Author's Note: Hey everybody. Hope you're all doing well! So, I've been sitting on this story for a while, unsure when I'd be able to post it. I decided today is as good a day as any, so here we are. I got this idea from a few fanfics I've read on this pairing, although none of them were supernatural, so I thought 'why not?'. Not sure how long this story will be. Without further ado, please enjoy!
Ruffle among the Tombstones: A Kaitlyn/Eve Supernatural Romance by Jurassicfatt
Prologue
No One's Pov, Houston, Texas, Late Morning
It's a beautiful sunny day, in Downtown Houston. Cars litter the streets, most of them stuck in traffic. Horns and cursing can be heard, as pedestrians cross the busy intersections. They stop to pick up their coffees at drive-throughs or coffee shop windows. Exiting one of these shops is a 5ft.5 woman with two-tone blonde/brunette hair, with a side shave on the right side of her head. She's wearing a white, red, and black checkered shirt over a sleeveless black tube top. She also has a pair of red athletic tights and black pumps. Her amber eyes seem confused as she holds a blue smartphone to her ear, listening to the caller. With her coffee in her left hand and black purse around her right shoulder, she uses her body to push open the coffee shop door, talking to the voice on the other line.
"I understand your concern, Mr. Fowler, but Celestial Bodies Collective has been top of the line without outsourcing since we started. I am not against setting up shop in other regions, but I believe we have different ideas as to what that means." She pauses, waiting for the crosswalk passing sign to come up. She takes a large sip of her coffee. "No, I… Mr. Fowler, this is your third attempt to buy out my company, but the answer is still no. I am sorry you feel that way, but there is no reason to use fowl lang- What did you call me? I'm sorry, Mr. Fowler, but your attitude and insults are not appreciated. Goodbye." She hangs up the phone, before sighing out loud and crossing the street to a building of blueish-white windows. Walking inside, she heads into an elevator, pressing the sixth-floor button as the doors close.
When she reaches her floor, she quickly makes her way to room 674. Pulling the door open, a row of students in their 20s and 30s can be seen sitting in front of individualized tables, all fitted with desktops. They stare at a smartboard, a digital canvas app open, as a professor sits at a computer at the front of the class and lectures on the different brush tools. She stops lecturing to stare at the new arrival. Some of the students crane their heads, gawking curiously or shaking their heads in disapproval, before they turn back to the professor. Late again, and all because of that stupid phone call.
The two-tone woman takes a seat, places her bag down, and logs into one of the pcs, then quickly starts to draw on screen. It takes some time, but eventually, she gets up to speed and finishes the art piece she's been working on. A beautiful gold and black logo, with the word "CBC" in sharp lettering. The teacher checks over all her pupils' drawings, before she tells the students to continue practicing their techniques. After another 20 minutes passes, she finally ends the class. As the other students get up to leave, the teacher calls the late arrival over.
"Yes, Mrs. Pamela, you wanted to speak to me?" the woman asks.
"Yes, Celeste, I did. This is the fourth time you've been late to my class. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything's fine." The newly named Celeste responds, rather quickly. "Just got caught up with work-related issues. Sorry about that." The teacher looks at her.
"You know, you don't have to hide if you're overworked. You look as if you've been running around like a chicken without a head these past few weeks. Everyone gets stressed out occasionally. Now, we only have 2 sessions left. You paid for the sessions and you're a hard worker. If the time slot doesn't work, I can always put you in the Thursday section."
"No, that won't be necessary. It's just been crazy at work. Really hard juggling between 2 jobs and school. I'm fine. But I appreciate your concern, Mrs. Pamela." Celeste assures her, fixing her hair.
"You know, you're the oldest student in my class, at 34. And you are one of the only ones whose been doing logos opposed to characters and landscapes. Now, this class is "Digital Art 101", and I encourage my students to follow their own artistic style. But, I'm curious, is this something you've always been interested in?"
