Sixteen
“The car will be here in three minutes!” León called from the hallway.
Celia adjusted her neckline one last time before joining him there. His reaction was marvelous, mouth falling open as his eyes devoured her.
“Oh, my god. That blue dress. Let’s stay home.”
Andrew had wanted another group hangout, pre-celebrating everyone being represented in the exhibition in some way. Celia had redirected his plans to a nearby bar. She wasn’t ready to break the new spell cast on her place. Their place.
The ride-share was slow, evening traffic glutting the roads. León couldn’t sit still in the back seat with her, predicting wild reactions from their friends when they saw their paintings. He played with her hair, petted the soft knit fabric over her knee, ran his hand down her arm to clasp and squeeze her hand.
His flashing eyes warmed her, inviting her to share his cavalier glee. Funny. He’d cleaned up for this too, and she sort of missed the faint roughness of paint on his hands.
León and Celia were the last to arrive.
Celia saw Kelsey at a table near the back of the bar as soon as they walked in. She had an eye on the door, her profile lit beautifully by the nearest wall sconce. A number of men were checking her out already, but Andrew and Trevor were absorbed in a private topic, leaning close again. Poor Kelsey. She brightened when they walked up.
“Damn, Celia, you’re looking good,” Andrew said, looking up.
Celia glanced at León, who simply beamed at everyone.
“Drinks are on the ladies!” Kelsey said. She rose and dragged Celia back to the bar, leaving the men at the table. The order was simple, four beers and a ginger ale, but the bar was busy and loud, and the wait afforded them time to talk.
Kelsey fluttered, avid. “How’s the honeymoon going?”
Celia looked back to the table. León was turned in his chair, watching her from across the dark room. The crowd blurred into murky scenery, the din fading. His eyes were the only real thing in the room, bright and warm and alive. They shared an intimate smile across the distance.
Kelsey laughed, bringing Celia back to her at the bar.
“Wow, that good?” she smiled. “You two have been closeted up for weeks.”
Celia nodded, enjoying the warmth filling her up inside.
“He’s painting,” she responded, turning back to her friend. “All he wants to do is look at me and talk and…well, you know. Everything’s changed.”
“Are you happy?” Kelsey grinned as Celia smiled shyly. “He’s not being grumpy?”
“Oh no,” Celia said, “he’s bouncing like a kid at Christmas. He’s up at dawn every day, ready to get back to work.”
“Dragging you out of bed behind him?” Kelsey actually winked.
“Well, yes.” Celia ducked her head. “He feels so much pressure to get it all done.”
“I’m more interested in how you are, actually. Remember how you said you’d be honest?”
“I can’t even describe it.” Celia looked back to León, but he was laughing with Andrew now. “He’s non-stop. Silly questions all day, painting for hours and hours.”
Kelsey shot a considering glance at the men. “Are you painting?”
“Posing and cooking, mostly. We’ll do my lessons after the exhibition.”
“Girl, you better.”
“Don’t worry,” Celia said. “Really, Kelsey, everything’s perfect.”
A man deftly bumped Kelsey’s shoulder as he stepped up to the bar, just as their drinks arrived. Kelsey took her own but let Celia gather up the beers as she turned to view this contender.
···
“I haven’t seen you in weeks,” Andrew said, moving into the chair next to León. “You really landed on your feet, huh?”
León tore his eyes from his blue-clad muse and turned back to the table. “Yeah, I never dreamed things would work out this well. I can’t believe my luck.”
“Hell, it wasn’t all luck. I contributed. Trevor contributed.” Andrew glanced at Trevor across the table from them. “He got you into the exhibition, and I introduced you to my best girl.”
León rolled his eyes. “You weren’t dating. Come on.”
“No, but I thought maybe we’d get back together eventually.”
“Maybe, eventually,” Trevor chuckled. “Just what every woman hopes for.”
“Well, if people can be stolen away, she’s stolen,” Andrew said. “We’re even now, León. Hope you’re enjoying the spoils.”
