AN: Now it's time that I fully switch from Odette to Celeste because she left that identity back in Paris. So Odette = Celeste Martin or Este for short.
Thank you for all of your reviews. I know many of you were a little upset about how Henri seemed to be taking advantage of her, and maybe it was my fault too that I didn't go into the details of all of the agreement (I'm not good with the legal stuff but generally the deal was that if she donated everything to him but for some reason did end up bothering her again he would be obligated to pay the whole sum back), but I think this chapter will bring some clarity and I think she was just done with him - other things, pregnancy included, taking priority over superficial matters such as money.
Celeste let out a deep exhale of relief as they stepped out of their Uber in front of Jess' apartment building, the slight drizzle of one of the cooler days of early July feeling like a fresh breath of air. She had been reluctant to wait any longer and asked for Logan's help to pay off her settlement for the time being until she signed the sales contract of her house, which was happening any day now, so she could leave Paris without any further delays or strings. All NDA-s and settlement contracts were signed and sealed - she was through with that part of her life. She'd even torn apart her old passport in front of Henri and his legal team, along with "bon débarras*'' quite demonstratively. He'd been clearly a little shocked and embarrassed of that development and about not getting his way. She felt her confidence returning the moment she'd done that, knowing her own contracts protected her now.
Jess placed his hand around her as he pulled along both of their suitcases with his other hand, glad to be home. After being away for a while Jess' apartment seemed smaller than ever with the towers of boxes, luggage and garment bags lining the walls and his study almost completely full of her art, books and other personal items. It was imminent that they needed a better solution than this and fast.
"You know, it's funny… it's like my body is tired, but my mind is wide awake," Odette sighed as she kicked off her sneakers and landed back first onto the bed, stretching herself out like a starfish, having slept on the plane. She was going through a lot of pregnancy symptoms - increased need for sleep, some bloating, thirst and nausea among them. In a way she also appreciated these symptoms as reminders that something was happening, growing, and she wasn't just imagining it, there still being weeks to go before the ultrasound would show anything nore meaningful. She did sign up for a blood test to make sure, but she really didn't need it - she just knew.
"Do you want me to order some food?" Jess asked, beginning to unpack his own things.
"Maybe later," she sighed, wondering in which box her own clean clothes were.
Jess ordered some food anyways, knowing that once either one of them was hungry, the wait would've been longer than either of them would've appreciated, settling for some Chinese which would be easy to reheat later.
"Do you feel up to looking at apartments now?" Jess asked, as he returned to the bedroom from the kitchn, realizing with every minute how urgently that they needed to get a bigger place and seeing that neither of them was really planning on going to sleep just yet.
"Apartments? I thought we were set on a townhouse," Odette asked confusedly, in a disappointed tone, lifting her head off the pillow.
"Don't the recent events affect our budget?" Jess inquired, having already toned down his expectations. He'd already begun thinking in his mind what neighbourhoods they could look at with just his money. They clearly now needed at least 3 bedrooms, a good school district and good commuting possibilities and while not leaving them with the most attractive selection of options, he knew he could fix up a place just like he'd done in Philly if needed, if it showed promise.
"Jess, I might have given up the value of the house, but this doesn't really change that much," she explained. "Can you hand me my bag?" she asked, gesturing towards her leather tote bag, in the hallway, where she kept her laptop sleeve in.
"You've shown me yours, I think it's my turn to show you mine," she said as he returned, opening up her account statements tab after tab.
"So basically, this is what I trade with," she said, showing him her portfolio currently estimated roughly at 75 000, adding, "up to 10% fluctuation is normal, and this is from where I take out my monthly income," continuing onwards to her debit accounts, all containing significant five figure sums. "And then there's this", she began, opening up a trust fund statement. "I set this up in the fall for the baby. I might have to dip into this to get us the place we want, and because of this she might not be getting a fancy penthouse as her first college apartment, but I think there's time for this to grow and it's still plenty to pay for her college and whatever else she might need," Celeste explained, showing Jess the 3,5 million trust fund. "I might have to get a job after a few years, or set up my own company or something. More work, less idling - but truthfully I was going a little out of my mind this past half a year anyways," she added with a weak smile.
Jess was a little blown away - both for her sharing this with him without him asking, and actually seeing the numbers that they were dealing with. It was one thing to assume, speculate, another to see it in front of his eyes. He had wondered how she had taken giving the rest up so easily, and now it made more sense. He loved how she handled the money like an enabler rather than a thing to show off, how she was modest about it and never made anyone else feel less significant because she had (or had had) more. But no matter her total net worth it didn't really change how he saw her, the new information simply relaxing him somewhat.
"But wasn't this a part of the family money?" he asked, having had a chance to ponder a little. She might have been a successful PR specialist in her field, but surely that was not just her savings.
"Henri wanted back the original amount and that he got. This is just what I've managed to grow with that family money during the past 10 years. I guess I've just been very lucky with it," she explained, humbly.
