Celia

I'm left with this need to go make amends with Chanel.

Not to please Gio, no. It has nothing to do with it.

Sure, he might like that I finally fulfilled my promise. And you know, he might smile and praise me in that deep voice, which might make me giddy or whatever. But that's not why.

I just think... I should get to know Chanel better. See what she's really about. Maybe I can even use her. That's right. I'm doing it to use her.

So I grab a ladder and climb over her gate, peeking over to see what she's up to.

She's playing an obnoxious Zumba tutorial on her speakers, so I'm expecting twenty others dressed in colorful spandex, all with blonde hair, thrusting their hips with jazz fingers.

But what I see is much sadder than that.

It's the sight of Chanel in a bikini by her pool, filming a TikTok voiceover.

Poor Liam. He has to come home to this. It's almost like charity work that we let him be friends with Ari.

"Ey yo," I yell. "Whatchu doing there, butt face?"

I hope I wing this while being high. I had to smoke a joint to go through it. Ari won't be home for another two hours, by then I'll have accomplished the sacrifice fit for a saint.

"What the hell are you doing?" She sits up from her pool bed, covering her boobs with a sheer, turquoise shawl. "How dare you snoop on me like that?"

"How dare me?" I squint. "What are you, a Bridgerton character? Who talks like that?"

Crap. I was supposed to be nice.

"I mean," I force a smile. "Chanel, do you have a cup of sugar I can borrow? I'm baking a red velvet cake and have run out. It's Gio's birthday and he took the truck." Stop. You could've just stopped at the first sentence.

"Oh." Chanel stands up. "Well, you could've knocked and asked like a normal person instead of climbing over my gate like some creep."

"Gio said he fell in love with you the first time you climbed over his gate." I sigh regretfully. "I'm just trying to be more like you so he notices me."

Her eye twitches. This is not going that well.

"I'm sorry." I bite my lip, trying not to smile.

She scoffs and smooths her hair, making my eyes follow her hand, and that's when I notice that she's not wearing her wedding ring.

And she was just pushing her boobs up for a video.

And I haven't seen her husband in forever.

Not to mention, she's been flirting with Gio nonstop.

"Chanel..." I tilt my head. "Did you and Ben... get a divorce?"

She gasps, fear and surprise painting her face.

"You got a divorce?" I ask louder. "No way!"

"Shh!" She stomp her foot angrily.

"Oh my God!" I throw my hands in the air. "I just came upon a gold mine!" I stare into the distance, bringing my hands under my chin. "The wonderful opportunities of blackmail at my disposal..." I look back at Chanel who's fuming and grin. "I own you, don't I?"

Not sexually.

Gio's spanking session though. Phew. My God.

"... and I'll never forgive you." Chanel finishes saying, eyes brimmed with tears.

"When did it happen?" I ask.

She crosses her arms, refusing to speak.

"Tsk. Hey." I rest my palm on the wooden gate. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I should've been more sensitive."

She looks back at me and narrows her eyes. "I'm not falling for another one of your tricks!"

"It's not a trick." I scowl. "And excuse me, but who are you to talk? You fake bitch. You think I'm going to forget that you wanted to call CPS on Gio? My Gio?" I raise my brows at her small gasp. "Yeah. That's right. I heard you giggling about it with your friend. Right after your precious, holy church service! So don't stand here and act innocent." I slap my palm on the gate.

"I know." She nods then sniffles, covering her face. "I know. I did. I did do that." She whimpers once or twice, then throws her arms down and wails. "I'm a horrible person!"

I sober up, blinking a couple of times. I never thought I'd see fancy Chanel wail like a toddler.

I start to laugh. She's crying and I'm laughing. I don't know for how long, but it's great.

"What the hell is so funny!" She shrills and I almost fall off the ladder. "You look so stupid laughing when nothing's funny! Stop laughing!"

"Oh my God..." I compose myself. "Phew. Oh, girl. Come over. I got just what you need."

~

"So Gio's in the mafia, huh?" Chanel squints over a cloud of smoke.

We're in patio chairs across from each other, smoking under the lemon tree. There's warm, autumn breeze rustling the leaves, and the sun is flickering onto our skin. We're wrapped in blankets after swimming in her heated pool. She let me borrow one of her white bikinis, which I've secretly decided to keep.

"No, you idiot. I told you he's just running a grow house without a license." I pet Luna who's chilling on my lap. "And if you tell anyone, I'll post all about your divorce details online. Detail by detail with illustrations. You hear me?"

"I know, Celia. I got it." She deadpans, offended. "We signed a contract and sealed it. You made me go home and find an envelope so we could bury it under this tree. I still have dirt under my fingernails," she grumbles, rolling her eyes.

"You did do all the work," I snort.

She shakes her head and smiles a little. "You're not really what I expected."

"You don't say." I snap, then bite my tongue when she frowns and looks down. "But I guess, I could say the same about you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're more human than I thought," I say, thinking of my mom's words about people wearings masks to hide their pain. "I guess it's unfair to judge someone's character based on our subjective interpretations. We don't invest to dive deeper in their behavior. To dissect what their real motivations might be."

She scowls. Gio's remark about me being a philosopher plays in my head, making me smile. "I know. I'm very wise for my age. I get that all the time."

