UNDER GRAY SKIES.

[aidenserrano-blog]

CELESTE.

       ethan’s death was bad news for the upper east side, they thought it would ruin celeste’s world like it did ruin the other people’s who were close to him. but did it? she never felt freer before, his death was her revelation, revival, a chance to start all over again. she had to act like she was mourning, people wanted to see her mourn like it was her new job and she could understand that because she made people believe they were the picture perfect couple and he meant everything to her. tabloids believed them, even the closest people to her believed too. only one person knew and that person was more than just a confidant, he was her lover too. 

        her marriage with ethan was nothing but a story of abuse but she was a reinaldi and people wanted to see a couple they can adore wholly, she had to stay quiet about it. meeting aiden, her tongue which kept all of the untold secrets, it got loose because her feelings were too deep to contain inside so she had to let him know, that he was her world and her marriage was not real.        the months they spent, not seeing each other, she was keeping herself busy with her hectic schedule so that she could focus on something other than the hole in her soul his absence left. not like anything could fill that hole, she was thinking about him all the time like he was living at the back of her mind. with all the places she had been, her eyes searched for him and if you’d ask her, this could be the last place she might see him. when she was having her minute in a corner, the moment he approached and celeste’s gaze fell upon his familiar features she could spend hours just watching, her heart skipped a beat. 

       heaviness of her feelings glued her lips for a moment but she had a lot to say, a lot she amassed just to tell him. “ aiden, i—- i missed you so much. ” her longing was taking the control, plaguing her mind, her body was nearly benumbed as she tried her best to tame the urge she had. she wanted to wrap her arms around him more than anything.

he had come out of his hiding just for her. of course, she was the celeste reinaldi and there was nothing but respect for her, therefore he knew he wasn’t the only suitable bachelor lining up for her attention. still, he couldn’t help but hope to heavens they would end up together, that they would confide in one another for the rest of eternity.

aiden contained himself, with half a smile and a sad gleam in his eyes, stepping closer to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, he whispered cautiously to her, “we have to be careful. i cannot let the media see me,” he explained, wanting so badly to kiss her lips but not being able to. 

“i wish-- i really wish i could kiss you right now,” a muffled laughter escaped, as he laughed at himself and his own desperation. “i missed you, i missed you so much,” his eyebrows furrowed and there was a spark, a hope that she missed him just as much. “gosh, you look so beautiful,” his fingers tangled into the mess of her curls, and he caressed her cheek with one thumb. the other hand held hers softly, and aiden was quick to explain himself, “i’ve been gone, i’m so sorry-- i’ve been escaping from. . . from my family.”

[aidenserrano-blog]

CLOSED / @ifeelcelesticl

he had missed her. one fact. but if she missed him, he didn’t know. celeste was a beautiful woman, now gladly single and ready to take on the world. and him? he was well, a runaway from the british monarchy and a man who kept it all on the low. he didn’t know how to be something she missed, he didn’t know how to be something to her. 

yet he was there. at the brunch, too nervous to approach her, but brave enough to come. he didn’t know how she had been, and frankly, he was sorry for being away for all these months ever since the last time they saw each other at ethan’s funeral, when he had tried to convince himself he was only a friend and a friend only.

but friends don’t look at each other the way they did.

approaching her in a corner, he tried to get the least bit of attention from them. the last thing he wanted was yet another media news about celeste’s new lover -- and he knew they had their sketchy, nosy little eyes on them. “i-- i need to talk to you,” he pleaded, looking her in the eye. “after all these months i just. . . i can’t let go, okay?”

[aidenserrano-blog]

OPEN / SUMMER BRUNCH!

“i think i’ve had enough mimosas to stay a lifetime away from them by now,” he laughed. “and what about you? enjoying the pastries?” aiden approached the stranger. he knew the media was there, and he knew he should steer away from the public eye, but by now he was a little tipsy, and truth be told, a little lonely too. “the reinaldi’s do know how to throw parties, i’ll give them that.” a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

[aidenserrano-blog]

ISABELLE.

Isabelle honestly felt slightly out of place with everyone knowing each other, meanwhile she was the new face in New York’s society. Granted, it was not her first time there, but it’s not like Isabelle had any close friends to mingle with. “Excuse me,” she said as she reached out for a glass of water that was placed on the tray nearby. She glanced at the person she said her excuses to and smiled, “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself,” she said after sipping her water and outreaching her right hand. “My name is Isabelle.”

He was simply there for Celeste -- and nobody else. The Reinaldis had a knack for bringing in people they simply didn’t know quite well but needed to impress, and he understood that’s how the way the elite worked. He just wished it wasn’t so ruthless -- but god forbid Celeste’s sister didn’t have her way. . . Things would have gotten completely out of control. Being approached by another random well-dressed stranger, he cast her a smile and prepared himself for another small talk. “I’m Aiden,” he offers her a handshake, “I see you’re a little. . . lost here, perhaps?” He chuckled, adding further, “because so am I.”