A Wife for Stephen (21 page)

Stephen arrives at Celeste’s door. When she opens it, he
pushes his way in and encounters Thomas who is barking
his head off at Stephen and threatening him.

Stephen says, “Since he didn’t care too much for me
when we met, I think it would be a good idea to put him
away. Unless you wish to see me mauled.”

Celeste is angry at his barging in on her at her home and
issuing orders. She says none to politely, “Perhaps it would
be a better idea if you left, then you wouldn’t have to
worry about being mauled.”

Looking Celeste in the eye with a determination unlike
any that she has ever seen in him before, Stephen says, “I’m
not going anywhere until you have listened to me.” He eyes
Thomas before continuing, “And if that means that Cujo
here gets to gnaw on my leg, then so be it.”

Celeste is taken aback by Stephen’s willingness to risk
defending himself against Thomas to speak to her. Her selfpreservation rushes in all the more. “How dare you march
into my home demanding obedience after what you did last
night?”

“What exactly are you referring to? The only thing I
know is that we were supposed to be spending the day
together, but then you left a voice mail on my phone saying
that we aren’t getting married and that you would be
mailing me back your engagement ring. If you’re going to
end our engagement at least have the guts to do so to my
face and give me an exact reason why. Not some lame
excuse.”

“Fine then. And when we have talked you will leave
without harassing me?”
Stephen feels fear grip his heart as he faces the idea that
after finally waiting this woman out and getting her to
agree to marry him that he might lose her after all. But he
would not give up without a fight. “I will not leave here
until I have exhausted every avenue of coming to some sort
of understanding about whatever it is that you think I have
done to wrong you.”
Celeste stares at him with many emotions chasing one
after the other across her face; fear, hurt, anguish, and love.
It is the latter that gives Stephen hope that all is not yet
lost.
Although
Thomas
initial
intrusion
into
anxiously watching and waiting for Stephen to make even
one false move.
Celeste looks at
Thomas and then back at Stephen
before saying to Thomas, “What a good boy you are,
Thomas. Why don’t you go out back now? Every thing’s
okay.” Thomas turns and makes his way to the kitchen. He
stops just short of the kitchen threshold and turns to look
again at Stephen then Celeste as if he fears that the minute
his back is turned his master will need him.
“Good boy, Thomas. Go in the backyard.”
With the silence that is stretching between Celeste and
Stephen being so intense that it is palatable, you hear
nothing but the sway of the doggy door, which indicates
that Thomas has just completed his orders.
Celeste is the one who breaks the long drawn out silence
by saying, “I don’t know why I am even willing to listen to
you, short of my curiosity.” She feels her anger and pride
has
grown
quiet since Stephen’s
the
house,
he
has
not
stopped
well up within her and snaps at him, “In fact, I’ve changed
my mind. I want you to go, Stephen.” She turns her back
to him so that he won’t see the tears in her eyes that she is
trying furiously but unsuccessfully to blink away.
“I love you, Celeste and I am not going anywhere
because you were meant to be by my side,” he says as he
walks the short distance to stand behind her and places his
hands gently on her shoulders. “If I go anywhere, you will
be with me, and should I ever let you more than an arms
distance away from me you can bet that I will not be far
behind.”
Hearing him utter his declarations of love use to be
music to Celeste’s ears. This is no longer the case since
reading her
morning paper.
His
words
only serve the
purpose of ebbing her flow of tears and igniting her once
cooling anger. She turns to look him in the eye as she
snarls at him, “You say that now but it wasn’t me whom
you wanted by your side last night when you were dancing
it up with that Nadia woman.”
“Yes. I was dancing with Nadia, but she’s not you
Celeste.”
“Of course she isn’t me, and that’s the whole point,
Bucko. You were tested, and you failed, just like Tyrone. I
would think once
bitten
twice
shy,
but
unlike
my
relationship with Tyrone I actually gave my heart to you. I
loved you, and this is how you treat me, by cheating on me
and thoroughly embarrassing and humiliating me.”
“Baby, I have never so much as looked at
another
woman since meeting you.”