"You are, actually..." She taps the joint on the metal armrest, getting rid of the ash. "No offense, but you come across as very reckless and aggressive. I thought it's because you thought you're better than us, you know, with your mom being from New York and all."

"I am reckless and aggressive." I lean back and bend one knee to my chest, folding my arm on it.

"I didn't say you're not," Chanel smirks. "I said the reason behind it is what I misunderstood."

"Yeah? And what's the reason."

"Fear." She points her chin up. "I think we start acting like somebody else when we're afraid."

"You are either very smart or this weed is really good," I wave my palm in front of her face.

"I almost got my master's, you know!" She rolls her eyes. "Ben promised he'd help when I got pregnant with Liam, but then his mom butted in! Little mama's boy..." She scoffs.

"You can still get it."

"I can't even get a lawyer for a proper divorce," she smiles, lashes stuck together from crying.

"You need money." I narrow my eyes. "You need a job."

"Please. So that people can ask more questions?"

I smirk.

"Celia!" Ari comes out of the house with Liam, making Chanel hide the joint. They stick their tongues out, showing the red stains from their popsicles. "We're going to watch another movie!"

"Okay!" I smile as they run back inside.

I'm almost sober, Chanel smoked most of the joint. I just pretended to match her puffs, but actually didn't. Gio said that first-time smokers get paranoid, so I wanted to stay sober in case it happened to Chanel.

The sound of a car parking nearby grabs both of our attention. We narrow our eyes. trying to guess who it might be. A minute later, heavy footsteps stomp on the grass, heading our way.

I look over my shoulder to find Gio and Arthur. Gio a little angry⁠— what's new⁠— and Arthur a little... concerned?

"Did you guys smoke?" Is the first thing Gio asks, towering in front of us. His eyes rake over my wet hair, blanket-wrapped body and bare feet.

"A little bit," I smile.

"What? No!" Chanel wheezes, slapping her thigh. "Of course not! Why, why would we⁠—"

"Relax, they both know." I roll my eyes.

"You knew about this?" She gapes at Arthur.

"You knew about this?" I lift the back of my hand to my forehead, pretending to faint.

"Celia," Gio warns, trying not to laugh.

"Yes, I did." Arthur looks away. "I owe Gio. I'd do anything for him."

"What's he talking about?" Chanel asks Gio, eyes wide for a story.

I scoot my chair next to hers and lean forward with an intense gaze, waiting for Gio to begin.

"Nothing." Gio scrunches his brows, glancing at Arthur. "It doesn't matter."

"Listen," Arthur bends towards Chanel, pointing at her then at Gio. "This man is the most selfless person I know. There's no one like him. No one. I know you might think this is wrong, but I promise you, you will ruin an innocent man's life if you tell anyone about this."

"I won't. You don't even have to worry." She waves, shaking her head.

"Good." He straightens up. "Because I know we don't see eye to eye. You think I'm a loser for living alone and I've never said anything. But I won't tolerate that when it comes to him."

"You live alone, huh?" I smirk. "I guess you're pretty independent. Would you say you're not a mama's boy?"

"What?" He scowls. Chanel throws me a panicked glare and I suppress a giggle.

"Chanel, has Aram talked to you?" Gio changes the topic.

Chanel glances at us. "Uhm, yes..."

"And?" I prompt, growing nervous. "What'd you tell him? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry, I didn't connect the dots at first..." She bites her lip, then shrugs. "He said he's just checking in on everyone..."

"Did you tell him about the electricity bill?" Gio asks, forehead wrinkled with worry.

"No! He talked to me before I found that." She frowns. "But he did call me to check in this week. We're supposed to meet. Of course, I'll cancel⁠—"

"No. You should go." He cuts her off. "It'll be better if he thinks we don't get along. If he trusts you to be his source, he won't snoop around."

"As much..." I add. "I think we should still consider going legal."

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... call Patrick. Let's set up a meeting."

"Really?" I spring to my feet. A grin spreads over my face and I also jump into his arms. "Okay!"

Gio's eyes soften as he looks at me, the corners of his lips curving up. "Go make the call."

"Okay." I turn to Chanel and clap my hands. "I might have a job for you, but we'll talk later." Then I turn to Arthur. "Do you have any mafia stories to tell? Chanel loves to hear them."

Then I skip away before anyone glares or throws a rock at me. With a grin on my face, I call up Patrick. "Hey Pat! Gio would love to set up that meeting. When can we talk?"

"Uhm, s-sorry Cel. Uh, my plate's completely full. I won't be able to help anymore. Find someone else, okay?" His voice raises a pitch, words scrambling into an unusual mess.

"Is everything okay?" I slow down my steps. "We were just talking about this a couple of hours ago⁠—"

"Yeah, yeah! Everything's great! I just, I won't be available to help. Okay? I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Did someone talk to you?" I stop. Dread creeps up my spine when he hesitates. "Patrick. Talk to me. Right now."

"Just don't call me, okay?" He snaps. "And be careful," he says more softly then hangs up.

~ A/N ~
Ah crap. But, on the bright side, all you guys ready for Thanksgiving at Gio's? Heheh.