Celine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elegantdisaster) wrote2019-06-04 03:12 pm
elegantdisaster) wrote2019-06-04 03:12 pm
Entry tags:
Because he’s an asshole, Damien
One of the unexpected benefits of getting out of Banham Canyon was being closer to the majority of her clients. The drive from the hills was still a hike to some of them, but a few were close enough now to be generously considered ‘in the neighbourhood.’ The few short runs back and forth had already spoiled Celine. It wasn’t until a trip to Morningwood that she realised the situation with her gas tank. In trying to save as much cash as possible until she got back on her feet, she hadn’t been taking care of some of the more important necessities.
She wouldn’t make it to Morningwood without stopping, so she pulled into the first station she found along the way. Waiting in line at the pump burned up even more fuel she couldn’t afford to lose, and by the time it was her turn, she felt like she was going to run dry right there on the pavement. But she’d made it, without much time to spare to get to her session.
When she fed the pump her bank card and punched in her PIN, it beeped angrily at her. She pulled it out and scrubbed the chip with her thumb and tried again. Again, it beeped. She didn’t want to try the card from the joint account, but if hers was dry, she didn’t have much choice. She tried it anway, and was once more answered with an angry beep.
“Fuck,” she hissed, shoving it back into her wallet and digging out her credit card. She knew it was already maxed out, but maybe she’d get lucky and have a few extra dollars left on it. But when the machine tested the card, it too came back declined.
Celine growled wordlessly as she shoved the card and wallet back into her handbag and pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling through the contacts for Mark’s number. The bastard had cancelled her cards, and she had a desperate need to swear and shout loudly at him. One of the accounts wasn’t even his. It was her money from her job, and he’d cancelled it anyway. She called him, and instead of ringing, she was greeted with a robot recording informing her that she was only able to make emergency calls from her device.
Mark probably had not intended for her to be stuck at a gas pump in Ganton when she found out what he’d done, but that’s exactly how she found herself. Rather than blocking the pump for the growing line behind her, Celine got back into her Banshee and moved it to park in front of the building. She locked her car up and walked around the sides of the building to find a pay phone. There was a small bank of them along the side of the building, and most of them looked like they worked. Celine dug through her handbag for change, scraping up every last coin she could find for the $1.50 fee. In the end, she was 20¢ short. Swearing loudly, she dropped the coins back into her bag. Picking up the receiver, she slammed her finger into the 0 button and waited for the prompts. She dialled Will’s number and waited for the next prompt. Instead, she was greeted with a statement that he did not accept collect calls to his number.
“Goddamnit it!” she shouted, slamming the receiver down. When she looked up again, she found two men standing at the far corner of the building, staring at her. Not wanting to deal with that right now, she picked up the receiver again and pressed 0 once more. This time, she called Damien. He at least accepted collect calls, probably only because he never set his phone up not to.
“Celine, what’s going on?” he answered.
Celine wanted to scream, but it wouldn’t have helped at that moment. “I’m stranded out in Ganton and Mark cancelled my cards and my phone,” she said.
“He what?” Damien asked. “Why did he do that?”
“Because he’s an asshole, Damien,” Celine said. “I need you to help me. Can you get out here, or send somebody, please?”
She hated having to ask him for anything after the way he spoke to her last time, but she didn’t have many options.
“I’m not really available right now,” Damien said slowly. “I’m in Vespucci.”
“What? Why?” Celine asked. “Can you send someone?”
Damien didn’t respond right away. “Uh. No? I mean, can you sit tight for about an hour?”
“No, Damien!” Celine shouted. “I’m at a gas station, and I’ve got an appointment with a client I’m already going to be late for!”
The men at the corner were still looking at her. She was getting too angry. That was becoming an unwanted theme lately, so she took a deep breath and tried not to feel like Damien was being deliberately useless.
“Can’t you reschedule?” he asked.
“I’m not collecting calling my clients, Damien.” Why was he so useless sometimes? Celine shook her head, trying to steady herself. “If you’re not going to help me, then call Will. I’m at the LTD on Telegraph.”
“What are you doing out there?” Damien asked.
“Just call him, please,” Celine said.
She hung up, because talking to him much longer was going to make her scream. Trying to ignore the men at the corner, Celine walked back to her car and got in. She wouldn’t be able to stay there long though, as it baked in the sun. But for now, she could at least feel somewhat isolated from everything else. She took the opportunity to dig through cup holders and under the seats for any spare change she might find, but all she found were stray coffee receipts and an empty condom wrapper.
