This, That, and the Other

“Celeste. What are you doing here tonight?” Hal asked when he opened his door to find Celeste standing there in his hallway holding a tray.

“I came over to celebrate our one month anniversary,” Celeste said. “I brought some healthy veggies — broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots — plus some ranch dressing for dipping.”

“Well, that’s nice, Celeste, but I have other plans tonight,” Hal said.

“I know, but I canceled them,” Celeste said.

“You did what?” Hal said. “What the fuck, Celeste! Donna and I were going to a celebrity auction at the museum.”

“My horoscope told me that you and I were meant to be together tonight,” Celeste explained. “So when I saw on your Facebook page that you were going to the auction with Donna, I called her and told her you were too sick to go.”

“Your horoscope?”

“Yes, silly,” Celeste said. “By studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects, you can learn all about human nature and affairs. I’ve studied our astrological charts and we are meant for each other.”

“Celeste,” Hal said, “we went on one date a month ago. It was a disaster and I had no plans to go out with you again. You had no right to cancel my plans with another woman. You need to leave.”

“But Hal,” Celeste said, “I brought you a one-month anniversary gift. It’s an engraved heart charm for your charm bracelet.”

“First of all, Celeste, we don’t have any kind of anniversary to celebrate,” Hal said. “And second of all, I don’t have a charm bracelet.”

“I know, so I got you bracelet to go with the charm I got you.”

“You need to leave, Celeste,” Hal said as he grabbed her arm and literally pulled her out into the hallway outside of his apartment. “Don’t come back here, don’t call me, and for crissake, don’t call Donna again. You’re a freak.” With that, he went back into his apartment and slammed the door shut.

He picked up the phone and called Donna. “Hi Donna, no, I’m fine. Yeah, there was a bit of confusion earlier. Do you wanna here something priceless?”

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Written for today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill. Today’s challenge is to “find a word that starts with or contains ‘cele’ and use it any way you’d like.”