"Impressive," he stated proudly, knowing very well whom to ask if he ever needed investment advice. "So I guess, we better go through the townhouses then," he said, feeling a little excited by the improved outlook. Celeste opened the bookmarked tabs of townhouses they'd looked at before, beginning to pick out the ones they wanted to see in person.
It was Saturday and Celeste hadn't been feeling too great that morning, hence she was now joining Luke and Jess for lunch with some delay, the guys having already taken a short walk and Jess was now showing him his new office.
"Hey!" she greeted, stepping into Jess' office, the large glass door swinging shut with a notification chime, greeting him with kisses as she got close. The office consisted of two parts and opened up to the street with the performance space, with white epoxy flooring, remnant from the previous owner - not quite his taste, red brick walls and a more humble office space in the back each of the three desks and a small conference room with their own dark-framed class cubicle. She knew Jess was actually quite proud of his Truncheon branch, even though the idea of being management was still a little foregin to him.
"Hey! Feeling better?" Jess asked quietly, getting a modest nod in return. She was a sight for sore eyes - and any hint of her feeling not at her best a few hours earlier was wiped from her sun kissed skin, a simple flowery summer dress wrapped around her body and a wide smile on her face.
"So you must be Este! Hi! I'm Luke, I'm not sure if you remember me from Rory's housewarming," he greeted her with a handshake.
Celeste shook his hand, trying to tone down on the cheek-kisses with people she didn't know that well, sensing that it was almost a too automatic association to her background, which now no longer technically existed. She needed to blend in more, adjust.
"Of course I remember you," Celeste said cheerily. Despite not having been publically together at their housewarming party, she'd paid attention and connected the dots in her head, seeing obviously who the people were that mattered to Jess. "You guys ready to go get some lunch? I'm starving," she replied, thankful that the morning sickness had passed.
They really didn't need to walk very far, settling in at an Italian place with a terrace, overlooking the river and the bridge. Luke was never really much for going out to eat in fancier places, but if he made an effort, or Lorelai did for him, he cleaned up nicely enough not to stand out too much and the terrace, despite the fancy menu and good looking male waiters, was a nice compromise between classy and casual.
"So Luke, what's it like to go to other restaurants being a diner owner yourself," Odette asked, making Jess smile again - this was so her - not waiting around but satisfying any glimpse of curiosity she had without hesitating, breaking the ice momentarily, just like she had done with him.
"I guess I just try not to think about it, but at least this place hardly compares to mine so it's easier," Luke added.
"I had a similar problem after I worked at Luke's, I kept assessing who made better fries and what they did differently," Jess added laughingly.
"Well I guess you figured it out, you make excellent fries," Celeste complimented Jess, touching his forearm.
"So, Celeste, what do you do exactly? Jess hasn't really had a chance to tell me a lot about you yet," Luke asked, curiously. He could see this woman had a significant impact on Jess, and that alone was very rare, but other than knowing she was from a wealthy background, had recently just moved in with Jess and had hopes to become a mother, which he tactfully wasn't going to mention, he knew quite little.
"Currently, I guess the most accurate description is that I am freelancing? I'm doing a bit of stock trading, I've recently consulted a few smaller PR projects for some friends, but mostly I'm just charting my options right now," she replied. She was beginning to hate this question as if she wasn't doing enough to deserve the life she was been living. And supposedly in a way she missed the way her former job had defined her at times. But now, until her pregnancy was safe, as safe as it could be, she felt in limbo, not quite ready to be titled 'mom to be' but nothing else concrete either. And this certainly wasn't the time to make any huge career leaps either.
"And Jess told me you were visiting your family, if I understood correctly?" Luke asked innocently.
"Luke," Jess scolded, shaking his head slightly, not really wanting her to have to talk about the past few weeks.
"It's okay, Jess," Celeste replied. "Let's just say that I don't really have any family to speak of. Me going there was cutting all ties, but I'm glad I have great friends here, and as much as I've seen of Jess' family, you're all great," she added smilingly.
"I'm sorry. But you're too kind, we have our flaws too," Luke replied humbly.
Jess saw things a lot differently having gotten a better picture of what Celeste had been dealing with all her life - his family, while not behaving entirely sane all the time, was at least benevolent.
"So you guys are looking for your own place, I hear," Luke added, after the waiter had taken their order.
"We are," Jess replied, glazing a look towards Este, suggesting she continue.
"We saw this one place yesterday, actually, that I think we might be making an offer on," Este announced. "It's just a few blocks from Prospect park. It needs a tiny bit of work, the backyard especially, but it has nice and airy living areas. We were just thinking about going to scout the neighbourhood a little better tomorrow just to make sure," she explained. The place, while slightly narrower than her former house, had almost as many rooms and they could definitely seem themselves there. They'd seen a few other places but something about that place had just clicked.
"Sound great, if you need any help fixing things, count me in," Luke replied, generously. He hadn't expected to feel this proud of Jess for finally settling down like this, surely slightly abruptly and to someone he would've not quite picked out for him knowing his past tastes, but it seemed Jess had in fact really grown up, and it was crystal clear the two shared something special.
"Thank you," Celeste replied genuinely. This was just the kind of sense of family she had always longed for.
* translation "good riddens"