"Well, I always liked doing art. Since high school, but I was never really good at it, though. I always enjoyed designing things, especially clothes. I started my own business a few years back. Recently, I began taking courses that would help expand it, but also to make sure it stands out. So, I thought it might be a good opportunity to try my hand at designing my own logo." Celeste explains. She then pulls a white business card from her pocket and hands it to the older woman.
"'Celestial Bodies Collective'. Athleisure/Fitness apparel." She nods and places the card down. "Well, listen, if you need to change the time slot, I'd be happy to move you. There are plenty of openings for Thursday. Don't need you rushing into class all worked up, now do we?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Pamela. I think I'll be fine for Tuesday's slot. Thanks again. Bye." Celeste says, waving and exiting through the door. The teacher waves to her, collecting her papers.
Celeste takes the elevator back down, quickly gets off and walks outside, feeling the hot summer air replace the cool air conditioning of the campus. She makes her way to the nearest bus stop. Getting onto the cramped locomotive, she spends the next hour with her purse over her shoulder and holding onto the hand rail for dear life as the bus zips and swerves into different lanes. She wipes the sweat off her brow as other passengers chew gum, talk loudly, and play mobile games on their phones. Smells of perfume, sweat, minty gum, and diesel mix into a weird combination that makes her head spin. Only a few more stops, Celeste thinks to herself.
When her stop finally arrives, Celeste gets off the bus and takes a moment to munch on a granola bar she packed in her purse. She walks to her other job: a small auto-decal shop not too far from her place. At the front of a garage, a large red sign reads "33% of your first bumper decal", and a Tiki totem stares you down as you approach the front desk. Signing into her shift, she spends the next few hours answering calls, helping customers choose from a variety of optional designs, but mostly, bringing items back and forth from the tool shed on her floor to the detailers in the garage. By the time her shift is over, she's tired, sweaty, and in desperate need of a decent meal.
Passing by a few blocks, she finally arrives home. A modest apartment complex on the outskirts of the Downtown area. The brown brick building, with topaz yellow painted walls inside, reminds her of the small taco businesses her family used to run in El Paso. Waving to the concierge Morales, she climbs up two flights of stairs before opening her door. Once inside, she locks it. Celeste places her purse on her bedroom nightstand, before faceplanting onto the black sheets of her mattress with a Thump. A small black and white French bulldog jumps onto the bed, barks once, then sniffs and licks Celeste's arm. She laughs and grabs him, kissing his face.
"Hey buddy. Did you have fun with April, Murphy? Huh? Did she treat you right? Oh, I missed you." she coos, as he snuggles more into her hold. A short woman with brown hair and brown eyes peeks out from the corner.
"I thought that was you. Murph had a ball at the park. Tried to steal a hot dog from one of the other dog owners. Thank God the guy laughed about it. Man, you look beat Celeste. Have you eaten?" her best friend, April Jeanette Mendez, or AJ for short, asks her. AJ came to visit her, and has been staying with Celeste for the past 2 weeks while her husband, Phil, handles the remodelling of their house back in Chicago. Celeste usually paid to leave her dog with a pet sitter, but AJ wouldn't hear of it.
"Not much. Just a granola bar before my shift at Pueblos." Celeste says, continuing to tickle Murphy. She gets off the bed, putting Murphy down as the three of them go into the kitchen. Celeste notices the chewed half of a ham and cheese sandwich on the white countertop.
"Uh, AJ, why is there a sandwich there? And what happened to the other half?"
"Don't look at me! You're lucky I was able to pry that bit from Murphy."
"Murphy! For shame! I thought you were into meatballs." Celeste tells Murphy, as he simply sits down and pants. AJ opens the fridge and looks inside. "Not much in here, bestie. You want to order something? I can make a quick run to the store."
"Nah, it's okay AJ. Let me get the menus real qu-"
"I'll get the take-out menus. You go shower."
"Do you even know my order?"
"Yellow River. Dinner number 7 for two, extra beef and broccoli and no sesame buns because you're on a strict diet. Extra egg rolls because you love them. Extra chow mein and fortune cookies because I love them."
