Chapter Forty-Two
Forty-Two
Stella was ready to sleep for a hundred years. Or at least a solid eight hours.
After Stella finished writing her article last night, Effie read it over and gave her notes, and then Chelsea and Kira also read it, adding their two cents as well.
Finally, when it was approved by all, Stella made her Medium account and posted it.
Of course, by then it was almost midnight, so at first nothing happened, but she shared it across her social media accounts, and Effie, Chelsea, and Kira did the same.
Chelsea, with her hundreds of thousands of followers, was the most impactful, of course.
When they’d gone to bed that night, it still hadn’t taken off in a major way, and Stella worried no one would even see it.
But the following morning, she was awoken by Effie shaking her shoulder and screaming, “It’s spreading!”
They’d had an impromptu sleepover, so Kira and Chelsea were also forced to get up, and they all began checking their phones. As it turned out, Effie was right. People were spreading Stella’s post like wildfire, and everybody had thoughts.
@WriteHereWriteNow: So you’re telling me Yellow Sparks has been posting AI articles but pretended real writers were writing them? WTF?
@JuliannaAbrams89: @WriteHereWriteNow I think the AI was just helping them write, but like lol I didn’t know writing lists and quizzes was that hard. Either way, isn’t AI content supposed to be labeled so people know what they’re reading isn’t real? Feels like a lawsuit to me!
@HitchcocksSon95: This is so insane. The person who didn’t use AI for her posts is the one who gets nothing but everyone else gets paid? How does that work? Utter bullshit.
@KeepingItReal411: At this rate all of our news will be written by AI. There’s going to be no real journalists left. Fuck Yellow Sparks!
@FreedFromTheSunkenPlace: Everything about this reeks. I wish she named her boss too. They should be fired along with the CEO.
Even Jackie, who shouldn’t have been awake because Cali was three hours behind, had texted Stella.
Jackie
Um, are you aware that your tweet has over a thousand likes and climbing? What’s going on?
After seeing all of that, Stella didn’t think Mel would be too happy to see her, so rather than go into the office, she decided to email her resignation.
Was it maybe a little cowardly? Perhaps, but Stella was beyond caring, so she typed out an email to Mel with human resources CC’d and sent in her formal resignation.
She figured if there was any paperwork she needed to fill out, they could send it to her.
Effie, thankfully, went into the office and grabbed all of Stella’s personal items for her.
“The vibes were so weird in there,” she said when she returned to the apartment. Effie decided she wouldn’t be working today in solidarity. “Everyone was on edge. No one was really working, although it was still pretty early. Katy asked about you. I told her you’re fine.”
“Thanks,” Stella said.
“Post still blowing up?” Effie asked, making herself comfortable on the couch beside Kira.
“Still going,” Chelsea said, scrolling through her phone.
“We cannot spend the whole day watching our timelines,” Kira said. “We should go out and do something. I never take off. Let’s do something fun!”
“Like what?” Effie asked.
Kira shrugged. “Whatever we want.”
Thus began their treat-themselves day. They went to the movies, to the arcade, shopping, and finally ended their day back at Miti Miti, where they took full advantage of happy hour.
And for most of the day, it worked. Stella didn’t think about Yellow Sparks, Melanie, Miles, or his very hot brother, Max, until she’d arrived back at her building alone, having convinced the girls that she’d had enough and would be fine, only to find Max waiting for her outside.
For a split second, Stella considered pretending she didn’t see him and running in the opposite direction, but she knew that was childish.
They hadn’t talked since she’d canceled their plans, and they’d have to discuss where they stood now that everything had changed.
She just wasn’t sure what that would mean exactly.
Could he still want her when she’d kind of maybe burned his brother’s company to the ground?
There was really only one way to find out.
Pulling up her big-girl pants, also known as her favorite high-waisted corduroy bell-bottoms, Stella walked up to Max. He was so absorbed in his phone that she had to clear her throat to get his attention.
“Stella.”
He breathed her name like a sigh and pulled her into his arms. She melted into him, inhaling his woodsy scent. It was silly because it truly hadn’t been that long since the last time she’d seen him, but she had missed him.
“Hi,” she said when they pulled apart.
“Hi,” he said, resting his forehead on hers. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “We should get you inside, it’s cold.”
Stella laughed at that. “Says the guy who’s been standing out here how long waiting for me?”
“Wow, you caught me,” he said. “It’s actually me who’s freezing and must get inside right this instant before I become Jack Frost.”
“I think there’d need to be snow for that, but come on,” she said, taking his hand. “Let’s defrost you.”
Stella led Max up to her apartment, where the warmth immediately enveloped them.
“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked once she was free of her coat and shoes.
“No, I’m good,” he said. “Should we go to your room?”
Stella raised her brows at him. “I thought maybe we should talk first.”
Max’s lips twitched in a half smile. “Me, too. I just thought your room might be best so we’d have privacy.”
Stella made a big show of looking around her empty apartment before finally turning back to him.
“It’s just us,” she said. “Chelsea’s out with Kira and Effie. I just left them, actually, and I don’t think they have any intention of heading home soon. Let’s sit on the couch.”
