Stella in Stilettos

by Romes, Jan

  She wrung her hands in her lap, met his eyes and repeated the truth. Coming clean felt like a punishment and it was taxing her soul.

  What employer in their right mind was going to buy into this kind of nonsense?

  Barton James appeared to be mulling over her words. Instead of the glacial chill she’d expected, he was warm. Before her appointment, she combed the Internet for information regarding him. According to the comments, she should be quaking in her shoes. She wasn’t.

  “Who was this fellow?” he asked.

  The question made her sit up straight. Besides being a privacy issue, she had a sudden need to protect Alex. Giving his name could possibly sully his reputation, in no way did she want to do him harm. She asked for clarification. “You want his name?”

  Barton’s eyes sparkled with something indefinable. Understanding? “No, Stella, I’m interested in his position with regards to yours.”

  The tension eased from her shoulders and she audibly sighed with relief. “Same position.”

  Barton studied her resume and then held it up. “Incredible document. I’d be a fool not to hire you from this alone. However, I have a feeling there’s a piece missing from the puzzle. Am I right?”

  No wonder this man was a success. He was able to take a minimal amount of data and find a bigger picture.

  Chances were he already knew everything, but he was going to prod her until she spilled her guts. “Yes. There’s more.” She took a deep breath. “Twenty of us were vying for the same promotion. Management narrowed their choice to one.” She couldn’t fine-tune it any more than that. Tears threatened to make an even bigger mockery of the interview.

  Stella lifted her chin with the little confidence she had left. “So here I am. Unable to go back to my current job because of it. Actually, I’m able to go back. I don’t want to.” This was excruciating. She felt deflated. Void of strength. Void of dignity. “That’s the complete and wretched truth.”

  Barton James shook his head. “I can honestly say I’ve never interviewed anyone quite like you, Stella. I get fake smiles and people trying to pretend they’re the ones in control.” He leaned back in his leather chair, while he scrutinized her. “I don’t know if I’m getting soft in my old age, but I feel your pain.” He grabbed her resume again, looked it over and laid it back down.

  A heavy moment of silence ensued.

  Barton finally smiled. “I get a ton of spectacular talent looking to join my firm.” He crossed his arms. “Most of them get turned away for one reason – they lack heart. But you, dear girl, have given me hope that it still exists.” He ran a hand over his chin. “You bared your soul, which took guts.”

  Actually, her gut churned with nervousness and she hoped she wouldn’t decorate his office with the contents.

  “I need gutsy people. I also need loyal people. You proved you’re top-notch in both arenas because you didn’t drag your current employer through the mud.” He smiled and stretched his hand across the desk. “You have real class, Stella, Welcome aboard.”

  Stella was overwhelmed with delight. She wanted to rush around the desk to hug this sweet, sweet man, but he just said she had class and she didn’t want him to revoke the statement. “Thank you, Mr. James. Thank you so much.”

  “Can you start the second of January?”

  She nodded with happiness. “Yes.” She’d even consider shucking Key West if he wanted her to. Trish would have her head on a platter if she did, so she was glad it didn’t come to that.

  * * * *

  Stella was ecstatic, but exhausted. She curled up on the couch and closed her eyes. The phone rang at that precise moment. After checking caller-ID she answered. “Hello, Trish.”

  “You sound groggy. Were you sleeping?”

  “I was close,” she admitted.

  “I tried to take a cat-nap at lunchtime. A certain blue-eyed blond kept calling me,” Trish whined.

  “Sorry, Trish.”

  “Hey, you didn’t pour the alcohol down my throat last night. I did this to myself.” Trish went directly to the reason for the call. “Stella, tomorrow night is Christmas Eve. Any chance you could forgive Alex so the four of us could have supper together?”

  Stella held the phone out and glared at it.

  “Please,” Trish pleaded.

  Stella made scratchy noises like she was losing the connection. “My phone’s acting up.”

  Trish wasn’t buying it. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing. It’s the phone. There was this weird grating noise that sounded like the name Alex.”

