by Kimber Vale
She logrolled on top of him as she spoke, as if her body could keep him right here for now. They still had this tonight, and for as long as it would last. She’d make every day, every second count.
* * * *
They sat in a booth at a fifties-style diner. It was one of Stella’s favorite little hole-in-the-wall places. Few college students made it out this way since it was in a more blue-collar part of town and not at all trendy. They were missing out. The place was open 24–7 and was predominately frequented by cops and the staff from a nearby hospital. They served coffee strong enough to induce palpitations and phenomenal pecan pie. Noth had polished his slice off in record speed and ordered a cheeseburger afterward.
Stella was savoring hers. It went perfectly with the euphoric mood she was in. The last almost two months had been the most amazing of her life. Noth hadn’t mentioned his job since their discussion two weeks ago. It wasn’t going to disappear, but she was content to avoid thinking about it and simply enjoy their time together. She gazed at the remarkable guy who sat across from her. As always, she was dazed by the effect his nearness had on her.
Noth loved to point out objects and name them for her in his language. While they ate he quizzed her. She had picked up a lot of the vocabulary, even though it was somewhat pointless since it was only good for conversing with him. Not many people in the area spoke Russian, and this seemed to be an obscure dialect, at that.
In turn, Stella had fun throwing Spanish words at him. Noth, with his astonishing memory, was picking it up rapidly. It was surreal how exceptional he was with languages. Everything about him was extraordinary, irresistible. Perfect.
She didn’t want to call it love. Even contemplating the L-word so early risked jinxing the out-of-this-world whirlwind romance. So she refused to give the warm glow in her heart a name. The bittersweet ache she felt when she looked across the table into depthless, dark eyes could just “be” for now. The emotion would remain unlabeled, but cherished like a tiny flame that required nothing more than a drop of fuel to blaze into its full potential.
She forked the last bite of her pie as Noth managed to get an impressively large quarter-pound cheeseburger into his mouth. He drained his coffee and looked around as if he needed something else to occupy him.
“You’ve been quiet. You must have been starving. I’m happy to help you work up an appetite anytime you like.” She winked with her most lascivious grin.
He didn’t smile. His lips were a grim line, and an almost sad look marred his gorgeous face.
Stella stifled the urge to get up and walk out. She could sense a bomb about to drop and didn’t want to be here when it exploded.
Move. Now. Before it’s too late.
His hand reached out and covered hers, effectively nailing her to the cracked pleather upholstery beneath her.
“I have to leave.” He paused and seemed to want to give her an opportunity to speak. But she stared mutely at his large hand engulfing hers, willing her eyes to remain dry.
You knew it was coming. You said yourself the long-distance relationship was doable. No big deal, right?
But the tenacious vise squeezing her heart told another story. This was a monumental deal.
“I have delayed too long already. My superiors insist I return home to begin my work by the end of this week.”
“Can’t I come with you?” She had barely thought the words, and they were out of her mouth, desperate-sounding and irretrievable.
“No, Stella. You must stay here with your family and finish your education. It would be wrong to take you away.”
“What family? My mom is in Vegas and never gets down here anymore. I don’t have siblings,” she mumbled. But she knew he was right about school. She had her own job to do, her own responsibilities. Stella couldn’t insist he honor his duties and then toss her own out with the trash.
“You are too important to me, Stella. My country is dangerous. It is no place for you. I would rather you be here, safe, even if I cannot be with you for a time.”
“And you promise you’ll come back?” A sliver of hope pierced her frozen heart. She took a tentative breath and realized she had been holding it since last she spoke.
Noth slid a hand into his pocket and pulled something out.
“I will. When my assignment is complete, I will do everything in my power to get back to you.” He turned her hand over and placed a warm object in her palm. “For you, as a token of my promise.” Stella looked down at the gold band with an unusual gray-black stone set deep inside so it rested flush with the metal.
“It’s beautiful.” It was also huge. Stella slipped the ring onto her thumb. “Thank you,” she croaked.
“My home is no longer where I was born. It is here, in your eyes. In your arms.” He took her hand again and stroked her palm. “I will not live without you. The bond we share makes me whole in a manner I cannot describe. You are everything to me.”
Stella grinned with shaky lips, and the moisture drowning her vision couldn’t be contained. A wayward tear slipped past her lashes, trailing down her cheek unheeded. Maybe he was leaving, but never had anyone touched her so powerfully with words. Never had her heart felt so completely possessed.
She had been willing to wait for him to finish his degree. Instead, she would wait for him to finish this job and return to her.
“Is it possible to fall in love with someone in such a short time?” She spoke quietly, as her free hand touched his cheek with infinite tenderness.
He stared back long and hard, taking in her words, processing them. Whether or not he returned the sentiment, she didn’t care. If he was really leaving, not to mention taking on a perilous assignment, she wanted to pour out everything that was in her heart.
“This sharp pain I feel, knowing I will not be with you for some time … this is love, yes?” He placed a hand over his chest, balling a fist as if squeezing an invisible object.
“I hope so.” She grinned, her tears pouring freely now. Stella sniffed and leaned over to press her salty lips against his. Relief washed over her in a flood tide. “I really hope so.”
