Celeste gets back on her feet. “Okay, well, there’s this quote I always say to myself whenever shit happens, and I’m not even that religious. ‘Man makes plans, and God laughs.’ We have no idea what’s going to happen in life, and even when we think we have it all figured out, everything can come crashing down, anyway. The best we can do is roll with the punches and stop blaming ourselves whenever something goes wrong. Your ex leaving you like that is not your fault at all, especially if he’s already fucking someone else, just like it’s not my mom’s fault that my dad now has a girlfriend who’s younger than me. Both dudes have serious issues. You’re better off, like my mom’s better off without my dad.”

Celeste’s words aren’t exactly encouraging like she said they’d be, but they do help me feel a bit less alone. “Is your mom doing better now?” I ask. “Not just health-wise, but… everything else.”

She nods. “She’s been enjoying her single, empty nester life for a while now. Like I said, better off.”

“Okay, good.” I get back on my feet, too. “Well, thanks for the advice. And for coming down here to get me. Let’s go finish the interview. I’d rather complete it now, since we already had to reschedule them once. Are they still up there?”

“Yup. Joey and Maria have their hands full. I think you distracted the girls from the game enough that they want to do something else.”

“Great,” I say with a bone-weary laugh. Suddenly, I’m afraid I’ve ruined everything. “How are we going to keep them distracted now?”

“It’s no big deal.” Celeste says, holding the door open for me. “We can have them play another game. It’s okay, Gem. We’ll figure it out.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” It’s something I’ve been wondering for a while, but didn’t have the chance to ask her until now.

Celeste blinks. “What do you mean?”

“Gem.”

She shrugs. “It’s a habit, I guess. I can’t even remember the last time I called you Gemma. Does it bother you? Because I can say Gemma, if you want.”

I take the couple minutes’ walk up the stairs to ponder on Celeste’s question. When we reach the studio, I say, “It did, at first. But if it’s just out of habit, I’m fine with it. Actually, I think it’d be weird if you randomly started calling me Gemma.”

Her lips spread into a small smile. “Okay, then. Gem it is.”

20: Gemma

Thankfully, Celeste manages to distract the girls with Plants vs. Zombies, and I power through the rest of the questions by keeping my own emotions at bay. We finish the interview without any other incident.