“Um, Celeste…maybe you should back up off the cough syrup a little bit.”
She forced a lighthearted laugh.
“I think I"ll let you go,” Frank said. “You probably need some rest. Call if you need anything from me.” And he hung up.
Celeste threw up her hands in frustration.
Damn it!
Reviewing her interrogation of Frank, she knew she came off crazy. Andyet she still didn"t have the answers she wanted.
“Just come clean with him!” she scolded herself out loud. “Admit you lied about college and put this whole thing to rest, one way or the other.”
She pushed the redial button, but Frank"s line went straight to voice mail. She groaned and beat her fists against the couch for a moment. On top of everything else, she had missed a big chunk of Oprah.
15 Frank turned his phone off.
He was starting to wonder if getting to know Celeste might be more trouble than it was worth. She was a fascinating person, and had a lot to offer, but seemed to border on hostility when it came to him…for no obvious reason.
Violet had a lot to offer, too: great looks; intelligence; a crass sense of humor he found charming; wild, screaming-outloud sex…but at the end of the day he had to file his time spent with her under R for “regret.” Or Y for “yet another regret,” to be accurate.
Frank stood, stretched, and left the production suite for the restroom. This was one of those days he had come in to Avcom to work, needing to hand off his latest commercial to a lackey to sweat over the graphics, and find some smarmy music that was just understated enough to fit the cookie cutter.
He relieved himself, washed his hands, then decided to stroll outside for some fresh air.
He had to be honest with himself. Her strange behavior notwithstanding, what bothered him most about Celeste was her declaration that she was eternally off-limits romantically. And his decision to oblige.
Celeste had great friend potential—he knew that much from their evening downtown. He was already quite fond of her in that respect. But his attraction to her didn"t stop there. He saw a lot more potential between them, and was thrown offbalance that she didn"t. He could handle rejection as well as anybody, but with her…
As he rounded the building and strolled through the parking lot toward the library across the street, he passed Yvette, the gorgeous receptionist for his manager. She had a coat on, zipped up, with her arms crossed against the chill. He smiled and greeted her.
She smiled back, her eyes sparkling, then said something about him being outside in the cold with just shirtsleeves.
Frank kept going.
See? Yvette is a smoking hot babe. Single; no kids; available; laughs at your jokes and puts out signals sometimes. A great catch, within reach. But all I can think about is some girl with no interest in me.
He had a theory why that was, but didn"t want to waste time analyzing. Frank took a deep breath and crossed the street. Friendship with Celeste was destined to end badly if he wanted more and she didn"t. He would have to accept banishment to the Friend Zone.
That being the case, he should quit trying so hard. One of the beauties of platonic friendship was that you didn"t have to work nearly as much at it. Nor was it as fragile as a romantic relationship.
He had plenty of things to occupy his time and effort right now—his videos for the Golliwogs foremost on the list. Having a girlfriend made juggling his commitments a nightmare. He was finally free of the Violet roller coaster. Why should he be rushing into another relationship?
It was so brisk outside he could almost see his puffs of breath in the air. He felt good. He was going to have time on his hands, now, to really be productive. If he dated anyone, it would be strictly casual. He could forget about Celeste by throwing himself into his work.
And if she didn"t even want his platonic friendship, he would live with that, too.
*** Celeste recovered completely, and returned to work. She didn"t get a chance to see Larry before he left on vacation. The calls from Frank stopped, too. Maybe it was just as good, since she and all the other teachers had to step up their preparations for the exams at semester"s end.
The upcoming tests were sort of a preview of the standardized tests at year"s end. Patel was on everyone"s case constantly to ensure that the students performed well and made her look good. With this consuming her days, Shauna and Miles" anniversary snuck up on her while she wasn"t looking.
She didn"t get a chance to shop for a present until the evening before. She found a nice card, and bought them an attractive lamp with a picture frame attached. The frame was sized to accommodate a nice portrait of the two of them, and the color and design of the piece as a whole would complimentShauna"s living room décor.