Chapter 9
“Come on, Stell! I’m not going to ask you to go out anymore if you keep shooting me down!”
Rayna stood with her hands on her hips. She wore a denim mini skirt, which would have been too short on a seven-year-old, and a cropped black sweater.
“I’ve got a date tonight, Ray.” Stella still hadn’t spilled her guts to Rayna about Noth, but now she couldn’t hide it. There was no way she was going to some ridiculous corn maze party instead of having her final date with the man of her dreams. No way in hell.
“Who is this mystery guy? Is that why you’re never around anymore? I thought you were hiding out in the library, trying to avoid me. Why is this is the first I’m hearing about him?”
“What is this, the third degree?” Stella swiped pink lip gloss on in front of her bathroom mirror as she spoke. She turned, puckering, to face her friend. “His name is Noth, and he was in my English class. It’s pretty new, but it’s serious, Ray.”
“How long?”
“Almost two months. I thought you might be happy for me.”
Rayna gave her a speculative stare.
“I don’t believe you. You are totally making this up just so you can stay home and be a slug tonight, as usual. I’m trying to save you from becoming a cat lady!”
Rayna tossed a pillow at Marmalade, who hissed and raced out of the room to find friendlier sleeping quarters.
“No. I mean it. He’s real.” Stella snatched her phone off her chaotic dresser top. The electric shaver still sat there as a testament to her tale.
Yeah, right. She wasn’t releasing that information. Better clean this dump soon.
“Here.” She scrolled to a photo she had taken of Noth after his haircut. One look at his aristocratic features made her body react, made her wet and ready for him. The effect the mere sight of him had on her was unreal. She turned the phone
to face Rayna.
“What? You’re dating the guy who handed out the flyers for the party tonight? All the more reason you should go!”
A cold hand clutched Stella’s heart, but she swallowed hard and shook off the oppressive dread.
“No way. It must have been someone who looks like him.”
“Someone who looks like him? Are you nuts, Stella? No one in this world looks like him. Forget about anyone at this school!”
“Maybe he was passing fliers for someone else.” Stella’s stomach plummeted like she was on a roller coaster that had just derailed.
“Maybe. I mean…” Rayna gave her a sympathetic look. “He told me he’d be there and winked at me. Why do you think I was so gung ho about going? That, right there, would be the sexiest guy I’ve ever hooked up with.” She grinned as a private fantasy apparently played out in her head.
Stella’s distraught expression brought Rayna back to the realm of compassionate friend once again.
“Sorry, Stell. I wouldn’t touch him now, of course! Unless you didn’t care, I mean.”
“What did he say, exactly?” She ground it out, teeth clenched and fists balled with brewing anger.
This could not be what it seemed. There must be an explanation. Noth would be at the restaurant at six o’clock. He had to be.
“He just said to bring all of my girlfriends. No guys, because they already invited enough. And get there between six and seven to drink for free.”
“Anything else?”
“Just that he looked forward to seeing me there. And that he was going to make sure I was taken care of. It sounded good to me.”
No. It’s just a strange coincidence. He’ll be waiting for me at Tito’s Restaurant without a doubt.
But uncertainty lingered as Stella showered. The tub was a painful reminder of what she feared she had lost. It seemed to laugh at what an easy mark she had been, what a complete fool she was, offering herself up body and soul to the most skilled Don Juan in history.
Please be there.
The October evening was still warm, but would likely turn cooler as the sun set. Stella had chosen a spaghetti-strapped sundress and paired it with a light sweater. When she picked the dress out the previous day, it had been full of potential. Sexy and sweet, it was perfect for a date with the man who had stolen her heart. Now the carefree dress exuded an optimism she didn’t feel. Fear held the reins on her emotions as she drove to the restaurant.
She sat at a table for two, sipping a glass of Shiraz and drumming on the white tablecloth with her free hand. The waiter came around to ask if he could refill her glass, and she accepted. It was six twenty. He could just be running late. She’d give him five more minutes before she left. The glass was filled to the top, way more than her first, and she noticed the sympathetic look in her waiter’s eyes as he placed it in front of her.
Great. Pity. Just what she needed.
The guy had already decided she’d been stood up. It was obvious. She gulped down the red dose of courage and paid the bill.
It was exactly six thirty when she sat in her car and programmed the location of the rural party into her GPS. The flier from Rayna fluttered in the passenger seat against the warm blower, but even the cranked-up heat couldn’t ease the chill that seized Stella.
She made record time and parked in a grassy field with rows of other cars. Off in the distance she could make out a corn maze as the sounds of music and laughter met her ears. Walking toward the festivities, she tried to plan her attack. If Noth was in there, what would she say to him? She wanted to sound strong and resolute, not weak and broken as she truly felt.
Her palm itched to slap his handsome face.
I won’t cry, no matter what. No freakin’ way.
She arrived at the entrance to the maze, pulling her phone out to check for a signal. Nada. It looked like she’d need to weave her way to the center to find Rayna. She wanted her friend nearby when she confronted Noth. The moral support appealed to her, but Rayna was also the witness to his betrayal.
