Chapter 22: Left Unspoken

Even hours after he had left her alone to drift off into what he had hoped was a peaceful sleep, his mouth still tingled and an ache throbbed in a place where he would rather keep far away from Celeste. As hard as he tried to put the dangerous sensations to the back of his mind, it was too tempting to resist acting on them.  In fact, several times he reentered his room to check and see if Celeste was actually sleeping, and it was a damn good thing she was because only God knows what indecent thoughts were racking his brain during the night. And submitting to desires of the flesh was definitely not an option.

He could not lose control like that again. Too much was at stake.

Justin abruptly tossed the sheets from his body, “Fuck this.” It was no use trying to go back to sleep now besides he could faintly hear the rustling of sheets and knew that Celeste was awake.

The door opened slightly, but Justin couldn’t see who it was because of his position on the couch. Then he heard the pitter patter of small feet and assumed that it wasn’t Celeste but Tati.

He sat up to see a head of unruly curls. Tati took in her surroundings as if they were foreign to her. What the hell is she looking for?  Justin opened his mouth to say something but thought otherwise when he saw the toddler walking toward him with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Caught red-handed buddy.” At the sound of his voice, she paused in her tracks. 

“Aww man you catch me.” Tati covered her mouth to suppress her loud sigh of disappointment.

“Yes I did. What are you doing up half-pint?”

“No more sleepy for me. I’m wide awake now.” She ran over to him and plopped down on the available space on the couch.

“Can you make some breakfast please? I’m starvin’.”

“Why didn’t you ask your sister? Go wake her ass up.” He shoved her a little, but not hard enough for it to cause her any pain.

“Ooh I’m telling Cee you say bad word.” The three year old rolled her eyes displaying her obvious irritation with him then proceeded to hit him as hard as her little hand could.

“Look here little girl…” He smiled at the child who looked so much like her sister, with her hands on her hips.

“Cee is very very sleepy, she make noises all night.” Tati finished off her explanation with a giggle.

The door suddenly opened, Justin fell back on the sofa before Celeste could see that he was actually awake.

“Tati!” Her voice was frantic with fear until she spotted her sister sitting next to a “sleeping” Justin.

“Um… Tati what are you doing out here? What did I tell you about messing with Justin when he’s sleeping?”

“But-”

“No buts except yours going into the bathroom.” Celeste walked closer to her sister to lift her off the couch and place her on the floor since she appeared to need some assistance.

“Come on Tati.” She grabbed her sister’s hand.

“Cee he not sleeping! He told me to wake ya ass up.” Tati resisted pulling away from her older sister.

At hearing the inappropriate phrase from her sister’s mouth, Celeste abruptly halted her steps. “Tati-”

“I’m sorry I say bad word Cee Cee.” Tati pouted hanging her head.

“It’s okay. Go into the bathroom and wait for me.” Tati did as she said.

“And Justin I know you’re awake.” Celeste said without turning around.

“How long-” Justin’s voice drifted off to a broken whisper when he finally opened his eyes. There before him stood a half dressed Celeste. She still wore those itty-bitty, too short, and too revealing bottoms that looked more like underwear than shorts, which gave him a perfect view of the lush curves of her backside.

“Shit Celeste. What are you doing to me?”

Celeste turned around to glare at him, “Justin please not in front of Tati! She is at the critical age where….”

Everything she was saying was going in one ear and out the other at this point. How did she expect him to listen anyway with the way she was barely dressed besides Tati wasn’t even in the room anyway.

“Bye Celeste. I’m not really listening to whatever shit you gotta say right now.” He dismissed her with a nonchalant wave trying his best not to ogle her.

“Ugh I hate you!” She seethed.

“But you were all over me last night right?” He smiled to conceal his frustration at having said that. What a fool! He wished that Celeste would just leave him the hell alone for a few minutes so he could figure out his problems, or at least have some time to put up his facade.

“Well why did sentimental Justin sleep on the couch instead of in his own bed? What is he so afraid of huh?” The burst of confidence that had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion had resurfaced again.

“You know what that’s a damn good question Celeste. When you find him can you ask him for me?” Justin rose from the couch ready to leave before things got out of hand.  

Celeste narrowed her eyes at him, curiously watching him as the space decreased between them. When he tried to move past her, Celeste moved to block his path.