  “And I thought I was the drama-queen.”

  “Trish,” Stella said softly, “I know it’s Christmas, and I should unburden Alex’s heart by giving him what he wants, but I can’t. Not yet.” She wasn’t holding a grudge and she’d already decided to forgive him. It didn’t take away the sting. The only cure was time and distance. She’d learned that from her breakup with Jace.

  “It was Steve’s idea to ask. Alex has been bugging him off and on all day about you.”

  “I’m sorry that you guys are caught in the middle.”

  “We can handle it. One more thing. Steve said Alex was a maniac today when he found out you’re taking the rest of the year off. It kind of shocked me too.”

  “Maybe I’m not as predictable as everyone thinks,” Stella said, lying back down.

  “Riggght,” Trish said.

  “I have some good news though. I packed for vacation today and our travel vouchers came in the mail.” I also got a new job. She wasn’t about to divulge the info to Trish just yet. It was still too fresh and overwhelming, plus she didn’t want Alex to catch wind of it.

  Trish squealed with delight. “Yayyy. I can’t wait.” There was a short pause. “How am I going to explain my tan when I get back?”

  “You tell the truth.”

  “Can’t. Men get so insecure if they think you did something fun without them. I don’t want Steve to think I went on a chat Meet and Greet to find someone.”

  “I dodged telling Alex for the same reason. It’s no longer a problem for me. Maybe you should tell Steve so it doesn’t come back to haunt you. Trish, if you change your mind about going, I’ll totally understand.” Even if Trish backed out, she was still going.

  “I’m not canceling the trip. If Steve flat out asks me before we leave, I won’t lie. If he doesn’t, he won’t know until I get back. I’ll deal with the fallout then.”

  “Are you sure? You have a good thing going with him and I don’t want to be the cause of a rift between you.”

  * * * *

  Everything except his anxious heart was moving at a snail’s pace due to the blinding snow and wind. A couple of miles into the trek, the weather got so bad he almost turned around and went back home. She’s not the only stubborn one, Alex thought, steering out of an icy skid.

  Stella was keeping her damned moat of willfulness in place by not answering the phone and it was driving him to the brink of insanity. Normally, high-spirited women fascinated him. At the moment, he wished she’d be a little less fascinating and give in.

  Alex was preoccupied with what to say once he got there, he almost missed a stop sign. At the last second, he pumped the brakes too hard, sending his car into a series of three-hundred-sixty degree spins.

  When the merry-go-round stopped, and he realized he was still in one piece, he read his own pedigree. “Idiot. Are you trying to kill yourself?” He pried each death-grip finger loose from the steering wheel so he could stretch them and get the blood circulating again. “Keep driving like that and you’ll become her ghost-of-Christmas-present.”

  His pep talk got him safely there but the sight of her car clipped his confidence. Now what?

  Alex blew out a breath of frustration. Typically, if he ruffled a few feathers, he didn’t have to beg for forgiveness and could maneuver his way to clemency with a smile or touch. With Stella, it was going to take much more. Everything was different with her.

 
He had to come up with something brilliant, but he was too keyed up to think. “To hell with it.” Alex bounded out of the car and carefully sprinted across the parking lot.

  Instead of waiting for the elevator, he climbed the steps three at a time. Impatience made him re-adjust his stride to take four at once. By the time he got to the fourth floor he was out of breath and his heart was hammering out some sort of Morse code.

  At Stella’s door he laid his forehead against the wood to get his bearings. The happy sound of Christmas music filtered from her apartment filling him with hope.

  He took a deep, cleansing breath and knocked. Lightly at first. When she didn’t answer, he pounded harder. “Stella,” he hollered anxiously. No response or movement, which made him bang on the solid oak door like a man possessed.

  The noise echoed down the long, narrow corridor and Alex exhaled with almost as much racket as his knocking.

  If Stella didn’t answer soon, one of two things was going to happen – he was going to take her door off at the hinges or building security was going to throw him out. Whatever the case, he wasn’t leaving without talking to her. “Answer the door, Stella.”

