Discovering Stella (24 page)

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*
 
*

By
the time
Todd
and I closed the
pub
and returned
home,
it
was late
into
the night. Lawson, I assumed, had
gone
to bed, and part of me was a little disappointed that I
didn’t
get to see him
or
find
out
what he thought about
my
message. Meg had fallen asleep
on
the couch, and I admired the way
Todd
peered down at
her
adoringly,
the soft smile and glint in his eyes speaking nothing
but
love.

“You’ve
got
it
bad,
haven’t
you?” I whispered, stepping up beside him.

He
nodded and gave me a wink.
“Not
gonna lie, I
will
marry
her
one
day.”

Hearing him
talk
about marriage stirred a dull ache in
my
chest.

“Sorry, Stel,
I
didn’t
mean to go there. I —”

“It’s
fine,”
I continued to whisper.
“Just
because I
don’t
want to
talk
about
my
marriage
doesn’t
mean I
can’t
talk
about
it
in general. And anyway, I think
it’s
great that
you
want to spend the rest of your life with Meg.
She’s
wonderful.”

“Did
I tell
you
we met while I was backpacking overseas?” he whispered, jerking his head toward the kitchen to indicate we
move
the conversation there.

“No,
you
didn’t,
but
Meg
mentioned it
the day I arrived
here.
She’s
very forthcoming with info,
you
know.”

We
entered
the kitchen, and
Todd
headed straight
for
the kettle to switch
it on
before pulling
out
two mugs and a big tin of Milo.
My
heart raced
as
I remembered back to when we were teenagers, when we used to
sit
on
his bedroom floor and eat spoonfuls of the malt chocolate directly
out
of the tin.

“Why? What did Meg tell you?” he asked,
as
he concentrated
on
making
our
hot
chocolates.

“Ah ...
nothing. Just that
you
used to
show
off and
pretend
to be
Tom
Cruise from
Cocktail
at the bar in England that
you
both
worked
in.”

He
turned
around
while
shoving
a
spoonful
of
Milo
into
his
mouth. “Hey,
that
Cruise
guy
has
nothing
on
me,”
he mum
bled.

I giggled.
“Prove
it!”

Todd
raised his eyebrows then nodded and wiped his hands
on
the tea towel hanging from the cupboard door next to him.
“I will,”
he said
surely,
before placing the lid back
on
the tin and giving
it
a mighty whack.
Todd
then tossed
it
into
the air and caught
it
with
one
hand while keeping his eyes steadfastly
on
mine and his face
devoid
of
emotion.

I
bit
my
lip to supress a smile
...
it
didn’t
work.

The next thing he did was grab two
tall
plastic drinking cups from
out
of a cupboard and tossed them around, flipping them in
front
of him and then behind his back.
He
was skilled, I’ll give him that,
but
he was also
overly
cocky and tried catching
one
cup inside the
other.
Unfortunately
for
him, the cup bounced off
and hit the
benchtop
before bouncing
again
and hitting the floor with a
loud
bang.

“Shit!” he said, quickly
trying
to pick
it
up before
it
bounced and made any
more
of a racket.

I giggled and turned to look at the door, which led to the lounge
room,
only to find Meg shuffling in and rubbing
her
sleepy eyes with
her
hands.

“What are
you
doing?” she asked groggily.

“Sorry,
babe, I dropped a
cup.”
Todd
walked
over
to where she was standing like a
zombie
and kissed
her
forehead.
“You
want a
hot
Milo?”

She
shook
her
head.

“Okay,
why
don’t
you
go to bed. I’ll be there
shortly.”

“Don’t
be
long.”
She
pouted at
Todd
then looked
over
his shoulder at me. “Night, Stel.
Oh,
by the
way,
good song
choice.”

My
eyes widened at
her
knowledge of
Lawson’s
and
my
exchange of messages,
but
I still managed to
reply
with a
long
“thaaaanks”
as
she left the room.

“What was that about?”
Todd
queried.

“Nothing, really.
She
was just referring to the songs Lawson and I have been sending each
other.”

He
raised
an
eyebrow in question. “Songs?”

“Yeah,
he
sent
me a song link
as
a way to say sorry
for
how
he acted last night. I
sent
one
back which basically said that I accepted his apology and wanted to maybe give us another
try.”

Todd
sat down once he’d finished
making
our
drinks
and handed me
my
mug. “Really?”

“Yeah,
I like him.
He
gets me. I tried to ignore
it
but
...
it’s
impossible.”

“Well,
as
long
as
you’re
sure,”
he said, gently blowing the
sur
face of his drink.
“You
seem a little fragile at the
moment.
I
don’t
want
you
to
break.”

Dropping my
gaze
to the porcelain mug cupped within
my
hands, I mumbled,
“You
can’t
break if
you’re
already
broken.”

Todd
stopped his blowing action.
“Stel,
what happened?
Did
your husband hurt you?”

