Stella in Stilettos (23 page)

The gorgeous love of her life hadn’t arrived yet, which seemed a little odd since he’d hurried home so he could be on time.

Stella’s phone rang signaling the beginning of a hectic day. With Christmas just around the corner they would be hitting the consumers over the head with newspaper inserts, TV commercials and home mailings. The advertisements were already designed, formatted and awaiting her critical eye. It was up to her to fix, tweak and eventually lay the ads on Maggie’s desk for final approval. Once Maggie signed off on them, Stella would make sure they were delivered to the printing department.

Regardless of the work load, Stella didn’t feel overwhelmed. Her heart was light and she wasn’t guzzling coffee like her very life depended on it.

Occasionally she would check to see if Alex had arrived. He hadn’t. The lights in Maggie’s office were dark too. Odd. Then again, she was the boss and didn’t have to check in with Stella.

Francis from the printing department called three times trying to hurrying the flyers. Each time she advised him they were on Maggie’s desk.

The rest of the department was in the conference room brainstorming ways to advertise and celebrate the company’s new line of skin care products, body wash, lotions, His and Hers Weekend Fantasy kits and sensual lip glosses. Eventually they were supposed to work on the swimsuit catalogue. Stella heard a lot of laughing, an occasional grunt and even some yelling. She did her best to tune it out, but she could feel her good mood being whittled away little by little.

Stella was entrenched in editing a flyer of half-off sales when Jim Roberts shadowed the entrance to her cubicle. He looked pissed.

“What can I do for you, Jim?” she asked cautiously.

Jim threw his hands in the air. “Belinda is not my boss. My ideas are just as good as hers. I suggest you get her by the nape of the neck and get her out of there.”

Yippee!
Stella thought sarcastically. Advising Belinda to behave would be like trying to give a cat a shower. “Jim, did you know that when a mother cat grabs the scruff of her baby’s neck it releases endorphins into the cat’s system to calm the kitten?” It was a silly comment but the way her day was shaping up, she needed silly.

Jim looked confused.

Stella snickered. “I’ll talk to her.”

Lunchtime arrived and Stella was ready to mutilate anyone who looked at her sideways. As predicted, things did not go well when she advised Belinda to play nice or go back to her cubicle. Belinda dropped the f-word before saying, ‘Who died and made you queen?’ Then she went on a rant that Stella was not her boss or babysitter.

Argh! Everything Belinda said was true. She was not the boss and shouldn’t have to deal with unruly co-workers.

Coffee. She needed coffee. She actually needed a coffee I.V. or she wouldn’t make it through the day. She took several deep breaths to disconnect from the bedlam and headed for the cafeteria.

Fishing her cell phone from her purse, she dialed Alex. Before she sent out the call, she closed the phone. Checking up on him was the first sign of clingy.

In the checkout line to pay for her chicken salad and coffee, she sent him a text message instead. “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Slightly clingy.

Stella carried her tray of food to the dining area. A familiar head of dark hair made her stop abruptly, tipping the tray. Luckily she caught the coffee before it fell. The chicken salad wasn’t so fortunate. As though the cafeteria had someone on retainer to clean up her messes, a young guy came from out of nowhere with a dust pan to scoop up the mishap and a bottle of spray cleaner and a rag to finish the job. Another cafeteria worker tapped her on the shoulder with a new plate of salad. Stella apologized for the mess and thanked them for their help.

It took a second to realize Alex wasn’t alone. He and Maggie were having coffee and they were deep in conversation.

Stella parked a few tables away, far enough away so they wouldn’t think she was eavesdropping but close enough to notice the angry lines on Maggie’s forehead.

 She took a forkful chicken salad and washed it down with a sip of coffee. Over the rim of her cup she studied the situation.

Maggie narrowed her eyes to thin slits. Uh-oh! Stella knew that look. Anytime now her boss would let the ugly out.

Before Maggie could explode, Alex did. “No, Maggie! No! No! No! How many times do I have to say it?” He slammed his fist on the table, making their cups jump.

Maggie’s voice boomed in response. “Marc wants you, not her.”

Stella’s mouth dropped open. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what
it
was and who
she
was. Her pulse went crazy with a drum solo in her ears and at her temples.

In a flash, she was out of her seat, dumping the almost untouched plate of chicken salad in the trash. For a second, her hand refused to let loose of the coffee. A look over her shoulder at Alex and Maggie made her drop it in the trash too.

* * * *

Maggie stood at the front of the room. “Listen up people, meeting in the conference room in five.”

Stella avoided leaning out of her cubicle to acknowledge the directive, but her peripheral caught sight of Alex standing with his arms crossed, studying the floor. She swallowed hard. What she heard in the cafeteria was soon to come into play and her stomach was tied in knots. The small amount of her not consumed by anger, wanted to let him know she was upset. She rolled her chair into the aisle to make him look up. Stella saw his jaw twitch. He was aware she was there, but his eyes stayed glued to the floor which slammed her intuition into confirmation. Corrine was right all along.

Alex followed Maggie into her office like an obedient sap and Stella’s heart sank.

Sleeping with the competition had been a huge mistake. She’d taken a touchy situation, put a personal spin on it and made things worse.

Belinda rounded the corner and propped herself against Stella’s desk. “I know what’s going on and you’re not going to like it.”

The hair on the back of Stella’s neck prickled. “Is the world coming to an end?”

“It is for you.” Belinda snorted and fired another round. “I think I’ve figured out the reason for your happy mood too.”

Stella shook her head in disbelief. She thought all her worrying and jumping to conclusions made her the quintessence of pathetic. She could easily step down from that throne and pass the crown to Belinda. “Enlighten me.”

Belinda lifted a self-satisfied chin. “You think you have an exclusive with Alex.”

