Chapter Fourteen
Fourteen
When Stella and Chelsea got back to their apartment, Chelsea promptly face-planted into their couch and was somehow already snoring by the time Stella walked into her room.
Stella was supposed to be meeting up with Max around six, which meant she had almost three hours to kill.
Although she’d only allowed herself one mimosa, she was ready to lie down and take a nap, too.
As much as she loved her girls, whenever they all hung out together, it totally depleted her social battery.
As Stella was setting an alarm on her phone to make sure she didn’t sleep through her plans with Max, a text from him came through.
Max
Hey Stella. I thought I’d be able to dip out of this work thing early, but I’m still in the middle of talks and there’s no way I’ll be back in the city by 6.
Max
Are you free tomorrow? I’d love to make it up to you.
The disappointment Stella felt reading his message was as sudden as it was annoying.
She’d just spent a good portion of her afternoon convincing her friends she wasn’t attached to Max, and one canceled plan had her wanting to crawl into bed and watch the sappiest K-drama she could find just to feel something.
Instead of doing that, Stella heaved out a breath and replied.
Stella
Hey Max! No worries at all. Unfortunately, I have plans tomorrow with my parents so I won’t be free. How about Monday?
Max
Can’t. I have dinner plans with some friends. And honestly all of next week is a bit hectic for me. But I’m completely free next weekend.
Stella chewed on her bottom lip as she tried not to read too much into this. But what was that saying? If he wanted to, he would. What was Max doing this week that he wouldn’t be able to see her again until a week from now?
Stella knew she wasn’t allowed to ask. He wasn’t her boyfriend, and she had told him this was casual. Casual did not mean having set, concrete plans all the time. It meant going with the flow.
So she would go with the flow.
Stella
Sure, how about Friday again? I can go straight to your place after work?
There. That was good. She didn’t even ask to get dinner or anything, just straight to his house for a hookup.
Casual.
This time it took a little while for Max’s response to come through.
Max
As perfect as that sounds, I think I should feed you before you arrive at my apartment next time.
Max
How about dinner?
Stella’s goofy heart was thrilled by Max’s message, and she told it to calm the fuck down and stop being so eager.
Stella
That would be great! Just let me know time and place, and I’ll be there.
Max heart-reacted to her message, which meant nothing, so she shouldn’t feel any type of way about it, and she didn’t. The fluttering in her stomach was probably indigestion.
Believing the conversation was done, Stella decided that since she wasn’t going out tonight after all, it was time to shower, put on her comfiest PJs, and climb into bed.
She was halfway to the bathroom, which was to say she had one foot out of her room, when her phone vibrated on the nightstand.
Max
I’m not sure when I’ll be home tonight, but could I call you?
Like anyone who grew up with the ability to text, Stella’s phone anxiety kicked in and she had half a mind to say absolutely not. But if she couldn’t see Max tonight, hearing his voice was a nice close second.
God, maybe she was down bad.
Stella
Yeah, I’d like that.
Max
Okay cool, talk soon.
Stella hearted his message before hopping into the shower.
Max hadn’t been this excited to call a woman since he was sixteen years old and Misty Crenshaw gave him her cell phone number with the caveat to call after nine p.m. so it was free.
By the time he’d arrived home, showered, and stuffed his face with the last two slices of pizza in his fridge, it was close to eleven p.m. For a split second, he considered not calling. What if she’d already fallen asleep? He could text her, but sending a “U up?” text didn’t feel right either.
“Fuck it,” he muttered to himself as he pressed her number in his phone. The phone rang once before she picked up.
“Hey.”
Stella’s voice was low and slightly raspy, like she’d been using it all day.
“Hey,” Max said back. “I didn’t wake you, did I? I know it’s late.”
Stella snorted. “SNL hasn’t even come on yet. It’s not late.”
“My apologies, I didn’t realize we were using a comedy show to determine time,” Max teased. “I’ll keep that in mind going forward.”
Stella laughed, and it was the best sound he’d heard all day.
“Thank you, much appreciated,” Stella said. There was a quiet pause before she added, “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Max said. “Tired, but good.”
“What was it that you had to do today?”
Max sighed. “A conference.”
“That bad, huh?”
He could hear the hint of laughter still in her voice, and it made him smile.
“It wasn’t that bad,” he said. “It was just a lot. I did the opening keynote, which meant everyone thought I was important, so I was fielding conversations from people all day.”
“Aren’t you important?”
After their gentle teasing, Max was thrown by this genuine question, and he had to think about it.
“In this context, I guess I am,” Max said after a beat.
“AIX has grown a lot since we first launched almost a decade ago now. And the AI landscape has changed a lot, too. It’s been nice to be one of the front-runners of the tech, but I’m always worried we’ll be left behind if we don’t keep evolving. ”
“Is that why you’re doing this partnership with Yellow Sparks?”
This question completely threw Max off guard, and he pushed himself up from where he was lying down on the couch and repositioned himself so his feet were planted on the floor.
“I thought we weren’t talking about work,” Max said.
