2. Celine
Celine
“You guys always thought I loved going to know to church when I was younger, but I didn’t and the feeling hasn’t changed. It’s time for me to move on from that part of my life and—”
“Are you breaking up with them?” Vince asks, laughing from where he is sitting on the couch, watching TV.
Amelia and I sit at my island, practicing what I’m going to say to my parents. It’s been an hour of brainstorming, and everything that I’ve come up with has been shit.
“It did not sound like a breakup speech.” I huff with a hint of annoyance.
“It kind of did,” Amelia agrees with Vince.
I groan, dropping my head into my hands. “I’m never going to be able to get through this, and I’m going to be stuck going to church for the rest of my life!”
“Maybe just stop showing up,” Vince suggests.
“Yeah, right. I’ve made up tons of excuses in the past as to why I couldn’t go. There are only so many I can make.” I sigh, lifting my head. “Plus, I wouldn’t put it past them to break down my door and drag me by my hair.”
“It can’t be that bad.” Amelia tries to reassure me.
My eyes move from Vince to her. “You don’t know my parents.”
“Because we’ve never met them,” she states dryly.
“And for good reasons.” I point at Amelia. “They’d judge you for all your tattoos and piercings, and you—” I turn to Vince, “they would probably burst into flames knowing that you’re gay.”
He turns his head away from the TV, staring at me with a mischievous smirk.
“That would solve the problem then! Let’s give them a call and ask to meet up for lunch. I can tell them how much I love men!”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Not happening. I’m not letting either of you anywhere near them. They’d drag the two of you to church with me to cleanse you of your sins.”
“Mmm, yeah. Not happening.” Vince’s lips curl in disgust.
“What’s holding you back?” My attention pulls back to Amelia once she asks her question.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always complaining about them and not sugarcoating anything when you tell us what bothers you about the whole situation. Why not just unleash it all on them?”
“Amelia has a point.” Vince stands from the couch to join us. “What’s the worst that could happen if you ripped them a new one? They disown you? That wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
I chew on the inside of my lip, eyes staring at the floor as I think about what they are saying.
They are right, of course. They’re always right.
I have no trouble being brutally honest with other people, but when it comes to my parents, I never wanted to hurt their feelings.
I always hid in my shell around them, but I can no longer sugarcoat things.
I need to lay it all out there and get it over with because if not, this cycle will never end.
“Fine. I’ll tell them what’s really on my mind.” I finally agree, straightening my back with a new profound confidence. “Preferably before Sunday, so I don’t have to go back to that convent.”
“What was it like?” Amelia asks, and Vince gives her a weird look. “What? I’ve only ever seen them in movies.”
“It wasn’t anything special. Offices, a chapel, priests, and nuns.” I shrug, but then my eyes light up when I remember my favorite thing about the convent. “They did have a beautiful courtyard full of different plants and flowers!”
“Were the priests cute?” Vince questions, completely ignoring my comment about the courtyard.
“Really? That’s what you took out of all of that?” I call him out, and he shrugs, then gives me a look to encourage me to continue. “The one was older, like my parents’ age, and the other one was a few years older than me.”
Vince narrows his eyes at me. “That didn’t answer my question.”
“You’re insufferable.” I tease.
“And waiting.” He folds his arms over his chest, and Amelia lets out a laugh.
“The younger one was attractive. If I saw him in public with normal clothes on, I would never guess he was a priest.”
“Maybe going to this new church wouldn’t be so bad.” Amelia wiggles her brows, the silver piercing shining under the kitchen island light.
“If you two don’t stop, I’m going to kick you out.”
Vince gasps. “But what about our margarita Monday? Amelia found a new recipe she wanted to try.”
“Spicy margaritas.” She hops off the stool and opens the refrigerator to grab the ingredients.
“That’s going to be disgusting.” I crinkle my nose. “Vince, you start prepping the stuff for tacos. I’m going to call my mom to see if I can set up a lunch or something.”
He nods, spinning on his heel to start the prep.
Swiping my phone off the counter, I head to my bedroom.
When I get inside and shut the door, I bite my bottom lip as I stare at my mom’s contact info.
Maybe I shouldn’t call her. She says things in specific ways to get me all flustered, and I end up caving.
No. I’m not calling. I’m going to just send her a text.
Me
Hey. Would you want to grab lunch sometime this week? I can meet you on my lunch break.
I hover over the arrow button, my heart hammering in my chest, before I tap it. Nerves bubble up in my stomach when three dots pop up.
Evil Witch
I’m very busy this week. I won’t be able to meet.
Me
I wanted to talk. It’s important.
