by G. K. DeRosa
That afternoon, when Mrs. Wilder headed back to the hospital, Celeste decided to stop at the library. A book she had been dying to read had just arrived. It was another beautiful day, perfect for sitting outside in her sunny backyard and working on her tan while escaping into a good book. As she searched through the stacks of the Best Sellers section, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. She glanced around furtively, but saw no one nearby. In fact, the library was practically deserted.
Of course, it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon, who else would be cooped up in a dark library?
She found the romance novel she wanted, the newest one from the series she had been obsessing over, and made her way to the checkout desk. She turned the corner and abruptly collided with someone. She dropped the book, which slapped against the marble floor with a disconcertingly loud thud, echoing through the cavernous room.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she blurted, without looking up as she bent down to pick up her book. As she stood back up, her heart skipped a beat. Before her stood a towering, well-built young man with wavy, raven hair, chiseled jaw, and eyes as blue as the summer sky. Celeste felt her cheeks grow hot. Embarrassed, she flushed even redder.
“No problem. Sorry, I should have been watching where you were going, I guess,” he said, eyes twinkling.
Looking into those deep blue eyes, Celeste was completely at a loss for words. She watched helplessly as he walked away, disappearing further into the library.
Way to go, Celeste.
She stumbled to the checkout counter trying to gather her wits. The librarian behind the counter cleared her throat. Celeste looked up, confused, as if she’d forgotten why she was there. The librarian held out her hand and Celeste handed her the book and then fumbled for her library card. She looked around, but the mysterious stranger had disappeared. Oak Bluffs was a small town and she pretty much knew everyone that lived there. There was no way a guy like that would go unnoticed, not in this town. Who could he be?
Celeste didn’t know what it was about him, but for some reason she just had to find out. And she knew exactly who to ask.
The next day at school, during her fifth-period art class, Celeste approached Natalie Meadows. Natalie was one of the most popular girls in school, beautiful and confident, and involved in every after-school activity that mattered. Celeste had always thought of her as a brunette Barbie, with her shiny, perfectly styled hair, flawless skin, and with long model-like legs. Not to mention Natalie always had the perfect Ken doll on her arm. Although they didn’t travel in the same circles now, Natalie and Celeste had been good friends in grade school. They had been best friends actually, but that was before her father died and everything had changed.
“Hey, Natalie, got a sec?”
“Hey, Celeste,” she replied, glancing at her watch. “Yeah, I guess. What’s up?” Celeste hesitated and then plunged right in.
“If anyone would know, you would,” she said, and was rewarded by one of Natalie’s warm smiles. “I saw this really hot guy at the library over the weekend, and, well…” She hesitated. “It’s just that he took me by surprise. He looks older than us, probably in his twenties, but I’ve never seen him around before. Tall, black hair, gorgeous blue eyes—any idea who he might be?”
Natalie’s eyes sparkled in recognition and studied Celeste, who was doing her best to act nonchalant. Natalie hadn’t seen her friend this animated about anything in years, and it made her long for the free-spirited, fun companion she once had.
“Well, my friend, this just happens to be your lucky day. If it’s who I think it is, Becky said that Jessica’s sister, Dani Lynn, met this really cute guy at the community college orientation.” Natalie pretended to search her memory as Celeste brightened up. “Wow, what did she say his name was…? Oh, yes, Nico something. He’s got a brother, too, Roman. They’re foreign,” she whispered, conspiratorially. “From somewhere in Europe. Imagine anyone from Europe moving here!”
Europe? She wouldn’t stand a chance with him, Celeste thought, her spirits crashing. Natalie squeezed her arm.
“Listen, Dani Lynn’s having a party at her off-campus apartment on Friday. She invited him and like half of the population of Oak Bluffs. I’m sure he’ll be there. We should totally go.”
“Go where?” Brian asked, coming up behind them. Natalie threw him a flirtatious look.
“It’s a party on Friday. You should come, Brian. It’s a bunch of college kids from Oak Bluffs. You might as well get to know some of the other incoming freshmen before the fall semester.”
