Chapter 13
Stella had woken up and initially wondered where Logan had got to.
It wasn’t exactly like old times where a disappearing Logan might mean no sightings for days or even weeks on end.
No, it wasn’t like that any longer.
But that said, Stella certainly felt a little uncertain.
This feeling of slight insecurity was in no doubt down to the situation that had happened with the strange, creepy Cole from the bar the previous night.
Despite falling asleep pretty quickly after what had been a wonderful feed from Logan, Stella had woken up several times during the night with a feeling of panic coming over her. Her dreams were filled with replays of the incident at the bar.
It hadn’t been a good night’s sleep, that was for sure.
And it also probably explained why Stella had slept in so late despite the usually pretty noisy Logan somehow managing to wake up and leave the apartment undetected.
However, to Stella’s relief she found a note from Logan saying that he had gone for a long run in the canyons with his friends. This put Stella’s mind at ease, and Stella set about her day with renewed enthusiasm.
There was plenty of paperwork that needed doing down at The Dog Den, so Stella decided to head on down there and make a start.
Being a volunteer wasn’t all about giving out cuddles and treats, sometimes it involved sitting down at a desk and making progress on stacks upon stacks of funding applications and press enquiries.
It wasn’t exactly a thrill a minute stuff, that was for sure.
But Stella was good at this kind of thing, so knew it was a good use of her time. After all, volunteering wasn’t about her enjoyment it was ultimately about helping the dogs as much as she possibly could.
The office at The Dog Den was a far cry from the chic, elegant office that Stella had at EcoPlay. And the fact that the aircon was barely functioning wasn’t exactly conducive to efficient working conditions.
But it wasn’t the end of the world.
Stella was beginning to find the work hard going for another reason.
Every time she began to get into a flow, her mind cast itself back to the incident at the bar the previous evening.
Cole seemed like a mean, untrustworthy man.
It was a surprise to Stella that Logan would ever associate with someone like that.
Why would Logan even know Cole?
Logan’s a good guy. Cole seems horrible.
There’s something I don’t know about here…
Stella was beginning to feel fed up with having to battle with thoughts of Logan, Cole, and what had gone down. Suddenly, the circumstances surrounding Logan’s arrival back in her life were beginning to swirl around in Stella’s overworked brain.
It was time to message the group chat and see if that might help…
Girls… help me out? I’m having a bad morning. I’m drowning in paperwork at The Dog Den and had a difficult night last night. I’ll say more later, but for now can you just send a funny meme? Tell me a joke? Anything? Love you guys, Stella Xoxo
Stella didn’t have to wait long for a response. Both Lilah and Nicki sent some classically giggle-worthy memes and it seemed to do the trick just fine. Stella was temporarily able to put the Logan-Cole situation out of her mind and get on with her work.
I’m here for the dogs.
My dramas can stay where they belong… at home.
I just wish Logan was here to help cheer me up…
After spending a few hours making inch by inch progress through the admin work, Stella decided it was time to check out.
Then after a quick play with some of the dogs, including of course the ever-loveable Sweetie, Stella made her way home.
The journey home from The Dog Den did little to de-stress Stella.
If anything, it made Stella more wound up. It felt like alongside the Logan and Cole situation, she was also having to deal with too many other things too.
There was Lauren Treen at work.
Then on top of Lauren there was the pressure of knowing that the VP position was coming up at EcoPlay.
Then on top of that still, the financial situation at The Dog Den was being complicated by a land purchase deal that while good on the face of it, was actually far more complex to process than had been initially hoped for.
All in all, Stella was feeling the weight of the world suddenly coming down on her shoulders. And unfortunately, by the time she arrived home she wasn’t in the best of moods…
‘Enjoy your morning fun?’ Stella said, half-meaning it as a joke but coming across as a little spikey.
‘Ummm, it’s good to see you too?’ Logan replied, looking up from the iPad as he lay stretched out on the couch. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Yeah, why shouldn’t it be?’ Stella snapped back, not even going over to Logan for their now customary welcome home kiss. ‘So… you’ve literally finished the coffee?’
Stella could feel her blood beginning to boil.
Looking around the apartment, it was clear that Logan hadn’t exactly been spending the time cleaning up after himself. Not only was the coffee finished, but there were a couple of splashes of oat milk on the worktop too.
‘What the heck?’ Stella snapped again, making a show of cleaning up the spilled milk. ‘I know I have a cleaner in the week, but you could at least make the effort at the weekend to keep this place looking clean?’
Stella shot a look of anger over toward a shocked Logan.
‘Whatever,’ Stella said, her mood blackening by the second. ‘I guess I’ll just come home from a few hours ploughing through paperwork and clean up myself… it’s not like Daddies, or supposed Daddies, ever clean, is it?’
This was enough to prompt a clearly perplexed Logan into action.
‘Hey, relax,’ Logan said, springing up from the couch and walking toward Stella. ‘What’s got into you, girl? Yeah, I’ve had a chill morning. So what? I’m sorry you’ve obviously had a less good time, I really am. But please don’t act out and take it out on me. Okay?’
Stella looked at Logan.
It was clear that Logan was a little peeved himself at this point. Part of Stella wanted to confess her feelings of stress and anxiety over everything, but she couldn’t get the words out no matter how much she wanted to.
Talk to him, he’s your Daddy.
Make this right, Logan will understand.
Just…
However rather than explaining what was wrong, Stella simply turned away from a frustrated Logan and continued on with the cleaning.
‘Hey!’ Logan snapped. ‘Don’t be so damned rude, girl. This isn’t cool. It’s not cool at all.’
‘Urgh. It’s always about you, isn’t it?’ Stella said, her voice highly-strung and full of spite. ‘Poor Logan. You’re supposed to be a Daddy. And Daddies should know what to do or say! No, just keep focusing on yourself.’
Stella immediately regretted lashing out like that, but her pride prevented her from apologizing like she knew she should have. And it seemed like the comment was just about all that Logan could handle too.
‘Okay, that’s how you see me?’ Logan said, his voice full of anger. ‘Well screw you too. I’m outta here.’
With that, a clearly furious and hurt Logan picked up his jacket and stormed out of the apartment.
Every bone in Stella’s body was aching to run after Logan, but yet again she couldn’t force herself into action.
As she heard the sound of the building’s front door slam shut, something suddenly dawned on Stella.
I was a real ass just then.
Have I pushed Logan too far?
Is Logan… coming back?
The prospect of losing Logan all over again was something that Stella could barely contemplate. This reminded her very much of the times in college that Logan would leave in a storm of emotion and leave a trail of chaos and hurt feelings behind him.
Except this time it was different.
Stella felt like it was she who was to blame in this instance.
What had Logan actually done wrong? Nothing really.
Suddenly, Stella felt incredibly regretful about her behavior. The day had started off on an unsteady footing after a terrible night’s sleep, but since then it had only gotten worse and worse. This felt like the worst point of all.
The only thing that Stella could hope for would be that Logan would realize that Stella was acting out of character and calm down and come back home to talk things through.
Hoping for Logan to come back was one thing.
But Stella knew from painful experience that when the going got tough, Logan more often than not chose to bail and not look back…