Chapter Four: New Additions

It seemed Celeste had barely gotten home when her mobile rang.  Caller ID showed an unfamiliar number, also a mobile. 
"Hello" Celeste answered.
"Hi. (pause)  Celeste? (another pause) It's Mack."
"What?!" it came out shrilly.  The shock causing Celeste to forget her manners.
"Umm.  Yeah.  Listen, I just wanted to talk to you."
"Wait.  How did you get my number?"
"It was in the phone book."
"No it's not.  I haven't been here a year yet. So it couldn't be."
"Damn." the curse was barely audible, muttered under the breath. "Well, I spoke to Justin.  You know; from the thrift store?  He has you on his records."
"What are you, some kind of stalker?" Celeste was incredulous.  She wondered briefly if she should just hang up.
"No." Mack stammered "Mm, I see how this might look.  It's just that I really wanted to talk to you; after the whole incident at the park."
"You told me you had a girlfriend" Celeste replied, horrified.  What was going on?
"I do. Blaise and I have known each other like forever." Mack trailed off  "Twinbrook's a really small town and I know you're new here." Mack seemed to be regaining his confidence.  His voice was more steady.  "Just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean that I can't have friends.  I know the thing at the park was awkward.  I wanted to call and apologise.  'Cause I'd like to get to know you (pause) as a friend I mean."
"This is too weird.  Besides, I thought I was the one with the big mouth."
"Just think about it?  Like I said, it's a little town.  I'm sure I'll see you around."
Celeste cringed slightly at the thought.  How bad would it be the next time she saw him in the street? "Mmm" she responded in a non-committal tone.
"I'm going to go now; okay?"
"OK"
"Bye"
"Bye" Celeste said with a slight tinge of regret and hung up.

 

Celeste was distracted the rest of the afternoon.  Time passed in a blur.  One thing Celeste was certain of; she was going to kill Justin for giving out her number.  He was supposed to be a professional.  She thought he was her friend.  She was in her nightshirt, scrubbing the bench more forcefully than necessary as she vented her sense of betrayal and outrage.  And who did Mack think he was, running straight to him for her number like that?  Ringing bold as brass.  'He could have friends' huh.  Celeste huffed.  An inner voice asked if she wasn't being a bit childish, she wasn't exactly in high school anymore.  Men and women socialised.  Maybe he just wanted to apologise for embarrassing her.  Small town, being diplomatic about others feelings was fairly important.  The internal argument came around full circle.  It was still too much that he'd tracked down her number like that and just how did he know she'd be in Justin's records anyway?  Celeste went to bed unsatisfied and confused.

For the next several weeks, Celeste forgot about Mack Lively.  Justin made it up to her when he surprised her with a tiny border collie named Angel. A local farmer had pups and had asked Justin to help find homes for them.  At first, Celeste thought this was a hare-brained scheme. She wasn't even sure if she'd be allowed a pet.   However, it turned out that the advantage of having such an old and ill-kept rental was that the landlord didn't much mind.

 

Celeste took Angel for walks up to the junkyard.  The puppy loved to run and sometimes it was a tough job to be fast enough to scoop her up when it was time to go home.  Treats helped.  Bribery is fair game with animals.  Often enough, Celeste would find some interesting bit or another which she would leave by the gate until Angel was back on her leash.

Celeste set up a workbench in the basement.  She would spend hours working her pieces of scrap.  Once he'd seen a few of her finished pieces, Justin agreed to try to sell them for her.

Angel woke Celeste up early each morning.  Soon a routine began to emerge.  Angel would bark for food, which would startle Celeste awake.  Normally this would earn the puppy an impassioned growl, after which Celeste would turn on the lamp and make the bed.  After fixing them both breakfast Celeste would brush her teeth, change into an old top and apron, then descend the stairs to spend some time at her workbench.  Once she was too tired or uninspired to continue working, Celeste would come back upstairs, check on Angel and then take a shower.  In the afternoons she would either deliver her latest pieces to Justin or head to the junkyard to collect more scrap.

It was October and Celeste was hollowing out a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern when there was a knock at her door.