Page 102 of The Assignment: Room 3

“That’s enough. Let’s just eat.” Celest’s tone is clipped, almost rude, but I can see her putting up walls. What has she had to deal with in her life? I want to know these things—to understand all of her journey and what led her to Venom.To me.

This might be the most surreal dinner of my life. I spent plenty of years eating dry cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but this combination is?—

“So, I guess I need to watchBeauty and the Beast.” I direct my words to Gracie, who is mushing gummy worms into her sweet potato. “Do you want to watch it with me sometime?”

“Yes! Can we, Mommy? After dinner?”

“Not tonight, but maybe another night.”

Gracie scrunches her nose, her bottom lip quivering. “I promise we will do it another night. Pinky swear.” We make our pact, and she goes back to playing with her dinner.

Celest looks mortified as I fill my plate with scrambled eggs. I set it down and reach for her thigh, giving it a light squeeze of reassurance.

“I’m sorry.” She doesn’t meet my gaze.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Celest. Gracie and I are living our best lives right now.” I give Gracie a conspiratorial wink that makes her giggle.

“I should’ve just made something else.”

“You’re being a fun mom. I love it.” She flinches at my words, and I’m not going to lie, it hurts.

I turn my attention to Celest’s mother. “Do I get some dirt on Celest as a kid? I know you’ve got stories, Nora. Your daughter is way too feisty to have been a quiet child.”

Her eyes mist for a moment as she looks at Celest. “Yes, she wasalways getting into mischief. Any room she walked into, she took the spotlight.”

“I can imagine.” Fuck, I know exactly what it is to witness Celest drawing everyone’s eye.

“When she was Gracie’s age, she would sing all day long. She could recite the entire script ofBeauty and the Beastand the lyrics to every song.”

“Now I definitely need to see this movie.” I look at Celest, but she’s pushing gummy worms around her plate.

“I got her Belle’s princess dress for Christmas that year, and she wore it everywhere we went. People would stop me in the supermarket to tell me how pretty she was and ask her if she was going to a fancy dress party.”

“And I told them no, and that I wore it every day,” Celest interjects. “Mom would always chastise me for it because she didn’t want strangers thinking that I didn’t wash or change my clothes.”

“She’s right. And, every night after she fell asleep, I would sneak in and steal the dress, wash and dry it, and then put it back where she left it.”

“That’s so sweet.”

“I’m very lucky.” Celest offers a tight smile to her mom, some unspoken conversation taking place before my eyes. “Most moms would’ve given up on me long ago.”

“Not true. You’re a wonderful person, Celest. I’m proud to call you my daughter.”

“I envy your relationship. You seem very close.”

“We are now.” Again, there’s an undercurrent of context I don’t understand. When Celest is ready, I hope she’ll confide in me.

“What about you, Felix? Are you close with your family?” The gnawing in the pit of my stomach returns as it always does when people ask me who loves me unconditionally in this world.

“I don’t have any family left. It’s just me.”

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Celest reaches for my hand, our fingers intertwined.

“How would you know? It’s not something I talk about with anyone.”

Nora gives me condolences for a wound inflicted long ago. This is why I don’t tell people about my parents. It’s pouring salt into a cut that runs so deep it shredded my soul. I haven’t even told Dalton what happened to them. He’s the closest thing I have to family—and his mom. Losing her last year was devastating.

“Well, you have us, Felix.” As kind as she is, I don’t have it in me to get close to anyone else. It makes me question what I’m doing here. Am I inserting myself into another family?

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