Stella & The CEO

Stella & The Taco Truck

Chapter 9

Stella

Day three of the convention.

It was starting to feel very repetitive. Just lots of socializing and information sharing. Although they switch out vendors and such every day, it was starting to bore me.

It was also difficult to do so while avoiding Julius, as he was at every table and every exhibition I tried to attend.

It seemed as though he was avoiding me as well, steering clear of wherever I was and giving me only a head nod when he saw me in the hotel halls.

I don't know why things couldn't work between us. We failed as partners, terrible as fûck buddies, and now we could barely be friends!

Well, I knew why we couldn't be friends. Have you ever tried to be friends with someone you were in love with? Yeah, it's very hard.

I wanted to go back to Boston, talk to Dr.Palmer and air out all my issues to her. She always had an answer and made me feel less crazy.

But sadly there were still two more days of convention to go and Mr. Lewis had plans to attend all of them.

"Quit daydreaming, you're drooling on your shoes." Micheal teases as he approaches me.

I frown at him, "Are we done for today? I'm pretty sure I've talked to everyone here already."

He nods, "Me too. I even got a potential partnership with Kinec Co."

I raise my brows in surprise, "Wow look at you."

He chuckles, "Yeah you're not the only one securing deals." He points over to Mr. Lewis, "Why does my father insist on giving every person here the same lame pitch? It's no wonder he needs us."

I laugh, "I happen to think Mr. Lewis's pitch is great! He's such a funny guy."

Michael snorts, "He starts it off with the lamest joke. What do you call a person who used to be a fan of farm machinery?"

"An ex-tractor fan!" I respond with a giggle making Michael shake his head.

"It's a lame joke."

"I think it's hilarious."

"Of course you do. Wanna get out of here?" He asks.

I quirk my brow before looking over at Mr. Lewis. "But we can't leave him here."

"We're just going down the street. We don't even need the car, come on." He encourages.

I think for a moment before putting down my drink, "Fine, but we can't be gone too long."

He nods before taking my wrist and leading me toward the exit. I felt eyes burning in my back but I didn't bother to turn around to see whose.

"Where are we going?" I ask as we walk down the sidewalk away from the convention center. He doesn't respond and soon enough we stop in front of a taco truck at the end of the street.

"Tacos?" I ask.

He nods, "Nothing better than Mexican food from California."

"What about Mexican food from Mexico?"

He frowns, "You get what I mean. What do you want?"

I roll my eyes as I look up at the menu. I loved Mexican food, but not more than good gnocchi. "Get me two chicken tacos and a lemonade."

He nods before ushering me to take a seat at one of the small tables set up nearby. I waited as he orders and brings by our food. He places my tacos in front of me before taking a seat across from me.