Celeste covered her mouth, gazing at the note with wide eyes. Her parents must have left it before they checked out so they'd be sure she wouldn't follow them. Somehow, she didn't feel sad; she just felt numb, as if the idea of being rejected by her parents was too much for her heart to comprehend.
"You are not the daughter we wanted," she murmured to herself, "I'm not the daughter that they wanted. They wanted a daughter who isn't me."
Lysander peered out of the bedroom at the sound of her mumbling and he rushed over to her, taking the paper from her hands and returning it to the garbage. "Celeste, don't feel so bothered by this. You've lived so much of your life without them. Why should that be any different now?"
Celeste gazed at her hands where the paper was for a moment, contemplating what he was saying before lifting her gaze to him. "'Don't feel bothered by it'? How am I supposed to not feel bothered by it? My parents don't want me. Am I just supposed to shrug my shoulders and be okay with it?"
He knelt down in front of her, grasping her shoulders. "You have to. Do you expect me to watch you sulk for however many days?" Celeste furrowed her brow, looking away. "You mean the world to me, Celeste. I know that if the roles were reversed, the last thing you'd ever do is let me be sad about it; even if you had to drag me somewhere fun. I'm going to do the same thing for you."
Celeste lifted her gaze to him again, taking a deep breath. "You're right. Let's get out of here."
"Where should we go?" he asked, "I don't know anything of interest in this city besides the beach."
She shook her head. "I mean let's get out of this city. Let's get out of this state; this whole country. I can't stand it here anymore. Let's go to London now."
He nodded, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet. "When should we go? We're already packed."
"ASAP," she announced, "Where's my laptop? I'll book our flights now. We can leave tonight." She hurried into the bedroom to her laptop on the bed and opened it up, quickly going to the website of an international airport and hurriedly booking a flight to London that took off a bit before midnight. She took a deep breath and leaned her head against his shoulder beside her. "You know right now I feel pretty stupid and crappy but I'm glad I'm with you instead of anyone else." He kissed her head and for a split second, she doubted her words. Of course she loved him but just for that split second, she wondered if she'd feel happier while drunk with Maya hanging out at some random party. She sat up straight and gave him a smile before getting to her feet, taking his hands and pulling him to his as well. "Well, sitting around is going to be boring. Let's go do something fun. Let's go to Disney World."
He furrowed his brow. "Celeste, there's no way we could go all the way to Disney World and enjoy ourselves and have enough time to make it back for our flight."
She crossed her arms. "This state is boring. It's too hot to do anything."
"We could go swimming," he suggested but she quickly shook her head.
"I didn't want to travel the world to go swimming. I'd rather stay in the hotel all day."
He sighed. "Why don't we stay in the hotel all day then?"
She shook her head again, pouting. "That's boring."
"You're making things difficult, Celeste."
He opened up her bag and tossed some pajamas at her and she gazed at them curiously. "What do you want me to do with these?"
"Put them on, of course." He picked up the phone. "We'll get some room service and watch some movies." She gazed at him with wide eyes as if she couldn't believe his words and was ready to snap at him before he spoke again. "If you start to think too much at any point today, tell me and I'll take your mind off of it. I would rather spend my day telling you that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you, even your own parents, than watch you go to some club or party like I know you want to do. You'll get wasted and throw yourself at every good looking person you see and I'll have to drag you back here and we'll get on our flight while you're drunk and you'll make a scene. So I'll just save both of us the trouble."
Celeste watched him order room service as she changed into the pajamas before approaching him from behind and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "I don't know what kind of freaky voodoo magic you're doing to read my mind but I do know that I love you and I'm glad you came with me on this trip. Could you imagine if I took Maya instead? If she wasn't pregnant, she would totally drag me to a different party every night and we would spend these years hammered. Then we wouldn't remember it in the end."
Fortunately, Celeste spent the entire plane ride sleeping on Lysander and they arrived in London the next morning. They booked a hotel room and Celeste was quick to call Miss Cunningham and Ethan to check if they had any gallery connections in London and was easily promised a dinner date with another gallery owner. This one was a woman and was much more serious and strict than Ethan, but Celeste didn't care. Art would take her mind off of things and that was all she wanted.