Now, she did scream. Mark sleeping around with every extra and intern in the city hadn’t exactly been a secret, but he had used her car to do it. Worse, she didn’t even know when. He used her car from time to time when the Hummer was too much vehicle to take somewhere, but she had thought he was at least somewhat sensible. Apparently that was too much to ask for.
With that burst of hopeless rage out of the way, Celine tried to breathe again. She had spent so much time keeping herself from feeling anything at all to keep Mark from picking up on anything he could use against her, that now with him gone it was like a gate had been opened and she couldn’t close it. Everything she’d been keeping bottled up for months and months was unstoppable. But this was not the place to have a complete meltdown. She needed to control herself better than that, or something very regrettable would happen.
Celine got out of her car again and walked into the shop. She had $1.30 to her name, which was enough for a couple cups of cheap gas station tea. She walked straight to the coffee counter and filled a paper cup with hot water and grabbed one of the single-wrapped tea bags from a bowl. After she put her cup together, she took it up to the counter and counted out 50¢ from the bottom of her handbag.
“Do you have public wifi?” she asked.
The cashier shook his head. “Sorry. They don’t even give us the password.”
She sighed quietly. “I’m stranded. Can I bounce off you for a few seconds to check something.”
The cashier gave her a look that seemed genuinely apologetic. He pulled out his phone, which had the cheap, plasticy design of a pre-paid device. “Sorry,” he said.
Celine nodded. “Thank you anyway,” she said, taking her tea back outside.
She sat in the car with the door open so she didn’t suffocate, and tried to just breathe and focus on her drink. It was too hot for tea, but she had her work bag with her in the passenger seat. Putting her tea in the cup holder, she dug through the bag and pulled out a small plastic jar of dried lemon balm. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but she tipped some of the herb into her cup and let it sit for a while to steep.
Drinking un-strained tea was not something she particularly enjoyed doing, but it was better than nothing. She slowly sipped her drink, making it last as long as possible before it got cold. If she focused on that, she might not be a complete wreck by the time Will showed up to help. She didn’t even know if Damien had called anyone, or if he was continuing to be the world’s most unhelpful brother. But she didn’t want to call him back right away. She waited until she finished her tea to get out of the car again and go back to the phones. This time when she dialled the number and gave her name, his phone rang and rang and rang. She thought it might go to voice mail, but finally he picked up.
“Did you call him?” she asked before he could say anything.
“He’s not there yet?” Damien asked.
Celine took a deep breath before she spoke. “Would I be calling you if he were?” she asked.
“Oh. No, I guess not. He’s probably on his way,” Damien said.
Celine sighed, trying very hard not to be angry with Damien. It was the middle of the day, with a half hour between Ganton and Vinewood on a good day. With afternoon traffic, she could be waiting for hours. She knew this, and had to accept this fact. There was nothing she or anyone else could do about that.
“All right,” she said. “Thank you for calling him. I’ll be waiting here, I guess.”
She hung up again and stayed by the phone for a few minutes before going back inside. Spending another 50¢, she picked up a second cup of tea and took it out to her car again. With another generous scoop of lemon balm in her tea, she sipped on it and waited. It was far too hot for tea, and her car was quickly becoming an oven, but she didn’t want to risk even driving it around the building to find some shade to park in, in case that’s all it took to empty her tank completely. Twice, she picked up her phone out of habit, both times feeling stupid with herself for forgetting that it didn’t work. Twice, she threw the phone into the passenger seat, angry all over again. If she had ever doubted that Mark didn’t love her, now she knew for sure that this was the truth. She wondered if he had ever even loved her, or if she might have just convinced him that he did. It was an awful, terrible thought that she couldn’t push away. The idea that she had been the instrument to her own despair was a crushing, suffocating thought that threatened to consume her. If it had all been her fault, from the very beginning, how could she possibly be in the right about anything?
Did it even matter that he had already been divorced once before? That he had children he never spoke to, and Celine had never met? Was his treatment of her a pattern of behaviour, or had he simply picked up on everything Celine had ever felt? Was she to blame for all of it?
She couldn’t think like that. She picked up her phone once more to check the time. She was already late. By the time she’d manage to get out to Morningwood, the time slot would have come and gone. It wasn’t the most professional day of her life, but what else could she have done?