Shauna asked her to dress nice for the occasion, so Celeste had her hair permed and wore her yellow heels with matching skirt and blouse, and a deceptively warm knit jacket.
She met her friends at a quaint little restaurant in a strip mall right at the overlap of business and residential neighborhoods. The place had atmosphere in spades. All the lighting was soft yellow from old-fashioned lamps. Decorations included crank phonographs, polo mallets, model ships and buggy wheels.
Shauna turned to her with a pleading expression. “You won"t be too cold if we sit outside, will you?”
“I wore stockings,” Celeste told her friend with a wink. “I should be fine.”
Shauna exchanged words with the hostess, who then led them through the restaurant to the back deck, where she seated them at a round table under a porch canopy, with a view of a picturesque park. Hanging from the porch frame was a network of candles in holders hand-made from wire in various designs.
“This place is wonderful,” Celeste remarked. “I never knew it was here.”
Celeste leaned over so that her cheek rubbed against Miles" shoulder. “This is where we had our first meal together.”
“How sweet,” Celeste said, and meant it. “And here you are, back to where it all started.”
Shauna smiled dreamily. “Yup. It"s ourplace, now.”
“Actually,” Miles said, “our first meal together was at a fast food joint.”
Shauna straightened, rolling her eyes. “Oh, you would remember some technicality like that. Excuse me, Mr. Stickler-For-Accuracy. Our first dinner together then, okay?”
“The first place you took her was to a fast food place?” Celeste asked, tsking. “Miles, Miles, Miles. You"re lucky you ever got a second date with this Nubian princess.”
They all shared a laugh.
“We weren"t quite dating yet,” Shauna confessed. “I think this was even before I told you about him.”
“Oh, do tell,” Celeste said.
At that moment, Frank arrived, in a beige sweater and khaki slacks, with a crooked grin and a wrapped present under one arm.
Shauna jumped up to hug him and thank him for coming. Miles stood and shook hands with him. Celeste remained seated but smiled politely and said hello.
Frank pulled up a seat. He seemed bubbling over with energy but, at close range, he appeared haggard.
Miles tore the wrapping off Frank"s gift. It was a photo album, decorated with a cute cartoon couple. Shauna gushed her appreciation, joking with Miles about adjusting the colors so that the cartoon couple would match their own.
Celeste was struck by the similarity of their gifts. Both were meant to encourage celebration ofShauna and Miles" love. Frank"s gift, while not as stylish as Celeste"s, assumed Miles and Shauna had a long future together. Long enough to fill a photo album with images of them sharing life. “This is for you, too,” Frank said, and handed them a DVD case. Miles arched an eyebrow.
“It"s your birthday party,” Frank said. “I finished it a while ago, but figured this would be a good occasion for you two to watch it for the first time.”
Shauna leaned over to kiss his cheek. “That was so thoughtful, Frank. Thankyou.”
“My pleasure,” he said, with no trace of sa
rcasm.
The waitress arrived to take their orders. They chattered non-stop until the food arrived, then chattered some more as they ate.
Frank was witty and animated, but didn"t make much of an effort to engage Celeste in discussion, as he had at other times. This had the effect of making him seem a bit distant, which put her a bit off balance. Without realizing, at first, what she was doing, Celeste compensated by making lots of eye contact with him, aiming jokes and questions his way frequently.
When the meal was finished and the checks paid, Shauna turned to Frank, then Celeste, as she said, “You"ve got to come watch the birthday video with us.”
Celeste shrugged and smiled, feeling magnanimous again. “Well, the evening is still young.”
“I already saw it,” Frank said, laughing. “Quite a few times, in fact.”
“Humor us,” Miles said. “We don"t get to hang out all that much. Then we can watch a movie or something together.
“But we"ll have to do it at your house if we want that theatrical experience,” Shauna told Frank, stroking Miles" arm. “Mad scientist here hasn"t figured out where to put the projector, yet.”
