A Wife for Stephen (7 page)

Celeste listens to her Kirk Franklin and Friends worship
album on her way to work. With traffic being minimal she
arrives to work in just twenty-five minute. Torrance, the
city she works in, is not far from the suburban community
of Carson where she lives.

As the doors to the elevator begin to close, the tip of a
shiny black shoe being placed in their way stops them.
When the doors reopen,
Clenton,
her
competition
often remarks to Jenny when speaking of him that he is a
hairs breath short of being a stalker. Every time that she
sees him, he asks when Celeste is going out on a date with
him.

David, being someone that she could never imagine
spending the rest of her life growing old and gray with, she
always answers, ‘Never’. When Celeste isn’t thinking of
him as potential stalker, she thinks that the question is such
a constant between them that he doesn’t even actually want
to date her, he just asks out of sheer habit.

“How are you this morning, Celeste?” begins David.
“Very well, thank you. How about yourself?”
“I’m all right considering...”
“Considering what?”
“Considering the fact that the most beautiful woman I

have ever met won’t
go out with me. But I guess I could
be doing a lot worst.”
Celeste sees that
it
is David
and dogged
pursuer.
Celeste
“You are endless, David,” Celeste says as the elevator

glides to a smooth stop and the doors open facilitating her
exit. Departing, she waves over her shoulder and says,
“Catch you later.”

Arriving at her office she is greeted cheerfully by Jayla.
“Good morning, Boss. How was the concert?”
“Girl, don’t even ask. You wouldn’t believe me if I told

you. Anything new come
up since yesterday?”
“Not a thing. I’ve placed the files on your desk that you
will need for your meetings today.”
“Great. Thanks, Jayla. You are awesome.”
“Hey, no need to thank me. I just want to move up
stairs when you make Vice President.”
Smiling at Jayla’s remark, Celeste proceeds into her
office to get started with her day’s work. After placing her
briefcase on the table beside her desk, Celeste settles in to
glance through the files set atop her desk.
As Celeste is leafing through a file, Jayla buzzes Celeste
over the office speakerphone to inform her that her first
client has arrived. “Send them right in,” Celeste says.
Standing to greet her newly arrived visitors, Celeste
kicks her mind into work mode.

Stephen walks into the dance studio that
Class One
uses
to rehearse and finds that he is the last member to arrive.
That shouldn’t surprise him considering that it was hard to
get back to sleep after having a dream in which he and
Celeste got married. Once he did fall back to sleep, he
ended up
over
sleeping.

Waking to
find himself
feeling tired,
sluggish,
and
rushed, he showered as quickly as possible, grabbed a
muffin that his cook had baked, gulped it down with a glass
of orange juice, and headed out the door.

Despite the fact that he was a few minutes late for this
morning’s rehearsal, the guys are able to rehearse without a
hitch. Their choreographer even showed them a couple of
new moves which they will start using on the European
tour that will begin in a couple of weeks.

Going abroad is usually something to which Stephen
looks forward. This time though, he isn’t excited about it.
Something that Mario catches on to during the meeting
that the group has after the rehearsal. “So what’s the deal?”
asks Mario when everyone else has left the room.

“What do you mean?”
“I mean the fact that you seemed a little out of it while
we were discussing the European chapter of our world
tour.”
“Just a little confused is all.”
“About what?”
“About life, and the choices we make. I don’t think you
would understand.”
“Try me.”
“It’s about Celeste but not
all
about her.” Stephen
pauses and takes a deep breath to gather his thoughts
before speaking again, “I’ve got some real direction in my
life these days. Not like before, talking about tour dates or
when the next album’s gonna drop, but life direction. I
know what I want to do when my contract is up next year.
I’ve already started the ball rolling on some of my plans. I
know I want a family, a wife, kids and such. And I have a
deep-rooted feeling in me like I have never had before that
the woman I am supposed to marry is Celeste. Only, she’s
not cooperating.
“It only leaves me to wonder if maybe some of the plans
I have made are not God’s plans for me. I know that I talk
to God and that I am getting much better at listening to
Him and His will for my life. I also know that even with
excellent communication between the Almighty and myself,
there are some plans that He just will not reveal to me until
His due time. And that is where one needs to muster up
faith and stay the course.
“Stay the course,” he whispers to himself with
conviction.
Saying with the finality of one who has come to a
decision of the heart, Stephen continues, “That’s what I
need to do. Unless God says otherwise, I will stay the
course.”
Looking
directly
at
Mario,
Stephen
says
gratefully, “Thanks, Mario. I really appreciate you being a
sounding board. That’s just what I needed.” Giving Mario
a pound, Stephen nods his head and then turns to leave the
room.
Mario is left in the wake wondering, ‘What just
happened?’

