[003] ringleader

                                   When in doubt, Celia knew there was one thing she could do to make herself feel better. And that was spending as much money as she could with her darling husband's credit card while shopping with her friends. They were the only friends Celia had so she knew she should probably try and care about them. But Valentina Cortez and Renee Goodwin were mindless sheep. The only thing the three women had in common was that they were married to rich husbands who barely paid them attention but always threw money their way as compensation. And they were both shallow and boring, but Celia knew how much they looked up to her, how they followed and admired her every move.

                                   And well, Celia couldn't help but keep them around for that reason alone.

                                   Valentina was married to Luis Cortez, a famous tennis player turned newscaster who had a reputation for possessing a wandering eye. And Renee was married to Marcus Goodwin, a plastic surgeon who worked on all of the famous celebrities at one point or another. They had all met each other at a gala some years ago and has basically stuck by each other ever since.

                                  "What do you think about these?" Renee remarked, motioning towards her face which had some designer shades she had picked up earlier.

                                  "Oh my God, they're so cute," Valentina gushed.

                                  "Are you kidding me? They're absolutely hideous," Celia frowned.

                                  "Cecilia's right. They're ugly," Valentina was quick to change her tune once Celia put her two sense into it.

                                  Renee quickly takes them off as though they were on fire or something. "You're so right. I don't know what I was thinking."

                                 Celia rolls her eyes before she keeps walking through the store, picking up whatever caught her eye. She was being absolutely careless on purpose, seeing as it was her husband's precious money that she was spending. Celia often spent a lot of money to try and get back at Roman through his pockets. And usually, it worked like a charm.

                                This time wouldn't be an exception.

                                 "Hey, you still haven't told us about what happened with your father-in-law?" Renee asks a moment later, eyeing a dress before she focuses her attention on Celia.

                                 Celia raises a brow. "What is there to tell? Every news outlet in the world reported what happened."

                                 "They told the story but you lived it. What was it like? Was it insane? It had to be insane," Valentina questioned.

                                 "Of course it was crazy. It had happened so suddenly. One minute we were all preparing to leave the park to head back to Logan's house and continue the birthday festivities. And the next... we were all inside of a hospital and convinced that Logan might actually die. He managed to pull through though. It really was a miracle," Celia remarked. Maybe all those lines were super rehearsed, but Celia couldn't exactly say her true feelings, could she?

                                 "How was Roman?" Renee asked.

                                 "A wreck, of course. But he's managed to settle into life as CCO just fine," Celia answered.

                                 Renee and Valentina share a look and Celia already knows what they're thinking about. Shortly after Kendall and Roman basically took over the company, their stocks plunged to dangerous lows. It was public knowledge and although Kendall was trying to clean up the mess and make his father proud, it... didn't seem to be working out.

                                "But what about -?" Renee begins to ask.

                                "What? What is it that you'd like to tell me?" Celia challenges, looking at the two women and waiting for either one of them to speak.

                                 They share another look but neither of them dares to say the obvious. Celia just smiles, pulling out her card and waving it around. "I think it's time we wrap up here, don't you think?"

                                "Yeah," both Renee and Valentina say in unison.

                                Celia smiles, walking off to go and get the nearby clerk so they could pay for everything and leave. They went to a couple more shops after that, but their final stop was at a jewelry store. Retail therapy worked wonders but at the end of the day, diamonds were really a girl's best friend. 

                               "Any of these catch your eye, miss?" the woman behind the counter asks.

                               Celia drags her fingertips along the counter before she points at one piece in particular. "That one."

                               "A wonderful choice, miss," she smiles, pulling out the display of a beautiful diamond necklace. Celia gasps at the sight of it, holding up the large diamond necklace to admire just how brightly it shone in the light.

                               "Oh, that's beautiful," Renee shamelessly gawks.

                               "And it's all mine!" Celia immediately declared.

                               "Y-you don't want to check the price?" Valentina questioned. "It looks really expensive."

                               "That's the point, darling. And besides, why bother? Rome has more than enough money to spare. And he owes me," Celia answered. She had already made up her mind - she was going to buy the necklace along with the other expensive clothes and shoes and purses she had bought.

                               "All of our husbands owe us for the crap they put us through," Valentina grumbled.

                               "Trouble in paradise?" Renee asks while Celia hands the necklace back to put it into a box, soon to be paid for.

                               Valentina sighs. "Maybe I'm being paranoid but... I think Luis is cheating on me. I just wish I could know what to do."

                              "You're a woman, Val. Manipulate him! It's what we do! And if you don't want to do that... then just spend all of his money and make him regret crossing you," Celia shrugged.

                              "You say that like it's easy," Valentina frowned.

                              Celia turns to look at her, shrugging. "Why shouldn't it be? Either you stay a pathetic little housewife with no backbone, or you get your agency back and show him who you really are."

                              "You're so smart, Celia. It's a little terrifying but... still really smart," Renee nods.

                              "Thank you," Celia smiles at Renee before focusing back on Valentina, a spark in her eyes. "Go on. Pick out the most expensive thing here and buy it. Luis has more than enough to share - especially if he plans on spending it with some new girl."

