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Stoneynearlychokedonhis drink. They were sitting in the diner down the street from her apartment around noon. Earlier that morning, Stoney had asked her to go to lunch with him and she agreed eagerly. She’d been carrying around the knowledge of the previous night’s adventures and she was going to burst if she didn’tsomebody.
The diner was fairly busy and it took them a moment to get a booth. Stella stood next to Stoney as the waitress looked around for a booth for them, feeling like she was just going to blurt it out in front of everyone. She managed to keep her composure long enough for them to get a booth to sit in and their food before she broke the news to Smokey.
Now it looked like he was going to choke to death on a swallow of soda pop. She bit her lip watching him until he grabbed a napkin and coughed a few more times in it before speaking again.
“Stella, you weren’t supposed to sleep with him,” he said after he got himself together. “You know the whole fiancée thing isn’t real, right?”
“Yes, of course, I know that!” she hissed. “I was drunk, all right? We both were. I was horny and vulnerable and asshole that he is, he’s a really hot guy who, as it turns out has a big dick and can fuck like a damn demon. I mean, what do you expect? I can’t be left alone with a man like him right now.” She took a sip from her own glass of pop. The sugary drink gave her a little comfort as she continued.
“Stoney,” she said, “I haven’t been laid properly in years and the opportunity was right there in front of me. Don’t judge me.”
Stoney shook his head at her graphic description but chuckled just the same. “Well, M always told us never to turn down a free meal, I guess.”
Stella poked her fork around the half-eaten cobb salad that Stoney was footing the bill for and sighed regretfully. “It was stupid,” she said. “I think I messed it all up. I mean, this is supposed to be strictly for the money. I pretend to be some high society chick on his arm until he can contest his father’s will. We’re not even supposed to live together or anything crazy like that. It was a pretty simple thing that he was asking me to do and I managed to mess it up in 2.5 seconds. I can’t believe how fast it all got so complicated.”
“Is it though?” said Stoney. “I mean…you aren’t in love with him or anything?”
She grimaced. “Of course not. He’s an emotionless tool. I’d sooner fall in love with a wrench.”
“So, what’s the problem, then?” Stoney cleared his throat and took another drink from his glass. He glanced around him at the families nearby that could have been listening. “You know, he probably feels the exact same way about what happened last night. It’s pretty clear you two aren’t compatible in any way.”
“What’s your point?”
Stoney snorted a laugh. “Stella, my point is that you’re beating yourself up for nothing. Richard’s probably going to want to forget about last night as much as you want to. It was only sex, right? So, you both got your rocks off to each other. Good. You both probably needed it if we’re being completely honest.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You think it’s been a while for him too?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t doubt it. His ex did him over pretty good. I’d be pretty shocked if he went into the playboy lifestyle after that.”
Stella thought about that for a moment. Maybe they were more similar than he was putting on. She speared a piece of tomato. “I hope your right,” she said. “You know, this whole thing would really stink if he ends up falling for me. I mean, the last thing I need is Patrick Bateman stalking my DMs.”
Stoney looked quizzically at her.
“Patrick Bateman? You know,American Psycho? It was that movie about a businessman who was a serial killer. You’ve heard of it before.”
“If you say so.”
They continued to eat their lunch and chat over the rest of their day. Since Stoney stopped working as Richard’s assistant a year ago, he’d been working on projects that were suited more towards his dream of being in entertainment. Lately, he’d gotten a job working on the set of a tv show filming downtown and that seemed to be all he talked about since he started working in the industry.
Stella would never have admitted to Stoney right then, but she was a little jealous of him in that respect. She’d spent so much of her life trying to build a career for herself, only for Curtis to come along and take a wrecking ball to it all. And for what? Just because he couldn’t handle her being independent of him. He’d been a terrible controlling piece of shit and even though she was away from him now, the wreckage left from all the damage he’d done to her life was still right in front of her and she had to deal with it.
As Stella listened to her brother talk merrily about his job, she secretly wished she had a job of her own. It was going to be impossible to get one in this town, however.
“You know,” said Stoney at the end of their meal, “On the subject of Richard, he didn’t use to be as heartless as he seems to be now. In fact, he was a pretty great guy when you got to know him.”
She raised her eyebrow at him as he pulled out his wallet to pay the bill. “Sure he was,” she said.
“He was. Really. I wish you two could have met back when I was working for him. Hell, in retrospect, we all should have gone out so he could chase Curtis off. He hates that misogynistic bullshit.”
She smirked. She knew that well enough from his good deed of saving her from the mugger. She was about to reply when her phone vibrated, making a loud buzzing noise as it sat next to her plate. She glanced down at it. In her notifications, it was a text message from Richard. She sighed and picked it up, reading the message.
Dinner tonight at seven. Wear something nice.
“Uh-oh,” she said. “He just invited me to dinner.”
He shrugged. “So?”
She glared at Stoney and he just laughed. “Come on, Stella. You’re in business with him, remember? He probably wants to talk over what you need to do. Didn’t he say something about teaching you how to be a high-society woman or something like that?”
