Chapter Ten
Ten
Max booked a car to take them to Qi, his favorite Thai restaurant a little farther uptown.
The ride was mostly quiet as Max struggled to figure out what to say.
He wasn’t mad about Cherry disappearing on him last night.
It wasn’t like they were on a date and she’d gotten up from the table and walked out.
They’d been in a sex club, and technically they did have sex.
Besides, it had taken him way too long to come back. He could own that.
He’d just thought that he felt a connection with her that was strong enough that she would’ve waited a bit longer for him. Or at least leave him a note with her number.
Max truly thought he may never see her again, and it hadn’t really hit him until she was right in front of him now how much he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.
He glanced over to her now and watched her as she watched the city pass by through her window, resisting the urge to reach over and take her hand in his.
He looked away, turning his attention to his phone, which was flooding with emails, both about typical work things like meetings and networking events and with questions and concerns about the Yellow Sparks project.
Max could feel his frustration with Miles building, and they’d only barely begun working together.
Not only was Miles clearly unprepared to handle backlash from his team, but he also threw the responsibility of talking to his employees about it onto Max and his staff.
While yes, Max had offered to hold office hours to help the Yellow Sparks team get acquainted with the new tech, he was sure those hours would now be spent fielding angry questions about what the introduction of Sparky means for the company—questions that neither Max nor his team should be answering.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Max wanted to talk to Cherry, he would’ve stayed and reamed out Miles for the whole thing, but after being practically dragged from the office, Max had made up some excuse for needing to double back and told Miles he’d call him later.
When they reached the restaurant, Max hopped out to get the door for Cherry, but she was already stepping out of the car, so he stepped back, letting her pass, and then closed the door behind her.
“Oh, thanks.”
“No problem,” Max said. “Shall we?”
Cherry nodded and seemed to relax as he guided her to the entrance of Qi.
The place didn’t look big at first glance because it was narrow, but it stretched back quite far, with two long rows of tables behind the hostess stand until you reached the bathrooms and kitchen in the back.
Qi was already set up for dinner, with low lighting and candles burning at each table, and it was almost packed.
Chatter filled the room along with the sound of soft instrumental music.
“Table for two?” the hostess asked.
Max nodded, and they were led to one of the last few tables available, right in the middle of the room.
“Your server will come around soon with water,” the hostess said after they were seated before quickly stepping away.
Across from him, Cherry grabbed the menu, opening it without a word. Max didn’t know why he was so nervous, but he was. Maybe it was because the last time they were together they didn’t do much talking.
“What do you usually get here?”
Max startled at Cherry’s question. She was looking at him, her head slightly tilted as she waited for him to answer.
“Oh, um, the drunken noodles with beef,” he said without opening the menu. He’d come here enough times that he had it practically memorized.
Cherry nodded. “That looks good, I’ll get that, too.”
“It’s spicy,” he warned.
Cherry quirked a brow as if to say, “And?”
Max put up his hands. “I’m just saying, some people can’t handle it.”
“Both of my parents are from the islands,” she said. “I can handle spice.”
This made Max lean forward in his chair.
“Really? Which ones?”
“Mom’s from Cuba, and Dad’s from Jamaica,” Cherry said, closing her menu.
“And before you ask, no, I cannot speak Spanish because my mom unfortunately didn’t teach me.
I can understand it mostly, but I’m not fluent.
If Spanish classes didn’t cost so much I’d be doing that, but for now it’s just Duolingo and YouTube videos for me. ”
“I get it,” Max said. “I’m Dominican, but I was adopted by white parents who didn’t speak Spanish. They tried their best to learn and help us, but I’ve definitely lost a lot of it, and Miles was even younger than me when we were adopted, so he doesn’t have much at all.”
At the mention of Miles, Cherry tensed up, and Max wanted to hit himself for ruining what was beginning to feel like a solid flow between the two of them.
Thankfully, their waitress arrived, breaking up the tension as she poured them water and then took their order.
By the time the waitress walked away, Cherry seemed to have relaxed a bit, although Max could tell she was still thinking about what happened today.
“I know I said we could talk about AIX here, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Max said.
“What do you mean?” Cherry asked.
“I just mean, we can keep our professional lives and our personal lives separate,” Max said. “For now. I won’t bring up Miles or my work again, and we can just be here as if…”
“We’re two strangers who met at a sex club?” she asked.
Max coughed, somehow choking on his own spit, and Cherry smiled innocently as she nudged his glass of water toward him.
