Being Celeste (17 page)

“I’m so happy to be back at home. And I
missed you, Celeste!” said Kate, giving me a hug.

“A lot has happened, best friend of mine.
Wait until you hear what I’ve been up to while you were away.”

“Really, I doubt it will be as life
changing as mine.”

What does she mean she doubts?

Kate and I agreed to watch the show first.
But I was so eager to tell her my news; the fact that I got asked out twice
today. I wished I had the power to communicate through thoughts and somehow
convey my experiences like that. Kate says that she had signed a legal contract
which required her not to communicate with the outside world during the filming
of the show, something about her transformation being leaked before the actual
airing of the show. Her parents knew about it, they just couldn’t tell me, so
they say. I just think that a simple text, explaining to me the circumstances
would have worked, instead of me, calling her like an idiot while she wasn’t
available. I kept my anger at bay because it’s very hard to be upset with Kate.
It’s like I’m under her spell. Every time I feel like giving her hell, it just
fades away. We watched Kate’s transformation, from ugly duckling to swan. I was
rather impressed with the work the professionals did with her. But for some
reason, I really wanted to get Kate into her really messy room and talk to her.
I didn’t care about the fact that she had turned into a swan. Many people would
agree that turning into a swan, versus having your first boy troubles is kind
of a no brainer when it comes to priority.

I dragged her into her room and shut the
door as soon as the show was over.

“That was me, on tv!” she screamed, holding
me at the shoulders and jumping like a crazy person.

I jumped with her for a while, and then I
stopped and put on a straight face. “Kate, we really need to talk, because I
need your help. Here’s the deal, you have a lot to tell me about your adventure
in the city, as do I about my adventure in Palapye.”

She stopped jumping but still kept her
excitement. I guess it was because I had some juicy news to share. “I too have
news for you, Celeste.”

“Yes-yes, I know. But let me go first.” I
sat her down and told her about Thabang and Taboka. I couldn’t wait any longer.
I told her about my dilemma and the fact that I had no heart to break the
cousins’ relationship apart. I think she was more stunned at the fact that I
did not have feelings for Taboka then me being a babe. “Well, what should I
do?”

Kate got up and began walking around her
cluttered room. This would be more relaxing if we were in another room in her
house. I was having second thoughts about sleeping over. I wanted to bring out
the list we compiled on the changes we wanted to make in our lives. She hadn’t
lived up to her promise to keep her room tidy.

“Celeste, I think you should just be honest
with the both of them. If you like Thabang, don’t let Taboka’s feelings stand
in your way. This is the time to be selfish.”

“Yes!”

“Be selfish, and confident!”

“Yes!” I protested. I had missed her
motivational speeches.

Kate could not stop professing her delight
in my progress. “I should leave you alone more often. I wonder how many boys
will be falling at your feet then.”

I laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. You should
go away more often, and leave me in charge.” Well no, that sounded better in my
head. I really didn’t want Kate to ever leave me again.

Kate was really exhausted from her trip, so
she went to bed early. I don’t get why she was so tired because the city is
just three hours away. At first she sort of passed out, while I was talking
about my boy troubles. I thought it was selfish of her, but she woke up and I
managed to pull out another thirty minutes. She excused herself and went to
sleep, still wearing makeup. Nevertheless, I was happy to have her home.

***************

It was Sunday and I had spent all weekend
at Kate’s house. I hoped my parents weren’t missing me too much. I guess not,
because none of them took the liberty to call and ask me how I was doing. I
wonder who’s making tea for them. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun
with Kate. It’s probably the feeling one gets when they are hot property. You
know, when you’re worry free after news come in from the future, notifying you
that you will not die a spinster after all. I helped Kate unpack her luggage
and clean her room. The show’s producers hooked her up with some fine clothes’
shops because she came home with an entirely new wardrobe. I hope that this
means they threw away her pink pants. I had missed Kate so much that after
breakfast we went to watch a movie, for all time’s sake.

I said, after the movie was over, “It’s
going to be very exciting tomorrow with you back at work. I think I have
adapted this new habit where I pretend you’re there and as a result, I talk to
myself.”

Kate was quiet and gloomy. It was sort of a
transition really. She went from really refreshed, from the movie, to
expressionless.

“Kate?” I called, waiting for her to
comment on my last statement. I continued, “Then I have to make a decision
about Taboka and Thabang. We can discuss that tomorrow too.”

Kate grabbed my hand and pulled me from the
sofa. “Come on Celeste, I need to tell you something.”

As soon as we got to her room she shut her
door and ordered me so sit on her bed....Okay? Kate was all serious and bossy.
I kept on wondering what had possessed her. Maybe she was becoming a diva. She
still hadn’t shown me how to wear makeup, she owes me that much. Oh, I just
adore her new image.

“Celeste, I still haven’t told you about my
encounters in the city,” she said, pulling up a chair. She then smiled. I
sensed it was excitement, you know, the kind one gets when they have news to
share.

In my mind I was thinking, she also found a
boyfriend. But wait,
I
don’t have a boyfriend yet, but still. I sighed,
sort of releasing the excitement that was building within me. It was not my
fault, it was Kate who was making me excited.

“I had a wonderful time in the city,” said
Kate. She paused and looked at me for approval.

Is that it? I thought to myself. Oh, now I
get where she’s going with this. She wants me to say, “So, what happened?”

“So I kept my mind open, during this
makeover thing you entered me in. I did not refuse any kind of suggestions
thrown my way...well, except that one time they wanted to pluck my eyebrows.”

I knew it!

