Written in the Stars

Chapter Eleven

Celeste had been looking forward to this night all week. She and Jean were finally going to have some peace and quiet and be able to go out and paint the town red. Probably not literally.

They were going to their favourite restaurant and Celeste was determined not to speak of what had been going on. It was their night to just relax and forget their worries. Or at least that had been the plan. Her plan. Apparently not Jeans. He had not disclosed his plan to Celeste and she had assumed that her plan would be the one they would follow, or that they would have the same plan. Which they usually did. So maybe this was both of their faults and they both should have discussed more than where they were going to eat and should have perhaps laid out some ground rules before going out. But hindsight is a beautiful thing and Celeste was now crying in the guest room. Her sister hadn't even come to comfort her and she knew that she was definitely in the wrong. It didn't make what she had to do any less painful.

They had started out the - what would quickly progress into an awful - evening and neither of them were acting any differently. If anything it was like when they had first fallen in love and this was no longer routine. Jean had attempted to undress Celeste and move to the end of the date before it had even started and Celeste had had to convince them both that they had reservations that they couldn't miss. She wished she had just let him fast forward. They for sure would not be crying in different rooms. Well, Celeste wouldn't. She didn't know about Jean, but she couldn't hear him crying.

They arrived at the restaurant after spending the entire journey gazing into each others eyes where possible. They decided to take the tube so they could take in the city in the evening. It felt like neither of them had been able to do so in what seemed like eons. They had not enjoyed the simplicity of being together and just peacefully taking each other in.

It took about thirty minutes to get to the restaurant. They had spent a lot of the time in silence, just people watching and letting the city go by them. They arrived in time for their reservation and were promptly seated. They had deliberately chosen somewhere they had no influence over. Unfortunately there was someone who knew them and their reputation on the staff so that did get them slightly better service than every one else.

Their meal was spectacular. It was everything they had imagined and better. It was only the conversation that ruined it. It was about half way through the night that Izabela was brought up. That was what truly soured the mood. Celeste had never known that just someones name could ruin an evening - well that wasn't strictly true. She had known that. She just hadn't wanted to think it true of Izabela. She was her sire after all, even if she had killed her entire family, including herself and also burned her home to the ground essentially destroying generations of memories and legacy. But that was in the past and neither here nor there. But Jean didn't seem to agree and was insistent on bringing it up every time Celeste even attempted to say something that wasn't bad about Izabela. Even if it was just neutral. She wasn't allowed to say it. It seemed unnecessarily harsh.

Celeste tried to fight Jean on this but he was adamant. She was only allowed to say what he viewed as the truth. And like many, his truth was not hers and was not the whole story. At least not as Celeste saw it. And in her defence she did have the most up to date information on Izabela as she was the last person to speak to her. That she was aware of.

Jean had always lived by the motto, "What Celeste doesn't know can't hurt her." And on this occasion it was coming back to bite him in the ass. She was unaware that Jean had been to speak with Izabela and see if a deal might be made. He wanted her out of their lives before any more harm could come to them. He felt as if the collapse and destruction of the cavern was a foreshadowing of their lives over the next however long Izabela decided to stay in London. He was not exactly ecstatic over what had been said between him and Izabela, but at least he knew it would never get back to Celeste. At least from Izabela's side. He had to admit, that, in a weird, twisted way, she really did just want what was best for Celeste. And he hated that. He hated it so much. He hated that she could only see her as something to be used for her own gain, but also something to be protected at all costs. He hated that she only saw her as a tool, as a thing, as something to be used for her own gain. As something. Rather than someone.