All Celeste’s morning meetings
go smoothly without a
single hitch, and Celeste is reminded by the growling of her
stomach that it is time for lunch. Buzzing Jayla’s desk
phone, Celeste waits for Jayla to pick up. When she does,
Celeste says, “How about we go get some lunch. You
free?”

“Sure. Is it a working lunch, should I
bring my note
pad?”
“No work. Just food.” Celeste
gives
her
best
impersonation of a cave man, “Me hungry.”
“All right.”
As Celeste retrieves her wallet from her brief case, she
pads across her office to go to lunch with Jayla
“So where should we go? Dave’s or Country house?”
Celeste asks Jayla as they take the elevator to the first
floor.
“I don’t know. You pick.” says Jayla.
“Hmm, I pick Dave’s. You got your walking shoes on?
It’s such a marvelous day I feel like getting some fresh air.
Jayla simply points down at her feet with her oversized
purse strung over her shoulder. Jayla giggles as she sees the
look of surprise on Celeste’s face when Celeste notices that
Jayla is wearing a brand new pair of Nike running shoes.
“So you bought a new pair of running shoes, hmm?”
“I thought about getting a pair of walking shoes, but I
figured if I really wanted to keep up with you then running
shoes would be the only way to go.”
Arriving at one of their favorite luncheon spots, they are
greeted by the regular lunch host. Requesting a table for
two, they are led toward the back of the restaurant and
seated in a large booth.
Celeste is grateful for the friendship that she has found
in Jayla. At first, Celeste was worried that it would be hard
to
be
friends
with someone
who
is
your
subordinate,
worried that it would affect her employee’s ability to stay
on top of her job and not begin to slack off just because she
had become friends with the boss. But her fears were put to
rest as Jayla, over the course of the past couple of years,
has continued to do an exemplary job as a secretary whilst
the two of them have become friends.
Jayla had the ability to tackle tough assignments, work
long hours when it was requested of her while never once
slacking or shirking any of her responsibilities. No doubt,
this could only be contributed to the fact that Jayla was a
Christian. She believed in good, hard, and honest work.
After ordering one of her usual meals, Philly steak and
cheese sandwich with a side order of fries and a vanilla
shake, Celeste excuses herself to go to the rest room.
Returning to the table, Jayla and Celeste begin to shoot the
breeze and talk about Jayla’s boyfriend Rodney. Jayla has
been hoping for some time that Rodney will propose but is
beginning to feel discontent with the lengthy time he is
taking. “I know that he loves me,” says Jayla, “I just can’t
figure out what’s taking him so long to pop the question?”
“Maybe he just needs a little more time, Jayla. He’ll get
around to it, don’t fret.”
“Deep down, I know you’re right. It’s just reassuring to
hear you say it. You have very good intuition when it
comes to men. I remember when you told me to dump
Charles because you got the impression that he was the
cheating type, only to find out two days later that he was
making a play for someone else.”
“I try to go with the first impression I have. Usually it’s
right on the money. Although, I must confess that I have
been wrong on more than one occasion,” admits Celeste.
Just at that moment, inspiration strikes Celeste, and she
thinks of an ad campaign for the fragrance company that
has recently approached Vines and Robert’s about doing a
work up for a new fragrance they were putting on the
market in early November.
“Jayla,” Celeste asks, “Did you bring your note pad?”
“Of course.”
“Great! Jot this down for me, will yah?”
Jayla reaches into her oversized handbag and retrieves a
spiral note pad and pen while saying with a smile, “And you
wonder why I carry such a bag with me when I’m with
you.”
Celeste begins to randomly dictate her ideas about a
campaign that will involve a series of commercials entailing
a woman’s intuition about men. It will entail several men
