Their Tale

Proud

The sound of a high-pitched scream of fright rings through the house. Angel looks at me with panic in his eyes when we rush upstairs to the origin of the scream. Rushing into the bedroom with fear coursing through us we are met with Celeste stands unharmed with her phone on in her hand and tears brimming in her eyes "Celeste, you screamed." Quickly we rush to her, Angel in silence as his hands skim over her as though he was making sure all of her was okay.

Her focus on the phone is quickly taken away by our bombard of space "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Innocents in each word of apology taking all the anger he felt at the worry she gave Angel away from him and calming me "Why did you scream then? I thought you were hurt."

Shaking her head franticly she explains the reason for a scream that was not out of fear but excitement and joy "I am having my own exhibition and auction, my art alone. My own show." A tear runs down her face, my hand raising to brush it away as I smile at the achievement she had earned "Oh Celeste, I am so proud of you."

Wrapping my arms around her in a hug she holds me taking a breath to process the news when she lets me go, catching the eye of Angel who stands still in place. Slowly his hand rises, brushing against her cheek when he brings her in to lay a soft kiss on her forehead "It's about time the world truly appreciates the excellence that is your passion. I am so proud of you mi esmerelda."

With all of the excitement of the news of Celeste's show we go on with our morning in joy and excitement of the upcoming art exhibition. Celeste as always telling us we will need to wait until the day of the show to know what pieces will be on show and auction in the next week. Such a profession tease.

Breakfast goes on when Angels phone rings and his face goes into an expression of confusion before he answers it "Drew, is everything okay. Am I missing a meeting?" He asks checking his watch. The mumbling of drew responding is all that we hear as Angel continues the call "What does he mean, I told him we won't do it." Surprise grows when he rushes of his chair "I am on my way, don't let Meadows out of your sight."

Ending the call Angel rushes to get his keys "Is everything okay?" Celeste askes handing him his bag. Her question is met with Angel stopping his movement before taking a long look at both of us. He looked annoyed, frustrated but more than that he looked lost in what to answer with "I don't know."

With gentle kisses he rushes out of the door, my only worry that Meadows was the cause of Angels unrest. So much so that he would look so lost "Evita, what do you know about this Meadows man?" Quickly I turn my attention to Celeste after hearing her odd question.

I take a seat next to her by the island, thoughts of how to describe the man going along with Celeste's odd curiosity in the man "When I worked at Righteous for Black, he used to hire some of us girls for illegal gatherings with the name Pierce. I knew he worked with some powerful people, dealer in drugs, guns some chatter even said he was even in the trafficking ring. I never knew Meadows, just Pierce, it was safer that way."

My words take me back to the days of heavy whiskey and cigars when I was around him. He was disgusting to be around, rude and vile when he drank and ruthless when he never got his way, but there were some stories about him that made him truly vile.

Celeste nods aimlessly at my words when she continues "Did you ever know anything about him personally?" Shaking my head, I sigh at the dark memories that came with the years I spent before Angel and Celeste "Not really, I knew what the girls and the streets knew. I think the most I know was that he had a sick thing for younger girls. He liked the new Base 1 girls; they were always kind of young so he liked them for long nights."

A heavy feeling grows in me at the thought of the stories I was cursed to hear when some of them would come back, but money was money and when you needed it enough, lines began to blur. Lines I even blurred in the hard times.

A warm hand covers mine bringing me from my spiralling thoughts "I'm sorry I asked, I know that life was more than dancing." Her voice so sorrowful but I knew that was not her intention to make me feel what I was "It's okay. Honestly, I don't know much about him now. Odd enough though is he is married to my therapist, and she doesn't seem to know his life in the shadows, or she hides it well."

A look of wonder is still on her face making me bring her hand closer to mine while I trace a pattern on it "Why are you asking about him?" With a heavy sigh she tries to explain to me "I don't know, just the way he looked at me when we were at Angels office. A part of me felt I had seen him before but I can't remember where." Lines of frustration grow on her face at the end of her sentence, like she was trying to connect dots she could not see.

"I hope you never have because he is trouble. If Angel was right about the Nader's bringing bad people in contact with us, Pierce is that example."

The conversation ends but a feeling in me tells me that my hope may not be strong enough for this.