Flowers, Fame and Unforeseen Facades

Chapter 18

                                                                 Helenium:Tears
                                                              ❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Zoe's POV

We were sitting in the living room, all of us staring awkwardly towards the ground. Well, Celine and I were. Levi was glowering at his mother, looking like his jaw was going to corrode from how much pressure he was undoubtedly exerting on it.

The awkwardness was getting to me, and I quickly got up, saying, "I'm gonna get all of us something to drink! Uh... Celine, any allergies I need to know about?"

She shook her head, clearly happy that she was alone with her son. But not in a way that made me feel as if she didn't like me. More like a "I can talk to my kid and ask personal questions" kind of relieved. I hurriedly walked towards the kitchen, trying to get out of the awkward situation. Literally.

As I made the coffee, and laid some chocolate chip cookies out on a little plate, I was thankful to not hear any shouting. Not that I was expecting Celine to shout. It was Levi who looked like he was going to.

I didn't fail to notice that none of Levi's features resembled Celine's. None of them. Well, he must've been his fathers carbon copy or something. But the entire situation was different. I could feel it in the atmosphere, the tension. As if a ticking bomb was in the room, ready to go off at any second.

Celine kept fidgeting with her hands, like a child who had done something wrong would do in front of his mother. It should've been the other way around. I mean, I was mortified that Celine was meeting me like how she was. She must've thought that Levi and I were... dilly-doing.

But Levi didn't look the least bit embarrassed. In fact, as I've already made quite clear, he looked furious. But what was his problem? Celine seemed like a nice enough lady. But then again, I had learned to never judge a book by it's cover. Unfortunately, for the past few months I had been doing the opposite of that. The thought made me ashamed of myself.

People could have gone through so many experiences that one could never guess if they looked at their smile. Or even a frown. I was a big example of that. There was such tragic history hiding behind my smile, and people could never guess what had happened to me by just looking at me.

I put the coffee and cookies in a tray, grabbing some sugar as I walked past the pantry. With one eye on the path that I was walking on, and the other on Levi and Celine, I tried to gauge the mood of the two. Celine still looked nervous, and Levi looked angry, but composed. Was that possible? But then again, it was Levi. He managed to look happy and sad beyond repair at the exact same time.

Thankfully, some improvement had been made. Celine was asking some usually lighthearted questions with extreme caution, as if taking out a glass from a cupboard thats frames were on fire. Levi was answering them monotonously, his narrowed eyes set on me as I walked into the room.

I gulped. What did I do? Quickly, I put the tray on the table, afraid of dropping it on the floor, and causing a disaster that we definitely didn't need. Celine smiled at me, and I even saw a small one creep up Levi's face. But it was gone as soon as I blinked.

Looking towards Celine, I said, "Would you like some sugar in your coffee?"

As she nodded and asked me to put one spoon in, I couldn't help but stare at her features again, wondering why nothing of hers matched Levi. I handed her the coffee, also handing Levi a plain one. He liked his coffee with no sugar, and completely black. Talk about complete psycho. Who drinks their coffee like that?

As Celine took a small sip of her coffee, I swear I thought we were in one of those "get a chance to take a billion dollars home" game shows. The atmosphere was that intense. If someone started playing that dramatic music that they would usually play for some of the worlds easiest questions, like "does a fish live in water, milk, orange juice or lemon juice", someone could've easily thought that we were in one.

Celine kept her coffee down, and said, "So, what are you by profession Zoe?"

I smiled, trying to give the clearly terrified woman some sort of comfort, and said, "I actually own a flower shop. I manage it, and am a florist there. You can come check it out sometime."

She smiled, and her eyes lit up. She reminded me so much of my mother. She had the same friendly aura and kind attitude. Quickly diverting my thoughts so that I wouldn't become a crying mess on the floor, I looked at Celine again.

She had turned towards Levi, and was saying, "When are you coming back home Levi?"

His jaw clenched even more, if that's possible, and through gritted teeth, he said, "Why do you care?"

The light in Celine's eyes dimmed, and I saw the sad expression taking over her face. I wanted to hug her. She seemed like such a nice person, and was clearly hurt by Levi's words. She even seemed to genuinely care about him.

She looked down, and quietly said, "I'm your mother, honey."

Levi let out a loud scoff, making me look at him in surprise. Why was he being so disrespectful? What he said next made the entire situation make so much more sense to me than it previously did.

"Can you cut the bullsh*t already?! You know you're not! You're nothing but a replacement of my real mother! You're my stepmom, and don't ever say otherwise!"

My jaw dropped, and shock coursed through my mind. Levi got up, leaving through the door and slamming it shut behind him. I looked towards Celine, trying to make sense of the situation, just to see her held back tears drop out of her eyes.

Levi had a stepmom?!

*laughs nervously* Sorry for the cliffhanger. Again. BUT BEFORE YOU KILL ME... I might just post another chapter today. At least I plan on it. So please don't slaughter me in my sleep. Anyway, did you like the chapter? Make sure to comment, vote and share! Thank you so much for reading! Love you guys! Peace out! (for now)