Two Hearts, One Love

“You really think this’ll help?” I asked my mom as she sat across from me, jiggling her foot. I had already stopped her from redoing the living room again. Now she was chewing on her nails, a nervous habit I hadn’t seen her do in many years. It made me feel bad for her so I didn’t stop her. She was staring at the hallway leading to the room Celeste was in.

“If anyone can get her to open up, it’s Kendra,” she said. She didn’t sound too confident, though. She added, “They’ve been in there for two hours, though. I don’t think Celeste could put up a fight for that long.”

“We don’t know anything about her,” I pointed out.

She finally looked at me, her eyebrows shooting up. I realized what I said and shifted on the couch. She continued to stare at me until the door opened and we both stood up slowly. Celeste came out with Kendra’s arm around her. She didn’t look at either of us as Kendra took her to the table. Once Celeste was seated, Kendra clapped her hands.

“Well, Celeste says her favorite dish is chicken salad. I believe you have the ingredients for that, don’t you?” she asked me.

I blinked at her, my mouth hanging open. My mom nudged me and I shook my head to clear it.

“Er… yeah, yeah I do. I’ll just let Patty know.”

Patty was in the office, straightening my mom’s desk. She still kept herself busy with Mary Kay and wasn’t very good at keeping the supplies organized. I let Patty know about the dinner choice and she smiled.

“I’m glad she’s finally going to eat.”

“I’m surprised,” I admitted.

“Everyone heals,” Patty said kindly. “Some just need the right nudge.”

I just nodded and sat down at the dining room table with everyone else. Kendra was chatting away with my mom about my birthday party in three days. Celeste was staring at the tabletop. Kendra had managed to get her into some of my mom’s clothes which fit her perfectly. Her hair was combed and pulled up into a ponytail. I noticed some more marks on her neck but I didn’t mention them. She must have felt me looking because she met my eyes. Hers were red and puffy. That didn’t surprise me. What did was when the corners of her lips lifted very slightly. I grinned back.

“So, I was thinking,” my mom said. “Ian is having his birthday party and I’d love to get you something to wear, Celeste.”

“I dunno about that,” Celeste muttered. “I mean, I don’t have any money.”

“It’s a gift. Besides, it would be good to get out of the house, wouldn’t you agree?”

The look on her face told us that Celeste definitely agreed. She didn’t answer right away, though. By the time she did, our food was in front of us and she was poking at her lettuce.

“Will there be a lot of people?”

“No,” Kendra said, sharing a look with my mom. “I know some low-key places that sell great dresses.”

“Dresses? Why a dress?”

“It’s black tie,” my mom said. “But don’t worry. You’ll look gorgeous.”

Celeste didn’t look convinced. Suddenly, my phone rang. I groaned, not sure I wanted to answer. I was almost positive it was Annie. She had been calling all day, begging me to take her back. When I started to screen her calls she called from other numbers. I recognized it as the one for Celeste’s ex fiancé, though, and hesitated before answering.

“Hello?”

“So. You’re Ian Parker.” I wasn’t sure what to say. All the women were looking at me now in curiosity. “You should’ve said so when you found her.”

“I don’t see why that’s important,” I said. “Shouldn’t the fact that someone’s helping her be more important?”

“It depends on how much they’re willing to pay to keep quiet about it.”

I dropped my fork. “What?” There was giggling in the background and I clenched my jaw. “Annie. How long have you been there?”

“Long enough!” she shouted from the background.

“Shut up, bitch,” Frank snapped. “Anyway, Ian Parker, I have a proposition for you. You pay me a million bucks and I won’t tell the press you’ve kidnapped my fiancée.”

“She’s not your fiancée,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. Celeste’s eyes were wide as saucers. “And I don’t take kindly to bribes.”

“You’ll pay me or we’ll ruin your life,” he threatened.

“Is that so?”

“Your career will be over,” Annie said.

“I said shut up!” he shouted and I heard a slapping noise.

“Hey! Don’t you-!”

“She ain’t worth risking your reputation,” he interrupted. “I’m not afraid to do this. I got people that can protect me. I know folks. Besides, do you really want to be known as a kidnapper?”

My blood was boiling. “I didn’t kidnap her and I’m not paying you. You can go to the press all you’d like. I think you’ll find you’re going to have a hard time winning them over; especially when I tell them that you just hit Annie Withers.”

He swore loudly. “You’ll see! I’ll ruin your life! Keep the whore if you want but I will get-!”

I hung up on him. No one spoke for a long time. Celeste was shaking.

“He hit her?” my mom whispered.

“How do they even know each other?” I thought out loud.

“Did you say Annie Withers?” Celeste asked and I nodded. “He always talked about her. Apparently, they went to college together. They were good friends before she decided to become a model and they had a falling apart.”

“She probably went to him for comfort then,” I sighed. “He’s threatening to go to the press if I don’t pay a million dollars.”

My mom scoffed. “Let him.”

“He’ll ruin your life,” Celeste said sadly.

My mom stood up. Her eyes were blazing. I knew that look and smiled a little. She was furious and was about to do something about this bribe and threat.

“No one messes with my family,” she said. She snapped her fingers and Patty hurried into the room, looking alarmed. I didn’t blame her. My mom hadn’t been like this since I was in high school. “Get my lawyer on the phone. Set up an appointment here in two hours. I don’t care what it takes to get here. Kendra, we’re still going out like normal but we’ll have Mitch come with us.” She pointed at me. “Stay here. I don’t want you going out there where people can harass you. You have a short temper and I won’t let you get in trouble.”

I wanted to argue but knew better. Instead, I just nodded and let her finish giving orders. When I looked at Celeste again, she was crying. I wanted to comfort her but had no idea what to do. The only thing Annie wanted to do when she was upset was have sex. Celeste was a very attractive woman but I highly doubted sex would comfort her.

“Well, let’s get to work,” my mom said with a clap of her hands. “Ian, get James over here.”

“Why James?” I asked. “I thought we-.”

“You have to work on the press release,” she said as she gathered her purse. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

She hoisted Celeste to her feet, ignoring her protests. With a final nod at me, she marched Celeste out of the penthouse. Kendra waved with a smile and followed after them.