A Wife for Stephen (5 page)

So many things have happened in the brief few hours
since Celeste had picked up Jenny from her home to attend
the concert with her. Now not being the time to dissect
each event in turn, she sets her mind to the task at hand of
navigating through the streets of Hollywood to the 101
freeway to get home.

This
time
of
night,
well
morning Celeste
mentally
corrects herself, there shouldn’t be too much traffic. If she
makes good time she should be home within forty-five
minutes, considering it’s mostly freeway from the club to
her house.

The drive home, just as Celeste had expected, is a
remarkably easy ride. She finds herself able to take some of
the
concentration
off
of
the
freeway
to
ponder
over
tonight’s events. He wants to marry me!
Yeah right,
Celeste murmurs sarcastically to herself. She can’t believe
that Stephen would outright lie to her face. But since she
doesn’t know him from Adam, she doesn’t know what he is
capable of.

Celeste has met many men in her life, and a fair share of
dogs as well, but not once had one of them had the gall to
look her in the face and out and out lie to her. That’s not
completely accurate, she catches herself up short; dogs are
faithful and loving. They don’t poop where they eat and
lay. Also, Celeste must take into account the other things
Stephen said to her about his faith in God and his desires
for himself being the desires that God has given him.

Any man who can speak with such conviction must have
strong ties to the Heavenly Father. Celeste realizes at that
moment that there is a war going on inside of her head, a
war to discern fact from fallacy. Only, at this moment, she
is unable to decipher which is which.

“I know who knows the answers
though,” Celeste
confirms to herself. “When I get home I will call Him up
and see what the deal is.”

Watching Celeste drive away is the hardest thing that
Stephen has had to do in a long time. Feelings of confusion
begin to engulf him. Remembering that God has placed him
on a firm foundation reassures him that all is well. He
recalls a scripture that has gotten him through many of
tough situations; ‘All things work together for the good of
those who love the Lord and who are called according to
His purpose.’

Stephen does not purport to know everything, or even
most things, but one thing he is sure of is his relationship
with Christ and that God takes care of His own.

As Stephen walks back into the club and through the
throng of dancers, he sees Jenny and Mario huddled close
together on the dance floor. Not wanting to interrupt, he
decides to wait for them at the table.

After a few more songs the couple makes their way to
Stephen’s table to join him. Stephen waits patiently for
Mario
to
get
Jenny
situated before
entering into
a
conversation
in
which
he
intends
to
gain
as
much
knowledge as possible about Celeste Brooks.

The conversation is a friendly one in which Jenny is
telling Mario about her career. Apparently Jenny is the
owner and proprietor of a beauty salon and has a faithful
clientele. Stephen is afforded the opportunity to find out
more about Celeste when Jenny starts to talk about her
childhood with Celeste.

Stephen asks.
“Yes, since junior high school.”
“But, you two seem to be so different from each other.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that we’re all that different. She is

