A Wife for Stephen (20 page)

After dinner, when they have time alone, Celeste wraps
her arms around Stephen’s waste. Looking him square into
the eye she said, “I love you more than I can express.”

Stephen’s only response is to kiss her with all the love
that he has for her. When he finally let her go for some air,
he says, “Pastor Hinkley says that he can meet with us
before you leave this week if that is alright with you. He
seems to think that we won’t need as many meetings as he
usually suggests for intended couples.”

Two days later the two of them sit in Pastor Hinkley’s
office, and they discuss the questions he had given them at
their last meeting. Their assignment was to write down
their answers to the individual questions and bring them to
the next meeting so that they could discuss them.

The questions are about the obvious things; where they
would live, who would take care of the finances, how many
children they would have, and how long would they wait
before having kids.
The only questions that Celeste had
not been expecting were the ones that seemed to be more
psychological than logical.

They are asked questions about issues regarding trust
and honesty. Celeste knows that you can’t possibly have a
successful
marriage
without
those
two
things,
but
something still bugs her about the questions.

When
pastor
asks
her
for
her
responses
to
those
questions, she finds out why. Apparently she has an issue
with giving trust. She, in herself, is extremely trust worthy
but finds it hard to trust someone whom she feels has not
proven themselves. This, Celeste already knew, but what
she hadn’t considered was by what standards was she
gauging whether or not someone had proven themselves to
be trustworthy.

Celeste has always had the nagging feeling that it would
be imperative that she put her mistrusting feeling of her
father behind her, but she hadn’t grasped the concept fully.

“What we never want to do, Celeste, is
measure
someone by someone else’s shortcomings.
What
your
father
did to
your mother and ultimately to you, was
wrong, but you have to forgive and let it go,” Pastor gently
encourages Celeste.

“God can
heal that pain and help you to get over it, but
you have to ask Him. All you have to do is ask. And each
time you find yourself falling into that old habit of mistrust,
just remind yourself that God has healed you from those
old scars, and then you keep going.”

By the time they leave
Pastor Hinkley’s office, Celeste
has a new resolve that she will turn these hurtful memories
over to God and let Him deal with them. She will even call
her father and tell him that she forgives him, something she
has never before even considered. In fact, to her father, she
had never even mentioned his infidelity. She had just acted
like it hadn’t happened.

And Stephen, being most supportive, promises that he
will pray with her and for her until she feels strong again.
When
Celeste
boards
her
plane
to
return
to
Los
Angeles, she has solid plans to put into effect. She will
begin
by
calling her
father
when
she
gets
home
this
evening.

Taking care of Thomas is Celeste’s first priority upon
entering the
house.
But
once
this
is
done,
Celeste,
determined to stick with the plan she has come up with on
the plane ride home, reaches for the phone and calls her
father. Her hands are sweaty and even shaking slightly as
the words she had planned to speak fly through her mind at
a rapid pace.

But she will do it, for the sake of starting out fresh with
Stephen; she will make the call. She will speak feelings she
had never shared with anyone; she will bare her soul to her
father.

Celeste’s father cries. He cries to know that Celeste has
been carrying around hurt, pain, and rejection from the
breakup of their family.

“I am so sorry, Baby. I hadn’t
been thinking. If I would
have
known
how you felt
I
would have
had this
conversation with you years ago. I never meant to cause
you any pain, and you were never far from my heart or my
thoughts. I love you, Sweetie, and I will always love you.
Please say that you forgive me?”

After disconnecting the call, Celeste dabs the tears from
her eyes and again picks up the receiver, this time to call
Stephen.

The smell of spring is poignant in the air with the
blooming of day lilies, chrysanthemums, and tulips. Celeste
can’t help but stand in awe of the beautiful colors that God
has created for enjoyment. Over the past three months, she
and Stephen have been together every single moment that
he could spare.

Celeste’s assignments at Vine’s and Robert’s have
drastically slowed with the announcement of her departure
from the firm. Of course she could understand why they
wouldn’t assign too many cases to her considering that she
might not be around to fulfill them if something were to
occur that prolonged the filming or technical aspects, as is
often the case in ad campaigns.

