Authors: S. Briones Lim
“First question?” she asked, scanning across the crowd. “I have one!”
The familiar voice caused her headache to instantly vanish. As if a cloud was lifted from her vision, Celine spotted Brian sitting towards the back of the crowd with a hand raised in the air.
Celine blinked and attempted to compose herself. Taking a quick sip of water, she choked it down and replied, “Yes, you! Gentleman in the back, what is your question?”
Brian threw her a knowing look and grinned. From where Celine was sitting, she noticed he was showered, changed, and looked more awake than he had earlier that morning. She wished she could say the same thing about herself. Not bothering to straighten her hair, it was tied up into a tight sock bun, which come to think of it, was probably the root cause of her headache.
Brian held up a copy of one of her earlier works. It was the same copy she had seen the teenager from the front row holding onto earlier. Her eyes automatically flew to the girl and noticed that she still had a death grip around her copy. Glancing back at Brian, Celine couldn’t help but wonder where he had bought it. The dog-eared paperback was one of the books she had self-published right out of college. They had been pulled off the shelves ages ago!
In a mischievous tone, Brian asked, “Where do you get your character inspirations from? I really happen to like your character, Bryson. Is he based on anyone you know in real life?”
Celine shut her eyes. She felt utterly mortified. Did Brian really read her book?
Taking a slight pause to compose herself, Celine opened her eyes and answered, “I…uh…like to base certain character traits on people I do know in real life. It helps create a depth to a character and make him or her relatable.” As she answered, she never once took her eyes off him.
Brian remained grinning, obviously happy that he was basically calling her out on writing about him. As embarrassed as Celine looked, Brian couldn’t help but feel elated.
***
“That was something,” Celine laughed. She gratefully reached for the cup of coffee Brian held out for her. Raising the paper cup in the air, she thanked him.
The line of people looking to get their books signed had long since trickled down. Brian had purposely positioned himself at the back of the line, hoping to be able to spend more time with Celine. He leaned against the table, peering down at Celine, who remained seated behind the long wooden table. A stack of her books was piled to the side of him and he made a mental note to buy each one.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, taking a sip of her java goodness. The beverage wasn’t as good as any she could make, but she wasn’t about to tell Brian that.
Brian kept his eyes glued to the table and picked at her swag giveaways. He chose a bookmark and placed it in his back pocket, smiling. “I figured I should give you support. I mean, if it weren’t for me you would never have gotten over your immense stage fright.”
“If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be nursing this massive hangover,” she shot back. As if on cue, a pulsating throb worked its way across her forehead. Groaning, she reached up and undid her bun, not really caring how she looked anymore. She noticed Brian watching intently as she attempted to smooth her hair out.
“Actually, I tried to stop you, but there must have been something addictive about those cranberry vodkas,” he replied, grinning. He prepped himself to tease her again, it was something he always loved doing, but his cell phone—his Intensity phone—began to ring. “Shit,” he muttered.
Celine propped her cheek on her tiny hand, dangling the paper cup between her fingers. “Something wrong?”
“Be right back,” Brian told her, already walking away.
Celine shrugged and continued chugging her latte.
“Are you sure they’re still here?” Ruthie asked, careening her neck. The number of people on the sidewalk was ridiculous! How anyone could stand living in the city was beyond her. “The conference ended like an hour ago.”
“No, they’re still here,” Cash replied firmly. “I just asked Brian.”
“Wait a minute! What’s Brian doing here?” Ruthie asked in confusion.
“I take it Celine’s fiancé isn’t here?” Cash shot back pointedly.
“Well, no. He couldn’t get off work. They’re having a soft opening at his restaurant.” Ruthie’s eyes widened in understanding. “If you’re hinting that Celine may be cheating with Brian, that’s about as farfetched as you can get. She’s not like that.”
Cash shrugged. “Doesn’t mean Brian doesn’t hope she is.” Ignoring Ruthie’s perplexed look, Cash raised his chin. “Look, there they are.”
Ruthie spun on her heel and caught sight of Celine. She was laughing (thankfully) and walking beside Brian. He leaned over and said something into her ear, which only made her laugh harder. Seeing the two interact brought about a bad feeling in Ruthie.
“Celine!” she yelled out, waving her hand in the air. A few city dwellers shot her dirty looks, but she didn’t care. She needed to speak with her best friend pronto.
“Ruthie?” Celine questioned. She quickened her pace and left Brian straggling behind her. “What are you doing here?” Without even realizing it, Celine had broken into a slight run. However, when she was just a few feet away from her friend she found herself involuntarily slowing down. Was she ready to face Ruthie? She was still feeling a bit hurt! Figuring that she couldn’t stall any longer, she plastered a fake looking grin on her face.
Unfortunately, Ruthie wasn’t buying it. She knew Celine well enough to be able to distinguish between a sincere grin from a poor excuse for a sixth grade play smile. “How furious are you right now?” Ruthie asked in almost a whisper.
