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“Thepoint is to behappytogether on this wonderful day,”Peterinterrupted smoothly. “Imean food, fun and family—what more could one ask for?”Helooked at the bag of marshmallows thatCeliahad out for the candied yams and shook his head. “Butspeaking of food…Darling,Ireallyhope you’re not eating any of those—you know how sweets go straight to your hips.Youwant to fit into that gorgeous wedding dress we picked out—right?”
“They’refor the candied yams—Ihaven’t touched them!”Celiasaid quickly, her cheeks getting hot.AllofPeter’sfamily seemed to be naturally skinny—his sisters didn’t ever have to exercise—and they all had the anatomy of toothpicks.EvenherMother-in-Law-to-be was thinner than she was—though she’d been dieting for months.
Unfortunately,Celiawasn’t sure that would ever change.Shehad always been big in the hips and ass department.Itwas probably part of her heritage—though she couldn’t be sure since she’d been raised in theFosterCaresystem and didn’t actually have contact with any of her family.
“Nowspeaking of the wedding,Ireallyhave to go over the guest list with you again, sweetums,”MotherFrancessaid, hooking her arm through her son’s. “I’vehad to add a few more people to fill out the church, since there’s almost no one on the bride’s side…”
Andshe towed him into the other room, still talking rapidly.
MadredeDios…Celiawatched them go and then turned back to the task at hand with a sigh.Shewas peeling potatoes in the sink and she looked out the window at the cars whizzing by on the winding road some distance away.
BayshoreBoulevardwas a long, curving road which boasted the longest unbroken stretch of sidewalk in theUS.Itwas featured in all kinds of articles andInstagramposts about moving toTampa(though these same articles neglected to mention that it was hot, humid, and sticky 3/4ths of the year and that hurricane season was no joke.)Themain thing was, it wasexpensive.IftheTampaBayarea was aMonopolyboard,Bayshorewould have beenBoardwalk.Andthe mansionPeterhad bought—andCeliahad decorated—was one of the most expensive properties in the area.
Itstill amazedCeliathat she was living in such luxury.Itseemed only yesterday that she’d been trapped in a one-bedroom apartment, struggling to make ends meet and hoping her business wouldn’t fold.ButthenPeterhad come into her life and hired her to decorate one of his properties—an office building in downtownTampathat he had recently acquired.
Celiahad only put in a bid on a whim—and she’d priced it as low as possible, thinking that if she got it, she could use the fact that she’d decorated forPeterThielgoodas a selling point on her resume.Butshe’d never expected to actually get picked—or forPeterto sweep her off her feet as he had done.
Heclaimed to have fallen in love with her “Latinlooks”—her long dark hair and large brown eyes.Theywere the exact opposite of his own colorless blond hair and pale blue eyes.Healso claimed to love her “fiery spirit” though to be honest, he often got annoyed when she disagreed with him about anything.
Butthat was to be expected,Celiatold herself, since he’d been raised rich and his mother pretty much agreed with everything he said or did.Itwas natural to be a bit arrogant considering his upbringing.
Still, despite being somewhat spoiled, her fiancé was charming and spontaneous.He’dsimply announced that they were going to get married and had presented her with an obscenely large, square-cut diamond ring on their third date.Feelingoverwhelmed and flattered,Celiahad said yes.
Sheloved his spontaneity—though at times it could go too far.Forinstance, just a month ago, he had come into their bedroom and announced that he’d flushed all her birth control down the toilet.
“MadredeDios—youwhat?”Celiahad demanded, staring at him. “Whatare you talking about?Whywould you do that,Peter?”
“Well, you knowMummyhas been complaining that she wants more grandchildren,” he’d pointed out, settling in bed beside her. “Andthe wedding is so close.Ijust thought—wouldn’t it be lovely if you were already pregnant by the time we tied the knot?Thatway we can have babies right away!”
“ButIdon’t know ifI’mready for kids yet!”Celiahad protested. “Dios,Peter—we haven’t eventalkedabout this!”
He’dshrugged.
“Well, we’re talking about it now.”
“Whatabout my career?” she’d protested. “It’sgoing to be damn hard to run a business whileI’mdealing with a baby!”
“We’llget it a nanny,”Petertold her, brushing off her fears. “Andyou won’t have to work anyway, if you don’t want to!”
Asit turned out,Celiadidwant to work and shewasn’tready to stop birth control yet.They’dhad a huge fight about it andPeterhad finally apologized.Celiahad booked an appointment to get some more pills, but thenPeterhad flown her out toAspento get her to decorate another one of his friend’s homes and she’d had to put it off.
Luckily, she hadn’t missed a period yet, though they’d had unprotected sex just the night before afterPeterhad whined and begged for a solid hour.Shereallyhadto get back on thePill,Celiatold herself.Peterwasn’t willing to wear a condom and she wasn’t ready to be a mom yet!
Thoughto be honest, sex withPeterwas so quick, it hardly counted.Hewasn’t a very creative lover, which had been kind of disappointing, butCeliatold herself that he made up for his lack of performance in the bedroom with other good personality traits.Hewas generous to a fault.Hehad offered to buy her a new car almost as soon as they started dating, butCeliahad held out so far and hung on to her oldHondaCivic.
Shewasn’t sure why, exactly—maybe she just didn’t want to be completely sucked intoPeter’sworld quite yet.Shewanted to retain her autonomy—which was another reason she wanted to keep working.Sheloved her job and her tiny little design firm.ElegantInteriorswasn’t much, but it was hers and she wasn’t quite ready to give it up yet, even if she was soon going to be a wife to one of the richest men in the country.
Besides, she needed something to fall back on if they ever split up.Asgenerous asPeterwas, hehadinsisted on aPrenuptialagreement—whichCeliasupposed made sense, considering he was worth millions and she was barely worth thousands…well, more likehundredson most months, to be honest.
Butshe was no gold digger and never had been, so she had signed the agreement, which stipulated that she got practically nothing in case of a divorce.Itwas onlyaftershe signed that herMother-in-Law-to-be started treating her with any kind of kindness and calling her “Cece.”Celiadidn’t like the nickname much, but it was better than “that woman who’s sunk her claws into you,” which was howMotherFranceshadbeen referring to her when she talked toPeter, prior to thePrenup.
“Afterall,”Celiahad heard her saying toPeter. “Onceyou get tired of being married to a ‘fieryLatina’ you can get rid of her without a fuss and settle down with one ofourkind of people.”
Herwords had hurtCeliadeeply, but she had never shown it or discussed it with eitherPeteror hisMother.Growingup inFosterCarehad toughened her up and taught her that you have to win people over gradually.Youcan’tbegthem to like you—you can only show that you’re a trustworthy individual who is deserving of respect and affection and hope they understand.
OrsoCeliatold herself.
ButDios—sometimes her fiancé’s familyreallygot on her nerves.Theway his sisters were constantly on juice cleanses and talked about nothing but the latest fashions or what theKardashians—who they apparently knew personally—were doing.Theywere vapid and silly and didn’t seem to have anything in their heads but gossip about celebrities and their own social circle of whichCeliadefinitelywasn’t a part.Whenevershe tried to make small talk, they just stared at her blankly.Shedidn’t fit in with them at all, no matter how hard she tried.