With the amount of time they have been able to spend
together
and complete
their
marriage
counseling with
Pastor Hinkley, here it is the middle of March and they
have already made every arrangement for their wedding,
which is due to take place the second Saturday in May.
Truly their union is already off to a great start. And true to
his word, Stephen has not once been neglectful of Celeste.
And after this week that he is spending with his family in
Philadelphia, he will be coming to California.

Next Saturday Stephen is scheduled to attend a fund
raiser to benefit underprivileged children in San Francisco,
CA. Unfortunately, Celeste won’t be able to attend with
Stephen since he and Mario purchased their dinner tickets a
year ago immediately following the same event.

Stephen arrives at Mario’s hotel room door so that they
can leave for the annual fundraiser. After knocking, instead
of the door being opened by Mario, it is opened by Nadia,
Mario’s baby sister.

Although not quite a baby any more, that is still how
Stephen thinks of her since he has known her since she was
in diapers. “Hey, Nadia. I didn’t know you were going to
be in town the same weekend we were.” Entering and
closing the door behind himself, Stephen asks, “Where’s
Mario?”

“He’s in the bathroom. He’s been in and out of there all
day. I don’t think he’ll be able to go tonight. He’s really
sick.”

“I am not,” objects Mario as he enters the living
room.
“I just need some ginger ale to settle my stomach, and then
I’ll be ready to go.”

“You tried that two hours ago
, and you’re still puking
your guts out.”
Completely unfazed by Nadia’s attempt at a motherly
tone of voice, Mario frowns at Nadia and says, “Hey,
watch your mouth, Lil' Sis.”
Knowing that Mario doesn’t
like
to
hear
her
use
improper speech, Nadia gives Stephen a wink and says to
Mario, “My bad. You want me to get you a drink or
what?”
When Nadia goes off to get his ginger ale, Mario takes a
seat on the sofa and puts his leather loafer clad feet on the
coffee table. “What’s the matter?” Stephen finally gets a
chance to ask.
“I’ve got a touch of the flu. I haven’t been able to keep
anything down all day.”
“Maybe you should stay here tonight.”
Nadia returns with Mario’s drink and adds her opinion
into the mix, “I think so too.”
“I don’t want to leave Stephen at the table by himself.”
“Please. Stephen is a big boy. I am quite sure he can
take care of himself,” says Nadia.
“I don’t doubt it, but would you like to sit at a table
with people you don’t know, discussing who knows what
for endless hours?” Mario directs the question to Nadia.
“Well then, I’ll take your place, and he won’t have to be
bored to death by the rich and snobby.”
“That’s a good idea,” says Mario.
Stephen looks Nadia up and down and teases her by
saying, “You aren’t going anywhere with me dressed like
that.” He adds insult to injury by pointing down to her feet
where she is wearing an extremely well-worn pair of tennis
shoes.
“Like I would really go out in public dressed like this.
My room is just one story down. If you give me half an
hour, I’ll be ready to go.”
“Make it twenty minutes and you have a deal.”
“Cool,” she says before quickly heading to the door.
Over her shoulder she calls back, “I’ll be back in twenty.”
True to her word, Nadia is knocking on Mario’s hotel
door in twenty minutes and is dressed to the nines in a silk
emerald green dress with matching pumps and handbag.
Looking just the fashion model that she is. At five feet ten
inches in her bare feet, she looks him eye to eye wearing
heals.
In the car on their way to the fundraiser, Stephen asks
Nadia how she came to be in San Francisco the same
weekend as himself and Mario.
“Although I usually have a few photo shoots lined up
for the Easter break week, it is purely coincidence that it
happened to be where you both are. It’s a good thing too
or else you would have no one to save you from boredom,”
she says. They both laugh.
Because of Nadia’s quickness in getting ready, they
arrive only fashionably late. The curb where the limo is
dropping them at is lined with red carpet and a doorman
waits to open the door for them to exit the vehicle.
Photographers are lined and packed like sardines in a
can along either side of the red carpet and snapping photos
rapidly. Instantly upon their exit from the limousine, both
Stephen and Nadia put on their public smiles as Nadia
holds tightly to Stephen’s arm to keep herself from falling.
The
rapid succession
of
flashes
going off
makes
it
incredibly hard for them to see, but experience has brought
Stephen to know that all he has to do is put one foot in
front of the other, and he will soon make it into the dimness
of the building.
After entering, they find their table and take their seats.
The
waiter
introduces
himself and offers
to
get
them
something to drink.
The night passes with a surprisingly good chicken dinner
and pleasant conversation with the other table guest. When
a song is played that Nadia says is her favorite, which
Nadia says every song is her favorite, she exclaims, “Oh,
we just have to dance to this song.”
Stephen has always considered Nadia just as much a
sister as his own blood sisters. How can he refuse? As he is
skillfully
guiding
her
around
the
dance
floor,
a
photographer who is paid by the organization, snaps a few
photos of them on the dance floor.
The organization which plans and runs each fund raiser
tries to get as much publicity as possible out of each event,
knowing that it will help with future fund raisers.
After their dance, Stephen says, “What do you say we
leave now? I have an early morning, I have to fly to Los
Angeles.”
“That’s right.
Your
fiancé
lives
in
Los
Angeles.
Congratulations. Yeah, I’m ready to leave as well. I have a
photo shoot scheduled for ten in the morning.”
Stephen escorts Nadia to her hotel room door and gives
her a hug and a peck on the cheek just as he usually does.
When she is safely in her room, and he hears her click the
lock into place, he turns on his heels and heads for his own
room.
A smile is on his lips as his heart is filled with thanks
giving for all the many wonderful blessings that the Lord
had bestowed upon him. Next month he is marrying the
woman of his dreams, and they will set about starting their
lives and futures together.

