Tyrone and Celeste’s conversations had always held an underlying tension that Celeste only now realizes had never left. She had just grown so accustomed to it that she had begun to ignore it. She had brushed aside her fears and resignations for the familiarity of Tyrone.
The relationship that she is developing with Stephen has been teaching her a lot about what a relationship should be built on. She realizes that she had never shared the trust, compassion, and love with Tyrone that she now shares with...Stephen?
Love?
Am I really in love with Stephen? Celeste asks herself. She searches her mind for different verbs. Concern,
adoration, respect, caring, compassion, kind ship, friendship? Yes, all those fit. But yet there is still more. Love
It is the umbrella that covers and encompasses every one of these emotions. It fits so well, like no other word can.
Celeste feels a smile come to her face. Loving Stephen is okay. No, it is better than okay. It fits.
But does he feel the same? Celeste has neither the gumption to ask such a forward question or the fortitude to withstand a negative response. She would rather keep her feelings a secret than to confess them. Celeste decides to wait until the time is right. Namely, after he tells her first.
What do I do if that time never comes, she wonders to herself.
Uh uh, Celeste scolds herself. You have come so far, don’t you start backtracking down that road again. You’ve come too far to mess up now with this kind of thinking.
Mentally pushing the negative thought from her mind, she begins to think of more positive thoughts as the phone starts to ring.
“Hello?” Celeste answers the line.
“Hey, Babe. How are you?” says the man who has been on her mind quite a bit lately.
“I’m fine. How was your concert tonight?” Celeste asks as she takes a seat on the couch in her den.
“It was good. I miss you,” Stephen whispers into his cell phone.
“I miss you too.”
There is a change in Celeste’s voice that Stephen can’t quite put his finger on but is determined to find the cause of it before the end of their conversation. He has come to understand from the dream that he had that rushing Celeste would only put her further from him. So, he contends himself to wait a bit before asking.
“I was hoping that you would like to meet me,” he continues, “in Philadelphia. I’ll be going home for a week in the beginning of October, and I would like to introduce you to my parents.”
“I… I would love to.”
Stephen feels a smile tug at his lips and releases a breath that he wasn’t aware he had been holding. “That would be fantastic. I’ll have the arrangements made, and I’ll let you know...”
“Wait… Do your parents even know you’re seeing me?”
“Of course. They’ve known for quite some time. They can’t wait to meet you.”
Celeste is pleased to know that Stephen has talked about her to his parents. That certainly has to mean something, she thinks in reference to the negative ideas that were trying to take hold in her mind right before Stephen’s call.
“Do you need to go or can you talk a little longer?” Celeste asks wanting to prolong their conversation.
“I always have time for you. What’s up?”
“Nothing, exactly. I just want to talk to you for a while.” Celeste is not ready to admit her newly discovered feelings for Stephen, but she does want him to know that she cares for him. “I really have missed you, Stephen.”
“Baby, what’s the matter? I hear sadness in your voice. Did something happen at work today?”
“No. Everything is fine at work. I just...”
Stephen waits a full minute to allow Celeste to gather her thoughts before continuing. When she says nothing, he goes on to say, “You know that you can talk to me, don’t you?”
Relationships are built on trust. Isn’t that what she was just talking to herself about? “I sometimes feel...” Celeste spit it out, she chides herself. “I just want to be sure where I stand with you. I don’t want to get my feelings hurt.”
“Aw, Baby,” Stephen breathes into the phone. “I would never doing anything to hurt you. What’s this all about?”
Although they have only known each other for a short while, Celeste knows it is time to tell Stephen about her past relationship with Tyrone. But she is just not ready, so she defers by saying, “I don’t trust my own judgment.”
"We aren’t supposed to trust our own judgment. We’re supposed to trust in the Lord. If you follow where He leads, you won’t go astray.”
“You’re right.”
They spoke a half-hour longer. When Celeste hung up the receiver she felt confident. Stephen is nothing like Tyrone. Tyrone was a mere shadow of the man that Stephen is.
The two weeks before she would go to Philadelphia passed remarkably quickly considering that Celeste was anxiously anticipating her meeting with Stephen’s parents. She had settled on the locations for the perfume shoots, okayed the wardrobe, and hired the actors. All that was left was to begin shooting.
Shooting was scheduled to begin the last week before her trip. To Celeste’s glee, the taping of the first commercial went off without a hitch and took only one day to shoot. Celeste thought that at this pace they would finish well before the deadline.
Friday evening before she leaves for Philadelphia, the taping of the second commercial is half-complete. The actors were showing up on time, which is a rarity in Hollywood, and cast and crew seemed to be working together in harmony.
As Celeste boards the plane she is excited at the thought of seeing her man. Has it really only been six weeks since I first met Stephen?
Celeste doesn’t need to consult a cale ndar to know that it had indeed only been six weeks. She is also aware that she is blossoming in her relationship with Stephen and learning to trust anew.
Celeste had spoken with the pastor’s wife over lunch last weekend about her feeling for Stephen. Paula had been happy that Celeste was moving past the hurts she had suffered in her relatively short years.
“The love of a good man shows on your face, Celeste,” Paula had said.