“I had to take it out of the back yard in case it rains or something,” Miles explained, defensively. “And somebodysays it would look „tacky" in the living room.”
“Man cave, Miles,” Frank stage-whispered. “Man-cave.”
Miles made faces and pointing gestures at Shauna, then shrugged.
“You"re so whupped,” Frank groaned.
“Come on, Frank,” Celeste said. “Don"t be a party pooper.”
Frank scratched at the dark stubble on his jaw. “I"ve got this project I kinda"…”
Shauna wrapped her arm around his. “Please, Frank? Spend some quality time with your friends.”
“Oh, you"re gonna play the friendship card, huh?”
Celeste half-expected he would flash her a meaningful glance as he said this. But he didn"t.
“It"s not like Avcom makes you work long hours or weekends, you banker"s hours wimp,” Miles said.
Frank sighed. “Oh…fine. Let"s do it.”
Shauna and Celeste hooted in unison.
They convoyed to Frank"s place—a 1960s vintage ranch-style house in a young, middle-class neighborhood. Upon entering, Celeste noticed an eclectic wallpapering of movie posters, rock star portraits and what looked like custom photography. What was conspicuously absent was any homage to family of his own.
Frank swept his arm toward the large couch in the living room opposite the huge reflective screen on one wall. “Make yourselves at home. I"m gonna grab a beer. Anybody want anything?”
“I"ll take one of those,” Miles said.
Shauna pushed Miles down on the couch, sat on his lap,, and the two of them whispered conspiratorially and giggled.
Celeste followed Frank into the kitchen. “What all do you have to drink?” she asked.
Frank opened the fridge, pulled out two beers, but continued to look. “Well, there"s beer, of course. Filtered water. Mountain Dew. Kool-Aid.”
“What flavor Kool Aid?”
“Cherry.”
“I"ll have that,” she said.
Frank pulled out the pitcher and gave her a brief, appreciative grin. “I never grew out of this stuff, either.” He poured her a glass and handed it to her. Their fingers touched during the hand-off.
“I haven"t heard from you for a while,” she said, taking a sip.
His grin turned curious. “Not like I didn"t try.” Then he took the two beers and exited without looking back.
She was perplexed by his aloofness tonight. Her instincts kept prodding her towards him, now that it seemed he could take or leave her. She blinked her eyes at the now empty doorway. She no longer heard Anita singing, “One of your own kind; stick to your own kind.” Anita had been replaced with Carmen Jones, singing:
You go for me, and it’s taboo
But if you’re hard-to-get I go for you… When Celeste joined the others in the living room/theater, she forced herself to sit in a recliner, far removed from Frank.
He played the birthday video. It was well-made: cute, mushy, sentimental, funny…yet very tasteful.
“That was so nice!” Shauna gushed, afterwards. “Oh, Frank, you really did a nice job.”
Miles nodded agreement. “Thanks, Cozzalino. That was really good.”
“I"ve got to show Mum,” Shauna said. “Mum” was her name for her mother, owing to her Guyanese heritage.
“Glad youze liked it, Bowser,” Frank said.
“Are you getting all ethnic, Frank?” Celeste wondered aloud.
“I"m Italian,” he said. “I"m allowed to say „youze".”
“And you two are calling each other by your last names,” she added, pointing to Miles. “Another macho thing? Feeling uncomfortable that you"ve revealed an emotional side, maybe?”
Frank nodded toward Miles. “I"m beginning to see how there can maybe be some truth to that ballbreaker warning.”
Celeste gaped at Miles “Ballbreaker? Is that what you called me?”
Miles took a swig of beer, ignoring her.
“She"s a schoolteacher,” Shauna said. “She"s had all those psychology classes. Can"t help analyzing you two.”
“I feel wounded,” Celeste protested, only half-joking.
“You haven"t seen any of his music videos, have you?” Shauna asked.
