Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 131

Chapter 131

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SERAPHINE

Today, I needed to be seen. I chose the pepper-red dress, long and flowing and completely wrong for a research laboratory, the kind of dress that announced itself the moment it entered a room. Heavy makeup. Red lips. My hair down. I looked like a woman who had decided that today was going to mean something.

Almost two hours later, Kingsley called.

“She just walked in,” he said.

“Good,” I told him, and smiled at my reflection.

I parked in front of Helix Research Laboratory and walked through the front doors with bold strides, my heels clicking against the floor, the hem of my red dress sweeping behind me like a trail of blood.

The lobby was busy, people moving between desks and offices and meeting rooms, the usual hum of activity. They looked up when I entered, some with recognition, some with the instinctive wariness that comes when someone walks into a room with purpose written all over her face.

I stopped in the center of the lobby and opened my mouth.

“CELESTE!”

The word echoed off the walls and bounced through the open space and cut through the hum of conversation like a knife. People froze. Heads turned. The new receptionist was on her feet immediately, her hands raised.

“Mrs. Ford, please, if you could just lower your…”

“CELESTE!” I screamed again, louder, turning in a slow circle so everyone in the lobby could see my face and hear my voice.” GET OUT HERE, YOU CHEAP WHORE! COME FACE ME!”

“Mrs. Ford, please, calm down. Whatever is going on, we can talk about this privately…”

“There is nothing private about what I have to say. Let everyone hear. Let the whole world hear what Celeste has done.”

A security guard approached, his expression cautious. “Ma’am, I am going to have to ask you to lower your voice or leave the premises.”

“Try to throw me out,” I said, meeting his eyes. “I dare you. My husband owns half this city. Put your hands on me and see what happens.”

He hesitated. The receptionist hesitated. They looked at each other and neither of them moved.

“CELESTE!” I screamed again, my voice cracking with the effort. “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! COME OUT HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A WOMAN! OR ARE YOU TOO BUSY SPREADING YOUR LEGS FOR MY HUSBAND TO SHOW YOUR FACE?”

The whispers started. People exchanged glances, pulled out their phones, began to record. I could feel their eyes on me, could feel the shift in the air as the energy of the room changed from confusion to anticipation.

And then, finally, Celeste appeared.

She walked out of the corridor leading to the executive offices, Pat by her side, her expression cool and composed, her arms folded across her chest. She was wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt, professional and polished, and there was a haughty smirk on her face as she looked at me like I was beneath her, like I was a street performer putting on a show for her

amusement.

“Seraphine,” she said, her voice calm. “What a surprise.”

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“Do not Seraphine me, you cheap whore.”

“Language.” She tilted her head slightly. “There are professionals working here, Show some class.”

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