Chapter 8
I woke up much earlier than I usually do on a Sunday morning. Probably because I woke up in an unfamiliar environment. I got up around 9 am and entered the bathroom to freshen up. A pack of unopened toothbrushes sat on the counter for me to use to brush my teeth.
After washing my face I threw on my hoodie from yesterday and headed downstairs. The foyer was still in the process of being restored after the events of last night. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and entered the living room where Mrs. Ashford sat on the couch reading a book. "Oh good morning Stella." She says as she notices me.
"Good morning Mrs. Ashford." I say as I take a seat next to her.
"You need to stop with the formalities, we're family now. Call me Tanya, I insist."
I smile at her, "Okay Tanya."
She laughs, "I am so excited to have you become a part of the family. You're such a sweet girl, smart too. I heard you basically run your father's company."
"Who did you hear that from?" I ask curiously.
"Your mother, of course. She has so many wonderful things to say about you."
I smile, "She's a wonderful woman, I take after her mostly."
She sighs, "I've never had a daughter, but I love my Julius so much. He's such a dependable hard working man, just like his father." She turns to me, "Here I go droning on again, what would you like for breakfast sweetie?"
I shrug, "Anything's fine really, I'm not picky."
She smiles, "Great because it smells like food is ready." Mrs. Ashford leads me to the dining area where the table was set for four people. Lucille and two other kitchen workers were bringing in dishes of breakfast foods and placing them on the table. I take a seat across from Mrs. Ashford. "My husband and son should be down shortly." She says as she takes her seat and I nod in response.
"I saw the other night my son gifted you a new piece of jewelry."
I nod, "Yes, a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet."
She chuckles, "Get used to that, he's a big spender."
"Are you ladies talking about me?" Julius says as he enters the room wearing a simple white button-up. He gives his mother a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat next to me. "Good morning sweetie." He says as he sits down.
I smile at him, even though I was still pissed about yesterday. "Good morning honey."
"Where is your father?" Mrs. Ashford asks.
"He's coming down now." Julius responds.
As if on cue Mr. Ashford enters the room, dressed in his suit and tie. "Good morning all." He says as he takes a seat next to his wife.
Food begins getting passed around as everyone starts to fill up their plates. I take two slices of French toast, scrambled eggs, and turkey bacon before filling my glass with orange juice. "Can you pass the syrup?" I ask Julius quietly. He nods before handing it to me.
"So Stella, how did you do enjoy the party?" Mr. Ashford asks as he serves himself a bowl of oatmeal. I nod, "It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed meeting so many new people."
"I know it must've been very stressful for you. My son loves to create stressful situations for himself."
I chuckle, "Oh yes I've noticed that, and for others too."
Julius narrows his eyes at me and I ignore him. "Julius dear how was the party for you?" Mrs. Ashford asks. He nods, "I had a lot of fun, felt very productive as well."
"I'm sure you did." I mumbled.
"What was that dear?" Julius asks.
I smile innocently at him, "Oh nothing honey, just humming." I take a bite from my scrambled eggs. Julius's parents look at us questioningly before shrugging it off and eating their food.
"In a few weeks, we'll be heading off to the Caribbean for our family trip. Would you like to join us Stella?" Mr. Ashford asks suddenly.
Julius's eyes widen as I look up from my plate. "Me? I wouldn't want to intrude." I tell him.
Mrs. Ashford shakes her head, "Not at all! You're family now, it will be so much fun. Great idea honey." She says to her husband.
He nods, "It's a perfect opportunity for you to meet the rest of the family before the wedding. My brother and his family always join us, and we all stay at a beach house off the shore in the Bahamas."
"Well I don't know, it's short notice I'd have to check my work schedule." I say, my tone uncertain.
Mrs. Ashford laughs, "It's your father's company, I'm sure he can give you a couple of days off."
Julius stays silent, leaving me to think of excuses myself. "How about I get back to you later with an official answer?" I ask.
Mr. Ashford nods, "Of course! No rush."
After breakfast had finally ended, I went back upstairs to pack up my things. As I was collecting things and putting them in my purse the door opens, and Julius enters. I ignore his presence as he shuts the door behind him. "What was that about today at breakfast?" He asks.
I chuckle, not turning around to face him, "I'm sorry, did I make you look bad?"
"You're so childish! I said I was sorry already." He says in irritation. I continue to ignore him and pick up my car keys as well as my bag and dress from yesterday. I start walking out the door and head down the stairs to load my car. Julius follows behind me outside as I unlock my car.
