Cities

by Carla de Guzman

  “Hello nerds,” she joked, putting her purse on the nearby table as she tossed her coat aside.

  “Ariiiight,” Celia and Ben chanted, their voices nasal and low like the kids Vivian sometimes saw on the street. Then they burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing they did all day. Vivian shuddered. She knew an inside joke when she saw one, and this was one joke she didn’t like.

  “Watching Doctor Who again?” Vivian asked, dropping her purse on a nearby table as she crossed to the living room. “Doesn’t that strike you as a little pathetic for a Friday night?”

  “Am I bovvered, though?” Celia interjected with a heavy chav accent. Now Vivian was sure she was missing out on an inside joke (not good). She rolled her eyes like the champion eye roller that she was, although but it only made Ben and Celia laugh (not good at all) and called Celia to help her with dinner in the kitchen. As Vivian went around pulling together ingredients for a quick pasta and chicken parm, Celia made tea for herself, coffee for Ben. She even knew how to make it like he liked, iced with a lot of sugar. Vivian eyed the concoction warily, like she was amazed that she knew exactly what Ben wanted.

  “Celia,” she said gently, trying not to sound completely panicked over this whole situation.

  “Mhm?” Celia asked, smiling over her teacup. Definitely not good. She was in such a good mood, Vivian didn’t want to spoil it for her. So she simply smiled and said it was nothing, going back to making dinner.

  Between doing her thesis with Henry, band practice with the Summers, school, a part time job, being Vivian’s flatmate and hanging out with her new pal Benedict, Celia slowly found her social calendar completely full. She and Ben just kept finding things to do together—checking out other bands in pubs, watching a couple of her gigs (also in pubs) and having their continuing conversation on the pointlessness of Jar Jar Binks. When they were together, time seemed relative until they had to stop in front of the tube station on Euston Square. This was where they always separated, Ben taking the tube back to his parents’ flat in Belgravia, Celia going back to her tiny space on North Gower Street. But for some reason, neither of them wanted to move.

  Today in particular, they just had so much fun walking Celia’s neighbor’s dogs in Regent’s Park, Ben even chasing one when it escaped. But dogs eventually had to go back to their owners. Celia looked up at Ben. She saw the way his hair fell across his face, realized how his company made her happy. She liked that he was passionate, how he wasn’t afraid to be shy around her.

  Who wouldn’t love you? She thought to herself.

  “You ever wonder what would happen if I had met you first?” She asked him, watching the people dart in and out of the Tube. She felt rooted to her spot, like she wasn’t meant to leave. “If I met you first, and you didn’t fall so madly in love with…with my best friend?”

  “I do sometimes,” he said almost sadly. Celia wasn’t sure she heard him right in the rain and in the middle of all the dogs trying to get under the umbrella. She however, didn’t miss that sigh. He kissed the top of her forehead. “I’ll see you later, mate.”

  “Cheers,” Celia merely said, shifting the weight of her feet as she watched Ben disappear into a cabbie. Shaking her head, she checked on the dogs and let them lead the way. The sooner she got home, the better.

  A few nights later, Ben stopped by for breakfast. He had mentioned in passing that he and Vivian were too swamped with work for the Springfield account (they were clients now, who Ben secretly loathed for their inability to make a decision without a board meeting) for any extra-curricular activities, but as a dutiful friend, he occasionally came over for breakfast with the girls. Like this morning in particular. It was apparently a special occasion, as even Henry had come by with his usual offering of strawberry Danishes and scones from Gail’s. Ben came with a round of tea and coffee for everyone.

  “How did we come to deserve such dutiful men?” Vivian asked as they both watched Ben and Henry setting up breakfast in the kitchen. For today, the Marmite and toast was put aside in favor of Danish and tea. The girls had been kicked out of the kitchen as the men prepared their meal. Vivian and Celia knew not to complain, choosing to sit on their living room couch and chat.

  “Oh please, this is all you, Viv,” Celia laughed, shaking her head. “I am so glad my guy friends fancy you.”

  Vivian wiggled her toes under the blanket, kicking Celia slightly. “Boys who fancy me don’t come over with Danishes and tea,” she pointed out. “They’re doing this for you, because you are an excellent friend, and you would totally understand if they did something idiotic.”

