.
“I’ll have one too,” Stephen responds. He wants to assure Celeste that she need not feel so nervous around him, but thinking better of pointing out that he has noticed her nervousness, he decides to give her time to realize that she is safe with him.
Entering the shop, they come to stand behind a couple with two children. The children, one boy and a girl, the girl looking to be about seven and the boy about five, are just completing their requests when another employee comes from the back room. “I’ll be right with you,” he says, going over to the sink and washing his hands before proceeding to the counter and asking Celeste and Stephen, “How are you today? What can I get for you?”
Celeste says, “I would like a root beer float, please. A large.”
“I’ll have the same,” says Stephen, retrieving his wallet from his back pocket.
They both watch in companionable silence as the employee completes their order. Paying the ice cream clerk, Stephen places his wallet back into its resting-place before picking up both styrofoam cups. After handing one to Celeste, he grabs two straws and a few napkins. Seeing that there are already a spoon in each cup, he bypasses those and proceeds to follow Celeste through the exit door.
With a couple of root beer floats between the two of them, the conversation flows freely. Celeste tells Stephen of her desire for promotion at Vine’s and Robert’s and Stephen talks of his intention to start his own record label.
Their conversation touches briefly on how they came to choose their careers and how their parents felt about it, Stephen is saying, “Needless to say, growing up in a Christian family, my decision to do secular music was not well received. But mom having spoken her oppositions, did not nag me about it. She allowed me to make my own mistakes and rejoiced with me when I came to my senses.”
“My mom never took much notice of my career choice. Her only concern was that I could stand on my own two feet and didn’t have to depend on a man,” offers Celeste.
Curious about this revelation, Stephen asks, “Well, I know that today’s modern women like their independence, but I get the feeling from your last statement that it is much more than that.”
Celeste doesn’t want to talk about what happened to her family, so she decides to make it short and sweet. “My parents were divorced when I was young because my father cheated on my mom. After that, my mom became bitter and withdrawn. The hugs she use to give so freely weren’t given quite so freely any more. And as the divorce proceedings got under way, they became even more sporadic. Sometimes, more often than not, they felt obligatory and forced.”
Stephen doesn’t know what to say, considering the fact that as of yet, no one in his family had ever gone through a divorce. Not that he knew of, anyway. Not wanting to rush Celeste but allow her to open up to him at her own pace, he decides it best to wait until she continues on her own.
Wanting to turn the conversation from herself, Celeste asks, “How long have your parents been married?”
“Going on thirty-five years.”
“That’s great,” Celeste mumbles feeling slightly bitter and then ashamed of that bitterness. Bitterness due to her own misfortune of having been raised in a broken home.
Throwing their containers and napkins into the garbage, Celeste asks, “So, how are preparations going for your record label?”
Stephen is glad that Celeste is interested in his future. He is especially glad that th
e sadness behind her eyes that he had seen when she spoke of her parents’ divorce and the state it had left her mother in had been wiped away with the change of subject. Or had she only masked it? Although the look is no longer there, he feels certain that there are still some remaining scars. No matter how hard Celeste tries to hide them, Stephen can sense them.
Stephen fills Celeste in on all his current ideas for the record label. And not surprisingly, she offers some suggestions that he had yet to think of that would serve the company quite well.
“Man, those are fantastic ideas. If you keep giving me such good ideas, I’m going to have to start paying you,” he says.
Waving him off, she say, “Don’t worry about it. It’s my pleasure. Should you need any other ideas, just give me a jingle. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can.
Stopping to turn and face her, Stephen says, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
After a long moment of gazing into Celeste’s eyes, Stephen clears his suddenly parched throat and looks down at his watch. “I think we better head back. I was enjoying our talk so much I lost all track of time.”
Stephen takes Celeste’s hand into his own and begins to lead her back to the hotel before stopping abruptly. Drawing his brows together he asks Celeste, “Where’s the rest of our party?”
“Oh,” is all Celeste can say, completely stunned that she had forgotten all about her friend Jenny. Looking around her, she notices them sitting on a small bench in the direction of the hotel a few shops away. “There they are,” she says pointing with her right hand since Stephen is still holding her left.
They begin their stride in the direction of the hotel and come upon the unsuspecting couple. There, they stand in silence waiting to be noticed. After about a minute, realizing that this tactic might take longer than they have time for, Celeste clears her throat.
Jenny snaps her head around to look at Celeste. Her gaze quickly runs the length of Celeste’s left arm to find that Celeste and Stephen are hand in hand. Mario makes the same discovery almost simultaneously with Jenny.
Rising from the bench and pulling Jenny to stand Mario says, “I guess we better be heading back.”
By the time they make it back to the hotel, Celeste is happy that she took the trip. Truly and utterly happy. She has also grown accustomed to the feel of Stephen’s warm hand in her own. Yet she doesn’t want to feel this comfortable. Celeste is at odds with herself. Although she has just spent a wonderful time with Stephen, she can’t shake the feeling that he has intentions that go miles beyond her own.
They take the lift to their floor where Stephen assists her in opening her suite door. Stephen searches Celeste’s face for any hint of the nervousness that he saw earlier. Finding none he says while placing his hands on her shoulders, “I had a wonderful time with you this afternoon. I hope you did as well?”
“I did,” Celeste answers honestly.
“We’ve taken care of all of your arrangements for the concert. Your ride will arrive at six PM to escort you to the concert. I will see you then?” he questions with the lift of one brow.
“Yes,” is all she can manage around the rather large lump suddenly in her throat.
He places a light kiss on her forehead before turning to depart.