“Give me a break, Stephen. The evidence is not even in
black and white but full-blown color. You must think me
either blind or a fool, of which I can assure you, I am
neither. I only pray that the next man that I give my heart
to will give me his in return.”
Stephen can feel Celeste being stripped from him as
painfully as if his very heart is being pulled from his body.
He says, with a determination he does not quite feel, “You
will never give your heart to someone else as long as
I
live
and breathe. You were meant for me and I for you, and
once you let me explain...”
“I don’t need you to explain. I saw, remember?”
“Things aren’t always what they seem, Celeste,” his says
more quietly, trying to calm the storm that is rising between
the two of them. Now that Stephen knows why Celeste is
angry he is certain that once he is given a chance to explain
that she will once again wear his ring, and they can go forth
with their future together. He is also sure that they must
work on the issue of her trusting him. The past can often
hurt a person’s chance for a happy future because they
become withdrawn and extremely suspicious. One thing at
a time, Stephen tells himself.
‘Be anxious for nothing but in
all things submit your supplications unto the lord.’ Dear
Lord, please make my path straight. Give me the words to
soothe her heart.
“You’re right,” Celeste says, “I actually believed you
when you said you loved me. But as for the picture in the
paper, I’m quite sure things are exactly as they seem.”
“Quite sure?” he questions.
“Quite!”
“So when I prove you wrong, I expect you to apologize.
And…” he gently places one finger over her lips when he
hears her take a deep breath in preparation of interrupting
him, “then I expect you to make it up to me by promising
that you will never again make assumptions, but you will
talk to me first. I promise never to lie to you, Celeste, but
for that promise to be worth much you have to promise to
trust me. Relationships do not work without trust. Besides,
jealousy is not a Godly emotion and neither is it becoming.”
Celeste feels thoroughly checked and quite embarrassed
for indeed Stephen is correct. Celeste lowers her head to
stare at her feet.
Knowing that for the first time since he has arrived he
has Celeste’s undivided attention,
Stephen
seizes
the
opportunity and explains, “The girl I was dancing with is
Mario’s youngest sister. She happened to be in San
Francisco for a photo shoot since she schedules her shoots
around her college schedule and she happens to be on
spring break. Mario suddenly came down with flu, and
since we had already paid for the tickets last year we
figured it a shame not to use them, so I asked her to come
along.
“I wasn’t the only one that danced with her that
evening, I just happened to be the one with her in the
newspapers picture.”
Celeste
feels
her
neglected chrysanthemum exposed to the hot desert sun in
August. And as her anger dissipates, her joy rises with the
realization that Stephen had not cheated on her. Indeed he
must be telling the truth, for it would be too easy to verify.
Verify?
Did she really trust him so little that she couldn’t take
his word? How could she marry someone who she did not
trust? How could she value another person’s word over her
intended husband?
Shame in the purist form washes over Celeste like a
heavy rainfall, “I should have trusted you. I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you. But before we move on with the making
up, perhaps you should tell me what has happened in your
life to make you so distrustful.”
Knowing that the time has come to share her deepest
kept secrets, Celeste says, “Maybe we should sit down
first.”
anger
wilting like
a
non-watered,
Stephen follows Celeste to the couch where he waits for
her to sit then takes a seat beside her.
“It all starts with my parents but it far from ends there. I
told you that my parents were divorced because my father
cheated on my mother, but what I didn’t tell you was that
the affair had been going on at least ten years before my
mom came across some evidence. Prior to finding it she
had utterly no clue that anything was amiss. It turned out
that I had a half-brother.
“After that, mom became exceedingly sour regarding
relationships in general. And to this day, she hasn’t dated
that I know of. Being raised by someone who is bitter rubs
off on a child even though, to my mother’s credit, she
never badmouthed my dad. But loving my mother the way I
do, I could feel her pain as sure as if it were my own. That,