On Sunday morning when Celeste wakes up, she fills her
favorite mug with water and sets it in the microwave so
that she can make tea. Her fuzzy bear slippers adorn her
feet as she makes her way to her front porch to pick up the
morning paper.

Thomas, who had been out in the back yard, comes in
via his doggy door and nudges her leg with his nose.
“Good morning, Thomas. Did you sleep well last
night?” Celeste carefully regards her beloved pooch and
bends down a little closer aligning her face with his own
and say, “We need to talk, Thomas. How about over
breakfast?”
Celeste gives his head one more affectionate pat before
fixing his breakfast and setting out clean water for him to
drink. When Thomas begins digging in gleefully, Celeste
begins talking. “We’re going to be moving. I’m getting
married to a wonderful man named Stephen. For security
reasons we don’t think we should continue living here. Not
that we don’t live in a safe neighborhood, but we need
something that allows us more privacy. Now, with my
marriage, you’ll have to get used to living with someone
else besides me.
“That doesn’t change the fact that I love you oodles, but
it does mean that you’ll have to share me. I’m sure that
won’t be a problem. I’m sure he’s going to love you as
much as I do and in the end, it will mean that you have
more people to play with than just me.
“And when we have kids, then you’ll have someone
smaller than you to watch over.”
Knowing that it won’t be too much longer before
Stephen arrives for them to go to church, she washes her
hands and retrieves her steaming mug from the microwave.
After making her tea just as she likes it, she sits at her
breakfast
table
and opens
the
paper.
She
chokes
and
sputters over her first sip of tea which, although is hot, is
not the cause of her choking episode. At the bottom of the
front page, in full-blown color, is a picture of Stephen at
the charity event that he attended just last night.
But in the picture, he is not alone, he is dancing with
some model named Nadia. She reads the caption below the
picture
Stephen Haule as seen in this picture, attended last
night’s gala and was captured dancing with fashion model
Nadia
.
Celeste can’t even bring herself to read the article she is
so heart broken. A pain, which she never thought she
would have to endure, rises from her gut with volcanic
force and brings stinging tears to her eyes.
She opens her mouth to speak, to utter a question, but
no
words
are
forth coming.
Instead,
she cries out
as
unchecked tears streak down her cheeks. Celeste buries her
face in her hands and walks numbly back to her bedroom
where she lies down on her bed and weeps with bitter
agony.
It has happened to her again, someone who claimed to
love her yet they lied to her has left her bereft and drifting.
But this time it hurts on a deep and personal level. When
her father had cheated on her mom, Celeste had felt her
father’s departure from their home, but she had known that
the insult had not been directed at her.
Tyrone, truth be told, had not broken her heart for he
had not had the power to do so since she had not entrusted
him with it. His lies and betrayal had only enabled her to
cocoon herself within a wall of protection that she felt was
necessary to guard herself against the agonies of loving and
losing.
But Stephen… Stephen had been the man that with his
patience had been able to slowly but surely chip away at
her stronghold. He had done so with patience and with
what Celeste had believed with her whole heart to be love.
Celeste suddenly sits up from the bed as questions flood
her mind faster than the speed of light. Where was Mario
while Stephen was dancing with this Nadia chick? Is she
some exgirlfriend of Stephen’s? Had there honestly not
been a way to get a ticket for Celeste? Or, had Stephen