With her second cup of tea gone, she began to grow worried. Had Damien even called like he’d said he had? Or was he being even more unhelpful than he’d been letting on? She thought she might have to call him back, but if he was going to continue to be unhelpful, what good would calling a third time do?
When a blue SUV pulled up next to her, Celine didn’t immediately recognise it. She’d been looking out for Will’s Oracle, but of course he’d be busy in the middle of the day as well. Sending someone else out was the logical and obvious solution. Billy got out of his car and walked over to Celine as she opened her door.
“Thank you, so much,” she said. Already, it was like an anvil had been lifted from her chest. “Can I use your phone, please?”
Billy nodded and pulled it from his pocket. “Yeah, sure. Here, give me your keys and I’ll get you sorted out.”
Celine got out of the car and gave Billy her keys while she walked into some shade. She watched him take her car over to the pump, and copied a number from her phone to Billy’s. At this point, she couldn’t even do the session. She might have been able to get there in a reasonable amount of time, but she was so angry and upset and exhausted that all she could do was cancel and go home.
Not home. To Will’s house. He was letting her stay there, but it wasn’t her home. She was an invader, even if he was gracious about it. He was such a solitary man that just being there sometimes made her feel like she was in the way.
By the time she finished cancelling her session, Billy was done with her car and brought it back to her parking spot.
“Can I bounce off of you for a few minutes?” she asked, handing him his phone back. “He cancelled so many other things, I need to know if I’ve even still got insurance.”
“Shit, yeah,” Billy said.
He tapped at his phone a few times and tilted the screen for her to see the hot spot password. With Billy’s wifi, Celine pulled up her insurance app. She was still able to log in, so he hadn’t cancelled everything outright, but her policy was not present.
“Fuck,” she hissed, locking the phone. Should she get a tow? She couldn’t afford one. “Are you too busy to follow me back to Will’s?”
Billy shook his head. “He cancelled that too?” he asked.
Celine nodded. She wanted to scream and cry and make a lot of noise, but she forced herself to press all of that down. These things could be fixed, and would be. It was all temporary. “I need to find out what else he cancelled.”
“Yeah, let’s go. You okay to drive?” Billy asked.
Celine nodded and opened her car door. “I’m fine,” she said. “I mean, I’m not fine, but I’m fine.”
She watched Billy’s face, hoping that she wouldn’t see any signs of crushing despair. But he only nodded and walked around to get into his car. At least someone was on her side.
She wouldn’t make it to Morningwood without stopping, so she pulled into the first station she found along the way. Waiting in line at the pump burned up even more fuel she couldn’t afford to lose, and by the time it was her turn, she felt like she was going to run dry right there on the pavement. But she’d made it, without much time to spare to get to her session.
When she fed the pump her bank card and punched in her PIN, it beeped angrily at her. She pulled it out and scrubbed the chip with her thumb and tried again. Again, it beeped. She didn’t want to try the card from the joint account, but if hers was dry, she didn’t have much choice. She tried it anway, and was once more answered with an angry beep.
“Fuck,” she hissed, shoving it back into her wallet and digging out her credit card. She knew it was already maxed out, but maybe she’d get lucky and have a few extra dollars left on it. But when the machine tested the card, it too came back declined.
Celine growled wordlessly as she shoved the card and wallet back into her handbag and pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling through the contacts for Mark’s number. The bastard had cancelled her cards, and she had a desperate need to swear and shout loudly at him. One of the accounts wasn’t even his. It was her money from her job, and he’d cancelled it anyway. She called him, and instead of ringing, she was greeted with a robot recording informing her that she was only able to make emergency calls from her device.
Mark probably had not intended for her to be stuck at a gas pump in Ganton when she found out what he’d done, but that’s exactly how she found herself. Rather than blocking the pump for the growing line behind her, Celine got back into her Banshee and moved it to park in front of the building. She locked her car up and walked around the sides of the building to find a pay phone. There was a small bank of them along the side of the building, and most of them looked like they worked. Celine dug through her handbag for change, scraping up every last coin she could find for the $1.50 fee. In the end, she was 20¢ short. Swearing loudly, she dropped the coins back into her bag. Picking up the receiver, she slammed her finger into the 0 button and waited for the prompts. She dialled Will’s number and waited for the next prompt. Instead, she was greeted with a statement that he did not accept collect calls to his number.