“Dude.” León shook his head, hand over his heart. “Literally all I do is paint her. I’ve never eaten so well in my life. She folds my clothes, she takes care of everything. She ordered the packing materials for the exhibition.” That twinging guilt sneaked up again, and he wrinkled his nose. “I basically do nothing.”
“You’re teaching her how to paint,” Andrew said.
León lowered his hand, his thumb starting its tapping. “I think the lessons are over. I tried, but she’s just not a painter.”
Andrew grimaced. “I’d hoped she’d do better with you to help.”
León shook his head. “Her best work so far was throwing paint against a wall.”
“Guys,” Trevor said.
“She always was better at cooking than art,” Andrew said. “Lucky son of a bitch. All you do is paint, eat, and fuck.”
“Dude, I’m sleeping with the model,” León grinned back. They exchanged fist bumps.
“Guys!” Trevor said.
León finally looked over as Trevor stood. “What?”
“Celia!” He pointed past them, and both turned. Kelsey was rushing toward the exit, but Celia wasn’t in sight.
Where…?
“She was right here with the drinks, listening,” Trevor said. “She left.”
“She did what?” León jumped from his seat, then took off after where Kelsey had just disappeared.
He caught up as she came back in the front door.
“Where’s Celia?” A wash of frigid air hit him.
“She left.”
“Left? No, she didn’t.” He pushed past Kelsey through the door, looking up and down the street. His stomach dropped as the empty sidewalks registered.
Kelsey joined him. “What did you say to her?”
“I didn’t….” He clutched at her arm. “Where did she go?”
“There was a car parked here, a ride-share.” She waved at the one empty parking space in front of the bar. “She just got in, and it drove off.”
A sudden void swallowed León’s breath. There was some mistake. Celia wouldn’t have just left him.
He pulled out his phone and texted Celia. A numbing breeze coursed past as they waited for a response.
He called, on speaker. The taut silence while they waited grew more strained with each failed ring.
“It wasn’t a ride she ordered, just a car sitting here?” he finally asked.
Kelsey nodded, eyes wide. “What happened? I was at the bar and she came past, looking…well, really upset. She pushed the beers at me and rushed out.”
León clamped his mouth shut and strode back into the bar, Kelsey trailing behind. At the table, Andrew and Trevor still stood, tense.
“She’s gone,” León reported. “What the hell?”
Trevor shook his head at him. “Dude, she was standing right there when you said she couldn’t paint, and all you do is paint, eat, and fuck.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did! Well, Andrew did. You joked about fucking the model.”
León felt an icy numbness wash over him. No.
“That’s just an old joke of ours,” he said, exchanging stricken looks with Andrew. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Our setup is perfect.”
“Is it, though?” Kelsey asked.
“She’s happy!” León said with a scowl. “I know she is.” The iciness kindled into an angry heat. Celia couldn’t have misunderstood. She knew him better than that.
“We should find her,” Kelsey prompted. “It’s not safe to get in a random car like that.”
Andrew finally snapped out of his silence. “She did what?”
Kelsey explained. Everyone exchanged grave looks. León turned back to his phone, staring in disbelief at unanswered texts.
“Look,” he finally said, eyes scanning the anxious group. “I’ll go back to the house. Trevor, you drove, right? If I can find out where that car was going, could you go there? And Andrew and Kelsey, stay here in case she comes back? I’ll keep calling her.”
Kelsey shook her head. “I’ll call and text. She’s more likely to answer me.”
León shot a frown at her. “Come on. Was it that bad? What we said?”
Trevor sighed wearily. “You basically called her your maid, a slutty maid.”
“There’s no way it sounded like that,” León snapped, then glanced at Andrew, who returned a worried look.
“You were crowing about how much she works,” Trevor said, “and how she can’t paint! It sounded bad, man.”
León bristled. “She’s happy!”
Kelsey put a hand on León’s arm. “Celia might not say if she wasn’t.”
“She would to me,” he fumed.
God dammit, Celia.
León shoved his phone into his pocket, head throbbing. “Okay, I’m going. Let me know immediately if you find her, okay?”