  Celia frowned. She could tell Vivian was about to tell her something. Her best friend glanced surreptitiously at the kitchen, leaning forward to whisper to Celia. She had never seen her friend so nervous.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you this,” Vivian began. “But—“

  “Breakfast is up!” Henry yelled from the kitchen like he lived there. Celia was way too hungry not to jump out of the couch and heed Henry’s call. Vivian sighed and not as enthusiastically followed her into the kitchen. The Danishes had been stacked neatly on their tea tray, the scones in a proper basket with Celia’s favorite jam from Waitrose and clotted cream from Sainsbury’s. There was streaky bacon for Henry, sausages for Vivian and iced Americano for Ben. Celia and Vivian were all still in their jimjams and dressing gowns, and neither of them seemed embarrassed about it.

  "I don't know how you can drink this stuff, it is so cold outside," Celia said, shaking her head and passing him the iced Americano. They just started spring, so things were going to get wetter before they got warmer.

  Ben shrugged and accepted his cup. "The only reason you feel cold outside is because your insides are warm. So when I drink cold coffee, it evens out." He said coolly, like Celia was not the first person he explained this to. She raised her eyebrow at him.

  "That's...logical," she said, like she didn't believe a single word he said. He was going to be cold inside and outside, so didn't that defeat the whole purpose? She sipped her tea and smiled over at him. He could feel the sarcasm seeping into that smile. Vivian watched them critically. She noticed Henry was doing the same.

  “I knew it,” Henry said, shaking his head. “You, Celia Alix, are replacing me. I had no idea being your best friend was a competition.”

  “You assume we were best friends in the first place,” Celia said, giggling over her teacup and making Vivian and Benedict laugh.

  Vivian noticed how her best friend glowed, sitting in their kitchen table with cheap eats and good friends. Truth be told, Celia was the kind of girl who had very few but very close knit friends. To her, this breakfast was heaven. Vivian had to admit, she was kind of uncomfortable. She didn’t want Benedict to know that Henry was next in line to run Springfield Foods, and so just introduced him as ‘Hen.’ She didn’t want Henry to know she was shagging Ben (for reasons) and so called Ben her ‘business partner.’ How Celia could be so happy and comfortable was beyond her.

  "So friend," Ben said, rubbing his hands together as Henry jogged towards the loo. "What are we going to do today? Vivian tells me you don't have class on Fridays."

  "Oh so when you guys are having each other off, you talk about me?" Celia asked flatly, both of them missing the panic in Vivian’s eyes, her head immediately turning to the direction of the loo. "How sweet."

  "Don't be gross, it's barely eight thirty," Vivian laughed awkwardly, standing to grab some more coffee. Celia was sipping tea and trimming sunflowers she picked up from Chelsea Flower Market early that morning. Henry came back from the loo, and began to wash dishes while Ben packed up the excess food. The three of them were like a well-oiled, sexually tense machine. Celia remained blissfully oblivious.

  "What are you two up to tonight?" Henry asked, his eyebrows raised in suspicion toward Celia. "Should I have doctors on standby?"

  "Nothing so earth-shattering," Ben corrected, putting aside the food. He and Henry weren’t exactly cl
ose, and their relationship had instantly been testy. He was wearing a bloody ascot, he liked to strut around the flat like he owned it and he seemed to love shamelessly flirting with Vivian. Plus the fact that he had been introduced as just ‘Hen’ was a little pretentious to him. But he was Celia’s friend (somehow), and so he had to be nice. “Probably get a pint somewhere. Care to join?"

  “Oh no, the siren call of hiding from drunk Celia beckons,” Henry laughed. “You’re on your own, mate.”

  “I am not that bad,” Celia said, kicking Henry from under the seat. She turned to her flatmate. “Viv?”

  Celia wondered why Vivian was condoning Ben having a friendship with her. She usually tried to discourage interaction between Celia and her stress balls. But there was a hint of worry from Vivian, every time Ben and Celia exchanged words, she looked like she was on edge. Today was no exception.