Celeste hadn"t. With minimal prompting from his friends, Frank agreed to show off some of his work.
He showed them the video that first got him on MTV. The band was called the Grass Stabbers, and played something that almost sounded techno, though with more traditional, skillful vocals.
As she watched, Celeste was reminded of their conversation at Starbucks, and his comment about making mini-operas. It certainly was an interesting video—much more imaginative than showing band members play their instruments for three minutes.
Miles asked to see his latest, so Frank played one he had just finished for a band called the Golliwogs, who were obviously influenced by mid-tolate sixties rock. This reminded Celeste of their first conversation—about the Beatles and Rolling Stones. She grinned to herself, replaying some of their smart remarks to each other.
Frank and Miles talked about how the videos were shot for a while. Then Shauna decided it would be appropriate for them to have dessert of some kind. Everyone succumbed to the sweet tooth peer pressure, and Frank found some sherbet in his freezer.
While they indulged, Frank played a movie called Mulholland Falls, a period mystery, with high production values and interesting writing choices. Halfway through, Celeste asked where the bathroom was. Shauna escorted her.
Just outside the bathroom door, Shauna asked, “Have you had a chance to talk with Frank, yet?”
Celeste shook her head.
Shauna lowered her voice to a whisper. “When me and Miles leave, stick around afterwards. That"s your chance.”
Celeste smiled non-committally. She felt butterflies. Was she ready to confront him, yet?“How do I bring up something like this, Shauna?”
Shauna looked thoughtful for a moment. “You told him you were seeing somebody already, right?”
Celeste nodded.
“Do you have a male friend right now who"d be willing to be your date for a night?”
“This is starting to sound like some elaborate sit-com scheme.”
“No, it"s really simple,” Shauna said. “You already told him you"re with somebody. So next time you and Frank get under the same roof, bring a guy with you. He"ll just assume that"s the guy you"re with.”
“How is this supposed to help?”
“It gives you a safety buffer,” Shauna said. “You"ve got a guy with you, so odds are he won"t get weird when you tell him.”
“You think he"d get weird?”
“I don"t know. Truth is, I think Frank is a good guy. But I"m saying do it this way so you will feel safe dropping the bomb on him. Then his answers might be mo
re honest than otherwise, too.”
“I thought you wanted me to confront him tonight,” Celeste said.
Shauna put a hand on her arm. “I can tell you"re nervous, girlfriend.”
Terrified is more like it, Celeste thought.
“The whole thing will probably go better if you feel security,” Shauna said, then patted her arm reassuringly and went back down the hall the way she had come.
Celeste was still pondering this as she returned to the movie. Miles and Frank were still engrossed in the movie, making jokes and comments as if they"d never noticed she had left.
Finding a guywould be no problem at any time if she wasn"t picky. But now she had Larry, who certainly would be willing to accompany her on any kind of date.
She felt a lot less nervous now, knowing she didn"t have to confront him tonight. But what kind of venue wouldbe right for Shauna"s plan, and how should she set it up? Invite him on a double date?
Then she had it.
16 Frank had burned the midnight oil all week and was close to finishing his casting and rehearsals for the second Golliwog video. He hated interruptions when he was on a roll, but Miles and Shauna were friends, so he sacrificed a night to celebrate their first anniversary of being together.
He hadn"t known that he and Celeste would be the only friends invited. Under different circumstances, his attraction to her would have made the evening little more than emotional torture—seeing Miles enjoying the love of his own beautiful lady while all night Celeste unconsciously reminded Frank of the one that got away. But he was still on an artistic high from his project and it took effort to concentrate on what was happening around him— including Celeste"s unusual outgoing friendliness that night.
Just when he thought his friend duties fulfilled and he could finally get back to putting his storyboard together, they asked him about continuing the evening at his place. He could have rain-checked Miles on the matter, no big deal. But Shauna put the big puppy-dog eyes on him. Plus he liked showing off his MTV video.
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