“Hm, I think couches may be more dangerous for us than a bed,” Max said, although he followed her anyway.
Stella turned so she was facing him and he did the same, and then they just looked at each other, neither of them speaking.
“So,” Stella said. “I guess I can go first?”
“Actually,” Max said. “I should probably tell you that I ended my contract with Miles. Or rather AIX has terminated its contract with Yellow Sparks.”
“You what?”
“After you canceled our plans yesterday, I ended up having dinner with Miles and he told me everything that happened with you and Sprint Week,” Max said.
Then with a sigh he added, “And he also told me about his plans to reduce the content team because you guys could churn out posts quicker with Sparky and he wouldn’t need the whole team. ”
Stella felt like she needed three to five business days to process this information, but if her now former colleagues were about to get the boot, she didn’t have that kind of time.
“Wait, so he’s going to lay off people?” Stella said.
“He was,” Max said. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do now that I’ve taken away Sparky. Plus, with your article going viral, I think he may have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Nice job, by the way.”
Max had touched her knee when he said this, and that, in tandem with his words, made warmth flood through her body. She knew her essay was great, but hearing it from Max, the person she was most worried about seeing it, filled her with something she couldn’t quite find the words for.
“Thank you,” she said. Reaching forward, she took his hand in hers. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it beforehand, but I didn’t want to be talked out of it, and I knew I had to say something. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life, honestly.”
“You don’t owe me an apology,” Max said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Miles fucked up here.”
“Well, yeah, but he’s still your brother,” Stella said. “Have you spoken to him at all today?”
Max nodded. “He overheard me talking to Rashid about you. He knows we’re…seeing each other.”
“What?”
Stella dropped his hand and stood. She needed to pace for this conversation.
“What did he say?” Stella asked. “I mean, what does this mean, now that he knows?”
“Nothing, I don’t think,” Max said carefully. “You no longer work for him. My company is no longer in business with him. Now all this means is that my brother knows I’m seeing someone.”
“Okay, but Max,” Stella said, rubbing her temples. “You can’t tell me he was just fine with it. I’m sure he hates my guts now.”
Max sighed. “He may have said something along the lines of he’d never forgive me and I lost a brother or something like that.”
“Max—”
Max stood, putting his hands on Stella’s shoulders to hold her in place while he met her eyes.
“Stella, I’m not worried about Miles,” Max said. “He’ll come around. All I care about right now is you.”
Stella inhaled sharply, breaking from Max’s grasp to take a step back.
“But you barely know me, Max,” Stella said. “I mean, we haven’t even defined our relationship, and you’re what? Never going to speak to your brother again because of me?”
“I do know you,” Max said, reaching for her. She let him take her hands in his, and he lowered his head until she met his eyes again. “I know that you snore. I know that you love sitcoms even when they do problematic shit like make Winston a cop.”
“He should’ve been a mailman,” she muttered.
Max laughed. “Exactly. And I know that your favorite color is pink and that you love to cuddle. I know that you love your friends and your parents. I know that you went to DC for school but came back here because this is home, just like I did. And I know that I love you. So if you want me to define this relationship, then that’s the definition for me.
I want a relationship with you. I want you in my bed, waking up next to me in my clothes.
I want to share a pizza with you. I want to laugh with you.
I want to read every single thing you write. I want you.”
If Stella’s brain was short-circuiting before, it was nearly out of commission now. There was so much said and yet all she could hear were those three words on a loop in her head.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
“Stella?” Max squeezed her hands gently, and she shook her head.
Right, she should say something. Except she didn’t know what to say.
She knew she liked Max a lot, more than a lot, really, if she was being honest. But love was such a big word, one she’d never said before, not in this context.
How was she supposed to know if that was what she was feeling or if everything that’d occurred over the past day was messing with her emotions?
And if she didn’t love him, could she really let him choose her over his own brother? That question was easy at least. She knew she couldn’t.
“I think we should take a day to think about things,” Stella said, moving back from him.
The hurt on his face was a look Stella was sure she would never forget, but she held firm.
“I want to be with you, too,” she said. “Truly, I do. I’ve been wanting to say that for a while now, but I just couldn’t find the words.
But Max, everything is crazy right now. I just quit my job in this massive way that I’m sure isn’t going to blow over anytime soon.
And you’re standing here saying you’re choosing me, someone you’ve known for a month, over your little brother. ”
Max opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand.
“Please, just let me finish,” she said. With a look of defeat, Max nodded.
Stella took a deep breath and pushed on.
“I want to be with you,” she said again because she needed him to know that. “But I don’t want you to make a decision that you’ll regret. You said Miles is the one blood relative you have left. Can you really lose him like this? Over me? Because I don’t want you to.”
“Stella—”
“Just think about it,” Stella said. “Please. Give it a day, and if we wake up tomorrow and we’re still both sure this is exactly what we want, then we’ll figure the rest out from there. But please. I just want to be sure, okay?”
Max sighed but then nodded again. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’d do anything for you.”
There wasn’t anything left to say after that so Stella just watched as he slipped back into his shoes, grabbed his coat, and walked out the door. She regretted him leaving as soon as he was gone.