  "Unlike you, I actually have a meeting with Springfield Foods,” she said, shaking her head. She turned to Benedict. “Need I remind you that you owe us posters and a storyboard?" Vivian asked, her tone turning bossy as she stood from the kitchen dining area. She was obviously done being social for today. She grabbed Celia's flowers from the arranged vase and declared them lovely, placing them in the counter of the living room before heading to her bedroom.

  "You should know by now that ideas come to me best after beer," Ben pointed out, turning his body towards the direction Vivian was disappearing to. "Did you want me to join you for that meeting?"

  "Ha. No," Vivian chortled. Ever since Ben tried to yell at one of their clients for wanting a not-so-great ad instead of his idea, Vivian made sure interaction was kept to a minimum. They had already argued about the account more than once, each time Ben was adamant they shouldn’t continue. Vivian had an opposite view.

  "Which is why Celia and I are going out," Ben countered nonchalantly, like Vivian had not just managed to manage him again.

  "Alright," Vivian shrugged as she paused by the doorway of her bedroom. "Just be back in one piece."

  "Me or her?" Ben asked. Vivian simply smirked and disappeared behind the doorway.

  Contrary to what people thought, Celia actually had plans that evening. But, one invitation from her new buddy Ben and she was at a pub nearby to have drinks that night. Like most of London, there was a pub right at the end of their street, a spot called the Crown and Anchor. It was small and had perfectly dimmed lights. The place was right in the middle of several flats, and so was filled with yuppies having a pint and tourists trying to use the bathroom after eating at Speedy’s. The music was a little too loud, and the place had an offbeat charm that Celia loved. While they had strong draft beers, this dark and noisy place actually made their own food, which came in handy when Vivian and Celia couldn't be bothered to make their own fish and chips. With a nod to the barman for a couple of pints, Celia sat Ben down and decided to clear things up.

  "If you're hanging out with me to score points with Vivian, I insist you at least pay for the first round," she said as two cool mugs of draft beer slid onto their table. Ben grinned and held his mug up to her.

  "I guess this round's on you then, mate," he said, clinking his glass with hers. She still couldn't understand what was going on.

  Two hours later, Ben was a drink and two beers behind. Celia was wielding her pretzel stick like a light saber and was one mojito ahead of the whole bar. Much to her surprise, Ben was amazing at losing drinking games. He blamed it on his part-Chinese heritage; she blamed him. "A weakling you are, Young Skywalker!" She exclaimed, laughing at Ben's slumped form. "Come on, Benny. I thought you were better than this."

  "You drink like i's wa'er!" Ben complained, mock-sobbing into his fish and chips. He had hoped it would soak up some of the alcohol, but it only made him want to puke more. His eyes were barely staying open, and he was losing his t's. His accent had turned, and he was starting to use words Celia were pretty sure weren’t Tagalog. "Tha's pretty badassssh, though. You are ssssuch a badass. Ass," he slurred, howling with laughter at the last word. "You're pretty too. No' Vivian pretty, but pretty pretty."

  Celia nearly choked on her mojito and slammed a tequila shot into Ben's hand. "O-kay. Time to talk about something else. Oh, I know! Let's play a game. I heard this on the radio once," she said, turning her entire body on the seat so she was completely facing Ben. His pale skin was flushed red, and she was sure he was going to feel this in the morning. The thought gave her endless satisfaction. “Bens of Britain, in honor of you.”

  "Wa's the rules?" He asked, pulling up the sleeves of his shirt. "God i's hot! Who turned on the sun??"

  “Ben…edict Cumberbatch,” Celia exclaimed, giggling endlessly. “Ben…Big Ben!” she says, waving a hand at the bar for another mojito. “Two points.”

  “Ben Affleck," Ben said instantly while nodding off into the table. Celia had to shake him lightly and he shot right back up, looking at her. “CRAP. He isn’t British. Why isn’t he British?”

  Celia raised her eyebrow at him. She was about to ask him to start another game when Ben sprang up on his seat, his fifth pint of beer still in his hand. "I know!" He exclaimed, the beer sloshing from his hand onto the table. He had the worst case of Asian Flush, which was kind of funny and sad at the same time. ”We should go to Gerrard Street for bad Chinese food and karaoke! I am an amazing Freddy Mercury. Weeeeee are the championsss!"