known that Nadia would be there and wanted to meet up
with her without inconvenient Celeste hanging around?
Is it Tyrone all over again? No. Tyrone had claimed his
reasons for cheating on Celeste had been purely sexual. He
had wanted what Celeste was unwilling to give, so he
sought comfort in the arms of another woman.
Stephen had not once tried to sleep with Celeste. On the
other hand, Celeste thinks to herself, rising from the bed
and angrily wiping at her tear stained face, perhaps he
knew that Celeste would never agree to sleep with him
outside of marriage, so he too had sought comfort in the
arms of another woman.
“No. Whatever may be going on with this Nadia
woman, I am positive that he is not sleeping with her. No
matter how uncertain I am right now at where he stands
with me. I know where he stands with God. I know that he
would not violate God’s commandment for sexual purity.”
Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I must break it off.
And I’ll do it now before I have to see him. Celeste goes to
her bedroom phone and picks it up to punch in Stephen’s
cell phone number. She instead gets his voice mail. “No
time like the present, I always say.”
“Stephen, I’ve seen the morning paper, and there is no
longer a need for you to come to church with me to meet
my pastor since we won’t be getting married. I’ll send the
ring to your mother’s house.
“Please don’t come by for it will only make things more
difficult and messier than they need be. Good Bye.”
Celeste’s hand shakes as she replaces the receiver. Her
breath is coming in gasps, and her heart is beating like a
drum, heavy in her chest. Although ending an engagement
by phone is terribly tacky, she figures she owes him no
amount of decorum since he was the one out with another
woman last night.
Celeste makes her way down the hall and rounds the
corner to her desk. From her desk drawer she pulls out a
sheet of paper intending to compose a letter to Stephen’s
mother. But how can she? The words just won’t come.
Instead, she takes her engagement ring from her finger and
lays it on top of the paper and hurries to her bathroom to
get dressed. She wants to be out of the house before
Stephen arrives at her front door.
Looking at the clock, she figures she has an hour before
he is expected to arrive. Celeste determines she’ll only use
half of that time to ensure that she is out of the house well
before he arrives.
As Stephen is riding down the 405 freeway tapping his
fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song he is
listening to, he decides to call Celeste and let her know that
he took an earlier flight this morning, and therefore, she
could expect him earlier.
Picking up his cell phone from the passenger seat he
turns it
on only to
have it
turn off immediately after
informing him that his battery is low. No problem. He pulls
out his mobile charger and proceeds to plug the unit into
the in dash socket.
When he turns his phone on, he sees that he has a new
message. Stephen navigates to his visual voice mail, and he
sees that the message is from Celeste. Celeste’s voice
resounds in his ears and he can detect that she is extremely
tense or upset about something. He prays that it’s nothing
too serious.
Morning paper…
No need to come to church…
Not getting married…
Not getting married?
I’ll send the ring to your mother’s house…
Please don’t come by…
The nothing too serious he had been praying about has
turned out to be something rather tumultuous to Stephen.
“Not in this life time, my dearest Celeste.” Stephen
maintains his control of the vehicle and his temper for the
remaining fifteen miles it takes to pull off the freeway and
drive to Celeste’s house. He doesn’t know what’s going
on, but he is sure about to get to the bottom of it.