coupled with the realization that I had a half-brother, didn’t
help.
“Later in life I did give one relationship a try.”
“Tyrone,” Stephen fills in for her without question.
“Yeah. Things were going along pretty well. He
accepted the fact that I was going to stay… well… no
hanky panky until we were married,” Celeste blushed as
she spoke, unable to meet Stephen’s eyes with her own.
“He proposed, I accepted, and a couple of months after
that he had a business trip to Hawaii. Thinking nothing out
of the ordinary was going on, I drove him to the airport
and wished him a safe trip.
“While he was gone I began to feel… I don’t
know...distant from him. When I could reach him on the
phone he always cut our conversations short, and I felt like
he didn’t have any time for me.
“I passed it off as him having his mind on work, and that
he was just swamped.”
“Well, he was swamped all right. By a woman named
Paula. Apparently, he met her right after he gave me his
ring and they made plans to get away together.
“When he came back I, being none the wiser, thought
that we would just continue on the way we had been. He
quickly set me straight.” Celeste got up from the couch and
walked a few steps away from it and Stephen, keeping her
back to him.
“I was mad. I was absolutely livid. I thought to myself,
‘I guess all men are alike.’ I should have known better.”
Turning to face Stephen she says, “I realized then that I
didn’t genuinely love him. I had just always thought him
safe and trustworthy. At that time, trustworthy was more
important than love.
“But you’ve shown me that I was wrong. One is not
more important than the other. They are both important.
And all men aren’t alike. I know that truly I can have it all
with you.”
Rising from the couch Stephen goes to Celeste and
takes her hands into his own. Rubbing his thumb against
the ring finger of her left hand he feels something missing.
Taking his eyes from her beautiful face he looks down and
discovers that she has removed his ring. “Where is your
ring?” he asks smoothly and determined.
“I took it off and placed it...”
“Go get it,” he commands.
“I will, but first I want to kiss and make up,” Celeste
says as she slips her arms around his neck
Firmly but gently, removing her hands from where she
has placed them, he tsk tsks while shaking his head and
says, “Go get it. Now, Celeste.”
Celeste resides herself to obedience and turns to go
retrieve the ring from where she placed it on her desk.
Returning with the ring to stand in front of him she begins
to place it on her finger.
But Stephen removes it from her hand and tips her chin
to look into her eyes. “Never, and I do mean never, remove
this from your hand again. Do I make myself clear?”
It’s not like Celeste to take orders from anyone, let
alone a man. But knowing that all this is her fault, she
decides it better to accept his soft chastening. “I promise.”
“Speaking of promises, I told you that
when
you
realized that you were wrong that you were going to have
to promise to trust me. How about it?”
“I promise to trust you and should I ever get any crazy
notions, I will speak to you directly about them instead of
running off half-cocked and jumping to conclusions. Now,
may I have my ring back,” Celeste adds feeling light
hearted and playful.
Stephen smiles and gently places the ring where it was
meant to rest for a lifetime. Taking her into his arms they
seal their make up with a kiss.

The wedding will go off without a hitch; at least that is
what Celeste tries to convince herself of. So far, millions of
things have gone wrong, and it’s only 10 am. The flowers
have not yet arrived at the church, the limousine service has
called because they don’t have all five of the white
limousines that she requested, they only have two, and the
reception hall has yet to be cleaned and decorated.

“There must be a way to make everything right,”
Celeste says to herself as she looks at her reflection in the
mirror. Celeste knows the answer lies not in solving the
problem but relying on God to solve them for her. Taking a
deep breath to steady her nerves and her shaking hands, she
prays that God will line all her ducks in a row.

Surely, it is not meant that what is suppose to be the
most momentous day in a woman’s life is going to turn out
to be the most unorganized event in the history of mankind.
No, she chastises herself for falling back on her “stinkin’
thinkin’”. All will go as planned.

“Mom!”
“What is it, Baby?”
“I really need your help.” Celeste runs down the list of