my best friend after all.”
“I just mean that while you chose to stay, she, on the
other hand, couldn’t get out of here fast enough. I must
admit, I am perplexed. I’ve never been shunned by a
woman before,” Stephen confesses.
“Don’t take it personal. Sometimes life’s experiences
can make us rough around the edges, but if anyone would
dare to nudge just a little bit closer, he would soon find out
how warm the heart is.”
“Since we’re being honest, I don’t mind telling you that
I would really like to get to know Celeste better, but she
shut me down.”
“She didn’t actually shut you down. It was more like she
was shutting down the opportunity.”
“Opportunity?” Stephen asks in bewilderment.
“No offense, but is he always this slow or did he
just
get
off the short yellow bus?” she says to Mario before
continuing to speak to Stephen directly, “I’ve already said
much more than I should have.” Jenny pauses for a second
before saying; “I will say one more thing, though. Celeste is
a
special
woman.
Stay
close
but
not
too
close.
Be
persistent but not too persistent, and you’ll find out what I
mean.”
“I don’t even have a way of getting in touch with her.”
“I can remedy that. Give me your cell,” Jenny
commands. When Stephen hands it to Jenny, she inputs
Celeste’s home and cell number. “Give her a call, and I
mean soon. If you wait too long, she won’t take you
seriously.”
“Thanks Jenny,” Stephen says as he takes his phone
back from Jenny’s hand. “Good looking out.”
“Oh, I’m not looking out for you. I’m looking out for
Celeste. Now, I will warn you. If you hurt her, you’ll
answer to me,” Jenny says with a glint of determination in
her eyes so fierce that Stephen thinks to himself that Jenny
is not a woman to tangle with.
“I won’t, Jenny. I give you my word,” Stephen vows.
“
That’s
what I wanted to hear,” she says before turning
her attention and bright smile back to Mario.
A few more minutes of light
conversation
goes by
before Stephen decided to excuse himself and give the
couple some time to themselves. Rising from his chair he
says, “Well, I’m gonna get going, Mario. I’ll catch you at
the studio in the morning.”
“Cool man. Drive safely,” Mario says as he rises from
his chair and gives Stephen a pound.
“And it was a pleasure meeting you Jenny. I’m sure I’ll
be seeing you again,” says Stephen as he shakes Jenny’s
slender hand.
The first thing Stephen does after he gets into his car is
to pull his cell phone from his coat breast pocket. After
pulling up the number that Jenny has put into his phone,
presses the send button and places the phone to his ear,
listening to the ringing. He is not surprised that there is no
answer. He leaves a message on her machine, feeling quite
unsettled.
Just as Celeste expected, the drive home was less than
45 minutes. As she pulls her car into the garage, she thanks
God that she has made it home safely and is looking
forward to getting into her comfy bed and getting a good
night’s rest.
Walking into her living room and turning on the side
table lamp, she sets her keys on the end table by the door in
the marbled bowl where she usually places them. Hearing
her arrival, Thomas rises from his padded doggy bed and
makes his way across the taupe colored carpet to greet her.
Celeste keeps a very tidy and uncluttered home. The
taupe wall color is a mirror image of the wall-to-wall plush
carpeting. The gold colored frame of the wall mirror that
hangs
above
the
large
couch
in colors
of rich green,
burgundy, and earth tones, is an eye catcher that draws one
to the gold toned angels that adorn the wall to either side
of the wall mirror.
Throughout Celeste’s
entertaining
rooms,
there
are
many gold tone decorations from the candle holders which
set atop her dining room table which flanks her living
room,
to
the
streaks
of
gold which
run
through
the
mirrored wall of her dining room. The wall mirror is clearly
of early seventies, but Celeste had not the heart to change
it, so instead, made it the theme of the rooms.
Kneeling down she sticks her face close to his and
allows him to lick her hello. After greeting her, Thomas
turns on his back. With lying on the floor, he offers Celeste
a furry belly to rub.
Faithfulness
, Celeste thinks to herself. This is what she
wants most in the man she marries. Celeste never wants to
go through what her mother went through when Claudine
discovered that
her husband of 15 years had not only
cheated on her with another woman but had fathered a
child as a result of the affair.
The taste of bitterness that permeates Celeste’s mouth is
indigestible. Shaking her head, she pushes those thoughts
away. Many times she has had to do the same thing. When,
she wonders, will these awful feelings stop haunting her?
When will she get over the hurt and sting of betrayal to get
on with her own life?
Maybe I’ll talk with the Pastor about it after church on
Sunday, Celeste thinks. This being the wee hours of Friday
morning, she will only have two days to wait.
“I guess I can wait two days, considering I have been
dealing with it for thirteen years now. At twenty-five,
Celeste has already had more than her fair share of hurt and
disappointment in life. While going down the hallway with
Thomas close on her heels, she recalls her reasons for being
so cynical at such a young age. Her father’s adultery, which
led to the demise of the family life she had once known, is
first on the list.
To make matters even worse, the child that her father
had made out of wedlock is just three years younger than
herself. Celeste’s father had kept his indiscretion well
hidden for about 10 years before her mother happened to
stumble
across
some
medical
bills
while
gathering
information
for
the
filing of
that
year’s
taxes,
which
Claudine questioned William about.
At first, dad had tried to lie. But seeing that her mother
was being persistent, he confessed to having a seven-yearold daughter by another woman. The medical bills had been
from a time when his other daughter had split her scalp
open while playing on a playground somewhere.
Devastated by her father’s transgressions, Claudine had
immediately packed what she could in Celeste’s and her
suitcases and left with a thirteen-year-old Celeste in tow.
William had maintained that nothing was going on between
himself and the other woman, and that he sought only to do
right by his child in the way of financial support. But it was
too
late.
The
damage,
having already been
done,
his
request to reconcile the torn shreds of his family had fallen
on Claudine’s deaf ears.
After the demise of her family, Celeste just fumbled
awkwardly through life. The only solace she had found
came through books. She engulfed herself in the written
