‘It’s strange,' Celeste thought as she gazed out at the sunny skies from her seat. ‘I have come so far.’
She continued to look out the window as she waited for her brother to meet her at the bistro that they meet up at once a week for lunch or dinner. It was the same bistro that they had all met up at months ago and it had become a sort of ritual for she and Aaron to meet up. The bell above the door tinkled and Celeste looked up to see her brother walking over.
“Hey sis,” Aaron smiled kissing her cheek “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. Traffic was insane.”
“It’s okay, I’ve only been here for a few minutes.”
It had been just a litte over five months since they had all met up. Though she rarely talked to all of them after she went off to school - not including the twins - it was different now. She and Aaron talked every single night and she made sure to talk to Hunter and Jay as often as possible.
Cece couldn’t believe that it had almost been a year since she left home. Thinking about her reasons for leaving so suddenly and missing out on her graduation ceremony caused a familiar ache in her chest. The pain hadn’t gone away. If she was being honest, it didn’t lessen either. But like all things in life it was something that she learned to live with.
It hadn’t been easy bringing herself out of the ‘depression’ she was in. God, it had been so hard. The most difficult thing that she had ever had to do. Way more difficult than dealing with the loss of her parents. But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about any of that.
“How are you classes going?” asked Aaron
Celeste rolled her eyes with a smile “Exactly the same as last week and the week before that. How are things at the store?”
“The same as last week and the week before, naturally.” Aaron chuckled. He couldn’t help but smile at their little conversation. Instead of it being them playfully arguing about his chair back in his office at the store, it was this. It made things feel almost normal between them again. He knew it wasn’t though, it would take a long time for his little sister to get back to the person she had once been. No matter what kind of show she put on, no matter what mask she was wearing Aaron knew what really lurked beneath the surface. “Oh, wait! Something new has happened this week.”
Celeste perked up “Really? What?”
“Jessica can to the store to see me yesterday.”
“How is that something new?”
“That’s nothing new, it’s her reason why that’s new.”
“Just get to it already.” she huffed
“She came to apply for a job and I hired her on the spot.”
“Oh, my gosh. That’s great. She’s going to do amazing.”
Aaron laughed “Ce, it’s a grocery store. It’s not that hard of a job. But I know what you mean. I could really use the extra help now that you’re not around and Trisha moving in a few weeks.”
“Jess is definitely going to make things interesting at the store.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” he chuckled knowing Cece was right. Jessica was going to make things interesting for sure.