Celine looked over Ruthie’s shoulder and spotted Cash. Like a knee jerk reaction she felt annoyance bubbling through her. Who would have thought she’d ever feel irritation over her childhood idol? Cash must have noticed the look on her face because he instantly flashed her his magazine cover worthy smile. Celine pressed her lips together in a closed-lip smile and looked back at Ruthie, whose face had visibly paled.
“We never get mad at each other, right?” Celine responded, without really answering Ruthie’s question. “We’ve never fought. Why would we start now?”
Having no reason but to believe Celine, Ruthie sighed with relief. Her shoulders visibly relaxed and she bent over to give Celine a hug. “Thank God! I’m so sorry I missed it! I promise that I was planning to go! We just lost track of time.”
“I’m sure,” Celine replied curtly. When Ruthie tensed up again, Celine sighed and shook her head. “I mean, I know you wouldn’t have missed it unless you had a good reason.”
Ruthie nodded her head in relief. “Yeah, I did.” Catching some movement in her peripheral, Ruthie looked up in time to see Brian making his way over to them. The expression on his face was not pleasant by any means. “So…” her voice trailed off. “What are you guys doing?”
“Brian showed up to my show,” Celine answered nonchalantly. She flashed Ruthie a knowing look. “He actually read my book, Nineteen. He somehow found it on auction somewhere online.”
“Oh that’s nice…Ohhhh,” Ruthie was sure Celine was mortified. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what exactly inspired that story.
Brian shrugged, tapping against the front cover of the book. “It was a good story! I especially liked the guy named Bryson.”
Celine shut her eyes and felt heat begin to crawl up her neck. She wondered exactly what shade of red she appeared. It wouldn’t surprise her if Crayola ended up naming a new shade of crimson after her. Luckily, Ruthie changed the subject. “What are you guys up to now?”
Celine opened her mouth to answer, but Brian quickly interjected, “Actually, I need to go.” He eyeballed Cash and raised his eyebrows. “Cash, we have that thing to get to, remember?”
Ruthie looked at Cash questioningly. She could have sworn he was off for the day.
“What thi—” Cash began to ask. He didn’t get a chance to finish. Brian wove his way past the two women and grabbed Cash by the arm.
“We have that thing,” he insisted. Brian turned his head and glanced back at his old friends. A cloud above the building began to blow away, causing the sunlight to trickle down his sharp features. Even Ruthie couldn’t deny how much Brian had grown up.
Brian licked his thick lips and brought his eyebrows together, giving Celine a knowing look. Her eyes widened in understanding and with a thankful smile, she mouthed, “Thank you.”
“We’ll see you at the party tonight, right?” Brian asked quickly. He hated leaving Celine behind, but knew that he should give the two friends space. He’d never seen them fight before and he didn’t want to start now.
“Uh…” Celine stammered.
“Yes!” Ruthie exclaimed. She ignored Celine’s glare and nodded her head in affirmation. “Yes! We’ll see you both tonight.”
Cash frowned. “What about your stuff?” He gestured towards the car. The chauffeur sat inside looking completely bored out of his mind.
“Can I get it later?” Ruthie squeaked.
“At my place? Sure.” Cash’s smile reminded Celine of the Cheshire Cat. It gave her a sick feeling in the gut and wondered why it didn’t have the same effect on anyone else. Ruthie, on the other hand, nodded her head enthusiastically.
“Oh! Wait! How about Celine’s gift?” Ruthie asked, suddenly remembering the baby blue bag in the back of the car.
“My gift?” Celine repeated in confusion.
Ruthie grinned. “Cash thought it would be nice to treat you to something. You know, as a congratulations for the conference. Besides, it really wasn’t fair considering he took me shopping all day.”
Without a word, Cash walked over to the trunk and popped it open. The driver immediately jumped to his feet, but Cash waved him off. “I think I can get a small bag, my man.” He grabbed a sleek looking blue bag from the trunk and sauntered over to Celine. “Here you go, Princess.”
Celine slowly took the bag from his hands and thanked him, only to be grabbed into a tight hug in response. Ruthie watched the two hug and beamed happily, glad to see Celine was finally off Cash’s crap list. However, Celine wasn’t buying it. She peeked over Cash’s shoulder and gave Brian a bewildered look. He in turn scratched his head and shrugged.
“Make sure to wear that tonight,” Cash said in her ear. “I picked it out myself.”
“Um, okay?” Celine didn’t even want to see what was in the bag. If Cash picked it out, she was sure it would hardly cover any inch of her body. Ruthie nudged Celine in the ribs. With a sheepish look, Celine said, “Thanks.”
Once again, Cash’s award winning smile lit up the city block. Before he could get another word in, Brian grabbed him and nudged him towards the car. “Well, let’s allow these two ladies to catch up,” he ordered.
Cash snorted. “Because we have that thing?”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Yes, come on!” He opened the car door (to the driver’s chagrin) and practically pushed Cash inside. Brian then paused and leaned his arms on top of the car door. “So I’ll see you later?”
Ruthie had the distinct feeling that he was speaking to Celine and not her. Nonetheless, Ruthie took it upon herself to answer. “Of course, old friend, we’ll both be seeing you tonight.”