flirting with her, trying to ask her out and such, but she will
turn them all down. After her rejection, the commercial will
need to cleverly show why she turned them down and why
they were
unworthy of her
attentions.
The series will
culminate
with
her
finding her
ideal
man
and match,
knowing instantly that he is the one for her. They will wed
at the end of the campaign.
Just as Celeste comes to the end of her dictation, their
food arrives. With the arrival of their food, the talking goes
to a minimum as they both begin to hungrily devour their
food choices. After finishing their meal, Celeste pays the
bill, thanking the waiter for excellent service and tipping
him generously.
The walk back to the office, with the gentle afternoon
breeze
coming in
off
of
the
ocean,
is
soothing and
comforting, like a caress from God’s hand. The ladies walk
in companionable silence as Celeste continues to mull over
ideas for the campaign.
Entering their office, Jayla says, “I’m going to go to the
rest room then I’ll pick up the messages. After I transcribe
the notes from short to long hand, I’ll bring them in to
you.”
“OK.” Settling back into her black leather office chair,
with her feet crossed on her desk, Celeste closes her eyes
to
allow
her
mind to
visualize
the
commercials
more
vividly. Thinking out loud, as she usually does when she is
deep in thought, Celeste says, “The campaign goes hand in
hand with the name of the fragrance, ‘Intuition’. And with
what the director of the company has in mind, ‘a woman
who is smart, savvy, sexy, and independent, yet soft, and
alluring’. In short, an all-around diva.
Instead of a typical Paris, France, setting, although that
would add a romantic appeal, I want the footage to be shot
on US soil, so that the target audience, women ages 21 to
32 will be able to imagine themselves as the woman in the
commercial.
After
pitching the
idea
upstairs
and getting their
approval, we will need to begin holding auditions so that
the series will be under way by the scheduled time. I’ll need
to talk to the director and find out how many ads they
would like there to be in the series. I personally think it
should culminate two weeks before Christmas.”
Looking at her desk calendar she turns to the pages for
the month of November “With the ad breaking mid-week
the first week of November that leaves approximately six
weeks of ads. I think we should run each new ad for two
weeks with them overlapping each other by a week. So I
figure
six
ads
total.
Shot
in
different
parts
of
town.
Different approaches from men. Different classes of men.
And as a grand finale, we will launch with the Monday
night movie special, a mini series of commercial. All six will
play back to back. Now I will need to get on the phone to
the local network and find out if they have slot openings
available for such a feat.”
A knock on the door brings Celeste back to the present
time. “Here are the notes from lunch and the messages,”
says Jayla as she places the papers on Celeste’s desk.
“That was fast.”
“It’s been about 45 minutes,” says Jayla as she looks at
Celeste with a confused glance.
“Has it really? I’ve been thinking more about the new ad
campaign. I’m really excited about it. I must have lost track
of time. Thanks, Jayla.”
When Jayla exits Celeste office, Celeste looks briefly at
the messages before making notations on how Jayla should
return calls and then placing them in her out box on the
corner of her desk. Returning her thoughts to the new ad
campaign, she begins to incorporate her initial thoughts
from lunch with the vivid pictures of her mind.
Outlining the scenario for each individual commercial,
Celeste decides to take a walk to the art department to
discuss the new ad with Harry, a brilliant artist and ad
visionary.
“I’ll be back, Jayla,” Celeste announces as she emerges
from her office. “I’m going to see Harry.”
“OK.”
A few short minutes later, Celeste is standing on the
thresh hold of Henry’s office door knocking.
“Come in,” Celeste hears Harry say through the door.