Andrew and Trevor nodded, but Kelsey shook her head again. “I’ll drive you there. You’ll have a way to get around if you need to.”
León nodded curtly. “Thanks.”
Andrew had his phone out. “I’ll try to find out where the car went. I have as much chance of finding out as you.”
···
The driver had been willing to take Celia if she ordered the ride immediately, and she punched her home address in the app for time’s sake.
Run. Hide.
She held a fist to her mouth, struggling to draw choked breath.
How could he joke like that?
She turned off her phone when the first text came in. It wasn’t until the car turned up the twisty canyon roads that silent tears started rolling down her cheeks.
He wasn’t putting off her lessons. He was just done with them.
She’d lock the doors and never come out.
The driver dropped her at her front door, but Celia couldn’t go in. She stood in silence, staring at her dim moonlit entryway, mocking whispers of wind in the trees behind her.
This was no sanctuary now. León would follow her here. He lived here!
She saw herself sitting on the couch, listening for the click of the door, for the questions and recriminations.
She couldn’t do it.
Instead, she went through the side gate to her backyard, past the pool, to stare at the city lights. She wrapped her arms around herself, the chilly wind biting more in the open.
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. This was as far as she could go. The world dropped off in front of her, with no path forward.
The quiet tears started again. Despair, at least, was a familiar place. It was a tiny feeling, not enough to fill the empty air over the canyon, the city, the blank dark sky.
She’d known the whole time but had hidden from that too. She couldn’t make art. Her only use was cooking and cleaning.
And León, telling Andrew about the paint on the wall? Laughing about screwing the model! Casually confirming her fears. It wasn’t even what he’d said—she knew he’d been thoughtlessly joking. It was that he was right.
Her breath catching painfully, Celia stepped up onto the retaining wall. Her toes poked between the bars of the wrought iron fence, the top of it pressing cold against her thighs as she leaned on it.
He knew she was only good enough for a supporting role—that was all he’d asked for. And she’d rolled over and given him everything like only he mattered. Worse, she’d liked it!
Idiot! Stupid, ridiculous fool!
A dry leaf skittered past her through the fence, powered by the full-throated wind. She leaned over the fence to watch it fall.
Why am I never the one who matters?
A biting pain in her chest curled her up, knotted her. She grasped the railing hard, feeling the sharp cold edges in her damp palms.
You don’t have to live like that.
Dad had burdened her, Mom had demanded and beaten. León had seduced her into doing what he wanted.
Was that why she liked him so much? He felt familiar?
She was back to acting like a child, muting herself.
Celia looked down the canyon again, the gritty retaining wall under her feet pattering tiny chips downslope as she shifted her weight. The palm fronds high above her rattled.
Was this rushing din in her head, or was it the wind too? How could she not know?
What had happened to the silence inside her?
A lone airplane appeared over the palm trees, its lights silently gliding over the basin. It flew steadily, despite the wind.
Celia raised her arms out to each side. What if she flew away too?
No. No! That was still just running.
Think! She could only go down or back to try again. She didn’t want to give up, but what could she do?
A low gust sent the pool behind her to lapping, the sound washing wide behind her.
I could tell people about it—I’ve been practicing. Kelsey. Andrew, when he’s not being flippant. Trevor.
León.
His name rang in her like a bell.
That infuriating intoxicating man, with his grand honesty and fancy art! He said he’d be nothing if he didn’t paint, but she was different. She’d find something else!
The cold faded, and her heart knocked harder.
He’d made her feel these things, the bastard. Incessantly! His surprising questions in bed at dawn. The honeyed harmony when their wondering eyes met. The electricity of his hands on her, gentle and tender or fierce and wild.
Warmth flooded up her skin. So, her body didn’t care about his treacherous jokes?
Look at me, feeling.
I will find my own way.
She stepped back, down, planting her feet on the flagstones.
A noise at the house made her jump, then melt into the shadow of a palm tree.