"Stella say something." He says trying to keep his voice down. I put my bag in the car and hang my dress in the backseat, still ignoring him. "Stella." He repeats, this time in a warning tone.
"Where are your parents? I need to say goodbye." I say as I start walking toward the front door. He follows behind me, not answering my question as we enter the house. I walk into the kitchen to see Mrs. Ashford talking to Lucille. She smiles as I enter the room. "I suspect you're leaving now?" She asks.
I nod, "Thank you for having me. And tell Mr. Ashford thank you as well." I say as I give her a hug.
"Don't mention it! Drive safely dear." Julius stood near the doorway, waiting for me to finish. I grab the last of my things before heading out to the car. "Stella are you really not going to say anything?" He asks.
I turn around, "What is there to say?" I look down at the bracelet on my arm and take it off, "Keep this." I said as I throw it at him. He catches it as I get into the car and start the engine. "What the hell is this supposed to mean?" He asks angrily outside the window.
"That I'll have a lot of horrible things to say about you when we break up!" I exclaim before driving off immediately and start heading back to my house.
When I finally got home I went straight to my room
to take a shower. After the wonderfully long shower I stepped out feeling fresh and a bit less irritated. Because of the small amount of sleep I got last night, I felt sleepy. I looked over at the time, only 12 pm. That seemed like an acceptable time for an hour nap or more. I threw on a t-shirt and climb into my king-sized bed before snuggling up under the covers and falling out of consciousness.
"Honey this restaurant is wonderful." Julius says, taking a bite out of his steak. I smile, "It's my favorite." Suddenly a waitress wearing nothing but a maid skirt and lace black bra appears holding two drinks. "Here are your beverages, sir." She said seductively before walking away. Julius's eyes were low as he stared at her lustfully. "I'll be right back." He said to me while still looking at her. He follows her to the back of the kitchen, leaving me sitting there to eat alone.
Twenty minutes later he returns with his shirt undone and lipstick marks on his neck. "Great service as well." He chuckles. I stare at him
with disgust before getting up and leaving the restaurant.
When I get outside there were several paparazzi snapping photos of me. "How does it feel knowing that the whole world knows your husband is cheating on you?" A report asks.
"Is this an open relationship? Are you guys into that kind of thing?" Another reporter asks. "Is Stella Harris in a polygamous relationship?"
"How does it feel to be today's Jennifer Anniston?"
I turn around to find Julius for support, but there he is making out with a different woman than earlier in the booth.
I wake up suddenly, sitting up straight on my bed after that disturbing nightmare. What the hell was that? How dare he interrupt my dreams!
I get out of bed angrily and pick up my phone to check the time, 2:30 pm. I sigh, it was still early and I didn't really have much to do. That was the problem with not having friends, hanging out alone was fun but sometimes you want to talk to someone who will actually respond.
I head downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat. My father was there, getting himself a glass of water. "Good afternoon Stella." He says as I walk past him to the fridge. I was shocked by his greeting, we usually didn't talk much.
"Hello." I respond simply.
"Glad to see you spent the night at the Ashford's, they seem to really like you." He says fondly. I nod as I pull out the bread from the pantry, "Yeah they're nice people."
"Mr. Ashford said he invited you on their family trip. I told him you'd go."
I stop spreading the peanut butter on my bread and look at him. "You what?" I ask him cautiously.
He nods, "It's an opportunity for you to be warmed into the family. You leave on the 29th of April." I don't respond, knowing that any sign of reluctance might throw off our plan.
He leaves the kitchen as I continue to spread peanut butter on the bread. Now in two weeks, I was going to be forced to spend a week with that whore and his extended family. And I had no one to complain to about it!
I take the sandwich and a glass of almond milk and march upstairs to my room. I pull out my phone, looking for someone on my contact list to talk to or do something with.
Julius? Hell no.
Mom. No.
Tiffany. I don't like her.
Giselle. Annoying.
Josie? Backstabber.
Victor. No.
Sheila. Of course!
I click on Sheila's contact name and wait as it begins to ring.
"Hello?" She asks after the third ring.
"Hey Sheila! What're you up to right now? Hope you had some fun last night."
She laughs, "Last night was interesting. But um I'm not really doing anything right now, why?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out? Or just talk on the phone about stuff, whatever you want."
"Okay, sure! Did you want to come over? I was just making some cookies." She offers.
"That sounds perfect, I'll see you in 20 minutes?"
