ONE AND THE SAME
“JUSTIN MILANO. ALL the way from Barton College in San Diego. He’s home to spend Thanksgiving with his family.”
“And so he came here?” Celeste whispered.
Justin stood and shook her limp hand. “Hey, it’s really nice to meet you finally. You were on the school’s contact list, so I just gave a call earlier; but you weren’t here, so I talked to your mom for a while. I mentioned your fishy teacher, Mr. Gil and how he’d gone to Barton, and she said how awesome Mr. Gil is, and then she said that you were out, but that I should come on over anyway. Hope you don’t mind?” He then tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and lifted up and down on his toes. “I told your mother about how much Barton was interested in your attending, and how we’d emailed a bunch, and your mom had lots of questions about the school.” Justin took a quick breath. “This is a great area you guys live in. I love Cambridge and used to walk up and down by the river and explore all the old houses on the side streets. Really charming houses with such style. Did Celeste tell you that I’m an architecture major? I guess I’ve always been interested in buildings. I love it all. Doors, eaves, porches, roofs. It’s the little things, not just the main structure of a house. The character, the feel.” He swayed side to side. “Oh, so, anyway, it’s nice to finally meet you. I said that already, didn’t I? Sorry.”
“That’s perfectly all right. I’m going to open some sparkling water. Would you like some, Justin?” Erin asked.
“That would be very nice, thank you.”
“Celeste? For you also? Why don’t you sit down with Justin? Dinner should be ready soon, and then perhaps you can tell us about your day.”
“Yes,” Matt piped in excitedly. “We’d love to hear about your day.”
Celeste swallowed hard and then sat down next to Justin. Who was gorgeous. The weight of her family’s stares could not be ignored. Whether they came solely from her outrageous look or because she was sitting next to a boy, she wasn’t sure. Both were humiliating. She looked straight ahead and focused on the boiling pot of water on the stove. “My parents and brother are a bit taken aback by my appearance right now.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I guess this isn’t exactly what I thought you’d be like, but it’s certainly a striking statement. Really, I mean, the hair is wild.”
“I am returning from an audition,” she explained.
Matt snickered. “An audition for something legal or illegal?”
She glared at him. “Legal, of course. A local band was looking for new talent, so I performed to the best of my abilities.”
“I didn’t realize that you sang,” Roger said. He, too, seemed on the verge of giggling, yet Celeste found nothing funny about this situation. “How did this audition go?”
“Very well. The band is most interested in having me join as the lead singer, but I have to evaluate my commitments.”
“Really?” Erin handed glasses with water and lime slices to Justin and her. “You know, I used to sing with a small ensemble in college.”
Matt nearly jumped out of his seat. “Mother-daughter duets tonight, I beg of you!”
“Shut up,” Celeste snapped.
“Just an idea, just an idea.” He waved his hands innocently.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” Erin said. “Homemade spinach pasta with pesto. Green beans on the side. And salad. I’m trying out a theory that monochromatic meals deliver a certain pleasurable sensory experience. Roger and Matt, would you help me while Celeste entertains her guest? And, Justin, I look forward to hearing more about Barton. I admit I know very little, although I do know that it has a remarkable reputation. One of those schools that I believe is undeservedly under the radar. We’re so happy you’re here.”
The open kitchen allowed her family a perfect view of the loveseat while they finished cooking. She sat stiffly and stared straight ahead as she tried to identify a way out of all of this.
Justin leaned in and spoke softly. “I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind, but your parents invited me to stay for dinner. I don’t have to if this is too weird.”
The top of his arm touched hers. Celeste’s entire body felt flush. She had no idea why. It must be the embarrassment of being caught in this ludicrous getup. It was possible that she might now overheat in this vinyl catsuit and simply dissolve into nothing right in front of him. It was not a totally undesirable concept.
This situation was unfair. She’d had no warning whatsoever that she would be meeting the person she had been emailing and with whom she had been exchanging snowy owls. The plan had been… Well, there hadn’t exactly been a plan per se, but she certainly had never intended to find herself face to face with Justin. Nor with the boy who got down on one knee for her. Nor that those two would turn out to be one and the same person.
And now he was staying for dinner, and she was dressed in a highly inappropriate manner.
“We are overjoyed to have you as our dinner companion,” Celeste said. “If you would please excuse me, however, for a few moments so that I might change into more fitting dinner attire? Well, or less fitting. Looser, you see. Proper attire is what I mean. I appreciate your understanding.”
“Of course.”
Celeste tried to stand, but her body was nearly crippled by the catsuit material that fought her attempts to get up from her sunken position on the loveseat. She tried using her hands to push off, again to no avail.
Without saying a word, Justin moved from his seat and took her by the hands, smoothly pulling her to stand. There were only inches between them, and Celeste could not bring herself to look him in the eye. In her boots, she was a bit taller than him, so she looked down and found herself gazing at his shoulder. And the way his simple T-shirt fell over his chest. He was on the thin side and had an average build, without the bulging muscles or tattoos she’d just read about in Dallas’s romance book, but she found his physique to be entirely flawless.
“Wow,” he said slowly. “Wow.”
She did not know what he meant by this, but she didn’t get time to wonder for long, because the step to the side that she took to put distance between them caused her to stumble. Justin’s arms were under hers before she even got close to hitting the ground.
Well, there. Now her humiliation was complete. Yes, perhaps vomiting or something else having to do with body fluids could take this one step further, so she should perhaps be thankful for the little saving graces. At least now she had something to say at the Thanksgiving table tomorrow when they listed what they were grateful for. Wonderful.
“You okay?” he asked as he lifted her back onto her feet.
This time, she couldn’t stop herself from looking up at him.
“I am,” she said breathlessly. “Thank you.”
She waited for him to drop his arms, but he didn’t, even as she trembled. “I know you… I remember,” he said.
Neither of them moved.
A shattering plate sounded loudly, immediately followed by the hiss of water boiling over onto the stove.
“Roger! The pasta!” Erin yelled. “And, Matthew, please clean up that dish that you dropped. What is wrong with you two? Snap out of it.”
Witnesses, Celeste remembered. There were witnesses to whatever strange occurrence had just transpired. “I… I must change outfits now. I shall be back soon.”
She made it to the hall and out of sight without incident, for which she was grateful. Her boots came off after ample tugging, and only then did she attempt the flight of stairs to her room. Stripping off the catsuit took a few minutes, but it felt heavenly to be out of that horrid thing. She didn’t have time to shower, so the silly neon red hair would have to stay. Putting on a hat would just make it look as though she was trying to hide the color. Plus, Celeste was not the Fedora or cowboy hat—or any hat—sort of a girl. A low ponytail at the nape of her neck would have to do. Loose jeans and a taupe open cardigan over a plain shirt helped her mood slightly, although she was still noticeably shaky.
“Stop it,” she ordered herself. This silly physiological reaction was unnecessary. So what if he knew that she was the girl who curtsied to his bow? So what if she’d enjoyed his debonair performance outside Border Cafe? She would salvage this situation by simply going downstairs, pretending that her hair was back to normal, and conduct herself like the smart young woman that she was. He was a Barton College student liaison here to inform her and her family about the school and encourage her to apply. That’s all. She would listen and nod. Then she would never have to see him again, and this entire fiasco could be put in the past.
After dinner, she would thank him for staying to eat a monochromatic meal with them, make it very clear that there was no need to continue communication because she was not going to apply to Barton, and then she would send him on his way before things got even more out of hand. And she would never walk down Church Street past Border Cafe again.
For some reason, the idea of eliminating Justin from her world made her sad, but she was resigned that it needed to happen.