“Goddamnit it!” she shouted, slamming the receiver down. When she looked up again, she found two men standing at the far corner of the building, staring at her. Not wanting to deal with that right now, she picked up the receiver again and pressed 0 once more. This time, she called Damien. He at least accepted collect calls, probably only because he never set his phone up not to.
“Celine, what’s going on?” he answered.
Celine wanted to scream, but it wouldn’t have helped at that moment. “I’m stranded out in Ganton and Mark cancelled my cards and my phone,” she said.
“He what?” Damien asked. “Why did he do that?”
“Because he’s an asshole, Damien,” Celine said. “I need you to help me. Can you get out here, or send somebody, please?”
She hated having to ask him for anything after the way he spoke to her last time, but she didn’t have many options.
“I’m not really available right now,” Damien said slowly. “I’m in Vespucci.”
“What? Why?” Celine asked. “Can you send someone?”
Damien didn’t respond right away. “Uh. No? I mean, can you sit tight for about an hour?”
“No, Damien!” Celine shouted. “I’m at a gas station, and I’ve got an appointment with a client I’m already going to be late for!”
The men at the corner were still looking at her. She was getting too angry. That was becoming an unwanted theme lately, so she took a deep breath and tried not to feel like Damien was being deliberately useless.
“Can’t you reschedule?” he asked.
“I’m not collecting calling my clients, Damien.” Why was he so useless sometimes? Celine shook her head, trying to steady herself. “If you’re not going to help me, then call Will. I’m at the LTD on Telegraph.”
“What are you doing out there?” Damien asked.
“Just call him, please,” Celine said.
She hung up, because talking to him much longer was going to make her scream. Trying to ignore the men at the corner, Celine walked back to her car and got in. She wouldn’t be able to stay there long though, as it baked in the sun. But for now, she could at least feel somewhat isolated from everything else. She took the opportunity to dig through cup holders and under the seats for any spare change she might find, but all she found were stray coffee receipts and an empty condom wrapper.
Now, she did scream. Mark sleeping around with every extra and intern in the city hadn’t exactly been a secret, but he had used her car to do it. Worse, she didn’t even know when. He used her car from time to time when the Hummer was too much vehicle to take somewhere, but she had thought he was at least somewhat sensible. Apparently that was too much to ask for.
With that burst of hopeless rage out of the way, Celine tried to breathe again. She had spent so much time keeping herself from feeling anything at all to keep Mark from picking up on anything he could use against her, that now with him gone it was like a gate had been opened and she couldn’t close it. Everything she’d been keeping bottled up for months and months was unstoppable. But this was not the place to have a complete meltdown. She needed to control herself better than that, or something very regrettable would happen.
Celine got out of her car again and walked into the shop. She had $1.30 to her name, which was enough for a couple cups of cheap gas station tea. She walked straight to the coffee counter and filled a paper cup with hot water and grabbed one of the single-wrapped tea bags from a bowl. After she put her cup together, she took it up to the counter and counted out 50¢ from the bottom of her handbag.
“Do you have public wifi?” she asked.
The cashier shook his head. “Sorry. They don’t even give us the password.”
She sighed quietly. “I’m stranded. Can I bounce off you for a few seconds to check something.”
The cashier gave her a look that seemed genuinely apologetic. He pulled out his phone, which had the cheap, plasticy design of a pre-paid device. “Sorry,” he said.
Celine nodded. “Thank you anyway,” she said, taking her tea back outside.
She sat in the car with the door open so she didn’t suffocate, and tried to just breathe and focus on her drink. It was too hot for tea, but she had her work bag with her in the passenger seat. Putting her tea in the cup holder, she dug through the bag and pulled out a small plastic jar of dried lemon balm. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but she tipped some of the herb into her cup and let it sit for a while to steep.
Drinking un-strained tea was not something she particularly enjoyed doing, but it was better than nothing. She slowly sipped her drink, making it last as long as possible before it got cold. If she focused on that, she might not be a complete wreck by the time Will showed up to help. She didn’t even know if Damien had called anyone, or if he was continuing to be the world’s most unhelpful brother. But she didn’t want to call him back right away. She waited until she finished her tea to get out of the car again and go back to the phones. This time when she dialled the number and gave her name, his phone rang and rang and rang. She thought it might go to voice mail, but finally he picked up.