Before Celeste can retreat to her quarters, Jenny says, “It would seem that you and Stephen are getting along quite well.”
“Yeah. We are.”
“Didn’t I tell you that you might find him to be a nice guy if you would just give yourself a chance to get to know him?”
“Yeah, you did.” Before Jenny could continue, Celeste questions, “What happened to you and Mario?”
“Since it seemed that you and Stephen didn’t need us around as a buffer any longer, we decided to give you guys some space. And you did quite well all on your own, the two of you.”
Celeste feels color creeping from the base of her throat to the roots of her hair. Not wanting to delve too deeply into the comfort she began taking from being in Stephen’s presence, nor let Jenny notice her blushing, Celeste turns to head to her room.
Oh, what a difference a day makes, Celeste thinks to herself. Just a couple of days ago she thought Stephen was nothing but a womanizer looking for his next victim. Today she had come to see him as a man with hopes and dreams of touching people’s lives and influencing them for the better. Her new glimpse of him is detrimental to all she knew, or all she assumed she knew.
Standing on the threshold of her suite she looks at her watch. Celeste mentally comes to a stop sign as she realizes she has completely forgotten that she needs to buy something to wear for the concert tonight. She rounds to face Jenny. “I didn’t bring anything to wear tonight. I had anticipated time to hit the mall and buy something new. What am I going to do? It’s after three.”
“Well then I guess we better hit the mall. I’ll have the front desk call a taxi,” Jenny supplies, heading in the direction of the phone sitting on the desk. “The mall isn’t far at all. Besides, I could do with new swag myself.”
Celeste grabs her purse from her bed and meets Jenny to exit the hotel suite.
Chapter Eleven
The traffic is fairly light as Las Vegas goes, and it takes only 15 minutes for them to arrive at the downtown
Celeste pays the driver and tips him shopping mall. generously.
She notices expectantly for shoppers to exit the mall and make use of their services, so Celeste figures Jenny and herself should have no trouble at all finding transportation back to the hotel.
Just inside the entrance of the mall, Celeste sees the map of the shopping complex. Locating the “You are Here,” indicator, she then seeks the name of a shop that she is sure to have success shopping.
“This way,” she says to Jenny and tugs her in the direction of her favorite store.
They arrive at their destination and upon entering, Celeste quickly spots the section of formal wear. Celeste wills herself mentally to slow down and takes a few deep breaths.
This being summer, the racks are full of sleeveless, strapless, and spaghetti strapped garments. Celeste selects from the rack a black leather halter dress. Next to the dress there is a black wrap to compliment the dress she has selected.
there are quite a few taxis waiting
A sales associate addresses Celeste and then offers, “Is there anything I can help you find?”
“I’m going to a concert tonight, and I’m in need of a new outfit.”
“Sure thing. Any particular color you had in mind?”
“Not really.”
“Well the dress that you are holding with the accompanying wrap is an excellent choice. It also comes in dark gray as well as brown and wine.”
“Well… the brown might be nice to see.”
“Certainly, what size?” Celeste informs the sales clerk of her size. “If you come with me I can set you up in a changing room then get the other dress for you.”
“OK,” Celeste agrees before turning to Jenny and asking, “Are you going to try on anything?”
“Yeah, I’ll get one of the other ladies to help me. I’ll meet you back by the dressing rooms,” Jenny answers.
Once in the changing room by herself, Celeste quickly divests herself of her jeans and top. The dress slides on as smooth as silk against her skin. She is just finishing with the side zipper when Lonna, as the sales associate had introduced herself, raps lightly on the door. “Here is the brown dress, and I also took the liberty of bringing a few other items that would look very well on you.”
Celeste instructs Lonna to bring in the articles of clothing. Once Lonna departs, Celeste tries on all the items that Lonna has presented while coming out of the fitting room for her and Jenny to model the clothing for one another. Celeste accredits Lonna with having exceptionally good taste but ultimately decides on the first item she had selected with the matching wrap.
Celeste emerges from the dressing facility holding the items she has decided to get and spots Je
nny at the counter paying for her purchase. She heads to the lingerie department to select a strapless bra to go underneath the dress and matching black stocking.
Meeting up at the register, Celeste pays for her items and then suggests that Jenny and she head for the shoe store. Celeste asks the sales associate who is ringing up her purchases where is the nearest shoe store where she might find shoes to match her outfit.
“Just right next to us to the left, is an excellent shoe store. You’re sure to find something,” the cashier answers.
Celeste and Jenny look at
camaraderie that comes from
each other and with the knowing and shopping together for years, they say simultaneously, “Shoes!”
Just as the sales woman had assured, both Celeste and Jenny finds shoes to match their new purchases. A short while, later they are seated in the back seat of a taxi and being driven back to their hotel.
They arrive at the hotel with plenty of time to order room service and have a light diner before dressing for the evening.
When their dinner has arrived, Celeste tries to pay for their meal and tip the bellman only to be told that everything has already been taken care of. With a warm smile the man bows and exits the room quietly.
Celeste takes more time getting ready this evening than she had ever spent when dressing for her dates with Tyrone. She soaks in her drawn bubble bath allowing the hot scented water to relax her muscles. She doesn’t emerge until the water turns tepid. She then dries off and heads to her wardrobe to apply moisturizing cream before dressing.
After dressing, she proceeded to the mirror in hopes of seeing herself as Stephen will soon see her. Her long hair flows over her bare shoulders and curls slightly at the ends. Her complexion, which has always been flawless, is glowing from the warmth and steam of the bathroom.
A Wife for Stephen Page 10