Kelsey and León came in the side gate and went in the back door. She could see everything inside, the white wall of windows like a movie screen. León stalked through the house, looking in doorways, then sat on the dimly lit couch, beaten. Celia’s heart melted as always, but she stayed where she was.
How could she explain this to him?
She was going to make some changes.
···
León stared at his hands, stomach twisting. Was there anything to do but wait?
“I’ve sent her a lot of texts,” Kelsey said. “She knows we’re worried about her if she’s checking her phone.”
Who knew what kind of driver was in that car? She just jumped in! There was no record in any app about who she was or where. Would someone take advantage of that?
“León, she’s probably fine,” Kelsey consoled. “She probably decided to not come here yet because she knew we would.”
He hung his head, leaning forward. “Was what I said so bad?”
“I wasn’t there, I don’t know. Trevor said you made her sound like a slutty maid.”
“I didn’t!” León said. “I mean, technically, it could sound that way, but…she knows how grateful I am for what she does! Yeah, I could have kept my mouth shut about her painting. But she knows—”
“Hey, don’t keep telling me what she knows.” Kelsey sat on the other end of the couch.
León clenched his teeth, looking away. Celia’s kitchen island sat bare and tomblike. He’d never been in here without her being just a shout away.
He took a deep breath. “I respect what she does. I respect her. How could she not know that?”
“Ask her.” Kelsey shook her head and rechecked her phone.
···
Celia watched them debating on the couch. The urge to stay behind the tree, to put off the confrontation, lost out to learning what she’d be walking into. Was León angry she had run? He was turned away from the window, but his back looked tense.
As they talked, Kelsey kept checking her phone. They must have been trying to reach her. Obviously.
The wind sighed again, needling through the thin dress. She wasn’t ready, but the cold would win. There was nothing left to do but climb up to the house and the consequences and the look on León’s face when she said she wanted something else, something more.
She turned her phone back on with chilled fingers, delayed notifications trilling one after the other. So many texts and missed calls. The top one was from Kelsey, saying she just wanted to know if she was safe.
Oh, Kelsey. She hadn’t intended for anyone to worry. She hadn’t intended any of this. She at least had to let them know she was okay.
···
“It’s her! She’s safe.”
León sighed hoarsely, dropping his face into his hands. ?Ay bendito!
The giddy relief lasted only moments.
Safe all this time and making him go through that! How dare she over such a small thing?
Kelsey flinched as he jumped up to pace, fury radiating.
“How could she make us worry like that? ?Y para qué?” His outrage erupted. “?Cuál es su razón?Esa ani?ada—”
“Hey!” Kelsey said, “León, she’s okay. This is how she reacts, and you might have to get used to it if you’re here for the long haul. She may never be different, not even with you teaching her better ways.”
He stared at her. Blunt.
“It’s childish! Running out, really?”
She twisted her mouth. “Oh please, you did the same thing to her.”
“What?”
“That one time, you remember, you disappeared, and she waited around all day?”
He froze. Shit.
“Yeah, okay, but this isn’t the same. She wasn’t worried that I was hurt.”
Kelsey stood. “No, she just thought she wasn’t important to you. She hadn’t even been rude beforehand.”
“I wasn’t…that rude.” It sounded weak even to himself.
She shook her head at him. “You’re not going to win this one, León.”
He stared, stuck.
“I highly suggest you work through this, fast,” she said, blue eyes like ice. “Be cool when she gets here. You’ll get nowhere if you’re mad. She’ll shut right down again.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Hell. I’ll try, but…is she coming back? Did she say?”
“She didn’t. But I think she will. She communicated—she’s coming out of hiding.”
“Will you let Andrew and Trevor know?”
He took a deep breath. This was going to be hard.
···
Celia huddled behind the tree, wide-eyed at León’s hot-tempered dramatics once she sent the text.
How could she go in now?
Kelsey seemed to be quieting him, speaking with soothing hand gestures. Thank god. He was calming down.
She could go in if Kelsey was there.
Veering behind the pool house, Celia shivered as she slipped through shadows up to the side gate. She would at least come in her own front door.