Now You See Me, Now You Don't!

CELESTE

“Well, Celeste Miller…you seem to always make quite an entrance around me, huh?” Jace says with a smirk.

Oh God. I can feel the butterflies bubbling up in my stomach.

Thank God I notice Tiffany coming down the hall, looking for me.

“Girl. There you are. Are you okay?”

I step back from Jace, but Tiffany has already noticed how close we were to each other.

“Yea, I’ll be okay.”

“So, how do you two know each other?” Tiffany questions.

“Um…we went to high school together,” I mumble but Jace chimes in.

“And she showed up in my driveway the other day.” Jace just had to add in that little detail.

Tiffany’s mouth drops at the realization.

“Wait. You are the person from high school she ran into the other day? That was your house. I was at ~your~ house.”

Her eyes stay bulged in shock as she leans into me, whispering, although she isn’t subtle and I’m sure Jace hears her.

“Remind me to add that address to my favorites on Waze.”

Okay. Let’s move on…PLEASE. Before anything else is said that is embarrassing.

“Okay, well, um we should get to work and go over the Hugo Boss proposal.” I look at Jace.

“Sounds good.”

“You. Me. Girls night. Tonight.” Tiffany demands in a playfully firm voice, pointing her finger at me.

Lord. She wants details. This will require wine, pizza, popcorn, and the next best thing to Layla’s chocolate cake.

I nod yes so she can get off my case.

Jace follows me into my office. I close the door and sit at my desk, taking out the file sent over from Hugo Boss about the project.

“Okay, so John White, my boss, said you haven’t been a brand ambassador before?”

“No, I really don’t even have a clue what that is,” Jace honestly confesses.

“Well, a brand ambassador or the face of the brand is someone who will represent the company. You’re the perfect candidate actually.

“You’re going to be promoting the brand by just being who you are already,” I say truthfully, trying to ease his concern.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re already familiar with the brand. You already have endorsement deals with other products pertaining to sports. You already have a large social media presence.

“You’re outgoing, you have a world of followers, etc. The list could go on so you’re already a great face for the brand without even doing anything yet.”

“Aww, is that a compliment, Celeste?” he says with a smile, holding his hands over his heart.

I give him the eye. “Moving on.”

“All right, what do I have to do?” Jace gets back to the meeting, asking for more specifics.

“Well, in ways like social influence, using your networks and relationships to market the brand’s products, either through word-of-mouth tactics, referring friends, posting about the brand, etc.

“When the company hosts events, you’re expected to be there. I think we should take it a step above, considering we don’t have a lot of time to advertise before the Super Bowl.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“Market the hell out of the products. I don’t think you should go anywhere without wearing the pieces from the collection.

“That way, your fans will see you wearing them and any photos paparazzi get will show you wearing the products. That way paparazzi will be doing us a favor and helping promote the collection.”

“Very clever.”

“Thank you,” I reply proudly with a smug smile beaming on my face, my arms confidently folded across my chest.

“So how do you think you want to work the commercial?” Jace adds.

“Well, I think since sex sells, we’ll sell sex,” I blurt out, thinking I’m witty saying it like that right on the spot.

I look up at Jace with the same smug proud smile as before and notice Jace staring back at me like a deer in headlights.

Maybe he doesn’t understand my joke…

“Look… Well, your fan base is crazed girls, but you also have a fan base of envious men who want the crazed fangirls.

“And we all know you’re sexy, so we’ll use your body to sell the products and some models to sex you up on camera, driving the public wild. Badda-Bing-Badda-Boom.” I conclude, getting more in-depth in my thought process.

Still a deer in headlights… Why is he not grasping this concept?

“What?” I finally ask.

“I…just never thought I’d hear you say that,” he mumble.

I shoot him a dirty look and get all upset at his stupid, childish behavior.

What part exactly did he not think he’d hear?

Sex? Me…talking about sex?

Why?

Damnit. I know why.

Now I’m pissed. Cue the enraged Celeste rant.