AJ cocks an eyebrow at her. Celeste puts her hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, you got me." AJ dials the number on her phone as Celeste heads to her bathroom and showers, letting the warm water melt the stress away. Holy, what a day. Getting out of the shower, she quickly towels off and puts on light gray sweats and a pyjama top, the most comfortable pyjamas she owns. She's amazed that she hasn't fallen asleep yet. She'd have passed out by now if she wasn't so hungry. On cue, her stomach grumbles loudly, grabbing her attention. She gets out and sees April on her computer, watching Youtube videos. "Hey, look who's back? Order should be arriving any minute now."
"Good. It's been a long day and I really need some food." AJ offers her some ketchup chips from a small bag she's holding. Celeste grabs a few and starts watching, the two laughing as they see pandas rolling down hills and dogs trying to skate on ice.
"Tell me, why are you still living here again?" AJ asks.
"Because, April, until I get my company connected with a major brand, I can't just be spending all my hard-earned money on luxuries. And this apartment isn't the cheapest in the city."
"It's not the liveliest area, either."
"Hey, there are some nice people here! And you don't come from money, either, AJ."
"I know that. You should live where you're happy. But I know you, Kaitlyn. You aren't happy here, minus Murphy of course." AJ remarks, petting the dog's head. He just pants and snuggles, trying to lick AJ's hand to get some of the ketchup chip flavor. "Who is this CEO you have a meeting with? Mr. Fooler or Fowler?"
"Oh, not him. He's just a rich mogul who wants to add my company to his collection. Mr. Santos Escobar of Legado del Phantasma is who I'm meeting with. And why'd you call me by my middle name?"
"Because it suits you, although Celeste is a pretty cool name, too. Not as cool as AJ, though. Wait, Legado del Phantasma? Aren't they into drug-running and military ops?"
"Drugs, no. Military tech and operations, yes. But Santos has been dipping his company into other industries. Agriculture, electronics, and now textiles. He's considering working with CBC for a product."
"That sounds interesting, but what does he want in return? Also, isn't CBC a news station?"
"Yes, a Canadian one, but I talked with them and they don't mind about my logo, so long as I write my company's name right underneath and use different colors. As for Santos, he hasn't said, although his assistant asked me how many pool laps I can do in 15 minutes, when I last went rock-climbing, and if I needed new gear. So, I'm thinking they might need me to train their guys for some sort of climbing job." Celeste looks through her twitter, checking to see if her company has any new followers. Another 200 or so. She cheers and shows AJ, before reading through the news feed.
Celebrity couple splits after 6 months, devastated. Ancient cemetery found on Brazilian-Argentinian border. Chocolate Tuesdays? Just then, they hear a knock at the door. Celeste puts down her phone and answers it. A delivery man carrying a large brown paper bag, greets them with a "Dinner #7?". When they say yes, he gives them the bill. She and AJ split it, despite Celeste's protest, before they lug the large bag into the kitchen. Pulling out the contents and depositing them onto the kitchen counter, they dig in, enjoying the assortment of Chinese take-out available.
"Celeste, are you sure about this? I mean, I'm not so sure you should trust this, Santos Escobar. For all you know, he could be an axe murderer!"
"April, do you know how crazy you sound? I always fact-check. He's pretty legit as a military contractor. This might be Celestial Bodies' big break. If I can get him to sign off on just publicizing my brand, it'll shoot up business instantly. I'm not doing too badly, but I need to expand, and I don't want to sell my company or outsource my entire operation."
"But at what cost? You shouldn't have to die for this?"
"Nobody's going to die. I'm not going into a warzone."
"How can you be sure? Look, I know you. You've worked hard for Celestial Bodies. And you'll have no problem swimming and rock-climbing. But you need a break from work. You need an actual vacation. A beach, a cabin, a glacier, anything! Somewhere to take your mind off all this. Heck, even a date wouldn't be a bad idea!"