“Move damnit!” He was clearly irritated by her proximity, but Celeste didn’t make any indication that his irritation had bothered her in any way.

“You still got that scar I left on your lip months ago. It looks a lot better.” She leaned in to examine the bruise more closely.

“Celeste…” His breathless warning told her that he was barely holding onto his willpower. When she allowed the pad of her thumb to stroke the faint scar, Justin almost lost it. When did she become so damn sensual?

Celeste dropped her hand to her side quickly and then cleared her throat, “Want some breakfast?”

“Do you even know what the hell you just did? You have no fucking idea do you Celeste?” He didn’t want to come off as being this hostile with her, but she had left him with no other choice.

“No…I really don’t Justin. Why don’t you do the honors and explain it to me.”  Celeste was trying her best to keep it together for her own sake, but she suddenly felt a chill that wasn’t caused by her lack of clothing.

“Put some damn clothes on first.”

“Why?” Why was he stalling? It wasn’t as if he was trying to protect her feelings, he’d already failed in that department.

“Do you even have to ask?” He didn’t even want to acknowledge her presence anymore out of fear that he would say something that he would later regret.

“Yes I do. I mean what’s wrong with my clothes.” She gave herself a once over. “I’m in the house, why should I change?”

“Because you’re walking around in your fucking underwear!” Justin pushed by her and strolled into his bedroom.

Celeste followed behind him, screaming at the top of lungs, “They’re shorts, not underwear!” Justin replied by slamming the door in her face.

“Justin!” Celeste pounded on the door. “Open the door!” She knocked once more. Again, she was ignored. “Ugh! I hate you.” Sighing frustratingly and gripping the ends of her lengthy hair, Celeste tried again to grasp his attention. “What’s wrong with you? I don’t understand what I did.”

Sensing that her sister was on edge, Tati decided to help. She trotted over, swung her leg back and kicked her small foot against the closed door. “Cee Cee mad at you. Open the door.” She stared up at Celeste when she didn’t receive a response. “He need a beating Cee.”

Though he was pretending to be pissed, Justin laughed at her. They were probably on the other side of that door plotting against him. He figured he would wait to see what they were going to do.

Celeste sent Tati back to the kitchen because she didn’t want her to hear what she was about to say. Despite the fact that Justin had locked her out of the room, she still had some things to discuss with him.

“Justin since yesterday you’ve been snapping at me. I mean was kissing me that bad, huh?” She began chewing on her bottom lip, embarrassed, hoping he wouldn’t actually make a comment. “You know I’m not experienced, not by your usual standards, so I’m pretty sure it sucked.” She tried to laugh about it. “You don’t have to worry about kissing these lips anymore though. It won’t happen again.” After everything she had expressed, she was met with silence. Screw him.

Attempting to keep her dignity in tact, Celeste turned away from the door and proceeded to the kitchen with her head held high. In a matter of seconds, a hand clasped onto her arm as she felt herself being pulled back into the bedroom. “Justin what…” He waved off her questions, tossing a pair of sweatpants into her arms.

“Put these on…please.”

He used his manners sure, however, Celeste decided that she wasn’t going to follow his orders until he apologized or at least told her what his problem was. Therefore, she stood with the pants draped over her arm and a hand on her hip much to Justin’s dismay.

Justin sighed running a hand over his face. Fuck. She was determined to drive him crazy. Yet, she was so naïve, not knowing what her standing in that position, in those clothes, represented. “Celeste stop being hardheaded.”

Celeste realized she wasn’t going to get the apology she deserved. “I’m not the one being hardheaded.” She mumbled, slipping on the pants he offered.

Justin was silently thankful for that. Now, he didn’t have to be so insulting. “Hey, my bad for yelling at you.”

“Yeah whatever.” His apology was useless to her now.

“Celeste!” Justin halted her exit. She whirled around with a glare in her eyes. “Kissing you wasn’t bad at all. You’ll learn with more practice.”

“Are you offering to give me lessons?” She inquired, yet never waited for his answer. “Well, thanks a lot sentimental Justin.”

~*~*~*~

Justin opened his eyes to a room filled with darkness; she was gone. In a blink, he was alone again. He opened his eyes wider to verify that his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

Fuck! “I cannot fucking believe this.” Justin rapidly pulled himself from the couch and into a standing position. On his way to the bedroom, he stubbed his toe on one of Tati’s toys. “Shit!”

