The man Stella deserved.
“I have to tell you something,” I said.
“Figured you weren’t done. What’s up?”
“Remember when we went surfing and I asked you that question about the stepbrother and stepsister I saw on TV?” I asked.
“Uh huh,” he said.
I knew I was risking my relationship with my best friend. There was a chance he’d call me nasty, get out of the car, and never talk to me again. I knew there was a chance I could ruin one relationship to try and save another, and part of me wanted to bail. To abandon ship and keep drinking this shit coffee out of civility.
But courtesy is what almost lost me the company in the courtroom, and if I wanted Stella, I was going to have to abandon courtesy.
I was going to have to grow a pair.
“Stella and I have been seeing each other,” I said. “It started off as a work dinner to get her mind off all that shit with Greyson, but it ended with us in bed together. She left before I woke up that morning, and I thought that was that, but I couldn’t get her off my mind. We were helping each other with the company and flirting back and forth, but when it came down to business it was all professional shit. Then, we had to fly out to New York City for some asinine meeting Charles had set up before he passed, and the meeting got pushed. We spent the entire weekend together in New York City, and I just couldn’t get enough of her. We ate lunches and tangled up our bodies in the sheets. I got to see a different side of her and wake up to her in my arms every morning. I opened up to her emotionally in ways I’ve never done with anyone, and I get that it’s weird to most people, but I don’t see her as my sister. Not really. We never had that type of relationship growing up.”
“Dude,” Todd said.
“Look. I know you don’t approve, and I know you think it’s fucking weird or whatever, but I enjoy Stella. I enjoy being around her. Going through all this company mess with her, then seeing her when she walked into that courtroom, I was ready to flip tables trying to get to her. She was hurt and depressed, and she was neglecting herself. I was ready to burn down the entire damn courthouse if that meant seeing her smile or somehow getting her back. I’ve missed having her around, and I don’t know what the fuck to do.”
I looked over, and Todd was staring at me with wide eyes. I felt myself cringe inside as I held his gaze, but then a small smile began to spread across his face. His stunned eyes slowly started to crinkle before they closed, and his smile was so big his cheeks began to turn red.
“The fuck’s wrong with you?” I asked.
“Holy hell, dude. I’ve never seen you in love before. This is some new shit right here!”
“What?” I asked.
“I knew something was going on the moment you started being all wishy-washy about the company, but that question in the ocean solidified it. Is it weird? Yeah. Does my opinion matter? Not a damn bit. Dude, you’re in love. It’s obvious. And from the sounds of it, Stella’s a wreck. If she feels even remotely the same way, then it’s probably because of guilt. Her guilt over this whole piece of bullshit’s probably eating her alive.”
“The fuck do I do now?” I asked. “I won the company. It’s mine. I’ll never hurt for money or a job again so long as I do this one well. But, for some reason, I still feel like I fucking lost.”
“Why didn’t you go after her, then?” he asked.
“I did. I was on her heels until my lawyer stopped me to congratulate me.”
“Then, why are you sitting here?” he asked.
“Because I need the advice of my best friend,” I said.
“My advice? Go after her like you did your company. Sink your teeth into her jugular and don’t let go,” he said, smirking.
“The company wasn’t what I was after, though,” I said. “Not really. It was her. I wanted to get her back.”
“Then go after her and don’t stop until you’ve got her back. You’ll lose all of her sitting here, but if you go after her you’ve got a chance,” he said.
He was right. I did me no good to sit here and simply talk about wanting her back. I handed Todd his bullshit cup of coffee back before he got out of the car, but I grabbed his wrist before he could shut the door.
“Open your own damn coffee shop, please. That swill shouldn’t be on the streets. If you need an investor, let me know,” I said.
“Go get her,” Todd said. “You get what you want, come back here, and I’ll make you a decent cup of coffee.”
“You better, because that’s nasty,” I said.
He shut the door, and I flew out of the parking lot. I knew I could eventually corner Stella in her home, but I didn’t want to do it right now. If I was going to approach her with how I felt, if I had any chance of her opening up to me again, I had to do this right. It had to be romantic, it had to be thoughtful, and it had to be private.
I knew exactly what I was going to do, but it would require an evening of preparation before I could execute it.