  A tiny, gray-haired woman peeked out of the apartment next to Stella’s with the tip of her cane aimed directly at his head. Her tone was frail, but her words were strong. “Don’t let my size fool you.”

  Alex took a careful step back.

  Thankfully, he heard a shuffling noise on the other side of Stella’s door and the sound of the deadbolt being unlocked. A pajama-clad Stella with a tousled blonde mop opened it ever so slowly, and his heart started a broken rhythm at the glorious sight of her. God help him. She took his breath away even in her rumpled state.

  Alex posted his foot inside the door in case she felt the need to slam it. “Stella,” he said softly, “can I come in?”

  Sadness etched her green eyes and it made him feel even more like a horse’s ass.

  She eyed him for a long moment and moved her attention to her cane-wielding neighbor. “Thanks, Treva. I’ll take it from here.”

  Treva squinted with reproach at Alex. “Okay, Stella. I’m here if you need me.”

  Stella smiled at the little woman. “You’re the best, Treva. Thanks again.”

  The itty-bitty creature disappeared behind the door. Alex asked the question again. “Can I come in?”

  “I don’t see the point,” Stella said stoutly.

  Alex scrambled to find the right words to gain him access. He could say they needed to talk, and she would say they didn’t need to do anything because they weren’t a they as far as she was concerned.

  He decided to speak from the heart. “I’m sorry, Stella.”

  Except for a slight flicker in her eyes, her expression didn’t change.

  Alex tried to steer clear of those eyes or he’d never get through this. “I messed up big-time.”

  The door started to edge closed.

  “Could you give me a couple of minutes to hear me out?”

  A small relaxing of her shoulders gave him hope for an early thaw, but her stiff reply removed it. “I did,” she said.

  He shifted with apprehension. “You may find this hard to believe, but I really care about you.” He meant to keep going; she stopped him by putting a hand up.

  “You’re right. It is hard to believe.”

  “It’s true, Stella. I care about you. I had my head screwed on backwards. I was a fool,” he said soulfully.

  “No argument there.”

  Trying to stay away from her eyes was impossible. He watched every gleam, every movement as though his life depended on it. “Stop being stubborn, Stella. I never wanted that job. I told everyone in the freaking world that I didn’t want.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  The pain in her eyes reduced him to a wimp and prompted the truth. “I thought when I told Jett I didn’t want the job that would be the end of it and they would do the right thing and pick you.”

  Her green eyes glistened with liquid emotion. “I don’t care about that stupid job anymore.”

  Alex wanted to throw his arms around her and hold her tight; to help her through this, to let her know he was sincere when he said he was sorry. But he couldn’t. If he moved a muscled she would slam the door or call on her small, but mighty neighbor to whack him with her cane. “I’m trying to change Maggie’s mind.”

  “I wouldn’t take it now if they offered me a million dollar bonus.”

  “Stella,” Alex said gently. “Please. I can’t handle you being mad at me.”

  Stella was trying to be a brick wall but the wall had sprung some leaks. She sniffed back a few tears. “I’m not mad at you,” she said.

  “You’re still pushing me away.”

  Her voice cracked. “It’s complicated.”

  Alex’s voice sounded scratchy and foreign. “I know it is.”

  Stella’s slouch became board-straight.

  “Can we talk about this inside?” Alex pleaded.

  She looked past him and he knew there was no chance she’d let him in.

  “Please.”

  “We need to let go of this thing between us. We shouldn’t have started it in the first place.”

  If he wanted to let things go, he wouldn’t be there begging. A loud “No” came out, and she flinched. “Stop being such a hardhead.” Son of a bitch. He was losing it.

  Stella’s eyes widened and he could almost hear the gate to the brick wall being locked.

  The hole he’d just dug – huge! “Say something.”

  No words from her mouth, although her eyes said plenty.

  Anger pulled at his coattails. “Talk to me.”