“Yes,”
I sighed
sadly,
meeting his eyes, “but
not
in the way
you
are thinking. What he did destroyed everything, and nothing hurts
more
than
that.”

“What did he do?”

I stood up and brought
my
mug with me.
“Not
tonight, okay? And anyway, Meg is waiting
for
you.”
I blew him a kiss goodnight.
He
nodded, indicating he understood, so I left the kitchen and headed
for my
room. When I opened the
door,
I was met with a bunch of assorted flowers, sitting in a vase
on
my
bedside table. I had a sneaking
suspicion
they were from Lawson so smiled when
I read the card that was poking
out
of the
top:

My mother once told me that you
haven’t
really said sorry to a woman until you have given her a bunch of flowers. Mum was always right ~ Lawson

Smiling, I blushed
as
joy
filtered through
my
body.
It
was such a
simple,
yet sweet, gesture.
It
was also the first time since
my
husband’s death that I had been given flowers that
didn’t
signify grief.

Bending
over,
I sniffed a carnation then sat
on my
bed, pulling
out my
phone
to send Lawson the song link ‘Thank
You
For
The
Music’
by ABBA, together with the words
‘and
the
flowers’.
I pressed send, giggled and prepared
for
bed, knowing that when he turned his
phone
on
in the morning
it
would be the first thing he
saw.
I also knew that, come morning,
my
new life really
was just beginning.

Mine

There’s
not
much that comes close to the sensation
you
feel when your blood heats and travels through your body right before
you
blow
your load.

Fuck that feels good.
Opening
my
eyes, that very feeling was sweeping across me and settling at the tip
of my
cock, which was when I realised that I was, in fact, about to shoot jizz
over
my
sheets. “Shit!” I said, cupping
my
hand and catching
my
wood’s
morning explosion. “Jesus! What the fuck?”

Obviously the dream I’d just had was a good
one,
no
doubt
involving Stella and those perfect tits of hers
...
or
those lips
...
or
that warm, wet
pussy.
Damn! I need a shower.

I quickly cleaned myself up and grabbed
my
phone,
finding a message with a brand new song link. I tapped
it
open and waited before hearing what could only be described
as
diarrhoea
for
the ears when ABBA started singing ‘Thank
You
For
The
Music’.

Laughing, I shook
my
head and switched the shit off.
Clever little princess.
Hmm
...
princess, I wonder?
Wanting
to be just
as
clever,
I googled songs about princesses and toads and found the best hit
ever.
I practically jumped up and down and giggled like a tosser while I copied the link
of
‘Mario
Kart
Love Song’
into
a message
for
Stella. Then, really needing that bloody
shower,
I made
my
way to the bathroom figuring I would be
done
before she woke
for
the
day.

*
 
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*

W
aiting
impatiently
in
the
kitchen
as I
poured
myself
a glass
of
OJ,
I was highly
agitated
— in a
good
way
—
and
unable to
stop
smiling,
no
doubt
looking
like an
eight-year-old
kid
on
Christmas
morning.

“Why are
you
so happy?”
Todd
asked from his seat at the dining table.
He
was reading the local newspaper.

I glanced at him while
taking
a
sip
of juice.
“No
reason. Just
happy.”

“Wouldn’t
have anything to do with Stel giving
you
a second chance, would it?” The cocky fucker flipped a page and took a
bite
of his toast.

I was just about to answer and tell him
“Yeah,
it
fuckin’
is,”
when the sound of
Stella’s
laughter echoed down the hallway. Both
Todd
and I stopped what we were doing and looked toward the
door.

“Gee,
that’s
nice to
hear,”
Todd
said, smiling, before he resumed reading his
paper.

“Tell
me about
it.”
I grinned to myself, knowing why she had laughed.
Well
...
I hoped
it
was because she’d listened to the song I’d
sent
her.

“Word
of advice, mate.
Don’t
fuck this
up.
You won’t
get another chance if
you
do.”

Relationship advice from
Todd
wasn’t
something I needed, so I turned
my
back to him and opened the refrigerator. The escaping air settled
over my
skin,
but
the goosebumps that appeared were
not
the result of the cold temperature.
No.
They were from the knowledge that Stella had just
entered
the room.
Her
presence had the ability to change the atmosphere wherever she entered,
as
if she’d tripped
an
invisible
alarm
and lit the place
up.

“Morning,”
she practically sang,
her
cheerful
voice
heightening
my
already happy mood.

I stood upright and looked
over
the fridge
door.
“Morning,”
I replied at the same time
as
Todd.

Stella’s
eyes locked
on
mine and blared something I
hadn’t
seen in them before. Something promising. Something I liked.
She
just looked
...
happy.
Genuinely
happy.

Todd
smirked like a tool at
her
over
the rim of his reading glasses.
“Have
a nice sleep?”

“Yes,
thank
you, I did! I had a very good
sleep,”
she replied, in a
tone
that hinted of a secret. I
wondered
whether
her
secret was the same
as
why I’d slept well and woken up in the manner that I had.