Celeste had blushed, just as she is now, at the thought of Stephen loving her even half as much as she loved him.
The in-flight movie is a James Bond movie and keeps Celeste’s full attention focused on the plot and subplots. When it was over, she began to feel sad that she couldn’t share her joy with Jenny.
Jenny hadn’t spoken to Mario once since her and Celeste had departed Las Vegas. Jenny was too proud and stubborn to call Mario. “If he wants to talk to me then he will have to do the calling. I refuse to chase after a mere man,” Jenny had said.
Jenny was steamed that Mario had treated her so casually and hurt that he hadn’t shown any signs of missing her even in the least.
Although Jenny and Celeste were not much alike, the girls have been friends and have helped each other through nursing so many wounds that their personalities no longer even came into the equation.
Surely, Jenny will be upset that Celeste has gone off to Philadelphia without informing her of her trip, but Celeste just couldn’t bring herself to tell Jenny, discerning that she would wonder if Mario was going to be there. Celeste knew that Jenny would be filled with longing to see Mario had she been aware of Celeste’s travel plans.
In the midst of her thoughts, the pilot comes on and announces that they will be landing shortly. The landing is smooth and uneventful. First Class being first to disembark, Celeste soon finds herself standing in the middle of the terminal wondering which way to go. After searching the monitor, she discovers from which baggage claim area she will retrieve her bags. As she arrives in the baggage claim area, she notices Stephen among the sparse crowd of people waiting to meet the arriving passengers.
When her eyes meet his she feels a smile on her lips and is filled with the need to fly into his awaiting arms. She gives in and off she goes.
Cel
este is caught up in Stephen’s arms and hugged tightly. As Stephen lowers her to her feet he places his warm lips against her own and breathes a sigh of relief that she has arrived safely. Celeste feels safe and secure being snuggled in Stephen’s arms, like this is where she belongs.
When the kiss ends, Stephen says, “I have missed you, Baby.”
“And I you.”
“Let’s go get your luggage,” says Stephen as he takes Celeste by the hand and walks side by side with her to the baggage claim carousel.
After retrieving her bags, Stephen takes her to the car park where he settles her into the passenger side of his BMW 650 Gran Coupe.
Their entire trip to Stephen’s parents’ home is made over pleasing conversation. Celeste relishes being able to share the success of the campaign she is involved in at work. Stephen informs Celeste that the studio for sale in the Los Angeles area that his real estate agent had faxed him the information on seems worth a trip to further check out.
“So when will you be coming out there?”
“I was thinking of going back with you and asking you if you could drive me over. I would much rather spend the drive in your presence that Valerie’s.”
“Valerie?”
“Yeah. She’s the agent I’m working with.”
“Oh,” is all that Celeste can murmur.
Celeste could sense that Stephen had picked up on her mood shift but was saved from answering the questions that she knows are inevitable when Stephen announces, “We’re here.”
Stephen slows the car and parks in front of a beautiful home with green grass and rose bushes lining the front walk. A brief moment after exiting on his side of the vehicle, Stephen opens Celeste’s door and offers her his hand, helping her from the car.
Celeste is showed into a beautiful entryway that is lined with family photos in wooden frames. Stephen helps Celeste with her coat and hangs it in the closet with his own.
“They’re probably back in the den,” Stephen says as he takes her hand and leads her through the living room. Next is a clean and tidy kitchen with every appliance to make cooking an effortless and fun venture, Stephen pauses at the entryway to the den using his body to block his families’ view of Celeste.
“Everybody,” begins Stephen, “I would like you all to meet Celeste Brooks.” Stephen pulls Celeste alongside himself and places his arm across her shoulders as he goes about informing her who is who.
Everyone in Stephen’s family is happy to make Celeste’s acquaintance as is evident by their rising from their individual seats and coming forth to greet her. The women embrace Celeste as best they can with Stephen’s arm still placed protectively across her shoulders. The men shake her hand.
Celeste finds it very easy to get to know Stephen’s close-knit family and finds out that he is the only boy of four children and the only one, save one sister who is not yet married. The one sister who is not yet married is engaged and currently making wedding plans with the help of her fiancé and their families.
Joyce Haule, Stephen’s mother, is a wonderfully warm woman who smiles and laughs quite a bit with her family; she is truly unlike Celeste’s own mother. Celeste especially notices how easy touching comes to this family. A halfhearted punch to the arm of one of Stephen’s brother in laws, a wife cuddling up to her husband for a quick kiss before leaving the room.
Having never seen a family so comfortable in each other’s presence, Celeste is in awe. She had never known that being with and around family could be so warm and inviting. At this moment, Celeste is filled with a longing to belong to not just any family, but this family.
She briefly entertains the thought of what it would be like to share her life with such a jovial and welcoming group. The thought, as fleeting as it had been, leaves Celeste wanting more.
After sharing a home cooked meal, which was prepared in expectation of Celeste’s arrival, Celeste is shown to her room, which belonged to Stephen’s sister Joleen, and is left to retire. But not before Stephen kisses and hugs her on the threshold and thanks her for coming.