Brian looked at Celeste and shrugged. “Yeah, I’m definitely in,” said Brian, “as long as Celeste comes.”
Celeste looked oddly flustered.
“What do you say, Celeste? What’s the big deal? Let’s go!”
“Okay. I’m in.”
The week flew by without too much excitement. Celeste had barely been aware of any of it, her thoughts almost exclusively on Dani Lynn’s party. Would he be there? Could she talk to him without making a total idiot of herself? As she lay in bed wondering what tomorrow would have in store, she heard something outside. She got out of bed and walked over to her bay window, and as she opened it a small pebble whizzed by her head.
“Ouch!” squealed Celeste.
She leaned out the window and saw Brian doubled over in laughter.
“Sorry Cel! I didn’t mean to hit you!” he said.
Celeste was not amused, and slamming the window shut she pulled the curtains closed. Outside she could hear Brian apologizing and begging her to come out for a second. She threw on a pair of shorts and with a quick glance at the mirror, headed downstairs to see what was going on.
“What are you doing throwing rocks at my window at this time of night? You scared me to death!”
“I’m sorry Cel, I was trying to call you on the walkie-talkie for the past half hour and you weren’t responding.”
“Have you ever heard of a cell phone?”
“It went to voicemail so I came over instead.”
“Okay, what was so important?” she asked impatiently, but Brian’s attention was focused elsewhere.
“Whoa, that is a huge bird up there,” he said pointing.
Celeste followed his finger, squinting to make out the figure in the tree.
“Is that a falcon?” her stomach churned nervously at the thought.
“I don’t know, maybe,” he said. “Yeah, now that you mention it, it does kind of look like a hawk or a falcon or something.”
“Let’s try and get a closer look.” Celeste approached the tree cautiously, but Brian stopped her.
“Wait, I can go grab binoculars from my room.”
“You own binoculars?” she asked incredulously. Celeste looked up at the sight line from his room to hers and took a couple steps back. “Please tell me you do not look into my room with your binoculars!”
“Look, it’s not like that Cel, I swear. I worry about you sometimes, that’s all. I know you are home alone a lot so I wanted to keep an eye on you,” he said while awkwardly looking down at his feet.
“Literally, I guess.” She could see he was embarrassed. “Whatever Brian, I can’t deal with this right now. It’s late and I have to get some sleep. This scary bird thing has me on edge. I think I saw the same one the other night too, and I had a nightmare about it. Just promise me you’ll stop being weird and watching me through binoculars!”
Celeste gave him a good-natured punch in the stomach and turned towards her front door.
“Hey Brian, wait, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Brian paused, already half way across the yard. “Oh nothing, don’t worry about it. It’s late like you said.”
Celeste glanced up into the oak tree before hurrying back inside her house. As she settled back into bed, she couldn’t help but think about the unusual bird and hoped she wouldn’t have another nightmare.
“Look, I’m really sorry about last night,” said Brian as he ran up to Ce
leste in the cafeteria the next day at school.
Celeste could barely hear him over the boisterous talking and clatter of lunch trays as their classmates enjoyed the thirty-minute respite from class.
“It’s fine, I’m over it,” said Celeste, “I know you thought you were being protective and what not, I get it.”
Placing his warm hand on Celeste’s, his face grew serious and he said, “You know I really care about you, right?” She looked down at his large hand covering hers protectively then quickly looked away, surprised by his admission.
“Am I interrupting something?” asked Natalie as she sat down next to Brian.
“Nope!” they said in unison. Celeste pulled her hand away awkwardly, hoping Natalie hadn’t noticed.
“I gotta get to class,” said Brian, “but I’ll see you girls tonight.” As he walked out, Celeste caught a lingering glance back at her.
“Is everything okay?” asked Natalie.
“Oh yeah, everything’s fine. I can’t wait for the party tonight actually. Thanks for the invite.”
