5. Stella
CHAPTER 5
STELLA
I wrack my brain to try to remember where the police station is. I’ve never been in this situation before, but I remember the advice I’ve heard: drive to a police station so your follower will abandon their pursuit.
I have no idea idea where the police station is, but I’m definitely not leading these guys back to my house.
Giving thanks that Jessie isn’t with me, I scan the road ahead and spot a small medical plaza. After giving only a brief signal, I turn into the lot, and heave a sigh of relief when the sports car drives by without following me.
I park in a spot where I can see the road, and when there’s no sign of the black car after several minutes, I pull out and continue on my way. I was probably overreacting and letting my mind run wild, but you can’t be too careful.
It’s well after 9:30 when I finally get home, and I need to let the dog out and put away the groceries before I can log in for work. The dog, who I sometimes privately call G, is a two-year-old cockapoo mix with gold curly fur. He belongs to my friend and roommate, Marissa, but she got him right after we moved into this house, and I know she did it largely for Jessie’s benefit.
He greets me with a fluffy wagging tail when I open his crate, and then he bounds excitedly toward the sliding glass door that leads to the back yard. I’ll admit I didn’t really want a dog, because I knew it would be a lot of work, and I already have my hands full with Jessie, but the little guy has grown on me.
While G does his business, I hurriedly put the groceries away, ignoring the strange feeling I get when I set the jar of strawberry jelly on the counter. I really hope I won’t be thinking about juggler Cam every time I make toast for Jessie.
Finally, I log on to my work email, and am relieved to see that nothing urgent is waiting for me. The pup scratches at the back door, and when I let him in, he gets a drink of water and curls up in the bed next to the small dining room table, where I work on my laptop.
I’m a customer service rep for Community Bean, a hugely popular and growing coffee company. My work is mostly online, where I respond to customer inquiries and issues that come in, but sometimes I take calls, and I’ve been starting to help the customer relations manager with a survey project.
The work has been fairly basic so far, but there’s enough variety to keep things interesting, and I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity. My friend Ana used to work at Community Bean, and the company is owned by her boyfriends, Jansen and Derek, whom she met when she interviewed with them.
I went to college with Ana and Marissa, and the three of us have been friends ever since, even though our lives took us in very different directions.
It’s thanks to them that my life is completely different than it was just a few months ago. I’d lived with my mom and stepdad on the other side of the state ever since Jessie was born. I appreciated being able to stay with them, but the situation was never great there, largely thanks to my mom’s drinking habits.
Arguments and disagreements were common, but when things got really bad, Ana, accompanied by her men, came and saved Jessie and me, bringing us here to live with her and Marissa.
At the time, Ana and Marissa lived in a townhome, but when Ana moved out to live with her men, Marissa, Jessie, and I moved into this house, which is closer to Marissa’s job and has a nice big back yard for Jessie. Marissa said the yard needed a dog, too.
After I’ve been working for about half an hour, a text comes in from Ana. “Hey, can I stop by?”
“Sure. It’s just me here right now, of course.”
“See you soon.”
Ten minutes later, she arrives with Community Bean iced lattes for each of us and a box full of treats from the bakery case, some for us to have now, and extras for Jessie and Marissa to enjoy later. She also brought something for G, who’s greeting her so enthusiastically, his whole back half is wiggling side to side.
She slides her hand into the outer pocket of her tote bag. “Can I give him a biscuit?”
When I say yes, she dangles a bone-shaped treat in front of him, which he politely accepts before trotting off to his bed to enjoy it.
Ana sets her bag on one of the chairs at the dining table. “I had a doctor appointment this morning, and thought I’d stop by before I go to work.”
“Everything okay?”
She scrunches up her face. “Yeah, just a routine pap test.”
I give her a sympathetic smile over my shoulder as I get two small plates out of the cupboard. “What a way to start the day.”
“Right? When I spread my legs in the morning, a cold speculum is not what I want up there.”
Spending so much time with Jessie, it’s not often I hear any mention of sex, and sometimes I forget how spicy a conversation with Ana can be when there’s no kid around to overhear.
“I’d ask how you and your guys are doing, but since they’re my bosses, I’m not sure it’s appropriate for me to hear the kinds of things you’d tell me.”
Ana pouts, like this would never occur to her. “Oh, well. I’ll spare you the details and just tell you that things are great. They’re still trying to get me to come back to Community Bean, but I think it’s best if I keep my new job.”
Moving my laptop aside, I sit back down at the table across from where Ana’s taken a seat. “Would it be too much to see them both at work and at home?”
“No, I wouldn’t mind that at all, but I’m not sure I’d be as productive if I worked with them. Knowing I could go into their offices and scratch the itch anytime I thought of them … that’d be dangerous.”
For some reason, this comment reminds me of the men I met in the grocery store this morning. Sure, they were odd, but with those bodies, they could be excellent itch scratchers.
Maybe it’s time for me to think about dating again.
Ana’s looking at me funny.
“What?”
“You had an interesting expression on your face. What were you thinking about just then?”
“I did?” My first instinct is to keep these kinds of thoughts to myself, but considering how confusing the entire shopping encounter was, I’m tempted to see if Ana will be able to make sense of it.
I tear off a piece of chocolate croissant and toy with it as I launch into the story, from the ancient Roman factoid, to the juggling, all the way up to the woman asking to take a picture with the two men in the parking lot.
“But you don’t know who they were?” Ana looks puzzled.
“Not a clue. We didn’t even introduce ourselves. The second guy mentioned that the juggler’s name was Cam, but that’s all I know.”
“Why didn’t you give him your number when he asked?”
After a sip from my drink, I say, “I don’t really date. It’s not easy as a mom.”
“Why? You have a built-in babysitter, not to mention me on call, and Derek and Jansen. Jessie loves them.”
“I would never ask my bosses to babysit.”
“They love Jessie as much as she loves them. We’d be happy to come over and watch her anytime.”
“Well, that’s very nice of you.”
Ana finishes the last bite of her blueberry muffin. “How long has it been since you’ve been out with someone?”
“I don’t know. I went out a couple of times when Jessie was little, but it wasn’t worth the trouble.”
Ana looks like she’s doing calculations in her head as she gets up from the table to help herself to a glass of water. “So, Jessie is six. Does that mean you haven’t had sex in like, three years?” My friend sounds horrified at the notion, and I can’t help but laugh before I give her the real number.