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“I’m sorry, Stella.”
“I know. Hey, Beast?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to go drink more wine with me by the ocean and count the waves?” She glanced down at my desk, which was covered with paperwork. “Unless you’re busy.”
“I do have a lot of work I need to catch up on.”
She frowned. I hated it.
“Okay, well. You know where to find me if you need a break.” She headed out of the room, and I sat back down at my desk. The only issue was now my mind couldn’t stop thinking about her. Stella was at the forefront of every thought that swept through my mind.
It seemed as if she left my office a long time ago, yet when I headed out of the space to go find her, she was still in the kitchen filling up her glass of wine.
“I think I might need a break now,” I said, startling her, as she jumped a little, turning around to see me. When realization found her, she cheered and clapped her hands together before grabbing another glass for my wine. She poured it to the rim, a heavy pourer. Which probably explained her stumbling.
“Here you go,” she said, spilling a bit of the wine as she passed the glass to me. “Oh! We should make a toast! You can make it.”
“I’ve never made a toast before.”
“Don’t worry. You can’t really get it wrong. Besides, I’m too drunk to really care.”
“All right then. Here’s to… you.”
“Me?”
“You.”
“Oh.” Her eyes swelled up with emotions as she held her glass up to clink with mine. “No one has ever cheered to me and me alone.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Can we cheer to you, too?”
“Only if you want to.”
She held her glass up higher. “Here’s to me. Here’s to you. Here’s to us.”
We clinked glasses. “Here’s to us,” I agreed.
Us.
Something I’d never thought I’d have.
She smiled and led me out toward the ocean’s waves. She spent most nights out by those waves, and for the first time, she’d invited me to join her.
As she stared out at the crashing waves, something shifted within her. She grew a bit somber, and her eyes glassed over as she stared out into the night.
“Do you think he ever loved me, Damian? Jeff?”
“No.”
I said it too quickly, but it was the easiest no I’d ever had to deliver.
She didn’t seem bothered by my reply, but the few tears that scrolled down her cheeks told me she already knew about Jeff’s lack of love.
“I think he loved how much you loved him. How you bent over backward to make him happy when he didn’t even have to do the bare minimum for you.”