“No prob! I think it will be really good for you. And who knows, maybe you and this mysterious guy will hit it off – that is if Brian lets you out of his sight.” Natalie gave her a mischievous grin.
“Huh? Oh… no it’s not like that with Brian and me. We’re just good friends.”
“Oh yeah? Are you sure about that?”
“Yes totally! You know we’ve known each other since we were practically in diapers. He’s like a brother to me. I could never think of him romantically, Nat.”
“I don’t know, I mean he’s changed quite a bit since you two were in diapers. He’s gotten totally hot—don’t tell me you don’t notice? He’s definitely got a six-pack under that shirt from all the working out for basketball and wrestling. And the way he looks at you sometimes with those bright green eyes, it seems more than friendly to me.”
Celeste briefly thought about the night before and the binocular fiasco, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind. “No way Nat, and sure I’m not blind. I can see that he’s cute, but it’s just not like that with us.”
“Okay, well if you don’t want him then he’s mine!” laughed Natalie.
Later that night as Celeste rummaged through her closet for something to wear to the party, she couldn’t help but think about what Natalie had said about Brian. She had to be wrong: Celeste never noticed Brian looking at her in any special way. They were just friends, best friends, and she couldn’t imagine it any other way. She finished off her outfit with her favorite necklace – a simple gold chain with three intertwined gold hearts, a present from her dad on her tenth birthday. Her dad had said it symbolized their family, the three of them, together forever. She felt the familiar twinge of loss, but pushed it away. She gazed critically at her reflection in the mirror, she always felt her hazel eyes were drab and she wished her button nose would perk up a bit at the end. Sighing, she added a bit of chocolate mousse eyeliner and a dab of cotton candy lip-gloss and heard Brian’s car horn outside. She grabbed her purse, patted Rocky affectionately on the head and rushed out.
There had to have been at least a hundred people at Dani Lynn’s party. Some were crammed into her apartment while the majority spilled out into the courtyard of her apartment complex. As Celeste walked in, the loud, drunk bodies packed into every corner overwhelmed her. She felt an indescribable urge to run back to the car, but Natalie caught sight of her and Brian before she could make her escape.
“I’m so glad you guys made it!” said Natalie accompanied by two pretty girls. “You know Jessica, and this is her sister Dani Lynn.”
Celeste nodded and Brian threw Dani a charming grin.
“Come on in guys, the keg’s in the back. I have to go do some damage control downstairs,” said Dani as she rushed by.
Celeste looked over at Brian who was staring in the direction Dani had run off to. She noticed how striking Dani had become since her high school days, and obviously Brian had too. She had always been pretty, but now she had a certain alluring quality she never had before.
“Okay so Dani pointed Nico Constantin out to me, Celeste. Let’s go introduce ourselves,” said Natalie, grabbing Celeste’s arm excitedly.
“Who’s Nico Constantin?” asked Brian returning his focus to the conversation.
“Oh you know, the mysterious stranger Celeste bumped into at the library over the weekend.”
Celeste noticed Brian’s face tense up, but he coolly shrugged it off. “Nope never heard of him.” He looked at her disapprovingly.
“Oh yeah, I guess it must have slipped my mind.”
“Well, I’m going to grab a beer. You girls want something?” asked Brian.
“Sure!” the girls said in unison.
As soon as Brian walked away, Natalie hurried Celeste over to the cramped kitchen. She pointed at the back corner of the apartment where a tall dark-haired boy was talking to a group of giggling girls.
“Look, is that your mystery man?”
“I’m not sure,” answered Celeste trying to get a look over the crowd on her tiptoes. “He has his back to us so I can’t see his face.”
“Well get over there Celeste! It looks like you’re going to have to get in line to talk to him. Look at all of those girls all over him!”
Celeste’s heart was pounding as she stared at the dark-haired stranger from across the room. “I don’t know about this Natalie. What am I supposed to say? ‘Uh, hi, I’m the girl who bumped into you in the library, nice to meet you’?”
