Chapter 18
Celeste
All the stress and worries of my life had temporarily been put on pause.
I was now an engaged woman to the man of my dreams. Dealing with Allen made me feel like men needed years to figure out if they wanted to get married and Shane debunked that theory.
The last thing I expected to come from this weekend was an engagement.
I wanted to live in the moment as long as I could, so I hadn’t told my mom or Jade the good news yet.
The way Shane had taken care of my body last night had me still in a haze this morning.
From the second I woke up, I felt like I’d hit the purest weed planet earth had to offer.
Right now, we were in the truck, but Shane wouldn’t tell me our destination.
Honestly, I didn’t care as long as we were together.
I felt more clingy than normal, but Shane didn’t seem to mind.
He wouldn’t be able to get rid of me when we got home, so I hoped he was prepared for the person he’d turned me into.
From what I’d seen so far, Pleasant Springs was beautiful.
With light snow littering the ground and the holiday spirit in the air, the city felt like something from a Hallmark movie.
Unlike Gwendal, traffic here was nonexistent.
No one seemed to be in a rush to get anywhere and the people we’d encountered thus far had been welcoming.
For a moment, I had to remind myself that I was still in Illinois and not somewhere down south.
Shane pulling up to a sign that directed us to the drive-in theater dragged me from my thoughts.
Anytime I thought this man couldn’t get any better, he showed me that he paid attention.
“A drive-in, baby? You’re really pulling out all the stops.”
“Anything for you, love. I’ve never been to one, so I thought it’d be a nice experience for us.”
There was a line to get through the gate, but it moved fairly quickly. After scanning our tickets, Shane drove to an open spot in the third row of cars.
“Wow. This is crazy. I feel like I’m in a movie or something. We have to come back here more often. I would love to experience the town for a good week. We can try more restaurants and do more activities outside of the hotel,” I vented.
“My mom said the same thing. She comes out here to the festivals and shit. Pleasant Springs is like her home away from home. She’s joked more than once about packing up and moving out here. I got a feeling if my dad doesn’t get out soon, she’ll fuck around and do it for real.”
“I don’t blame her. It’s so quiet here. Last night I looked out the window and saw stars.
I haven’t seen stars since I was on a camping trip as a child.
Gwendal will always be home, but I’m not opposed to relocating.
If I have a solid team running my store, I’m okay with flying in once or twice a month to check in.
I’ll still make sure the backend is taken care of, but that doesn’t require me to be in the office every day,” I explained.
“I feel the same way. I’m not against moving away from home. Hell, it may be more beneficial for my career to relocate.”
“Where do you have in mind? Atlanta?”
“I don’t think I wanna live in Atlanta. It’s a nice place to visit, but living there never crossed my mind. LA would be where I wanna go. Outside of Atlanta, LA is where a lot of artists migrate. It’s expensive as shit, but worth it in my case.”
“That makes sense. I’ve only been to LA a couple of times and both times were for business. I never got to experience the city for fun,” I said as I unfastened my seatbelt.
“That’s our next trip then. I’ll be out there next month for a few studio sessions anyway. We can leave a couple days early to hang out and shit.”
Shane and I got out of the truck and headed to the concession stand as we continued to talk about going to LA.
By the time we ordered and received our food, the previews were rolling.
I took my boots off and pulled the throw blanket over my lap before focusing on the big screen.
Shane adjusted his seat, so he was now leaned back a little more.
When he started rubbing my neck and back, my shoulders deflated and I started on my nachos.
This was such a nice experience that I knew we’d have to return when the weather was warmer.
While the movie played, I couldn’t help but maintain physical contact with my man.
Once the movie was over, we decided to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant.
We were in the middle of a discussion when Shane’s phone rang.
I saw the screen clearly since we were sitting on the same side of the booth.
The number wasn’t saved, but Shane didn’t seem to be in a rush to answer.
“You’re not gonna answer that?”
“The number doesn’t look familiar, so no.”
“What if it’s business? An artist wanting to work?” I questioned.