“Technically, I think you started it,” Stella replied.
“Touché.”
They both fell quiet until Stella said, “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I was just curious.”
“No, I want to answer. It’s just that I hadn’t realized I was thinking of this opportunity with Yellow Sparks and Miles that way,” Max said.
“But yeah, this is an opportunity for our AIX software to expand and improve, and I love that for us. Plus, while I’d never tell him this, I do actually enjoy helping my little brother when I can. ”
“What does Miles need help with?” Stella asked.
It was at this point Max became suspicious. Were they having a conversation, or was he being pumped for information?
“What are you really asking, Stella?”
There was a pause, and he could practically feel her hesitation through the phone.
Finally she said, “I’m just wondering why Miles thinks we need Sparky.
You talked about how it’ll help us make content quicker, but why do we need to do that?
Is the company hurting for money? Do we need more content so we can get more ad revenue?
It just feels really random and sudden that Miles is asking us to use this new tech that none of us thinks we need. ”
The words seemed to stumble out of Stella as if she’d been holding them in for a while, and maybe she had.
“I’m sorry,” she said, before he could respond.
“These are questions that I should ask Miles. Or not me. He doesn’t even know me.
But I mean my boss should maybe ask him.
Although she seems completely unbothered by all of this, so I doubt she will.
Regardless, I know you probably don’t have the answers to any of these questions.
I don’t know why I just word-vomited all over you like that. ”
“Probably because you’re really concerned about this,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize how you were feeling.”
“How could you have?” Stella asked. “We agreed not to talk about it, remember?”
“Right, but still.” Max hesitated as he tried to find the right words.
“I’m sure it doesn’t help, but I truly don’t think you or your coworkers have anything to be stressed about.
When Miles came to me about this, he wanted a tool to help you all.
This isn’t some kind of gotcha or trick.
He genuinely believes Sparky can help you guys produce better content and at a quicker rate, and I do, too, honestly. ”
There was brief pause before she said, “And what if you’re wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Stella let her voice trail off before she finally said, “What if you’re wrong about Miles?
What if he didn’t tell you his full plan?
What if you’re too close to this because he’s your brother and you can’t believe he’d trick us into using this thing that’ll ultimately replace us? What then?”
Max wasn’t sure what to say to that. In truth, he could understand Stella’s concerns, but he also thought maybe she and her team were so against trying a new way to do things they were letting their fear of change cloud their judgment.
While yes, Sparky would learn from their work, that was to make it better for them to use.
Sparky wasn’t built to be some machine that could operate on its own.
It would always need someone to put in the groundwork, which meant Yellow Sparks would always need writers, no matter how good Sparky got.
Max, however, got the feeling that he wasn’t going to be able to convince Stella of that. At least, not tonight.
“If that happens,” he said, “I’ll talk to Miles and make it clear to him that although Sparky is great tech, it is not a replacement for an entire writing staff. Because I truly believe that. Even if Sparky is one of my greatest creations.”
Stella huffed out a laugh at that, and Max was happy to hear it.
“Would it make you feel better if I wasn’t so involved in this?” he asked her.
“What do you mean?”
Max hadn’t been sure what he meant until he said the words, but now that they were out, he realized it was probably the best call he could make in this situation.
“I can take myself off this project,” he said.
“Rashid, the one who was there with me for the training, is fully equipped to continue doing office hours with you all and assist if there are any issues. I also have a few other engineers who could pop in if needed. And I’ll still be involved off-site, but this way you won’t have to worry about seeing me around the office and trying to avoid my charm in front of your coworkers. ”
Stella scoffed at that. “You think I wouldn’t be able to resist you?”
“You were staring at me pretty hard when I was there the other day, Stella,” he said. “I’m honestly surprised no one noticed.”
“You are so full of yourself,” she said, and he could almost see her shaking her head.
“Maybe,” he said. “But I think the way you end up screaming my name when we’ve been together proves I’ve earned it.”
“I don’t think I was screaming per se,” Stella said.
“Mm, you were definitely saying my name at a relatively high volume. Perhaps you were so delirious from the orgasms you can’t remember correctly.”
“Oh my God,” Stella said, laughing. “Your hubris is astounding.”
“Thank you.”
Stella laughed again, and then as they both quieted, she said, “Are you serious? About taking yourself off the project?”
“Yes,” Max said without hesitation. “Honestly, I should’ve removed myself the moment I saw you in that office, but I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly then.”
“What were you thinking?”
“That there was no way in hell I was lucky enough to find you twice.”
There was a beat of silence before Stella said, “That was too smooth. Do you prep lines like that in advance?”
This shocked a laugh out of Max.
“Wow, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and this is how you treat me?” he asked.
“I promise I’ll treat you better on Friday,” she said.
“Oh yeah?” Max asked, sitting up. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet,” she said. Her tone was blasé, as if she didn’t have a care in the world, which made him grin. He was beginning to realize she liked to tease him, and he liked it, too.
“But Max?” she said.
“Yeah?”
“This time I’ll make sure you come, too.”