“Who cares? Just get over there! Come on, I’ll go with you,” Natalie said, pulling Celeste by the arm.
The girls made their way over to the other side of the apartment, weaving through the dense crowd of college kids and stopping just a few feet away from their target.
“I can’t do this,” said Celeste, stopping in her tracks.
“There’s no backing out now,” said Natalie as she squirmed through the crowd with Celeste in tow and tapped Nico on the shoulder. He turned around with a stunning smile and Celeste found herself face to face with him.
“Well hello ladies, how can I help you?” he asked, warmth exuding from his voice.
Both girls were silent for a moment as they stared in appreciation of this gorgeous and impeccably dressed young man. His aqua button-down shirt was meticulously ironed, and his midnight blue designer jeans seemed custom made. He was tall, his black hair neatly gelled back, with matching dark eyes and a teasing grin that would melt any girl’s heart.
“That’s not him!” whispered Celeste under her breath.
“Oh hi,” said Natalie, “we just wanted to introduce ourselves, my name is Natalie Meadows and this is Celeste Wilder.”
Celeste nervously twirled a golden curl around her finger. Nico observed both girls, his interest clearly piqued.
“We are Dani Lynn’s friends and she asked us to check up on you since you’re new in town. She’s been too busy running around trying to make sure she’s the perfect hostess.”
“Well that is very kind of you, ladies. I am Nico Constantin. It’s a pleasure to meet you Natalie, and you Celeste,” he said. He took Celeste’s hand, and he could feel her pulse quicken as he bent his head to kiss it. He felt exhilarated.
Brian appeared out of nowhere as Natalie and Celeste sat mesmerized and too thunderstruck to say a word.
“Hi, Nico, right? I’m Brian,” he interjected.
“Hello Brian, nice to meet you,” he said, extending his hand.
“That’s quite a grip you got there,” commented Brian, grimacing slightly but not letting go.
“You do as well, my friend. Let me guess – you’re a wrestler?” asked Nico.
“Yeah, actually I am. How’d you know?”
“I used to wrestle in high school myself. We should have a go one day.”
Brian eyed him cautiously. “Yeah, sure.”
“You know, I must say that everyone in Oak Bluffs is so friendly and welcoming. I think th
at I am really going to like it here.”
Natalie finally found her tongue and asked, “So why are you here in Oak Bluffs?”
“My brother and I had been living in New York City for the past couple years, and he just graduated from college. We were looking for a change of pace after the hustle and bustle of the city. We had an uncle that lived here many years ago, and we visited him once when we were young. It seemed like a quaint and quiet town so we came on a whim. I’m not much for academics, but my brother insisted I get my degree, so I enrolled at the community college and here we are,” explained Nico.
“Your brother?” asked Celeste trying to keep the excitement out of her voice. Natalie threw her a conspiratorial glance.
“Yes, my brother Roman. It’s just the two of us here. We got an apartment on the other side of campus.”
That must have been who I met! There was a definite resemblance between the two brothers now that she looked more closely at him. Nico was a bit shorter and leaner than the brother she met at the library. But they both had the jet-black hair, olive skin, and incredible looks.
“So where’s your brother tonight, Nico?” asked Natalie.
“He’s not one for these kinds of affairs. I’d have to drag him out of the house kicking and screaming.”
“Oh, too bad,” she said, with a devious glance at Celeste.
“So Celeste, you said your last name was Wilder? I’ve met a couple of Wilders in my day, mostly in Germany,” said Nico.
“Yeah, that’s actually where my family is from originally, but I don’t know any of my relatives over there.”
“Well, who knows, maybe I’ve met some of your distant relatives,” Nico said with a half smile. He paused momentarily, reminiscing about a time long ago, but quickly recovered. “Germany really is a beautiful country. I’d love to show you pictures from my travels there someday.”
“Oh sure, sounds fun,” said Celeste, drawn to his warm smile.
Natalie grabbed Brian by the arm. “Let’s go get refills on these drinks.” She turned back and gave Celeste an encouraging look as she walked away.