Chapter 2: What Are They Doing Down There?
“Celia, please calm down, you don’t understand!” Randy cried. He was gesturing wildly with hands, frantically preparing to explain a senseless situation.
Celia just stood there, holding her head in shock.
“What can I possibly not understand?” Celia shrieked back.
Georgina looked at her with her green eyes stretched wide with fear. She hastily buttoned up her blouse.
“I told you that she tends to go crazy,” she remarked under her breath as she looked at Randy.
“You are the one who is psychotic enough to drug people and then lead them into a stranger’s cabin,” Celia countered in an icy tone.
She was not sure how she had arrived in the stranger’s cabin, but she did not care if she was exaggerating. She just might be right. Right now, Georgina seemed to be capable of anything.
Georgina, who had finished putting her clothes and hair in order, quickly declared, “I’m going to leave here before things get out of hand.”
“Oh, no—you don’t just walk off and pretend that everything is alright,” Celia responded, grabbing Georgina’s hand to pull her back roughly.
“Wait!” Randy exclaimed as he pulled at Celia’s arm. “We can’t do things in this way. Let’s try to calm down.”
Celia dropped Georgina’s hand so abruptly that the girl almost lost her balance.
She then turned around and gave Randy a resounding slap on the cheek before removing her engagement ring and hurling it at him.
“Did you think that I was going to be married to you like a fool while the two of you carried on behind my back for ages?” she cried. “When did all this start?” she asked furiously.
“Just try and be rational,” Randy pleaded.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Celia shouted.
“Don’t be so emotional and unrealistic,” Randy responded with a stunned expression on his face.
“Randy you are the one who is in trouble here,” Celia responded. “And your girlfriend here is not doing anything to help.”
“We need to be calm about this, because we have to consider our parents as well,” he explained in a lowered tone of voice.
“You should go and explain your actions to them, because I am done with you,” Celia shot out.
“I think I will leave the two of you alone,” Georgina rushed out before walking off with quick strides.
“Our friendship has come to an ugly end,” Celia remarked as she stared after Georgina. She shook her head in disgust.
“It all depends on how you want to look at things,” Randy said with a serious expression on his face.
“Excuse me?” Celia retorted. ”I don’t think that I even recognize you anymore. You must have been doing this all along—making a fool out of me and thinking that you can just talk your way out of it as if it is a business transaction.”
“You have to realize that you could be wrong,” Randy insisted.
“There is your ring,” Celia responded, pointing at the ring where it lay on the carpet. ”I hope you find someone more gullible than me to take it.”
Then she walked away.
***
For the remainder of the cruise, Celia kept to herself. She spent her time trying not to think about her so-called friends, focusing on her dreams for her career.
When she got home, Celia’s mother and brother were eager to hear about the trip, but she pretended to be too tired to talk.
“Don’t forget about family movie night this evening,” her mother called behind her as Celia walked down the hallway in the direction of her bedroom.
She had forgotten about their once-a-month family tradition of watching films together and eating popcorn. The thought gave her a pang: Georgina had been a part of this tradition for years as well, because she had been like Celia’s sister.
Just as they were sitting down for the first movie, the doorbell rang.
When she opened the door, Celia could not believe her eyes: Georgina was standing there with a broad smile.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Celia exclaimed.
“Hi, Celia! I am just coming for movie night, as planned,” Georgina responded with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
“Don’t think that you can pretend things are normal in front of my family!” Celia shouted over Georgina’s head. “Such audacity! Go and spend the night with Randy!”
Celia shut the door in Georgina’s face. When she turned around, her family was staring at her.
“What on earth was that all about?” Celia’s mother asked in shock. “Why are you girls fighting? You and Georgina have always been like sisters....”
“I don’t want to talk about it now, Mom,” Celia responded quietly.
“You have to answer your mother when she asks you a question,” Celia’s father remarked in a stern tone of voice.
“Georgina is not a friend or a sister to me,” Celia responded, her voice trembling with emotion. “She betrayed me in the worst way,
“What did she do to you?” Gilbert, her brother, asked.
“It’s so bad that I cannot talk about it now,” Celia replied. “Let’s just watch the movie and forget about all this.”
“Yes, but Georgina also wanted to be here,” Celia’s mother remarked with a concerned frown.
“She can’t because she stole my fiancé!” Celia yelled out at the top of her voice. “Because of her, I—I ended my engagement!”
“You WHAT?” Celia’s father roared.
“She stole your fiancé?” her mother repeated. “Are you sure that this is not just some big misunderstanding?”
“Don’t bother with her,” Celia’s father remarked waspishly. “She never wants to see someone else’s point of view.”
“What? Are you even trying to see my point of view?” Celia asked with an indignant expression on her face as she faced them straight on. “You’re my family!”
“Your point of view might be wrong,” her father said. “You are too worked up to think clearly. Walk us through it.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Celia muttered.
“You are the one who is acting like a spoiled brat right now,” her father shot back with a furious expression on his face. “We have always taught you how to be kind to others, but now you don’t even give your friend a chance to explain.”
“What does she have to explain when I caught her in the act?” Celia retorted.
“You might have misinterpreted what you saw,” her mother cut in. “We know Randy. We know his parents so well. They’re good people.”
“You really care so much for him that you won’t even consider the fact that he could be a cheat!?” Celia retorted with a hurt expression on her face. She tried hard to hold back her tears. “I cannot sacrifice my dignity for the sake of Randy’s parents.”
“You seem to forget that we are business partners with his parents,” her father added in an angry tone.
“Has it all been about the business connections?” she asked. “Is that why you encouraged me and Randy all this time?”
“You are acting so selfish right now,” her father responded angrily. “You should call Randy over so that we can talk with both of you. You can’t end things with him.”
“You know what—let’s just talk about this tomorrow,” Celia said finally. “We’re just not seeing eye to eye.”
“We are not done talking to you!” her father shouted after her, but she would not turn back to listen to them all any further. She walked up the stairs to her room without another word.
“I told you she was very spoiled,” she heard her father remark before she closed her bedroom door behind her.
So much for family.
At that moment, she wanted to leave everything behind. Her parents, her brother, Georgina, Randy.
Celia had planned on continuing her studies locally to be near Randy. Now, though, her plans were shifting in her head, and a new vision of her future clicked into place.
She would go to New York City. It was the best place to pursue her dreams as a jewelry designer. She could ditch every trace of her old life and become someone entirely new.
“I will achieve my dreams,” she told herself. “And I’ll do it on my own.”
***
New York City was a totally different place. The overwhelming sounds and sights that bombarded her morning to night drowned out the painful memories.
Celia enrolled for studies at a college and booked herself into a students’ residence. Everything was going well until she began to suffer from bouts of nausea and dizziness.
When indigestion medication did not work out, she had to face the possibility she’d been dreading. She went to the corner store and purchased an at-home pregnancy test.