Unable
to stop
my
eyes from scanning the length of
her
body,
I took
note
that she was still in
her
PJs,
those fucking cute pussy
PJs.
The shorts were tiny and barely covered
her
perfect arse, and the pussy-printed singlet
top
she
wore
clung to
her
tits, showcasing their faultless shape and size.
Fuck me.
The sheer sight of
her
stirred
my
dick to life.

Stella smiled and sauntered toward me —
yes, fucking sauntered
— swaying
her
hips like a born temptress.
She
stopped and, brushing
her
breast against
my
arm, leaned forward and grabbed the
OJ
from
my
hand before I’d had the chance to
put
it
back in the fridge.

“Do
you
mind?” she asked
coyly,
but
with a mischievous grin.

I shook
my
head
slowly,
as
if hypnotised by
some
invisible pussy
PJ
power.

“I’m
thirsty.” S
he glanced at
my
lips before finding
my
eyes again.

I was fucking frozen to the spot: legs, arms and jaw
all
tightly locked and stunned
into
submission. Stella was deliberately seducing me
...
with fucking orange juice, of
all
things.

“Lawson,”
she whispered, leaning in unbearably close and casting a wave of scented
apple
to intoxicate me, “let go of the
OJ.”

“What?” Snapping
out
of
my
dick-teased state, I relaxed
my
grip and let go of the carton. “Shit,
sorry.”

She
bit
her
lip and winked then walked to the cupboard and stretched
on
her
tippy-toes
to reach
for
a glass.
Faaark!
Her
tiny shorts rode up to
apex-heaven,
revealing the most delectable arse cheek I’d ever seen. Round. Firm. Soft
...

“Ahem,”
Todd
sounded, clearing his throat.

Struggling — because I swear
my
eyes were magnetised
somehow
— I slowly dragged
my
stare from the perfection that was
her
rear
end
and met
Todd’s
annoyed
gaze.
Shit! Busted.

“Morning,”
Meg groaned, shuffling
into
the kitchen and heading straight
for
the
toaster,
her
blonde
hair standing up in
all
kinds of different directions.

“Morning,”
we
all
answered simultaneously, and I felt
as
if I was in the middle of a bloody
sitcom.

I chuckled.
 
“Did you
sleepwalk and get struck by lightning?”

“What?”
She
smoothed down
her
hair.
“Shut up.
Sorry I
don’t
spend
half
an
hour brushing
my
hair before I leave
my
room,
unlike
someone
I
know.”

“Obviously,”
I countered, finally closing the fridge door and moving to lean against the bench.

Stella stopped beside me and placed
her
cup down before reaching up and slowly sliding
her
hand down
my
ponytail.
“Yeah,
but
he does a good
job,
don’t
ya think?”

Her
hand lingered there
for
the smallest of seconds before she gently licked
her
bottom lip and turned toward Meg. And I swear to fucking god that if Stella and I were alone in the
room,
I’d have
her
naked and sprawled in
front
of me quicker
than
you
could blink.

I wanted
her.
I wanted
her
so badly that
my
palms moistened and
my
lungs almost collapsed
for not
knowing
how
to expand and let me breathe. Just
her
mere
presence had the ability to confuse
how my
mind and body were supposed to function. I was completely and utterly whipped.

“So,
Stel,
seeing
as
it’s
your birthday this
weekend,”
Todd
announced, breaking
my
inner drooling and
my
staring at the skin of
her
neck, “how ‘bout we have a little celebration at the
pub?”

“No!
I
don’t
do birthdays.”
She
turned away to
put
the
OJ
back in the fridge.

Todd
scoffed. “Bullshit,
you
don’t.”

“Really, I
don’t.
It’s
fine.
It’s
no big deal.
It’s
just another
day.”

Meg appeared to be seconds away from
taking
a
bite
out
of
her
toast when she paused, instead handing
it
to Stella with a smile bathed in
bribery.
“Come
on,
Stel,
it
will
be fun.
We
can
dress up and make a night of
it,”
she pleaded.

“Well,
you
see,
that’s
the thing, I
don’t
have anything to dress up in. I
didn’t
exactly pack
for
a permanent stay when I came
here.
I kind of left everything
behind.”

“Do
you
want to go and get your things?” I asked.
“I
don’t
mind
taking
you
back to Melbourne while your
car
is getting
fixed.”
I
don’t
fucking mind at all. Three hours in the car with Stella beside me? Bring it on.

Her
eyes snapped to mine. “NO!”
Damn! Why the fuck not?
“No,
I
don’t
want to go back,
but
I do need to go
shopping
somewhere. I was
thinking
of going to Shepparton at
some
stage.”

“Well,
what about today?
I’m
going there to pick up the cylinder head
for
your car.
You
can
come with me and I’ll take
you
shopping.”

Todd
choked
on
his drink.
“You?
Shopping?”