“Hey, Harry,” Celeste says with a wide smile upon
entering Harry’s office.
“Celeste, my favorite advertiser. How are you? I haven’t
seen you around lately.”
“I’m blessed Harry. No complaints from me.”
“That’s great. So what can I do for you?” Harry asks.
“I’m working on the fragrance ad for Holsen Inc. I
wanted to come and discuss with you my ideas for an ad
campaign
that
will
run
like
a mini-series.” Explaining
thoroughly the image she has in mind for each commercial,
Celeste’s enthusiasm grows with each sentence she speaks.
When she is finished explaining her vision to Harry, he is
in awe. “I have never heard of such an idea. But if anyone
can pull it off, it’s you. So what do you need me to do?”
“I’m going to research next to get them to look for
location suggestions. What I need from you is a graphic
designed setting for each commercial so that I can have
something to show the board when I approach them with
this. You think you can come up with something for me by
next week?” Celeste asks.
“Well I guess there’s no rush. Of course I can. But it
will cost you.
Big time
.”
“What do you say to dinner at Le Chef’s if the big boys
accept my proposal?”
“You’re on. I’ll run rough drafts by you on Wednesday
to make sure I’m on your page,” says Harry.
“Awesome, Harry. I knew you could do it.” Exiting
Henry’s office, Celeste calls over her shoulder, “See you on
Wednesday then.”
After visiting the research office to get them started on
location
hunting,
Celeste
heads
back
to
collect
her
belongings.
Entering the outer office, Celeste notices that Jayla is
not at her desk. Celeste finds Jayla in her office placing
messages on her desk. “Anyone important call while I was
away?” asks, Celeste.
“No, just Jenny and some guy named Stephen. I wrote
his
number
on
the
message.
Who
is
he?
He
sounds
handsome.”
“He is,” Celeste says. Before catching herself, none too
quickly, the comment escapes her lips before she even
thinks about what she was saying.
“You sly thing you! You’ve been holding out on me.
How dare you not tell me you met someone!?!”
“Well I wouldn’t really call it meeting someone. I barely
know him. I just met him at the concert with Jenny last
night. And then after letting Jenny talk me in to going to
the after party, I ran into him again at the club. I don’t
think nothing will come of it though. I don’t trust him.”
“But you said he was handsome,” Jayla continues.
“Yeah, so. That doesn’t mean that I trust him.”
“No, but it means that you’re attracted to him. Or at
least you were at some point.”
“So?”
“Do you remember what I was telling you today at
lunch? Your instincts are right on Celeste. You have to go
with them.”
“Being right one time doesn’t mean that I have good
instincts.”
“All right then. Suite yourself. Well it’s quitting time.
Are we leaving on time or working late?” asks Jayla,
sounding slightly put off by Celeste.
“No need to work late this evening. It is Friday after all.
You go on home and have a good weekend. I’ll see you on
Monday.”
“Alrighty then, Boss. You have a good weekend too.”
Exiting the inner office door, Jayla pauses on the threshold
and looks over her shoulder at Celeste. “And give Stephen
a call,” she says and then immediately closes the door
shutting off any comment that Celeste would have made.
As Celeste sits at
her
desk pondering the last
few
minutes that she has spent talking to Jayla, she wonders if
she should call Stephen. Do I have good instincts? If I do,
then are my instincts trying to warn me to stay away from
him or is there some other reason that I don’t want to call
him?
Before long, Celeste finds her head spinning with never
ending questions. I would call Jenny and ask her opinion,
thinks Celeste, but I have a feeling I already know what
she’s going to say. She’ll tell me to go for it, cast caution
to the wind and have a good time. But then again, perhaps
Stephen might have said or done something after I left the
club to show the true jerk that he is, and that would put all
questions out of my mind.