Whispers and secrets

A NEW FRIEND

After parking her car, Celeste began to walk towards the supermarket. It looked just like any supermarket. As she entered the building, she greeted the cashier with a big smile. She hoped it was welcoming enough for a first impression. She began strolling through endless isles picking up items she needed. Her mind wondered away. She was thinking about her aunt, three years after moving to live with her aunt. Aunt Mavis had died in a car accident. It was a painful time for her. Luckily, Carlos was there to help with the grieving. Her parents had also come to the funeral and made arrangements to take her back home, but Celeste refused to go back. It’s not that she didn’t love her parents or care for them, she just felt that she was exactly where she needed to be.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice she didn’t recognize.“HI, you’re the new neighbor that just moved in, right? Celeste looked up from the racks and saw a woman who was a bit taller than her. Her hair was red and tied back in a lower pony. Her face was all blushed, and she wore a heavy amount of blush that made her look like a doll. “Yes, I am Celeste. "And you are?” she said with her hands outreached to shake the woman’s hand. “I’m Abbey Doobay, My Husband told me of new neighbors and I had hoped to meet you what a surprise”. She shook Celeste’s outreached hand and giggled slightly, almost excitedly. “Oh my, very nice to meet you, do you live in the same area?” Celeste asked out of curiosity but also because she wasn’t good at making small talk and asked out of nervousness.

“Yes, I do, right across from your house, actually. I was hoping to come over and invite you to dinner tonight or maybe drop off a welcoming gift. “

“ Oh that’s very nice of you but all of that isn’t really necessary.”

“But I insist, It would be lovely to get to know your new neighbors. But of course, if it will make you uncomfortable, I wouldn’t. Abbey looked at her with a pitiful face.

“Okay, if that’s your plan, who am I to not allow you to execute it”. Celeste said to her, giving up any defense that she had planned. She thought maybe it was good to make some friends. She was going to be living her after all.

“Oh wonderful, I’ll drop by this afternoon, if that is okay with you.”

“Yes, that’s fine by me”

Abbey gave Celeste a hug, and then walked away, explaining that she had some errands to finish. As Abbey carried on, Celeste felt like she knew Abbey. She felt like they'd been friends for a while and not two strangers who had just met. Celeste was so caught up with her talk with her new friend, she didn’t notice that eyes were watching her every move.

As she finished getting what she needed, she cashed her items and went on her way home. As she was driving she thought about her encounter with Abbey. She thought it was a good sign that she had made a new friend in the new place. She thought maybe she would have a chance to find out more about the strange place. Since she didn’t live far from the outskirts as to where the supermarket was located in twenty minutes, she was at her gate. She grabbed her items and went inside. As she entered the kitchen with her hands filled. She saw her husband sitting at the table.

“Hi Sweetheart, Good morning. "Did you sleep well?” She asked him as she set her stuff on the counter.

“ Yes, like I have never been before, or at least in a long time. "And where did you run off to?” he asked her with a curious look in his eyes.

“I went to get us some food to eat, I noticed we forgot to buy any. I was going to catch the squirrels to feast on them, but I wasn’t in the mood.”

“I see , that would’ve been a good meal,” he said with a mischievous smile. Celeste smiled at his response. That was one of the reasons she loved him. He always understood her sarcastic nature. She didn’t have to spell it out for him nor did he get offended. She loved him for many reasons, but that one was her favorite. She began to unpack her items. As she did so she remembered her previous encounter.

“I met someone from the neighborhood at the supermarket, and she invited us to her house for dinner as a welcoming, she said she would come by later to do it formally.”

“ That was nice of her, we will have to look for her”

“Yeah, look at this mess. "We need to unpack our stuff and make this house look like a home”, Celeste said to him as she looked around, observing every corner of the house as far as her eyes would let her. The kitchen for one was filled with at least ten boxes that were waiting to be put in their respectable places.

Celeste made breakfast, and they ate in silence, being in their own heads thinking about the near future. Soon after, they began unboxing, unwrapping and organizing. They started in the kitchen first because Carlos made the argument that, above all, they would still need to eat. Celeste agreed with him and started there. They then moved from the kitchen to the living room, to the dining room, to their room and finally, the guest room. They packed and unpacked for hours, but still everything was not done. Carlos took the rest of the problems in the attic, and they agreed that they would deal with that part of unpacking in the later days.

They were both in the living room resting from the hectic day they had just had. Celeste was catching up on some reading. It was a little hobby of hers. She loved reading. When she was little, she would lose herself in books for hours. It was a way for her to travel the world without leaving her home. It was comforting for her. Carlos knew this very well, and he would always let her have her time when he saw that she was reading. He was in his corner on his favorite piece of furniture. A light brown convertible chair, the one that would go from sitting to lying down. He was working on something for work. As the manager of the company that he was working for, it meant that he had to put in a lot of work, but he never let it get in the way of spending time with his wife.

The front doorbell rung. They both looked at each other. Celeste got up to open the door. She was greeted with a knowing face. “Hi Abbey, Good Evening”, she said with a smile as she saw Abbey at her door.

“Hello again, I am here to properly invite you over to my house for dinner at 7 o’clock,” Abbey told her with excitement in her voice.

“ Thank you for the invitation, Abbey. My husband and I will be delighted to come.”

“ I will see you there at Seven. "My house is right there” Abbey pointed to a house that was right across from where Celeste was standing. The house was a crème colour, almost yellow. In front in the yard had a flower garden with many kinds of flowers. Celeste quickly scanned the property to remember its location.

“I see, I’ll take note of that, and thank you again.”

“ Don’t mention it, I’m happy to host you” Abbey said as she bid her goodbye with a hug.

Celeste went back to Carlos and informed him of the interaction she had. She went and told her husband about the timing of the dinner and went back to finish up her reading. After a few hours, they were busy getting ready for the dinner.