Evil Witch
Whatever it is, it will have to wait until Sunday’s service.
I squeeze my eyes shut, and they burn as the tears well up. It’s fine. This is fine. I will speak with them before we enter the church, and then I’ll leave.
Evil Witch
You better not be pregnant.
Me getting pregnant would send my mother to an early grave.
Me
Not pregnant. I’ll talk to you on Sunday.
Locking my phone, because I know she won’t respond again, I toss it on my bed and head back to the kitchen. Amelia is adding stuff to a blender while Vince is seasoning the meat.
“How’d it go?” Amelia asks as she dumps cut-up jalapenos into the blender.
“She can’t meet this week, so now I have to speak with her on Sunday.” I walk around the island, picking up the knife lying next to the cutting board to start on the red peppers. “It’ll be fine.”
I don’t miss the stare they give each other before Vince speaks. “How’s work going? Is it getting any better?”
I have been a personal assistant to the Editor in Chief for approximately three years now—three long, agonizing years at Stanley Publishing.
At first, the job was a dream. It was everything that I wanted in a career until the previous Editor in Chief that I worked for retired after a few months of my being there. Then they set me up with a woman who gives the word “bitch” a whole new meaning.
“She’s still awful, and I’m pretty sure she wants me to quit.”
“Why wouldn’t she just fire you if she doesn’t like you?” Amelia asks and then immediately turns on the blender.
I eat a couple of pieces of the red pepper I just cut up, waiting until she turns the machine off.
“Who knows?” I shrug. “She probably doesn’t want to look like the bad guy to the company. Even though everyone already thinks she is Satan reincarnated.”
“Couldn’t you find another job in publishing?” Vince asks as he steals the peppers away from me.
“This is one of the best publishing companies in the city, and it was hard to even get a job there. If I want to get out of the assistant position and become an editor, this place is my best shot.”
“But you’ve been a personal assistant for three years.” Amelia points out. “How are you going to move up in a place that doesn’t care about you?”
“Add it to the list of things for me to figure out.” I finally set the knife down with a heavy breath. “Can we please stop talking about all of my problems? It’s making the night extremely depressing.”
They both nod in agreement, and then we spend the next hour talking about their lives.
Vince had met this new guy about a month ago, and he is infatuated with him.
The feelings are mutual between him and Asher, and they genuinely believe this relationship is headed somewhere amazing.
Vince tells us all about Asher’s plans for a vacation at the end of the year.
His dark skin seems to glow whenever he talks about his boyfriend.
Amelia, on the other hand, has no love interest in her life.
She is too wrapped up in her job at the tattoo shop to consider a relationship.To be fair, I think her job is her love because the way she talks about her work, she shines the same way Vince does when he talks about Asher.
Amelia tells us story after story of horror clients as we finish up the tacos and sip on our second glass of margaritas.
“You sound married to your job.” Vince picks up the pitcher of alcohol and pours himself a third glass.
“Is that so bad?” Amelia asks before chugging the rest of hers and wiggling her empty glass at Vince.
“No, I guess not. If it makes you happy,” He tells her, filling her cup to the brim. “You’re married to your job, I could be married in the near future, and then there is Celine.”
I almost choke on a jalapeno in my drink. After calming down from a coughing fit, I say, “You don’t think I’d ever get married?”
“It’s not that. It’s the fact that you would have to find a man who would put up with you.” Vince grins.
I gasp and swat at him. “I am not that bad!”
“I agree. She’s not that bad.” Amelia takes my side. Until she doesn’t. “You’re just a bit… headstrong and dominant when it comes to dating. Some men don’t find that appealing.”
“Okay, dating experts.” I scoff and point a finger at Amelia. “You’re also single, so you don’t get to speak about my dating life. Plus, with all the shit that I’m dealing with, adding a man to the mix is not a good idea.”
“He could help you relieve some of the stress you’re dealing with,” Vince suggests with a chuckle.
“That is what I have Blue and Rocket for.” I name off the toys in my nightstand drawer that get the job done. “And the men that I have one-night stands with when we go out are just fine.”
“Such a slut our Celine is.” Vince jokes, making Amelia giggle.
I grab a tortilla out of the wrapper and hit them both with it. They both laugh uncontrollably, and we continue laughing until tears fall from our eyes.
After the laughter dies down and we can breathe again, we each pour one more glass and get comfortable on the couch as we watch a scary movie that Amelia has been dying for us to see. Halfway through, Amelia watches the screen with wonder while Vince hides behind a blanket, awaiting a jump scare.
Me?
Despite the fact that the masked killer is stabbing away at someone on the screen, I can’t help but grin because I love my friends. And I love this life we live.