The prickling sensation no longer just involved her neck. It moved through her like she’d taken a jolt of electric current. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on. You two practically felt each other up at the Christmas party.” Belinda drummed her forefinger on her snobby chin. “You left together.”

Stella opened her mouth to refute the claim, but she couldn’t. Things happened between her and Alex. Great things. None of them were anyone’s business, especially Belinda’s. “You need more to do, I can see that now.”

 “For the record, sleeping with Alex doesn’t give you ownership.” Belinda struck a supercilious pose. “If it did, then I seized all rights to him last weekend.”

Belinda was lying through her teeth. Alex didn’t even like her. Although the stinging reality was that some guys took whatever was offered regardless of how they felt about the woman. Stella fought to keep her hands at her side because she wanted to grab Belinda by the hair and pluck every follicle out of her head with one good yank. “Alex and I are just friends.”

There was a baleful edge to Belinda’s laugh. “Liar.”

Stella refused to take the bait, but it was hard to swim away from the hook. “Think whatever you like.” She swiveled around to her computer in an attempt to calm down.

“Pay close attention to how Alex behaves in the meeting. It’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Belinda taunted.

Despite the meltdown of most of her emotions, Stella still had some stubbornness aching to be used. “You have a vivid imagination.”

“Maybe. I’m also telling the truth.” Belinda shoved the knife of discontent in a little deeper. “Alex seemed a little chilly, right?”

Belinda knew the exact dosage of meanness needed to inflict the most pain. “Go away,” Stella warned.

Stella had to mentally coax her feet into moving. When she entered the conference room, Maggie bit into her. “Glad you finally decided to join us.”

“My phone rang before I could put it on voice mail.”

Maggie’s face turned the same shade of red Stella had seen in the cafeteria. “When I say five, I mean five.”

Stella was still numb from Belinda, so Maggie’s temper didn’t hurt like it should. She slid into the only empty seat – directly across from Maggie.

“Lots of stuff to cover people, so no more dilly-dallying. The year is drawing to a close and we need to hash out what went right and what didn’t.”

Stella twisted her hands in her lap while Maggie went over the year-in-review. From the corner of her eye she could see Alex watching her, which ticked her off. When she wanted him to look, he wouldn’t. Now he wouldn’t look away.

Her heart was a mess and her control was hanging by a solitary strand. She blocked him out by tuning into Maggie’s rhetoric.

Boring budget lecture. Annual veiled-threat about getting their heads out of their butt’s or they’d find themselves doing more with less. Maggie waved a report in the air.

“I’ve been doing some research, and frankly, this department needs some fine-tuning.”

Ha
. It was the perfect opportunity to borrow Alex’s eye-rolling technique, and it was a good thing Maggie was looking in the opposite direction.

“Two words: quality and quantity.” Maggie’s lips thinned with annoyance. “People. Helloooo. We’re not giving the company the best of us.” Amid a few guttural sounds, she continued. “I’m serious.” She fanned the report. “This report tells me we need to do better.” She looked directly at Stella.

Stella stared with wide-open shock. She worked her tail off for Maggie. What more did she want?

Maggie paced the length of the table. “Bottom-line, folks. My raise depends on this report. If I don’t get a raise, you won’t either. Get it?” She looked around the room to get the nod from each and every person. When she came to Stella, she was met with an icy glare. She waited for a long moment and moved on.

Maggie crossed her arms. “As you know, I’ve interviewed a lot of talent for the assistant VP position. I could only pick one person and I’ve reached my decision.”

That bulletin cleared the room of noise, although Stella could hear the loud thumping of her heart.

“Without further ado, I’d like to announce that Alex Clay is the new Assistant Vice President of Advertising.”

Gasps reverberated around the room.

All eyes shot to Alex.

Alex looked like he was mad enough to bite the head off a bat. His mouth twisted and his eyes narrowed so tight they almost closed.

Seconds later, all eyes slid to Stella.

A blend of wild grief and embarrassment demolished Stella. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and she felt dizzy. She said a quick prayer for something brilliant to happen; like a fire alarm, a meteor to fall through the roof, a rat to scurry across the floor, anything to take the focus off of her. The probability of any of those things happening was zilch.
Please.
Let
me pass out, or open the floor so I can fall through.

Salvation came in the form of Corrine. “That Christmas party rocked. I need the recipe for that dill dip. Damn. I could use some of that dip now.”

Corrine’s distraction was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing, and Stella would be forever grateful.

A few other caring people figured out what Corrine was doing and joined in. They talked about the DJ, the champagne and the chocolate-covered strawberries.

In the middle of the chaos, Stella’s gaze connected with Alex’s.

Misery and regret swam in the depth of his eyes.
Good. Hurt you…
She couldn’t finish the thought. Although he was a bastard, she couldn’t call him one; even if he deserved it.

Maggie was not a happy camper either. She looked like she wanted to pummel the lot of them. “This meeting is over.”

Stella scrambled out of her seat and Corrine whispered behind her. “Breathe, Stella. You’ll get through this.”

Alex tried to move in. Corrine ran interference by stepping in front of him. She also frowned at him in an unmistakable show of alliance. “So stud,” she hissed, “how does it feel?”

“How does what feel?” Alex’s annoyed look would’ve scared most people, but not Corrine.

“To be the new Assistant Vice President of Advertising, what else?”

“I’m not the new anything; now move out of my way.”

Corrine’s meddling gave Stella a serious head start.

Maggie caught up to Stella. “Can we talk?”

No.
She didn’t want to talk because all Maggie was going to do was blow smoke up her butt about what a great worker she was and give her a patronizing ‘it’ll be your turn next’ speech. She didn’t want to hear it. “Not now, Maggie,” she said tightly.