“Oh really. Why? Because I was the laughingstock in high school? Because no one thinks I can get a guy?”

“What. N—”

I wouldn’t give him time to speak a word.

“That I’d be a lonely, virgin, crazy cat lady my whole miserable life?”

Oh no. Word vomit. It’s happening.

“Well, let me tell you something, JACE MAKENZIE. I am not a virgin and I have had ~plenty~ of sex.”

Wait. What did I just say out loud.

Oh my God. Take it back, Celeste. Take it back. Now he’s going to think you became a slut.

“Celeste—” Jace tries to interject.

“Well…not…plenty…but…you know…”

“Celeste.”

“FINE. Just with one guy. But I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“CELESTE.”

“WHAT?”

“Are you done?” Jace folds his arms across his chest, waiting me to come back down to planet Earth.

“I…um…”

I am mortified.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jace says.

“Oh…then…what did you mean?”

I go back to speaking shyly and embarrassed. But for some reason, Jace looks shy and embarrassed also.

“I never thought I’d hear you say I’m sexy.”

What? Clearly, Jace Makenzie knows he’s sexy.

He HAS to have been told that his whole life. If not from Maddie, then from the rest of the freakin country.

What in the hell is he talking about?

“What are you talking about? You had the whole school gawking at you and now the entire country.”

“But I never thought I’d hear it from you.”

Why does he care about hearing it from me?

Me.

The embarrassment begins to kick in again and I go into full denial mode. “W-well, check your ears because you must’ve heard me wrong.”

“I think my ears are fine,” he replies with his smirk growing on his face again.

“I’m not giving you another ego boost.”

Jace looks down at his hands folded in his lap and I think I hear a chuckle escape his lips.

“Well, um, I—I think we covered everything for the meeting tomorrow.” I close the file and walk to my office door, escorting him out.

“Oh…” I just remember. “I need your number so I can reach you for scheduling and such.”

He turns back to me with a wicked grin on his face.

“Oh, so now you want my number?” Jace stands there, staring at me with his arms folded over his brooding chest with his patented sexy smirk plastered on his face.

Did I say sexy? I meant stupid.

“Are we going to act like school kids about this?” I look annoyed at his antics, also folding my arms over my chest as a way of copying him.

“Yes, we are. You need to ask me nicely for my number since I was being nice when I offered it to you at my house.”

“I’m not doing that. We’re working together now so that’s the only reason I need it.”

“Nope, you’re still going to have to ask me nicely.” He leans against the doorframe, not giving in.

Ugh. I prominently roll my eyes at him, announcing my frustration.

“Please can I have your number?” Sarcasm is evident in my tone as I follow it with another overly exaggerated eye roll.

“Hmmm. No. That’s still not being nice.”

“Oh, come on! What do you want me to do? Get on my knees and beg?”

“Well, now that you say that…Yes.”

Oh my God.

You GAVE him that idea, Celeste. Why did you have to say that?

“I’m not doing that.”

“All right then, I hope you remember how to get to my house if you need to reach me.”

UGH. I so hate him right now.

“Fine. You’re unbelievable.”

I pull my skirt up above my knees so I can bend. One leg at a time, I get down on my knees and look up at him with a huff under my breath. There’s no sarcasm in my voice but definitely in my gestures.

I put my hands together, pleading, and bat my eyes like I’m begging. “Jace, will you please give me your phone number?”

There he stands, looking down at me, smirking once again.

“Never thought I’d see you in that position…again.”

“WHAT.” I glare back at him with complete rage.

He did NOT just reference that unspeakable day.

I think he notices the blood drain from my face because his face goes blank also.

“I was j—” Jace reaches out his hand for me to take, but I swat it away.

“Don’t! I swear I will punch you right now where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“Celeste—”

I pick myself up off the floor, avoiding eye contact with him.

Don’t cry, Celeste. Don’t cry.

“I’m sorry, Celeste. I was just joking. It’s how we—”

“Joking. JOKING. Do you have any idea how much that day ruined my life in high school?”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t play dumb with me, Jace. It’s an insult.”