word, seeking to learn all she could in middle school then
high school.
It was in her senior year that she had discovered she had
a talent and a flair for advertising. Celeste would joke
around with her only friend she had let get close to her,
Jenny, while dissecting television commercials when they
came on.
Celeste would comment on which she thought were
good and what made them good. The ones that she didn’t
think were good, she would transform them in her mind,
and as she developed a talent for pencil drawing, she would
sketch her ideas. Celeste was extremely meticulous about
details, which is what has gotten her so far in her career as
an advertising executive at
Vines and Robert’s
.
Becoming the
first
female
executive
has
not
been
enough for Celeste. She desires to be the first female
partner of
Vines and Robert’s
. If she can manage to bring
in just a few more prominent accounts, that ought to be
enough to put over the top.
She
snaps
on the
bed table lamp
to
illuminate
her
bedroom with a soft light as she walks in. It takes just a
few minutes to change into her favorite pajamas of navy
blue satin with white trim. The gift her mother had given
her just this past Christmas.
Christmas.
Over the past year, Celeste has been slowly
discovering the true meaning of the precious immaculate
birth of her Lord and Savior. She had always thought of it
as a day for the giving and receiving of gifts. That was
before
she
had been
watching television
one
Sunday
morning. Flipping slowly through the channels and not
finding anything of interest, she paused on a station where
a preacher was talking about the promises of God. He went
into detail about the blessings God has in store for His
beloved children. The blessings of an abundant and fruitful
life. The protections that He affords those who seek shelter
in Him.
The message literally had Celeste on the edge of her
seat, hanging on every word that he spoke. As the preacher
moved to the blessings that God had in store for those who
were called by His name and had accepted Jesus as their
Lord and Savior,
she
heard the preacher
exclaim and
expound upon the beauty of Heaven. “Just think,” the
preacher said, “not only do we miss the lake of fire, but we
get to live with Jesus forever. Amen?”
As the congregation replied a hearty, “Amen,” in
response, Celeste felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips.
To quote the preacher, Celeste heard that, “You must be
born again to enter into Heaven, God’s rest.” Celeste’s
smile dropped from her face. She found herself, for the first
time in her life, wondering where she would go when she
died. She had always assumed that she would be going to
Heaven since she was a good person.
“Are you born again?” the preacher
asked, looking
around the audience. “Have you accepted Jesus as your
personal Lord and Savior? Have you made the decision to
follow in His footsteps?” he paused at that moment to let
the brevity of his words sink in.
Hearing these questions posed, Celeste had to face that
fact that she could only answer, ‘No,’ would that mean that
she couldn’t go to Heaven? According to the preacher, that
is exactly what it meant.
But I don’t want to go to hell, a voice cried out from
within
her.
I
want
to
go
to
heaven.
But
how,
she
wondered.
“Well, if you haven’t accepted Jesus, it’s not too late.
The Bible teaches us that now is the acceptable time.
Because, people, time is not promised to any man. If you
would like a relationship with Jesus Christ, all you have to
do is ask Him.
He’s waiting for you to ask,” the preacher exclaimed.
“He says unto you, ‘Ask and ye shall receive, knock and
the door shall be opened.’ Will you invite Him in today?
Will you share your life with Him and allow Him make
your life sweeter? Will you allow Him to give you a new
purpose in life, His purpose? And in return, He will give
you eternal life.”
Celeste had tears streaming down her cheeks. When the
preacher invited those who wanted salvation through Jesus
Christ to pray with them, Celeste joined in the prayer. At
the end of prayer, as she said, “Amen,” Celeste felt as
though a tremendous burden that she had not even known
she was carrying had been lifted from her shoulders. The
thought of everlasting life with Christ brought a smile of
thanksgiving to her lips and put a new spring to her step.
Going into
the
office
on
Monday,
everyone
had
remarked that there was something different about her.
Although they couldn’t quite put their finger on it, they
knew there was a change. A few people asked if she had
done something different with her hair while others asked if
she were wearing a new outfit. Celeste just replied, ‘No,’
while smiling at them with her head tilted to the side
waiting for them to pin point the change in her life.
Finally, when they weren’t able to figure it out, “I found
Jesus!” she blurted out.
Taken aback and not knowing what to say, James said
sarcastically, “Really! I didn’t know that He was missing.”
And just like that he walked away.
That
comment
had taken quite a bit
of wind from
Celeste’s proverbial sails but had not taken her newfound
joy in the Lord. She just turned away with her head held
high, from others who had been eyeing their exchange with
quite a bit of interest, and continued on into her office.
After closing her office door behind her, Celeste set her
briefcase on her desk and proceeded to remove her blazer
while pushing thoughts of the exchange from her mind.
Glancing briefly through the itinerary that Jayla, her faithful
secretary, had placed on her desk every morning without
fail, she made a mental note that on her lunch break, she
would go out and buy herself a Bible. And on Sunday she
would attend church.
Since she hadn’t been to church since being a little girl
and didn’t know where to begin, she decided she would
look in the yellow pages. She would start with the closest
church to her home and go to a different one each week
until she found one she wanted to join.
That settled, she felt an excitement come over her, the
excitement of an adventure that she was very much looking
forward to embarking on. Settling in at her desk, Celeste
began to focus on her work.
That was a little over a year ago. Celeste had been
blessed in finding a church home in the second church that
she had visited. Upon walking in the doors of the old
steeple sanctuary, she was greeted by a most wonderfully
pleasant older woman who handed her a program and said
how happy she was that Celeste was visiting with them.
Finding an empty seat on a pew towards the middle of
the sanctuary, Celeste had placed her newly purchased
bible on the seat next to her and surveyed her surroundings.
The pews were covered in a burgundy colored fabric,