                              The words are more than enough for Valentina who does exactly as she's told. Why should be she left to suffer when she could get something out of this too? As Valentina looks through it all, Renee stands close to Celia.

                               "Everyone knows that Luis has a wandering eye," Renee shakes her head. "He's been that way since before he married Valentina. And that's not going to change."

                               "Mm. But there's no way that Val's just going to divorce him. He'd make sure that she ends up with nothing and he'd probably end up marrying his mistress. Staying with him might be torture but being without him and the life of luxury he brings her would be a fate worse than death," Celia remarked.

                               It was why many women stayed with their lousy, cheating husbands. They were the breadwinners, some richer than others. Although they knew that the love was gone and possibly never coming back, they stayed to maintain the illusion of perfection and also live a comfortable yet luxurious lifestyle. 

                               That's why Celia was going to be smarter than the rest.

                               "I guess that makes us the lucky ones," Renee spoke up, drawing Celia right out of her thoughts. "Our husbands don't cheat. They're just assholes."

                               With serious mommy and daddy issues, Celia thinks but decides not to say that much. Besides, she knew that if anyone was cheating in their relationship, it'd be her. And Celia would be proud of it too. She'd get exactly what she wants: Kendall and Roman out of her life. Maybe not completely since they were brothers and all but she wouldn't have to go to bed with Roman every night. And she'd be able to have sex with someone other than herself.

                               "Haven't you ever thought about what it'd be like to cheat on Marcus?" Celia inquired suddenly, taking Renee completely by surprise.

                               "What?" Renee blinks.

                               "Studies say that women are more likely to cheat for... no reason whatsoever. I mean, sometimes it's due to an unhappy marriage. But really, it's because they're bored. Or just because they could. Or maybe they saw the right opportunity. Women are dangerous that way. They can do things just because they want to," Celia continues, shrugging her shoulders.

                               Renee nervously chuckles. "You're not thinking about cheating on Roman, are you?"

                               "Of course not," Celia giggles, instantly erasing Renee's fears. "That'd be crazy. I love Roman, even if I fantasize about wrapping my hands around his neck and strangling him sometimes."

                               "Don't we all fantasize about strangling our husbands at some point? If you don't, it's not marriage," Renee laughs with her.

                                "What do you think?" Valentina approaches them both, modeling the beautiful gold bracelet she had decided to pick up. "It's one of the more expensive ones here and I figured I deserved it after dealing with Luis' bullshit."

                                Renee looks over at Celia for approval.

                               "It's beautiful. But why stop there? You could buy a nice ring too! That's what I was thinking of doing next," Celia encourages her.

                              Valentina chuckles, turning a little red. "You're trying to get me in trouble, Cecilia."

                              "We're all entitled to have some fun, aren't we?" Celia grinned. "Come on, we haven't seen everything that's here just yet."

                              Along with the necklace, Celia ends up picking up bracelet and two rings for herself. Seeing as she'd probably be abandoning the ring Roman bought her soon enough, Celia figured she'd look out for herself and buy a couple to replace them.

                              Soon enough, they'd wrap up their little shopping spree - preparing to leave so they could go their separate ways. All of the jewelry Celia bought was going to be shipped to her and Roman's apartment the next day which Celia thought was even better. It might start another fight but Celia didn't care. 

                             But before they could properly reach the exit, that was when Celia heard her phone ringing from inside her purse. With a huff, she sets down her shopping bags and fishes her phone out before it rang out.

                                When Celia picks up her phone to see who's calling her, she doesn't expect it to be Kendall. Of course, she had been hoping for it to be him. But she naturally assumed that it had been Roman calling her since he was the only other person who would. Celia looks over at her gossiping friends before she picks up the phone, walking away from them so she'd be able to hear Kendall properly.

                              And not have her nosy friends intervene.

                             "Ken?" Celia answers, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "What a pleasant surprise."

                             "Uh, hi. Sorry. I know this is really random but - but I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight," Kendall responded.

                            "No, none at all.  In fact, I had just finished shopping for a couple of things. Why do you ask?" Celia questioned.

                           "I was going to go out for some drinks tonight, and I could... use someone to - I don't know, talk to, I guess. Maybe it's not the best idea but -," Kendall began to say.

                          "Probably not. But I promised you that I'd be there for you and listen to you whenever you wanted to talk. So just text me your location and I'll be there," Celia agreed. The pieces were slowly falling into place, each puzzle piece snuggling together to complete Cecilia's master plan.

                         "Rome's not gonna know... is he?" Kendall adds.

                         "Don't worry, Ken. This'll be our little secret," Celia's quick to assure him. She was cruel but she wasn't a total sociopath. She'd have her fun and then unveil the truth to Roman in the most dramatic way possible so the divorce would quickly follow.

                         "Right. Our little secret," Kendall responded.

                         Celia's smile grows and she feels as though she's one step closer to sinking her claws further into Kendall Roy.

( 💵💄👗)

word count: 2065
notes: so this was just a silly little filler chapter to explore more of celia's personality as well as her other relationships with the only two friends she actually has lmao. but the next one will be interesting!