“I’m not—”

“You know what. It doesn’t matter. It’s not like you care anyway. I’ll get your agent’s number from the file. I’d rather not talk to you anyway.”

And just like that, I walk back in my office and slam the door in his face.

Of course, I’m an idiot. Why would I think he would be a different person than he was in high school?

***

Later that night, Tiffany comes over to my place and we order pizza, make popcorn, and talk dirt on all things Jace Makenzie.

“I can’t believe you’ve known the hottest guy in all of LA since high school!” Tiff exclaims again.

“Unfortunately…yes.”

“Soo.”

“So, what?”

“Oh come on, Celeste. There’s a difference between knowing the popular hot guy in high school and not liking him versus what you’ve got going on with Jace.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Denial.

“Something definitely happened between you two back then. Soooo, what was it?” she probes.

“Nothing happened.”

“Did you guys kiss?”

“What. No.”

“Ooh, but you had a crush on him. I can tell.”

“Ugh. This is so embarrassing, Tiff.”

“SPILL IT.”

“Okay. Okay. But it doesn’t leave this room.”

“Yea, yea, yea spill.”

“Well, senior year I signed up for the girls’ volleyball team…and I sucked. He was at the game and when I tried to go for the ball…I fell…and landed…in his crotch”

I threw my hands over my face, reliving the embarrassment all over again in my mind.

I peek through my fingers and see Tiffany burst out laughing.

“Oh my God. Jace Makenzie’s dick was in your face!” Tiffany isn’t subtle about anything, as you can see.

“Tiff. It’s not funny. It was horrible. It ruined my life after that. Everyone made fun of me, laughed at me walking down the halls.

“Someone even drew a…you know what…on my locker and wrote ’#%*^ eater.” I use baby babble words instead of saying the actual word, and she bursts into tears laughing again.

“Oh, come on, Celeste. It’s like a classic comedy show. Like one of your Adam Sandler movies,” she says, trying to ease the pain.

“No. It’s my life. My horrible life. I wish I was more like you and didn’t let this stuff get to me so much.”

“Girl, the first step toward doing that is not caring what people think.”

“That’s way easier said than done.” I sigh.

“Not really. Just be who you are, be proud of who you are, and say fuck what people think.”

I roll my eyes at her, thinking it’s not as simple as that.

“You have to be able to laugh at yourself, Celeste. You can’t take things so seriously,” she adds.

“But I don’t. I mean, I don’t consider myself a serious person… I like to joke around,” I defend.

“Celeste, you take things a lot more seriously than you think.”

She makes me think to myself.

Was Tiffany right? I always considered myself not a serious person… And my parents and Layla always said the same thing too…

But maybe because they were the only people in my life that I really opened up to. Really showed my true colors to without any hesitation…

“So, how did this whole thing with Jace ruin your life?” Tiffany asks while shoveling popcorn in her mouth.

“It just did. Everything changed after that day. Before I kept to myself and my best friend, Layla, but after that, everyone started to notice me.

“I couldn’t walk or go anywhere without people’s eyes glaring at me, laughing at me, making fun of me. Even Jace, who never noticed me before. I always caught him looking at me after that.”

I look over at her and her face twists into a smile. I know she got the wrong impression of what I just said.

No. Jace did not like me. He was embarrassed by me.

I have to convince her of that real quick.

“After that, Jace’s girlfriend, Maddie, aka the devil disguised as Malibu Barbie, also chose to make my life a living hell.”

“Wait. Maddie? As in Maddie Knox,” Tiff asks, shocked.

Just hearing her name again makes my stomach clench. Like Lord Voldemort’s presence just enters the room.

But why does Tiffany know Maddie?

“Yea…why?”

“Don’t you follow anything.” She whips out her phone out and hands it to me.

“She’s like the most followed girl on Instagram.” Tiffany adds as I scroll through all Maddie’s photos on Instagram.

She still looks the same. Plastic. Fake. Barbie doll look-alike.