  "Good lord, he's drunk!" Celia laughed, pulling his hands to sit him down before he went falsetto. She finished up his beer without much protest from him. She took his cheeks into her hands like a squishy toy. "Benny," she said in as serious a tone that she can manage. "Benedict, are you still with us, darling?"

  "Your eyes are nice," he said dreamily, "Like warm chocolate pudding when it's raining."

  Celia had no idea what warm chocolate pudding had to do with the rain, but she took this as a perfect sign that the man in her hands was drunk. She briefly wondered what he saw in Vivian, or what she saw in him. Sure he was sweet, clever, and kind. The fact that he was handsome in an Asian boy next door kind of way was a plus. He was fit, but fit wasn't exactly Vivian's type. More her type, actually.

  Ben's eyes fluttered slightly, the too-loud music around them suddenly turning into white noise. Celia was sure this was the mojito working its minty magic on her. Suddenly, Ben was the only thing on her mind. But before she could get carried away....

  "Why are we friends?" She asked him, knowing he was teetering on the edge of passing out. Lucky their flat wasn't that far to walk. Ben had enough in him for just one sentence. One word. Celia hoped to god it didn't start with Vivian's name.

  Ben, however, one upped his newest bosom buddy that night. With another flutter of his eyelashes and a skipped heartbeat, Celia found herself kissing her best friend's lover.

  “Please tell me this isn’t happening,” Celia groaned the next day, covering her face with her hands as she buried her face in their tiny couch pillow. “Vivian, please tell me you were alone in the flat!”

  It was the day after Celia and Ben’s little…incident at the Crown and Anchor. After realizing that Benedict was passed out on her couch, Celia made a mad dash to the shower and was out the door before Ben even realized that he wasn’t at home. It started to rain in school, and she was lucky enough to have forgotten her umbrella. It just wasn’t her day.

  The rains had stopped by the time Celia got home to her flat. There were a couple of tourists exclaiming over Speedy’s and their front door. Knowing that Vivian was going to be home, Celia decided to duck into Speedy’s Cafe just below their flat to get some roast beef for dinner. “I’m sure my roommate will be tired from working all day,” she’d said to the waiter, ordering them a gigantic slice of coconut cake for dessert.

  Lo and behold, Celia was correct. Vivian was tired, but for reasons far from the ones that justified the roast beef. Celia had arrived home to find Vivian under the quilt of her bed. It also just so happened that tangled in the quilt with her was Celia’s best
friend and thesis partner, Henry Springfield of Springfield Foods. Celia had screamed, dropped the roast beef and run out to the living room.

  “Oh come on Celia,” Vivian said, emerging from the room, half fuming, half tying her robe over her negligee. Henry knew better than to be in the room for this kind of thing. “You know I’ve been trying to land Springfield since you first brought Hen to the flat.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t think you meant it so literally!” Celia screeched, her voice had now reached a decibel which not even Vivian could decipher. “Why, Vivi, WHY.”

  “I really like him Celia. I thought you would be happy I finally found someone stable and reliable?” Vivian asked, flopping into the couch in front of the vase of sunflowers. “I know I said I was incapable of true love, but, it’s Henry. The guy who buys you sunflowers when you have a cold. The guy who sings at the top of his lungs just to make you laugh? He’s funny and handsome and so generous—“

  “I suppose his massive inheritance has nothing to do with it,” Celia spat out, the words coming out much harsher than she had intended. Vivian, however, did not seem that surprised that Celia would go there.

  “I’m not going to pretend that it doesn’t,” she said calmly. Why did she always have to be the calm one? Celia paced across the mantelpiece, shrugging off her coat and tossing it near the chair.

  “What about Ben?” She asked, purposefully lowering her voice. She had enough drama as it was. Vivian blinked. Of course she hadn’t thought about it before.

  “What about Ben?” She countered, her voice turning around to an edge Celia hadn’t expected. Of course she was protective of Ben, he was the center of her work life. Vivian often said that although she ran the company, it was Ben’s ideas that the clients loved. She couldn’t do it without him.