Stephanie Meanswell: A Sour Turn of Events!

Chapter 2

"Stephanie!"

"Lemony Snickett?!"

No wonder he was so poetic... she was embarrassed that she had seemed so surprised, and let her hair fall over her eyes as her face went pink as her dress.

He invited her in and showed her around his little apartment. Stephanie loved it. Her mind wandered to other matters... after she saw there was only one bed in the whole apartment. She shyly turned to the tall figure who loomed over her... his musk made her blush; they were so close together it felt hard to breathe.

"Where will I sleep though...?"

"In my bed of course ;)"

She couldn't hold in the gasp that escaped her; she was so embarrassed but overwhelmed with excitement. The though of sleeping with her love after such a long wait gave her butterflies in her stomach. Until-

"And ill just pull out the sofa for me and the hubby, and then we can get to talking about what it was like to be two of the three only humans in this perplexing town."

Stephanie's heart, beating so fast only a minute ago came to almost a complete standstill. She decided to play it cool, she had no idea Lemony was married, but what did this mean for them? Why had he asked her here? Written her that poem? Did it mean nothing?

Stephanie, trying hard to hide her disappointment sullenly enquired, "two? But I'm only one person."

Lemony chuckled to himself as he answered her question, "I know Stephanie, my husband kindly offered to give me a little interview too, in fact he was the one to invite you here, he'd love to catch up."

That could only mean...

As if on cue, a rope ladder fell down outside the open window, and none other than Sportacus himself graciously climbed through and landed lightly on the carpeted floor. Lemony, as nimble as he had been in his youth hopped over the back of the couch to where his partner stood and leant down to passionately kiss him.

Stephanie could only watch in amazement as her ex-lover and who she thought only an hour ago to be her current lover locked lips.

Finally breaking out of their embrace, Sportacus and Lemony took a seat on the couch, and offered Stephanie a seat across from them. Still feeling as though she was in a dream, she allowed herself to be seated, although to meet either of the couple's eyes would have been impossible. Lemony started asking questions about life in Lazy Town but Stephanie could hardly comprehend what he was saying. She enquired where the toilet was and asked to be excused. As she stood, the top letter she had been reading previously fell out her pocket and landed on the coffee table.

"I will love you-" Lemony read laughing carelessly, "Ahh it appears I sent that poem to Steph instead of to you my love."

So, it wasn't for me at all, she thought.

The humble poet began apologising to Stephanie, but she was no longer listening. Her bright pink hair swished airily as she mumbled something about remembering she needed to be somewhere, although it was 6pm and had nowhere else to go. She ran out to the street, and her tears mingled with the unforgiving rain. She loved Lemony, but if he did not love her back then what was the point?

She ran blindly, barely aware of Sportacus yelling her name from the doorstep. She was so upset she ran right into a happy couple, holding hands and laughing despite the relentless downpour that drenched anyone who dared stand out in the open. She looked up and saw none other than... Robbie Rotten?! Holding the hand- no, paw of Cat in the Hat. The emotions on their face changed from shock, to confusion, to recognition, to anger.

The Cat gripped his baseball bat harder, but Robbie stopped him.

Stephanie was terrified.

"Well if it isn't Stephanie... your hair is looking especially pink recently."

Robbies words cut into her soul, and she couldn't help but self-consciously swish her wet but undeniably pink bob.

His next words made her heart cease beating momentarily.

"Where is my baby?"

"He... he doesn't want to see you"

Robbie Rotton laughed maliciously. "But how can he possibly not want to know his own father?"

The Cats eyes were filled with rage and Stephanie sobbed harder, knowing deep down that her boy, no matter how hard she wanted him to be only hers, was so much like his father it was unnerving.

By now, Lemony and his husband had caught up. Stephanie began to run away, when she was hit by a hard object and felt herself crashing towards the ground. The back of her head felt warm, and as The Cat in The Hat stood over her dying body, the two couples just heard her saying something over the rain. Her voice was weak and full of pity.

"Lemony... I love you. I don't care if I'm not the one you love but I love you as a teenage girl loves to hate herself, and as a tradie loves his 14-year-old girlfriend. I love you around the world and back 1,000,000 times."

And with that, with thick red blood mixing horridly with the shocking pink of her hair and with the rain pounding against her very nice figure, Stephanie took her last breath she would ever take.

*

After the sudden death of a loved one, it can be expected that a son of the deceased would show signs of grieving, perhaps a lost look in his eye, a withdrawal from society. If the figure that stepped off this steam train onto the platform was affected by his mothers death, he didn't let it show. His shoes remained highly polished and his socks, pulled up to almost knee-height, were white as anything. He wore shocking yellow trousers and vest and his red bowtie displayed to all that this young man cared about his appearance.

Grieving his mother's death or not, his hair remained immaculate and the look on his face was not one of someone who cared much about your opinion. He pulled a small suitcase along the platform as he looked for his father.

He knew his father knew nothing about him except his name, but looking around, he saw a man he recognised well, from various photographs around the house. He called out to the man, who excitedly turned and instantly smiled a wide smile.

"Dad?"

"Stingy!"

The boy ran into his father's arms, finally meeting the man he had never known.

Robbie Rotten was overjoyed at finally meeting his dear boy Stingy. He looked forward to catching up on all the time lost and hatching plots with his son and his boyfriend.

As the sun set in Lazy Town that evening, life was good.