You can tell her boobs are totally fake.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile in any of her photos, so she probably got a few too many Botox injections.

Maybe that way she’ll have a hard time making fun of me if she can’t move her face anymore.

I can at least try to be hopeful, right?

I keep scrolling, seeing pictures of her and Jace together. At fancy gala events, paparazzi photos that she took the picture out of a magazine.

“So, they’re still together, she and Jace?” I confirm, sounding sad.

“I don’t know. No one knows, actually. She brags that they are, but Jace never answers those questions during interviews. He says he wants to keep his life private…or at least try to.

“But she has all these pictures of them together and his Instagram has none of her… Weird, right?”

Tiffany takes her phone back and hands it to me once again, now showing Jace’s Instagram.

Confirming she’s right, I scroll through and see no pictures of Maddie on his page. Just mainly pictures of him playing football, probably posted by his agents and his endorsement deals.

“I guess so,” I answer as I get lost staring at all the photos of him.

“So, what does Maddie do to have all those followers?”

“I’m not really sure. She’s modeled for a few small companies, but she considers herself a social influencer. People pay her to show up at their clubs or talk about their products. I don’t listen to her though,” Tiff goes on.

“You know when you just can’t stand the sound of someone’s voice? Like nails on a chalkboard? She’s it for me. I can’t stand her voice. Something about it is so squeaky like a pig dying or something.”

I practically spit out my wine laughing so hard at her comment. It instantly makes me think of Layla and our inside joke on Maddie.

And just like clockwork, my phone goes off with a FaceTime notification from Layla. I swear that girl’s ears ring whenever I think about her.

“Hey. Were your ears ringing? I was just thinking about you.” I answer through my laptop so my phone wouldn’t die.

“Oh, yea? What were you thinking about?” Layla answers.

“Snort, Snort.” I make the sound of a pig snort with my nose and Layla erupts laughing. I look over at Tiff, who is staring at us completely confused.

“Hey Layla, this is my friend and coworker, Tiffany. Tiff, this is my best friend, Layla. We grew up together.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Tiff waves at the screen.

“So, you’re the one taking all her attention away from me? I’ve barely spoken to this girl since she arrived in LA,” Layla teasingly blasts Tiffany.

“Ooh no. I’m not the one stealing all her attention…” Tiff replies mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows at the screen.

“What did I miss?” Layla’s eyes perk up, ready for gossip.

“Go on. Tell her…” Tiff entices.

“Tell me what?” Layla begs.

“Who did you run into the other day, Celeste? And who are you now working cloooosely with for our next big advertisement?” Tiffany eggs me on even more, driving Layla crazy.

“Who.”

I let out a big sigh and reluctantly say his name. “Jace Makenzie.”

“OH. MY. GOD. SHUT UP.” Layla screams, her mouth practically hitting the floor.

“Okay. Tell me everything. Is he still hot?” Layla asks.

I look over at Tiffany sitting next to me and she returns a look with a smirk knowing that in my mind I’m debating whether to tell the truth or play it off like nothing.

Time to take the first step like she said… Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself once in a while. Time to open myself more. Show them my true colors, let them see me for me.

“Even hotter,” I say, laughing at myself as the blush from my cheeks floods through my face.

Layla, Tiffany, and I talk the rest of the night all together on FaceTime. They both seem to hit it off right away, as if all three of us have always been best friends for years.

Eventually, it gets late and Tiff calls it quits, heading home for the night, and Layla hangs up since she has to be up at 4 a.m. baking.

I find myself lying in bed, scrolling on my phone at the pictures of Jace on his Instagram.

Damn. His athletic body. His beautiful face.

God, apparently, I still can’t run away from seeing that face. It’s found me once again halfway across the world in LA. And it seems I can’t get away from Maddie either.

Working closely with Jace, I know I’m bound to run into her again.

Just thinking about it causes my stomach to tense in knots.

And I drift off to sleep, thinking of all the horrible things that she-devil did to me.