Kate continued. “I mean, personally I don’t
think eyebrows should be plucked.”

Ugh! Here were go again.

“Eyebrows were not created to be plucked,
they are there for a reason and we shouldn’t do anything to them. I tried to
explain that to the nice man with the makeup bag, but of course he looked at me
like I was a loon.”

Shocker!

“So how did they finally get you to get
them plucked?” I asked, about to fall asleep from the eyebrow protest.

“Well, I don’t know really. Something deep
within me just ordered me to try it out. Then of course the end result was
fantastic. I never knew I had such pretty eyes,” said Kate, leaning towards me
and blinking out of control, to emphasize her pretty eyes.

“Yep, you
do
have pretty eyes, Kate.
Please continue with your story.”

“Right! So after the makeup and hair people
were done with me, which took a good three days, we went shopping for a
complete new wardrobe.”

Kate’s new wardrobe is to die for. I feel a
little jealous that she has all these new clothes to flaunt and experiment
with. But I am still very glad that she got the opportunity to have new
clothes. I love shopping. I wish I would have gone along with her.

“Which brings me to the news that I have
been delaying,” said Kate, looking gloomy again. “I didn’t know how to tell you
because this is major. It’s exciting really, if you think about it.”

“What is it, Kate?” I wanted her to tell me
already.

“Celeste, I can’t work at the shop
anymore.”

Of course I was shocked, but for the most
part, I thought she was joking. So I didn’t take her seriously and I pretended
like she didn’t say anything.

She continued. “While I was shopping for
new clothes, we went into this other boutique to look for party dresses. When I
came out of the change room to show the shopping expert my look, this woman
came up to me, and she said her name was Nelly K. She is a fashion model scout
and she said I had ‘the look’.”

What?

My eyes grew wide open. “She did?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Kate, almost relieved that
I was responding to her news. “She said she was actually on vacation here in
Botswana. She’s from New York City in America, but she just couldn’t resist. I
believe her words were “I may be on vacation, but I’m not going to let you slip
through my fingers”. So, she had me walk in the shop for her, to see if I was
capable of walking on the
runway
. Afterwards, she talked to the show’s
producers and asked if she could borrow me for a day.”

“Kate?” my heart was beating really fast,
because I was getting excited for Kate.

“I know, right? So on Wednesday, I found
out that Nelly K. had organised a photo shoot for me. She said because I was
raw and inexperienced, it made my look even fresher. She sent my shots to her
bosses in America and they loved me. I was then asked to join their modelling
agency. All of it happened so fast, I had no time to catch my breath. I didn’t
know what was going on.”

“That’s all exciting, Kate, but I don’t get
it. Why can’t you come to the shop tomorrow? Because the people at the
modelling agency loved your fresh look?” I asked, acting a little dense. I knew
what she meant.

“I told them that I needed time to think
about it and talk to my family first. The thing is, if I sign a contract with
them, I’m going to have to move to New York and live there while I’m on my
contract.”

“Wait, what? Kate, why didn’t you tell them
that you were not interested?” I felt a surge of confusion coming along.

“Actually Celeste, I’m going to do it. I
didn’t realise this at first, but I think I’d like to be a model, a supermodel.
It sounds fun and exciting and I have the body for it.”

“Hold on right there, Kate! But what
happens to our pact to go to the same college and study the same major?” I was
feeling betrayed and angry at the same time. What does she mean she wants to be
a supermodel? A week ago she was a mono coloured train wreck.

“Celeste, I thought you’d be happy for me?”

At that moment I saw a new side to Kate, a
side where we were not in the same frequency.

“How could I be happy for you, when you’re
planning to break our pact?”

“
Our
pact? More like
your
pact! It’s always about you, isn’t it? Why can’t you be happy that I’ve found
something to do with my life?”

I shot up, in anger and released a
ridiculous laugh. “Something to do with
your
life? Need I remind you
that it’s because of
me
that you even went to the city in the first
place?
I’m
the reason you even got scouted and you have the nerve to
call me selfish?” I felt a rush of adrenaline go through me. I knew that there
would be regrets after this argument was over. “I’m not selfish, dear Kate, you
are!”

“Celeste, I didn’t ask you to enter me into
a makeover show. No, you did that out of your own free will because for some
reason,
you
didn’t like the way I dressed. I was perfectly fine with
myself and who I was. But because you aren’t satisfied with the person
you
are, you have to automatically think that I am that way too. Yes, you’re the
reason I was in the city, because
you
want to control everything, like
always. If it’s not how you see it, it’s not right!”

Is she really going there? This is the
thanks I get for trying to introduce her to new things.

“If you were so perfectly fine with your
style, then why are you considering jetting off to a new continent to become a
model?”

“Because I
want
to do it! You know
what Celeste, I’m the one working in your parents’ shop, not the other way
around. You have a future set for you, to fall back on if you don’t find what
you want to do in life. I can’t stay there with you forever and wait for
you
to pick our destiny. I want to be something and travel the world and see
people. I’m tired of feeling bad because your insecurities won’t allow you to
take any steps forward!”

“But we promised each other, that we’d do
the same thing. Why are you trying to get out of that?”

“I’m not getting out of anything. I just
want you to be happy for me, like I’m always happy for
you
; like I’m
always there for you, when you need me.”

I was so furious with Kate. “Well, I have
to disappoint you Kate. I will never wish you well. You’ve betrayed me and I
can never look past that!”

“Fine, be like that. I don’t give a fuck
what you think anyway. I guess you’ll just have to stay here in this small
town, picking at nothing, hoping that an opportunity will fall on your lap
without any work done!”