"I love you April, but I'll be fine. I just need to get this deal done. And you know I'm not into dating right now."
"Because…?"
"Because, I need to focus on paying bills! Not Tinder." AJ sighs.
"Whatever you say, Celeste. It's been a few years since PJ-"
"He was an idiot."
"He was. But you shouldn't let that stop you from finding someone you want. A man. A woman. An alien, for Heaven's sake! Someone who enjoys being with you and wouldn't mind tagging along with you on all your wacky, fun-filled adventures." Murphy barks. "Oh, and someone to help love Murphy too."
"That's a lot to ask for AJ. No, right now, I need to focus on me." Celeste argues, taking another bite of her egg roll.
"You've been saying that since the divorce. That was 4 years ago, Kait. It's time to get back into the sea and find your fish. Remember, you got to just keep swimming!"
"You did not just quote Finding Nemo."
"And so, what if I did? One of the best movies ever made, hands down."
"Completely different context in that quote. And I think Endgame might be up there, too."
"Yeah, Endgame's pretty great. But the quote still applies!"
"*Sigh*, AJ, You're my best friend. Have been for 11 years. I know you want what's best for me. And I really appreciate you coming to help me with Murphy. Let me finish up with Legado del Phantasma, first, and I promise, I'll get back into the dating pool."
"You going to wear another 'I'm a single parent' shirt with a paw print, again?"
"Why not? People need to know Murphy comes first." Celeste picks up Murphy and nuzzles her face into his fur.
"You are a strange one, Kait, I swear." AJ says aloud, rolling her eyes and checking her phone. Once they finish, AJ takes three fortune cookies, and Celeste takes one. "Don't you want two?"
"Nah. You know those are just assembly line paper strips. Plus, last time, one fortune cancelled out the other, remember? 'You are emotionally secure and full of life' for the first, then immediately 'Your emotional state is fragile. Confide in loved ones and those who care'."
"I remember all right. I was rolling on the floor laughing my guts out! But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
"You just love those cookies."
"That has nothing to do with it." AJ says, before breaking one open, pulling out the fortune and dipping one part of the cookie into her green tea. Take a bite of it, she moans in delight, before reading the fortune. "Love and kindness overcomes the night. Your life partner and others are grateful for you."
"Damn right, they are!" Celeste exclaims, before the two laugh out loud.
AJ opens the next two, one with the same fortune and another saying 'try again'. "Come on, Celeste! Open yours."
"Okay." Celeste breaks open her fortune cookie, and grabs the thin sheet of course paper with two fingers. Unravelling it, she reads it out loud. "'Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.'" Celeste takes a moment, then looks at AJ. "You see? Finally, a good sign. A sign that I need to finalize this deal with Santos and Legado. That's the path. My path towards CBC becoming a success."
"Are you sure you should trust those? They are just assembly line strips of paper." AJ repeats teasingly.
"Oh, so now that I have a good fortune, you want me to throw it away?" Celeste says sarcastically.
"I don't know if we should base major life decisions on strips of paper."
"AJ-"
"Oh, I know. You've made up your mind. Just promise me you'll be careful with this guy, okay? And that you'll take a break from all this, whether the deal is a success or not." AJ tells her, before putting out her pinky. Celeste chuckles and shakes her head, before locking her pinky to her best friend's.
"I promise." They both let go, clean up and then spend the next few hours watching fight scenes and funny videos on YouTube. Eventually, Celeste's eyes begin to droop and she calls it for the night. She leaves AJ and tells her good night, then places Murphy down in his bed. Going to her own bed, she pulls the black sheets down to get in. Placing her head on the pillow, she looks to her nightstand. 11:40 pm. Tomorrow, she has a meeting with Mr. Santos at 10 am. Fortune cookie message or not, this meeting is the next step to a new chapter for her professional life, and hopefully, her personal one, too.
A/N: If you enjoyed this, remember to follow and favorite, and feel free to leave a review. It's always appreciated. Until next time, enjoy your day!