The rest of the weekend is passed with Stephen taking her on a tour of the city where he grew up. Stephen shows her the middle school and high school where he attended and the church his family attends. He even takes her on their first official date.
They go to a nice cozy restaurant that has only been open a short while but is acclaimed to be quite good. They also go to a movie.
Both having been so wrapped up in their careers, it took them almost an hour before deciding which of the new movies they would much rather see since they had not seen any of the ten that are currently playing. They finally settle on an action flick with a hint of romance.
After the movie ends, they retire to Stephen’s house where he kisses her, truly kisses her, for the first time since they have met. The feeling is like no other Celeste has ever felt with Stephen’s warm lips caressing her own. When Stephen ends the kiss at the foot of his parent’s staircase, she stands before him gazing into his eyes searching for an answer for what she is feeling.
The answer she finds is right where she knew it to be, although it is an answer she had not allowed herself to hope she would find. “I have never in my life said this to any other woman besides my mother and my sisters,” Stephen began. “I love you. You might think that I haven’t known you long enough to say such a thing, but the truth is, I’ve known since the day we met that you were meant for me.”
Celeste had never imagined that he could be, yet had always hoped that he would, come to love her. Feeling all her inhibitions melt away under the warmth of his touch she says, “I love you, too.”
Stephen takes Celeste by the hand and ushers her to the couch. He stokes a fire in the fireplace and sits on the couch next to her, holding her in his arms, happy to be in love. They sit there for hours, in silence, each enjoying the company of the other before Celeste falls asleep. Stephen carries her up to her bed and gently removes her shoes before tucking her beneath the covers. After placing a whispering kiss on her forehead he retires to his own room.
Celeste wakes briefly in the night feeling safe and secure in her surroundings. Before falling back into a restful sleep, she thanks God for what she has found with Stephen and prays that she is not making a mistake in giving her trust to the wrong man.
When Celeste awakes Sunday morning, she sets about getting dressed and packing her belongs since this is the day she returns home. She is sad to be leaving. Celeste hopes that it won’t be too long before she gets to see Stephen’s family again. Stephen’s family, who had been so excited to meet her, also appeared sad that her short visit had already come to an end.
“Now, don’t you wait too long to come and see us again. You hear?” said Stephen’s mom as she hugs Celeste.
“Your mother is a remarkable woman,” says Celeste on the ride to the airport. “To think she didn’t become a teacher until after she had all of her kids in elementary school. I never would have thought about waiting to begin my career until after marriage and kids.”
“That’s because you needed something to occupy your time until I came along,” Stephen says with a mockingly confident look on his face. “Mom and Dad met in high school and knew right away that they wanted to be married. Dad had always worked during summers and weekends with the plumbing company, and so he had a stable job when he graduated.”
“I like your parents,” Celeste chimes in. She had intended for the comment to come out lighthearted but instead it sounded rather longing, even to her own ears.
Stephen, misinterpreting the longing in her voice to be apprehension over his parents opinion of Celeste, seeks to comfort her by saying, “They like you too.”
As Stephen pulls the car into the covered parking area it begins to rain. They have to run across the tarmac to the entry of the baggage check-in department to avoid being drenched as it is coming down quite hard by the time they had found a parking space and were exiting the parking area.
On board the plane
Celeste asks Stephen, “What else would you like to do on your short visit to Los Angeles?”
“I’m afraid I won’t have time for much since I’ll be leaving Tuesday. Valerie says we can see the studio tomorrow evening if that is convenient.”
“Sure, I could take off a little early, say three o’clock, and we could go right over. What will you do tomorrow while I’m at work?”
“I have an idea for a new song I would like to work on. Once I get an idea for a new project it takes up a lot of my time because I lose all sense of time.”
The in-flight movie is a comedy and keeps Stephen and Celeste laughing most of the trip. Upon landing, Celeste turns on her phone to see if she has any voice mail messages while Stephen retrieves their luggage. Celeste discovers that she not only has a message, but she has quite a few of them, all from the same person. Jenny.
She hadn’t told Jenny of her trip to Philadelphia, but Celeste knows that the time is quickly coming. However, instead of focusing on that, Celeste puts her mind to figuring out what she and Stephen can do on his first day in her city.
In the limo ride to Celeste’s house to retrieve her car, they decide to go to Disneyland since the only time Stephen had ever been there were as a kid and as a performer. As a kid, he doesn’t remember a lot of the trips and much has changed since then. As a performer, he hadn’t had the time to wander around and see the sights.
As Stephen steps over the threshold of Celeste’s home he notices two things right off the back. One, she is a neat and tidy sort of person. And two, there aren’t many pictures on the wall, which is utterly foreign to him since even his homes, both of them, have various photos of his family lying about and hung on the walls. He keeps his realization to himself and doesn’t ask any questions. This being his first visit to her home, he doesn’t want to appear critical.
Celeste offers him a seat on her couch while she goes to put her luggage in her room and check on Thomas.
Thomas, when he is brought to the living room to meet Stephen, eyes him warily. Stephen gets the uncanny feeling that he is being measured up by a dog. Impossible, Stephen thinks. It must be his over active imagination.
A Wife for Stephen Page 13