The gallery owner gave her three weeks to perfect her theme and paintings. Celeste had been painting for two days, sneaking out of bed once Lysander was asleep to continue painting. She hadn't slept since before meeting the gallery owner.
"Celeste," Lysander called, "Breakfast is here. Come and eat; you've been working yourself too hard." Celeste hummed a response without paying much attention to him as he spoke and it wasn't long until she felt his presence behind her. "Celeste, I'm not going to let you do this a second time. Come and eat."
She frowned at him. "I'm not hungry, Lysander; I ate earlier."
"You're lying," he insisted, taking her wrist that didn't hold a paint brush, "Come on."
He pulled her away from the easel and she whimpered. "I told you, Lysander. I'm not hungry."
He took the brush and paint from her hands, setting them aside before pulling her over to the food cart. "Celeste, I don't believe you. Sit down and eat and don't make me resort to spoon feeding you."
Celeste pouted like a child, plopping down on the couch and Lysander sat beside her. They ate in silence and after some slow, small bites, Celeste was quick to jump to her feet and return to her easel, receiving a sigh of exasperation from Lysander.
After a few more minutes of painting while he finished his breakfast, he peered into the room. "Celeste, let's go out today. You've been working so hard; it's time for a break."
She shook her head. "It's never time for a break."
He stepped between her and the painting, taking the brush and paint from her again and setting them aside. He took her hands, giving her a warm smile. "We're in London. Let's go out and enjoy it."
She pouted again. "You're gonna make me do this too?" she sighed.
He nodded. "You need a break. We can go see Big Ben and do some shopping. Don't you want that?"
She looked away. "I don't feel good."
He sighed, getting clothes for the day out of his bag. "Don't come up with excuses."
She dragged her feet to her own bag and retrieved a lazy outfit, putting it on with exaggerated laziness and throwing her hair up into a bun, smudging on some makeup. She grabbed a random bag of hers, filling it with her things and Lysander was already ready, waiting in the living room. "Let's go," she mumbled.
He ignored her unenthusiastic expression, slipping his hand in hers and pulling her along out the door behind him. "I called a cab," he told her and, as expected, there was a cab waiting in front of the hotel. He led her inside and told the cab to drop them off somewhere near Big Ben.
Celeste pouted with her arms crossed, leaning her head against the window the entire car ride and the ride was silent. Once they arrived, Lysander paid the cabbie and pulled Celeste by her hand out of the car.
"Isn't it pretty?" he asked, nudging her with his elbow as he gazed up at Big Ben, "We're seeing one of the most famous things in the world. Don't you want to draw it or at least take a picture so you can draw it later?" She shook her head quickly. "Celeste, you're acting like a five year old. If you keep working so hard, you're going to get sick."
"I already told you I don't feel good," she insisted and he sighed.
"Lying to stay home and paint doesn't count." He began walking along the sidewalk and Celeste's vision began spinning, her knees giving away. It took Lysander a few moments to realize Celeste wasn't beside him anymore and he rushed over to her, helping her to her feet. "Celeste, what's wrong?" She gazed down at her feet and he felt her forehead. "You're burning up. Let me take you to..."
She was engulfed in darkness before she could hear the rest of his sentence.
When Celeste's eyes fluttered open, she found herself in a hospital bed with Lysander standing beside her. He brushed back her bangs from her face and she lifted her chin, sitting up gingerly.
"Do you feel okay?" he asked.
She shrugged. "A little lightheaded, kind of weak; but in general, I feel okay."
He nodded slowly. "The doctor said you have a fever, probably stress induced. Your body is also low on nutrients... which means you haven't been eating. And you're exhausted, which means you haven't been sleeping." She furrowed her brow, looking away from him and he took her hand. "Celeste, is something wrong? Why aren't you feeling well?" There was a pause where she didn't respond and he continued, "Is this because of your parents?"
Celeste withdrew her hand without meeting his gaze. "Why are you being so nosy? It's none of your business."
He sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands before letting them fall to his sides. "It is my business because you're my girlfriend and you're in a hospital bed. I promised you that if something bad happened to you because of a gallery that I wouldn't let you do it."
She gave him a glare. "You can't stop me. I'm gonna do that gallery offer. That has nothing to do with this."
"It has everything to do with this," he insisted, "You've stopped eating, you've stopped sleeping, you don't even leave the hotel anymore; all because you've been painting. If this continues, you could die."
She shook her head. "I don't care what you say. I'm gonna finish my theme. You're not the boss of me and if you keep acting like it, then I'll be just fine travelling the rest of the world on my own."
He stiffened, staying silent for a few long moments as if processing what she had said. "So you're saying that you'll break up with me for caring about you."
She shifted her gaze to the other side of her bed. "I always did have a bad habit of losing interest in people." He reacted to her words as if she'd slapped him and in her peripheral vision, she watched him leave the room. She gazed at the wall before burying her face in her hands. "I did it again," she mumbled, "I opened my big mouth."
Celeste was released from the hospital later on and took a cab back to the hotel. She walked slowly, mentally planning out her apology for Lysander; they'd never fought like that before so she wasn't exactly sure what to say. She scanned her key card and entered the suite, gazing around. The living room was empty so she crept over to the bedroom and peered inside to find it vacant. She heaved an exasperated sigh, burying her face in her hands. "I truly am an idiot," she muttered before slipping her phone out of her pocket, dialing his number. It only rang a couple of times before going to voicemail. "Hey, Lysander... Look, I messed up. I didn't mean what I said, so... I wanted to apologize. I don't usually apologize for things so this is important. Call me or text me or meet me at the hotel or something, okay?" She heard a beep just as she finished her last word and she returned her phone to her pocket.
Instead of staying in the hotel room, Celeste left and went walking until she found the nearest bar. She heaved a sigh of relief and pushed open the doors, sitting at an empty stool with no one next to her. It only had a couple of people; of course, that was because it was still day out and the only people who went out to bars at this time were sad about something. The bartender approached her, wiping off a glass and setting it down.
"Get me some tequila," she instructed, setting her purse on the table, "You know what to do with the salt."
He nodded, preparing her drink and sliding it over to her. "What's the issue?"
She gazed up at him with a furrowed brow, retrieving her credit card from her purse and handing it to him. "What do you mean?"
He charged her card, returning it to her. "I don't usually get pretty girls like you coming here all by themselves before sunset."
She rolled her eyes. "Boyfriend troubles," she muttered.
He chuckled. "Are you American?" he asked. She nodded. "You look fresh out of high school. I thought the drinking age in America is twenty-one."
She furrowed her brow, gazing left and right before meeting his gaze. "I don't know if you were aware, but we're not in America right now."
He chuckled again, shaking his head. "No, we're not. So what's going on with your boyfriend?"
She took a big gulp from her drink, wiping off her mouth with her wrist as she winced at the strength of the drink. "You're pretty nosy for a bartender, aren't you?"
He grinned at her, shrugging. "It's pretty quiet at this time on a week day and you're a new face. I'd die of boredom if I didn't get a little nosy sometimes."
She sighed, gazing at her drink. "I have some... unhealthy habits and he was trying to get me out of them in a strict way but I got annoyed with him and said some rude things. Then he walked out and I have no idea where he is. We don't even live here, we're only visiting and we've barely been here three days. I don't know where he could be."
"Well you know, he's an adult, right?" he pointed out, "He's not a little kid or a pet or something. You don't have to worry so much. I'm sure he was just upset and he'll come around again."
She nodded. "You're right." She finished her drink and was already beginning to feel lightheaded. "Get me another shot. Hey, you know, you're pretty cute. What time does your shift end?"
He eyed her as he prepared another drink for her and handed it to her. "What happens if I tell you?"
She took a big gulp of her drink. "Then maybe we could take a trip to your place and go on an adventure. How does that sound?"
He grinned at her. "It sounds like you're already tipsy but that's a very tempting offer that I can't bring myself to decline."