“Uh, yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Max said after taking a sip. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Her smile sobered a bit as she added, “And sure. Let’s just focus on…us, I guess. I don’t want to think about work right now anyway. Though if we’re just being ourselves, I should probably tell you my name isn’t Cherry.”
Max leaned back in his chair. “Oh?”
“Cherry’s my roommate’s online name,” Not Cherry explained. “She was the one who was invited to the masquerade party last night, but she bailed on me, so she told me to use her name to get in and get a drink at the bar. I never did get that drink actually.”
She seemed to be really ruminating on this last point, and Max had to reach over and tap her hand to bring her attention back.
“So, what is your name then?” he asked.
“Stella,” she said, holding out a hand to him. “Stella Renee Johnson.”
Max took her hand as he let her new, or rather real, name take shape in his mind.
Stella. It suited her.
“Maximo Martinez Williams,” he said as he shook her hand. “But everyone calls me Max.”
“Maximo and not Maxwell?”
“Nope,” Max said. “Common mistake, though. But Maximo means ‘great’ whereas Maxwell means ‘great stream,’ so I think I won in the name department.”
Stella laughed, and Max loved the sound. He smiled as the waitress returned with their drinks.
“Well, Stella just means ‘star,’ ” Stella said as the waitress disappeared again. “My mom likes to say they gave me the name because they believed I’d be a star someday. I haven’t exactly gotten there yet, though, but there’s still time I suppose.”
“What do you want to do?” Max asked. “To be a star, I mean?”
“Mm. I think answering that question taps into the work category,” she said. “But honestly, I’m not trying to be famous or anything like that. I just want to write about things that matter, whatever that means.”
“And you don’t think you do that now?”
Their food arrived, pausing their conversation for a moment.
“Not really,” Stella said once the waitress disappeared again. “But anyway, we’re not supposed to be talking about work. Let’s see how spicy these drunken noodles really are, shall we?”
Max knew he was the one who implemented the no-work-discussions policy for the evening, but he found himself wanting to know more. Stella clearly didn’t want to talk about it, though, so he followed her lead, digging into his noodles.
“Wow, okay, there is a kick,” Stella said, taking a sip of her cocktail.
Max grinned. “I told you so.”
“I didn’t say it was too spicy,” she said. “I’m just confirming there is a kick.”
“Sure,” he said, before taking another bite. “Feel free to order something else. I’ll take yours home for second dinner.”
“Second dinner? Are you a hobbit?”
“I think I’m too tall to be a hobbit, actually,” Max said.
Stella studied him as if checking to see if he was, in fact, too tall.
“Fair point,” she said finally. “You’d never fit in their homes.”
Max chuckled, and they continued eating, the rest of their dinner flying by with steady conversation. It almost felt too easy, and Max couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed himself this much on a date.
And it was a date, wasn’t it?
Sure, it had started a little rocky, but they’d eaten, gotten another round of drinks, and even shared dessert. By all accounts it had to be a date, Max thought as he grabbed the check before Stella could even reach for it. And he wasn’t ready for it to end.
“Thank you,” Stella said.
“Of course,” Max said, slipping his card back into his wallet. “So, about what I said earlier?” Max leaned forward, his arms pressing down on the table, and Stella eyed him almost cautiously.
“I’m not sure I recall,” Stella said.
“About last night and how we didn’t…finish?”
Max could see a smile edging its way onto her face at that, but she kept it tamped down.
“Finish?” she asked innocently.
“Yes, or come to completion, if you will,” he said. Then leaning even closer, he whispered, “I believe the technical term is orgasm.”
Stella leaned in, too, so they were practically nose to nose, and whispered, “I’m pretty sure I did do that. Right on your face.”
Max’s eyes widened, and Stella bit her lip, clearly trying to hold in a laugh at his expression.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” he finally said.
“Thank you.” Stella’s smiled softened. “As much as I would love to finish, I don’t think I can tonight. It’s a Wednesday.”
“Are you not allowed to have sex on Wednesdays?”
“No,” she said with a soft laugh. “I mean, that’s not it. I just have work tomorrow, and after going out last night, I cannot do another night out. I need my beauty sleep.”
“You look plenty beautiful to me already,” Max said.
Max inwardly cringed at the corny line, but he meant it. She was as stunning to him now as she was last night.
Stella looked away with a sheepish grin.
“Smooth,” she said, shaking her head.
“I try.”
Stella turned her eyes back on him. “I can’t tonight, but what about Friday? Maybe I could come over then?”
Max was sure he wasn’t hiding his elation well when he said, “That’d be perfect.”