A tall, odd-looking woman stood at the gap that led inside. She sported fuchsia hair, cut at her chin and angled shorter at her nape. Micro bangs completed the severe style. Stella wondered if it was a wig. Probably.
Her eyebrows were penciled in with thin, arching slashes. It looked like she had overtweezed and was stuck drawing them on for the eternity it would take to grow out her mistake. Long, feathery false eyelashes, black and tipped in a matching shade of pink, ornamented her dark eyes.
“Were we supposed to dress in costume?”
The woman stared at her for a pause before she answered in a deep voice.
“No.”
Stella noticed an earpiece wedged snuggly in the woman’s right ear. She must be communicating with whoever else was running this show, hence her delayed response.
“Do I need to pay?” Stella dug around in her purse for a five and had one in her grasp by the time the woman replied.
“No,” she said again. She had a strange, slow way of speaking, as if English was not her first language and she had learned the Queen’s version via a mail-order video. It was just weird.
“Go in.”
“Okay. Well … thanks.” Stella scowled with uncertainty. Something about this woman was off. She couldn’t put her finger on it. The pink-haired bouncer glared at her with obsidian eyes as she waved her through the mouth of the maze. Squelching her reservations, Stella stepped inside, determined to find Noth and possibly murder him.
The sounds of laughter drifted to her once again, reassuringly normal. The pleasant buzz from two glasses of wine on an empty stomach called her forward toward the promise of more. She began threading through the paths carved into the dried, dead stalks of corn, aiming for the happy sounds.
“Hello?” A voice sounded ahead of her. “Anyone over here?”
Stella stepped around a bend and saw a petite girl standing alone. She was unfamiliar and gamine-chic with brunette hair styled in a pixie cut. She wore cool retro glasses with thick zebra-striped frames that tapered to a point on the sides, sixties style.
“Hey. Do you know the way to the center?” The girl looked relieved to see Stella.
“No, I just got here. But it sounds like the party is over that way.” Stella pointed off to her left. “My friend is in here somewhere.” The notion that her cheating boyfriend might be present as well silently gnawed at her.
“I came with a dorm mate,” the girl supplied. “She convinced me to be the designated driver, and then proceeded to get blasted before we even left.” She gave a wry half smile.
“So where did she go?” Stella walked behind the much shorter girl in the direction of the noise. Two couldn’t fit side by side in the maze.
“Oh, as soon as we got here she ran off. I must have taken a wrong turn because I’ve backtracked about fifty times now. I was about to say ‘screw her’ and leave.”
“Well, I’ll keep you company. I’m Stella, by the way.”
“Kate. Nice to meet you.” She turned, continuing to walk backward, and stuck out a hand. Stella gave it a quick shake.
“I guess there are supposed to be some really hot guys showing up. My dorm mate said the guy who invited her was amazing.”
Stella didn’t want to discuss it.
Kate chatted on. “Someone in my English Lit class heard this party is sponsored by cadets from Holloman Air Force Base. They have some sort of leave and printed up flyers to get as many girls as possible to come. That’s why no guys were actually invited. Might be a huge military orgy in there.”
“Really? No guys at all? How could they keep every single guy at school from hearing about it and stop them from showing up?”
“Well, some freshmen guys were harassing that freaky chick at the entrance when I got here. She said, ‘Only females here. Males on the other side.’ Just like that.” The girl affected the weird, almost robotic accent perfectly.
“So there’s another entrance for guys? Is it a cov
er-charge thing?”
“I have no idea. They didn’t take any money that I saw, and the guys were led off by some other woman with a Cleopatra wig.” She turned around again to look at Stella. “Were we supposed to dress up? Halloween is still a couple weeks away.”
Stella shook her head and shrugged. If they were meant to come in costume, it was too late now.
The daylight was rapidly waning, and the sun burned on the horizon in a bloody orange smear. Stella wondered what sort of lighting system they had for the party. A shifting amber glow illuminated the center of the maze. The shrieks of laughter and rhythmic boom of a bass drum helped to lead the way. The women quickly approached the light, drawn to it like insects to a bright bulb, but how would they find their way out after dark?
Stella fondled the lump of her phone in her back pocket. Even though there was no signal, she hoped the faint radiance of the touch pad would be enough to lead the way out.
She had tried to keep track of each turn, but the winding maze was a jumble of rights and lefts. The row upon row of endless corn was completely disorienting. Stella didn’t want to drink another drop once they got to the party.
It will be hard enough to get out of here sober.
If all else failed, she would just head in the direction of the parking lot and trample a beeline of corn. Even if she was wrong about which way led to her car, straight as an arrow would eventually get her out.
Screw this maze.
It was a dumb idea anyway. All these girls probably only came because of the hot guy with the flyers—the same hot guy who had invited her on a date and stood her up to recruit a harem.
It was purely malicious speculation, but Stella couldn’t help it. The more she walked, the more pissed off she became. Anger must be the step right after denial. Followed next by self-pity.
“Not sure where psycho-murderer fits in,” Stella spoke out loud.
Oops. Kate tossed her an uneasy sideways glance.
“Forget it. I can’t wait to find my friend and get the hell out of here.” She smiled reassuringly, and the other girl flashed her a grin.