When he entered the bedroom, he breathed a sigh of relief to see that the light was on and that there was indeed a figure in the bed, but as he moved closer to the bed the figure became smaller and smaller. In fact, it became so small that he knew that the body belonged to Tati and not Celeste.

“Hey, half-pint wake up.” He shook her until his hand went numb and still no answer. What the fuck? Justin jerked the comforter from her body. What he saw made him fume with rage. The child wasn’t underneath the blanket but a stuffed animal instead.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” His question would go on unanswered.

“I’m gonna kill Celeste. Ugh…she can’t keep doing this shit to me.” He had thought that the two of them had gotten over that little conflict a few hours back, but evidently not because she was not here.

Justin wanted to go after her, but thought the whole idea was ridiculous. He really didn’t see the point in going after her this time…okay well maybe he did. It was something about this time that was irking him very much. Maybe because this time Celeste had taken the toddler with her. Therefore, did that mean that she had left with no intention of ever returning? He hoped that wasn’t the case because he was just starting to enjoy her company as of late.

“Celeste what am I going to do with you.” Justin grabbed his coat off the back of the door as he exited his apartment.

As he stood in the empty hallway, he thought of possible places Celeste could have wandered to, but he was coming up short. Then an idea came to him, he knew just who to ask, know-it-all Ms. Lou.

“One second.” The sound of shuffling followed by Ms. Lou’s voice confirmed that she had some company.

“Uh...hey Ms. Lou.”

A smile settled on her face, “Hi Justin. How can I be of assistance sweetheart?” How did she know that he needed her help?

“How’d ya know?”

Ms. Lou avoided his question and smiled instead, “I know you’re not here to pick up Tati. Not to mention, Celeste appeared to be in a rush when she brought the little one over. You don’t have to tell me what you did hon…” She laid a wrinkled hand against his face.

“Go after her.”

“But I don’t know where she is.” If I did, do you think I would have wasted my time coming over here?

“Yes you do. You’ll find a way. Now go so I can get some sleep.” Ms. Lou pushed him back a step then closed the door in his face.

What? Justin stood on the other side of the door dumbfounded. Well, at least he knew that half-pint was safe with Ms. Lou. However, Ms. Lou’s final words remained in his mind Yes you do. You’ll find a way. The only way he was going to find her was to think like her. Celeste’s naïveté was why they were in this predicament in the first place, so maybe that was the answer he was looking.

On his way out of the apartment building, he spotted Kyle.

“Hey what’s up?” They barely acknowledged each other.

“Nothing…” That’s was a lie, but he wasn’t going to let Kyle know that. As of now, they were on a need to know basis.

Kyle smirked knowingly. “Celeste left again didn’t she?” Did he have ‘Celeste left me’ written across his forehead?

“Yeah she did.”

“What did you do this time?” Why the hell did everyone think he had something to do with Celeste’s disappearance? Well, he did but that was hardly the point.

“I don’t know why she left this time. I mean damn you give the girl a compliment and she disappears. She’s upset over a kiss that we had-”

“Wait a damn minute, you kissed Celeste? How was it?” Kyle was grinning from ear to ear.

“I really haven’t talked to you since you stabbed me in the back. But since you asked nicely, Celeste kissed me not the other way around and---man! I’m supposed to be looking for Celeste and you got me running my mouth.” Justin walked around Kyle and turned right.

“Yo’ Justin” He looked up.

“She went that way, I saw her around Big Mike’s about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Thanks Kyle. And it wasn’t half bad the second time around.”

Kyle watched him disappear down the block. The last thought that crossed his mind was that Justin definitely had his hands full with Celeste.

~*~*~*~

“Thank you very much.” Celeste accepted the change from the cashier. “Have a nice day.” She waved exiting the store.

Celeste glanced at her watch. It was time for her to start heading back to the apartment now. “Justin is going to kill me.” She had quietly slipped out unnoticed a few hours ago and she knew that by now Justin was beyond being worried. But he had nothing to be worried about…well, maybe he did. Of course, he was to blame for her sudden departure, but she did owe him an explanation.

Her first reason for leaving was that she had believed that she wouldn’t have been able to handle being in the same room with him, let alone the same apartment, but what was she so afraid of?