“Then they can wait until I get back to Gwendal. If it’s important, they’ll shoot me a text.”
The phone rang again, displaying the same number, as soon as I started to respond. This time, Shane wiped his hands and mouth before answering.
“Hello?”
“Shane, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for months. Can you please—”
“Yoo…why the fuck you on my phone, Mia? We ain’t got shit to talk about.
Anything you had to say should’ve been said the night we met at the restaurant.
There’s nothing you could possibly need to talk to me about after all this time.
Oh, and stop going to my momma’s house. You can’t use her to get to me, shorty,” he stated in one breath before ending the call.
“When did you have dinner with her?” I asked calmly as I slipped into my coat.
“I didn’t have dinner with her, but this was months ago.
Me and you weren’t a thing. She’d been coming by my mom’s house and I told her to meet me at a restaurant so she could say everything she needed to say.
That conversation lasted all of ten minutes.
Long enough for me to get my food and leave. ”
“So why didn’t you tell me?”
“The shit wasn’t important enough. On top of that, you had your own shit goin’ on. There was nothing major to report, so I went on with my life,” he stated, as if it were nothing.
He was right, but I still didn’t like the fact that he’d met with her and hadn’t told me. He knew everything when it came to Allen, whether I thought it was important or not.
“So you’re telling me anything you don’t think is important won’t be brought to me?”
“What I’m sayin’ is, if the shit doesn’t hold weight, I’m not bringing it to you just for you to have added stress.
Women tend to give a fuck about things that truly don’t matter.
Nothin’ about Mia has mattered to me since the day I walked away from the relationship.
Another thing, I’m not about to let this shit ruin our weekend.
I just asked you to be my fuckin’ wife. I’m not worried about a woman who didn’t make it past being my girlfriend.
If I was worried, I’d be with her. Now, let’s get this hot chocolate,” he stated before kissing my forehead.
We were back at the room after getting our hot chocolate and chocolate covered churros to-go.
The energy wasn’t tense, but it wasn’t the same as before Mia called.
Now that we’d done all of our outside activities, I stripped out of my clothes and took a quick shower.
Once I was done, I threw on a loungewear set and went over to the bed.
When I looked in Shane’s direction, he sat at the round table with a small mixing board in front of him.
A studio microphone sat off to the side.
Everything plugged in. Shane now wore jeans and a muscle shirt.
The slight movement of his cut arms gave me flashbacks of being wrapped tightly in them.
He looked so sexy as he concentrated on the mixer.
“C’mere,” he said when he finally felt my presence.
In a few short strides, I was standing next to him before he pulled me into his lap. He leaned in for a kiss and I obliged without hesitation.
“I love you. I’m choosing you and I’ll always choose you. That’s one thing I need you to know. Even in the future, when we’re having not so good days. Know that I love and choose you.”
When he was done talking, he kissed my ring finger before focusing his attention back to the board.
“I’m making a new producer tag. I wanna use your voice though.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“You can say whatever you want but put my name in there.”
“Okay. Let me think of something. You want me to do it today or when we get home?”
“We can do it here if you think of something.”
Shane pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey from his bag. There were paper cups on top of the mini fridge, so I grabbed those and Shane poured our first taste. I was a whiskey girl through and through so I was sure this wouldn’t be my only cup.
“Do you have work to get done while we’re here?”
“Nah…I take the mixing board wherever I go. The first time I traveled without it, I didn’t know what to do with myself when I had down time. Unable to create, I felt like I was going insane.”
“Damn. Your connection to music is interesting, but I understand. That’s how I feel about fashion. If I had to live in a world where I couldn’t create, I’d be no good to anyone,” I expressed before taking a sip of my drink.
“That’s how it is for me. Since the first time I touched the board, I’ve been bound to it.
It’s crazy because my dad was looking for a way to keep me out of the streets.
Instead, he hand-delivered my destiny. The shit is crazy when I think about it.
What about you? When did you discover you wanted to be in fashion? ”
His question made me reflect on a time in my life that I tried hard not to think about. Thank God things got better with time, but it took everything in me to be strong at that time.