“Did you call him?” she asked before he could say anything.
“He’s not there yet?” Damien asked.
Celine took a deep breath before she spoke. “Would I be calling you if he were?” she asked.
“Oh. No, I guess not. He’s probably on his way,” Damien said.
Celine sighed, trying very hard not to be angry with Damien. It was the middle of the day, with a half hour between Ganton and Vinewood on a good day. With afternoon traffic, she could be waiting for hours. She knew this, and had to accept this fact. There was nothing she or anyone else could do about that.
“All right,” she said. “Thank you for calling him. I’ll be waiting here, I guess.”
She hung up again and stayed by the phone for a few minutes before going back inside. Spending another 50¢, she picked up a second cup of tea and took it out to her car again. With another generous scoop of lemon balm in her tea, she sipped on it and waited. It was far too hot for tea, and her car was quickly becoming an oven, but she didn’t want to risk even driving it around the building to find some shade to park in, in case that’s all it took to empty her tank completely. Twice, she picked up her phone out of habit, both times feeling stupid with herself for forgetting that it didn’t work. Twice, she threw the phone into the passenger seat, angry all over again. If she had ever doubted that Mark didn’t love her, now she knew for sure that this was the truth. She wondered if he had ever even loved her, or if she might have just convinced him that he did. It was an awful, terrible thought that she couldn’t push away. The idea that she had been the instrument to her own despair was a crushing, suffocating thought that threatened to consume her. If it had all been her fault, from the very beginning, how could she possibly be in the right about anything?
Did it even matter that he had already been divorced once before? That he had children he never spoke to, and Celine had never met? Was his treatment of her a pattern of behaviour, or had he simply picked up on everything Celine had ever felt? Was she to blame for all of it?
She couldn’t think like that. She picked up her phone once more to check the time. She was already late. By the time she’d manage to get out to Morningwood, the time slot would have come and gone. It wasn’t the most professional day of her life, but what else could she have done?
With her second cup of tea gone, she began to grow worried. Had Damien even called like he’d said he had? Or was he being even more unhelpful than he’d been letting on? She thought she might have to call him back, but if he was going to continue to be unhelpful, what good would calling a third time do?
When a blue SUV pulled up next to her, Celine didn’t immediately recognise it. She’d been looking out for Will’s Oracle, but of course he’d be busy in the middle of the day as well. Sending someone else out was the logical and obvious solution. Billy got out of his car and walked over to Celine as she opened her door.
“Thank you, so much,” she said. Already, it was like an anvil had been lifted from her chest. “Can I use your phone, please?”
Billy nodded and pulled it from his pocket. “Yeah, sure. Here, give me your keys and I’ll get you sorted out.”
Celine got out of the car and gave Billy her keys while she walked into some shade. She watched him take her car over to the pump, and copied a number from her phone to Billy’s. At this point, she couldn’t even do the session. She might have been able to get there in a reasonable amount of time, but she was so angry and upset and exhausted that all she could do was cancel and go home.
Not home. To Will’s house. He was letting her stay there, but it wasn’t her home. She was an invader, even if he was gracious about it. He was such a solitary man that just being there sometimes made her feel like she was in the way.
By the time she finished cancelling her session, Billy was done with her car and brought it back to her parking spot.
“Can I bounce off of you for a few minutes?” she asked, handing him his phone back. “He cancelled so many other things, I need to know if I’ve even still got insurance.”
“Shit, yeah,” Billy said.
He tapped at his phone a few times and tilted the screen for her to see the hot spot password. With Billy’s wifi, Celine pulled up her insurance app. She was still able to log in, so he hadn’t cancelled everything outright, but her policy was not present.
“Fuck,” she hissed, locking the phone. Should she get a tow? She couldn’t afford one. “Are you too busy to follow me back to Will’s?”
Billy shook his head. “He cancelled that too?” he asked.
Celine nodded. She wanted to scream and cry and make a lot of noise, but she forced herself to press all of that down. These things could be fixed, and would be. It was all temporary. “I need to find out what else he cancelled.”
“Yeah, let’s go. You okay to drive?” Billy asked.
Celine nodded and opened her car door. “I’m fine,” she said. “I mean, I’m not fine, but I’m fine.”
She watched Billy’s face, hoping that she wouldn’t see any signs of crushing despair. But he only nodded and walked around to get into his car. At least someone was on her side.