  Still nothing.

  Damn. What else did she want him to do? He’d called her a zillion times, apologized directly after the job announcement and was at her door begging for forgiveness. “You’re not big on second chances, are you?”

  She finally spoke; her words were firm and faultless. “If you’ll kindly remove your foot from my door…”

  Turbulent, but spent, Alex made one more miserable attempt. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Stella stood in line to have her boarding pass scanned and slid a frantic look over her shoulder. She was actually doing this. She was heading to Florida to meet someone who called himself Mr. Right. Was she nuts?

  Shifting from foot to foot, her mind filled with questions she should already have answers to. Was this guy genuine or a deluded Casanova? Was it safe to be doing this? Even though he was Trish’s co-worker’s step-cousin he could still be a loon. What if she actually liked him? Then what? What if he was drop-dead gorgeous? The question made her lip curl. She’d had it up to her hairline with good looking men. First Jace. Then Alex. And now maybe an anonymous loon known only as Mr. Right. Oh God! She was a candidate for some serious therapy.

  Trish cut into her thoughts by dancing a jig and kissing her plane ticket. “Muah. This is sweet, Stella.”

  Thank God for Trish. Stella smiled in spite of the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I know. It is.” She reminded herself the main purpose of the trip was to get some much-deserved rest and relaxation and maybe some insight into why she kept falling for the wrong guy. The time away would also be a chance to reflect on her new job and she could figure out how to tell Maggie she was quitting.

  The smile inched a little bigger with each step through the Jetway.

  Stella stashed her carry-on bag in the overhead compartment and looked out the small oval window of the plane. They were a good ten minutes from taking off, she still had time to get off the plane before they sealed the door.

  She buckled in.

  Trish pulled two romance novels from her backpack and handed one to Stella. “They’ll get us in the mood for…” She pulled her face into a smirk. “…love.”

  Stella rolled her eyes playfully and studied the books’ cover. Another damned handsome man. Gah. She couldn’t escape them.

&n
bsp; The flight attendant ran through the safety drill and Stella was tempted to ask where they kept the parachutes in case she decided to bail out over Kentucky.

  “You only gave me the highlights from your Christmas,” Trish said. “Tell me everything.”

  “It was good. Mom forced me and Misty to eat frosted sugar cookies and drink egg nog. You know lots of amazing parental-smothering.” Stella shared how they watched, It’s A Wonderful Life and White Christmas, before they opened their gifts. “Misty bought me a sweet, lime green bikini with white polka dots. There’s hardly anything to it.” She wouldn’t mention that she’d thought about Alex a thousand times and almost called him.

  Trish’s hazel eyes sparkled. “Ooooo, I can’t wait to see it. I brought my beige one.” She raised her eyebrows up and down. “From a distance, people will think I’m nude. Yee-haw! We’re gonna own the beach.”

  “You are over the top, woman.” And Stella was glad to have such an incredible friend.

  “I know, isn’t it great? By the way, my parents nagged me to death about finding the one. I had a stupid moment and told them about Steve. Then they really nagged me.” Trish moved her hair to show her ears. “Are my ears bleeding?”

  Stella chuckled. “Nope.”

  Trish sighed but her voice had a happy zip to it. “I thought my mom was going to do a cartwheel. They’ve turned over the hour glass, Stella, and the sand is falling fast.” She thumbed through the pages of her book. “They told me to get busy because if wait too much longer I’ll be too old to have kids.” She snorted. “They either gave me permission to have sex or were telling me to get engaged.”

  “I think they meant the ring.” Stella shrugged. “Who knows, maybe this time next year you’ll be engaged…or you’ll be in the maternity ward.”

  Trish put a hand on her stomach. “Stop trying to scare me.”

  Stella opened Jenny Crusie’s latest romantic comedy.

  Trish leaned in with a whisper. “Did Mr. Right answer your email?”

  “Yes, with seven choppy words. ‘Nine o’clock. Upper Deck. Blue Hawaiian shirt.”