Celeste & Connor

Celeste
I rolled out of bed. It was only eight thirty but I enjoyed an occasional early rise. By occasional I meant that every three months or so, I would make an appearance before eleven forty five. So as I stumbled out of my room, seemingly drunken but really just sleepy, I was shocked to find a person sleeping on my couch. Well, it took me twenty minutes to notice her but once I did, I was shocked. Tiptoeing to the couch, I peered over the edge.

“Chelsea?!?!?!” Chelsea woke with a start.

“Oh. Hi, Celeste.” She said this as if it were perfectly normal to be crashing on people’s couches.

“Hi, Chelsea.....I don’t mean to be rude-” Her face darkened as if I had just mentioned a major taboo.

“You’re wondering why I’m here?”

“That would be the reason-yes, I’m wondering why you’re here.” To my utter shock, Chelsea burst into tears. Now, I’m no good around tears. Sasha’s good at that but me....I can hand someone a tissue and smile understandingly but that’s about the extent of my abilities. So of course, faced with this weeping woman, I panicked. “Don’t cry! For the love of God, don’t cry. Look, I’ll give you whatever you want. Hey, did you hear about the new pirate movie? It’s rated
Arrrr! Get it?” At this point, I began to laugh hysterically at my own terrible joke.

“Celeste, calm down.” Chelsea dried her tears. “I’m sorry. I lost control like that.” I sat down, weakly in an armchair.

“It’s okay. What happened?”

“Colton caught me making out with Carson.” I stared at her, bug-eyed.

“You’re kidding!”

“No.”

“Damn. You need a drink.” I shuffled over the bar where I proceeded to pour us both a stiff whisky.

“It’s eight thirty.”

“It’s five o’clock somewhere.” I handed her the glass. “Drink up. It’s good for the soul.” She laughed.

“I thought that was chicken soup.”

“Laced with whiskey.” We both gulped down the drink. “So what do you intend to do? Apologize?” Chelsea shrugged.

“The truth is I’ve been waiting for this relationship to end. I’ve been dating him for four years! FOUR! And he’s told me he loves me TWICE. He’s an unaffectionate ignoramus. Carson was a breath of fresh air.”

“Couldn’t you have chosen a better method?” Chelsea sighed.

“Having an affair was probably not the smartest thing to have done.”

“No. It really wasn’t.” I refilled our glasses.

“What can I do? The deed can’t be undone.”

Connor

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, a beautiful day for a neighbour. It’s a neighbourly day in the beauty wood, a neighbourly day for a beauty. Would you be mine? Could you-”

“Shut up already!” I had been singing cheerfully as I prepared breakfast for everybody. The angry response to my singing had been from Spike.

“He’s just happy because he met the girl of his dreams.” Andre said, grumpily. “EVERYONE seems to have met the love of their lives. Connor’s in love with Celeste, Grant’s in love with Adriana, Phoebe’s in love with the writer.”

“I am NOT in love with the writer. I just like how smart he is.”

“Sure.” Spike scoffed.

“But don’t get ahead of yourself, Con.” Phoebe reminded me. “She has a boyfriend.” Nothing could break my spirits; I was flying higher than an eagle on crack.

“Who?”

“Kent Wither.”

“The ugly, blond guy? I could take him ANY DAY!”

“That might very well be the case, Connor but don’t get too cocky. Girls don’t like that.” Phoebe warned.

“Have you seen me, Phoebs? I’m gorgeous.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes, muttering, “And just yesterday, you were ‘humbly’ boasting how modest a model you are.”

“A modest model. Hah! Now that’s an oxy-moron.” Andre joked morosely.

“La la-la la la la la la, la la-la la la la la la...” I kept singing, ignoring my own hypocrisy.

“For the last time, SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Spike yelled, throwing a rolled newspaper at me. Everyone turned to look at the fuming accountant.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with you?” I asked. I didn’t want anything spoiling my mood.

“Whatever.” He sighed and left, taking a box of cigarettes with him. Phoebe looked after him, grimacing. “He only smokes when he’s really upset.”

But we all knew that already.

I put down my pan of frying eggs and turned to Andre, “Hey, can you take care of this for me? Thanks.” Without waiting for a response, I quickly rinsed my hands and was out the door.