Yes, Justin had blasted her for no apparent reason, except for her lack of clothing, but that gave her no reason to leave unannounced and he hadn’t come outright and said that she was a bad kisser. In fact, more than once he had told her that she wasn’t a bad kisser, so why all the anticipation? Celeste knew the answer, but didn’t want to admit it, not even to herself.

“Ugh…I hate my life.” She fastened the top button on her jean jacket to block out the harsh winds. Thank God, she had worn Justin’s blue hoodie underneath or she would be freezing her ass off.

“Now, which way did I come from?”  Why did she always forget her way back home? That’s because her head was always clouded with thoughts of Justin and this time they were far from disdainful.

Suddenly, a man in the distance caught her attention; he looked oddly familiar. So familiar that he almost resembled her father. Celeste shook the haziness from her gaze. It was impossible; her father was dead. The distance between her and the man decreased as her feet started following behind him on their own. Her hand reached out to tap him…

“There you are!”

Celeste turned around quickly. It was Justin. Justin! What is he doing here? He came to find you, you idiot.

“Hello, Justin.” Celeste displayed a slight smile.

Justin stared at her in disbelief. “Celeste cut the polite bullshit. Let’s go.” He reached for her hand, but Celeste retracted. She turned back to see if the man was still visible, but he was no longer there. Shit!

“What the fuck are you looking for Celeste? Who was that man?”

“Um nobody.”

“Liar, you have a lot of explaining to do.” He was going to let her off the hook for now because obviously she wasn’t paying him that much attention, she hadn’t even reprimanded him for his vulgarity.

“Did you check on Tati before you left?” How dare she act like she went out for a light stroll.

“Yes, I did dear. Why did you leave without telling me?” He followed behind her as they rounded the corner.

“I was going to come back.”

“That’s not what I asked you Celeste. You can tell me the truth, I won’t tell anybody.” He wrapped his arm around her.

“I thought we were on good terms after breakfast and I woke up to find you and half-pint gone. And the doll in the bed was not funny at all. But forget that…” They finally came to a halt, or moreover Justin did, and Celeste crashed into the back of him unable to stop herself in time. Justin glanced down at her feet; heels.

“Justin what the-” Her voice dissolved when it suddenly started raining. “My hair!” Celeste shrieked.

“Come on!” Justin said gruffly over the sudden harsh winds. He began to run before Celeste had fully found her footing, tripping over her own feet while trying to keep up with him.

“W—Wait!” She shouted breathlessly at him, but he continued to pull her along. “You know if I had known it was going to storm…I--I wouldn’t have worn my nice clothes and shoes.”

Justin led her down a deserted street.

“Justin where are we going?”

“This is just the back alley of my apartment building.” He pushed her in front of him as they reached a slow pace. The two of them stood underneath a covered porch-like area to keep from getting wet.

“Why did you come after me again Justin?” She leaned back against the brick wall trying to catch her breath, the freezing atmosphere and sudden strain on her lungs, burning her throat with every breath she took.

Justin turned to her balancing his weight against the wall by his forearms. “I don’t like you out here by yourself. It’s not safe for a girl like you.”

A girl like me? “Justin what do you really think of me?” Keep it together Celeste. She coached herself.

Justin didn’t answer her right away, “This is what I think of you.” He wrapped his hand into her disarrayed, brown curly hair and pulled her head forward as his came down, kissing her hard. His tongue thrust into her mouth without invitation, silencing her yelps of surprise. Celeste grabbed the back of his head, but Justin wasn’t aware if she was trying to push him away or pull him closer. She let him continue without protest, enjoying the kiss even more as the time passed by in slow sweet seconds.

Justin didn’t know what had come over him, maybe it was the unexpected pleasure from that first taste of her last night that still had his mind reeling at this very moment. Whatever it was, desire stirred in him, but he wouldn’t let Celeste know that. It was better for the both of them if they just enjoyed the kiss as is, without any complications.

Celeste had never been so reckless in her life, standing outside in the rain kissing a man in the back alley of his apartment. It was like a scene from a romantic movie, except the fact that she was a naïve young woman.

When Justin moved to lift her off the ground, Celeste, suddenly broke off the kiss. “Too---this is way too much.”

“Hey Justin?” The two of them looked up to see Kyle peering down at them with a wide grin. The intrusion caused them to break apart quickly.

Oh my God! Celeste stared down at her fingers, knowing that Kyle had caught them in the act.

“How is it the third time around?”

Justin licked his lips and smiled,”Great!”