With a nod of his head, he entered the car and shut the door. Ruthie plastered a fake grin on her face and began waving at the retreating vehicle. Celine on the other hand…well, she was in no mood to smile.
Ruthie looked down at her friend sadly. “I thought you said you weren’t mad at me.” Dropping her hand from the air, she linked her arm through Celine’s and the two began to weave their way through 8th Avenue. “Wow, Madison Square Garden,” Ruthie murmured, staring up at the building. “You know, I always dreamt of coming here.”
“And you would have been able to if you showed up like you said you would,” Celine snapped, freeing her arm from Ruthie’s grasp.
Ruthie sighed and swung her arms to her side. “Are we okay? Like seriously? I feel like things have been strained between us lately.”
“Well, yeah, what do you expect?” Celine’s cold tone surprised Ruthie. “I mean, ever since we met Intensity things have just been…weird. Who would have thought people we always loved would put such a rift in our relationship?”
“But why are they putting a rift in our relationship?” Ruthie asked with exasperation. “There’s really no reason behind it.” Ruthie remained rooted in place, ignoring a purse that rammed her in the small of her back.
Celine stopped walking and gazed up at her friend. She was quickly becoming used to being bumped around by the New York crowd and ignored the elbows that jutted her gut. With a sigh, Celine told Ruthie, “I don’t think Cash is a great guy. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m acting weird around you. I don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you that, but at the same time, I think as your sister I should. Honestly, I’ve been torn up about it.”
Ruthie rolled her eyes. “He’s a good guy, Celine. You just have to get to know him!”
“Is he really?” Celine snorted. “Tell me again how well you know him. We all met at the same time.”
“Come off it, Celine,” Ruthie snapped. “You’ve been acting weird because of Brian. I’m not an idiot. He has you squirming in your panties.”
“First of all, please don’t ever use the word panties again. Second, he’s a friend, that’s it,” Celine argued, all the while trying to convince herself.
“Sure, so what did you do last night?” Ruthie questioned, crossing her arms.
“Move it!” a teenaged boy sneered at the two as he jammed a delicious looking hot dog into his mouth.
“Ooh, is that Grey’s Papaya?” Ruthie asked, glancing at the sauerkraut covered goodness.
Celine nodded excitedly. “I think so! I really want to try it!” Straightening her face, she crossed her arms over her chest and answered Ruthie’s question. “I just went out.”
“You went out? In New York? By yourself?” Ruthie snorted.
Yeah, right.
Celine immediately frowned, feeling horribly insulted. “Hey! I can do things by myself, you know! I don’t always have to tag along to have fun!”
“Okay, so what exactly did you do, then?” Ruthie asked, with raised eyebrows.
“I ate dinner and relaxed,” Celine lied with a shrug of her shoulders.
Ruthie scowled, “Stop lying. Your left eye twitches when you lie.”
Celine brought her hand up to her eyebrow and pressed down. Yup, it was twitching like crazy. With an exasperated sigh, Celine admitted, “Fine. I did go out by myself last night, but…”
“But?”
“Brian ran into me,” Celine winced.
“Brian ran into you? In New York?” Ruthie shook her head incredulously.
“I’m telling the truth! I was standing in front of where TRL used to be filmed and I just heard him call my name!”
“Wait, you went there? How was it?” Ruthie asked excitedly.
“It was amazing!” Celine answered beaming. She gripped Cash’s gift in her hand as she gestured through the air. “I felt like I should have had a giant poster or something. It was surreal! Of course it’s an Aeropostale now, but still.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Ruthie commented, dodging a tourist gracefully.
“Anyway,” Celine continued in a serious tone, “I was standing in front of the building and I heard my name. It ends up Brian was in town for business. End of story.”
“End of story?” Ruthie prodded. “Is that why he was walking you out of the conference today?”
Celine groaned and hunched over. Her lightweight cardigan fluttered under her arms making her feel even meeker and smaller. “Fine, we had dinner okay? And he took me to karaoke.”
“Wait, karaoke? You?” Ruthie laughed.
“I may have been a bit intoxicated,” Celine admitted.
Ruthie immediately stopped walking. “Intoxicated?” Her eyes bugged out and she shook her head disapprovingly. “Celine! Please tell me you didn’t do something you regret.”
Celine’s jaw almost hit the ground. She didn’t know whether to feel hurt or angry, but what she did feel was appalled. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d do that!” she hissed. “The only reason we went out was so I could overcome my anxiety about public speaking. Brian thought karaoke was a good fix.” She shook her head once again in annoyance. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d do something so…wrong.”
Ruthie bowed her head in shame. “I know you wouldn’t ever hurt Noah. I guess I just felt really distant from you lately.”
“So you automatically assumed I’d do something so vile?” She shook her head in a huff and began walking forward. Ruthie ran to keep up with her.
“Tell me this then; have you told Noah that you spent so much time with Brian last night?” Ruthie took Celine’s silence as a no. Ruthie let a puff of air out of her nostrils. “I figured as much.”