Page 31 of The Champion
“Marco, I’m twenty-nine and I don’t want or need a protector. Obviously, I’ll tell my dad that you’re doing a great job, but I’m in no danger here and I’ll be working most of the time anyway. I’ll just sleep with Celeste instead, it’s better that way.”
Shelly was walking around the apartment, touching everything. “See, problem solved.”
“Are you sure?” Marco asked me.
“Yes.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine.”
“I’m not sleeping with Ada,” Albert said. “She’s talking to her friends half the night and we’ll get in fights.”
“She won’t be talking to her friends while you’re in France. There’s no connection to the outside world, not yet anyway.”
Ada made a horrified grimace at Celeste, “You’re joking, right?”
“No. But don’t worry, you’ll make lots of new friends. We arranged with your parents that you two will be enrolled in French school while you’re here.”
“But we don’t speak French.” Ada looked to her parents.
“Consider it a crash course. I’m sure you’ll pick up the language in no time. Isn’t it exciting?” Shelly said as she opened every kitchen cabinet.
“Dad and I are taking this bedroom, then you and Mom can have the other one,” Albert was already moving to the left.”
Marco sat down on the sofa with a sigh. “Great!”
“How about we leave you to figure out the logistics? The kitchen is stocked with food and at seven, we’re taking you out for dinner.”
“All right, see you then,” Shelly told Victor.
After Celeste, Victor, and I left the small apartment, we stood in the hallway waiting for the elevator.
“What’s wrong, Celeste?” Victor asked.
“Nothing.” She looked down, her shoulders drooping.
“Hmm… I think I can guess.”
Celeste turned her head to look at him. “Guess what?”
“How torn you are. On one side you would like to offer Freya accommodations, but after sharing your apartment during the summit and these past days, you miss having the freedom to bring back people to your place.”
Celeste bit her lip and looked to me. “He’s right. What if you stayed at my place four days a week and then at Zola’s the other three days?”
Victor gestured for us to enter the elevator before him and once we were going up, he announced, “It’s okay, Celeste. Freya can stay at my place.”
I was as surprised as Celeste, who jerked her head back. “Your place?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t have two bedrooms.”
“My place is bigger than yours and I’ll arrange for a bed in my living room.”
“Yeah, but…” Celeste’s gaze moved between us. “Won’t you two kill each other before the first week is over?”
With a shrug, I declared, “Probably, but I’m willing to give it a try since I don’t want to live underground.”
“I don’t blame you, I hate the stinky air down there,” Celeste took a step closer to the doors as they began to open. “Does that mean I can invite people over as it pleases me?”
“Yes, go ahead. Freya, why don’t you collect your things and meet me upstairs when you’re ready?”