"See you then."
I get off the phone with a smile. I was going to a friend's place, that was new. Although Sheila and I had been working together for almost a year now we had never extended our friendship outside of the workplace. Only recently have we started seeing each other out of work and I liked the idea of having Sheila as a friend. She was one of the few people in existence that I genuinely liked.
I got myself ready and changed out of my t-shirt and into a black velour tracksuit before grabbing my bag and leaving the house. My hair was in a bun because I didn't feel like bringing it back into its ponytail from yesterday.
I got to Sheila's apartment and knocked on the door gently. "Hey Stella." She says as she opens the door for me.
"Hey Sheila," I respond entering the apartment. The apartment was a small comfortable studio with a kitchen in the corner, as well as a twin-sized bed in another. Her tv and couch were closer to the bedside of the room and she had a small desk near the kitchen.
"Nice place." I comment as she enters the kitchen.
She chuckles as she places some cookies on a plate, "It's comfortable." She walks over to me, placing the plate of cookies on the table in front of the tv. "Can I get you any milk or juice? Or water?" She asks.
"Water is fine, thanks." I said as I take a seat on the couch. I grab a cookie and smile as I savor the flavor. She places a water bottle in front of me on the table before sitting down, "I might be being nosy with this, but I'm really curious as to what you did to Julius after you got him off of Josephine."
I chuckle, "I didn't do anything, we argued a little and he apologized but that's it."
"You know I'm really surprised you're with him. Out of all the men your dad has paired you with, why him? Besides the fact that he's hot." She asks.
I sit up and turn to her, "Can I be honest with you Sheila?"
She nods, "Of course."
I look at her seriously, "No I'm serious, you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."
She nods again, "I promise I won't tell."
I sigh, finally time to let someone in. "Julius and I both didn't want to be set up with people anymore. So we're pretending to be engaged and plan on breaking up in a few months."
Sheila's eyes widen in realization, "That makes so much sense now! You barely look like you can stand him."
I laugh, "Really? We're supposed to look like we're in love. At least our parents think we are."
"So what's the point of being engaged for so long just to break it off?" She asks.
I shrug, "Julius says if we're together long enough and our relationship is publicized, people won't want to be with us after."
"Why not?"
"Because he's going to tell everyone how horrible I was, and I'm going to do the same. Nobody will want either of us, and we're both believable sources." I say, reciting the ridiculous plan Julius conjured up.
Shiela quirks her brow in confusion, "But what if someone does still want you?"
"I know there are a lot of holes in this plan but I was desperate at the moment. All I know is that Julius is the first guy I've been paired with who doesn't want to actually marry me, and so far I'm rolling with that."
"So you're not into him at all?" She asks.
I shake my head, "I despise that pretty face of his, he's a man whore. The other day I found panties in his couch!"
She grimaces, "I hope they were his?"
I look over at her, "They weren't." We both start laughing, beginning an afternoon of gossiping. We talked for what seemed like hours, about her relationship with her ex, Gavin, and my relationship with Julius.
"My dad is making me go on a trip with his family in a few weeks." I say biting into my 3rd cookie as I laid against the couch.
"Where are you guys going?" She asks.
"Bahamas, with his extended family too."
"Grandmas and grandpas?" She asks in surprise.
I shake my head, "His uncle and probably cousins. I don't think I could openly lie to the elderly."
She laughs, "You know, I'm betting something will happen between you two during the trip."
I look at her with my brows furrowed in confusion from my position on the couch, "Did you not hear anything I told you for the past hour?"
She nods, "I did, and I also read a lot of romance stories. You two are going to connect on this trip, I can feel it. I also think you secretly like him, that's why you're still so mad about what happened with Josie."
I scoff, "I do not like him. What is there to like? He's a rich playboy who's used to getting his way." I sit up, "And I'm mad about the Josie thing because he made me look dumb. You were right about the headlines, I even had a dream about it!"
She laughs, "What happened in the dream?"
"We were at dinner and he leaves me to make out with some waitresses and then the paparazzi attack me asking me if I'm interested in polygamous relationships."
She snorts out a laugh as she sits up from her seat.
"It's not funny! I don't want to look stupid in front of the world." I whine.
"But isn't that the plan? The whole dramatic breakup?"
"Yeah, but it'll be a mutual nasty breakup. Not a cheating scandal, I hope."
"You hope? So the plan is incomplete then." She states.
I chuckle, "Yeah we didn't get much time to fully think it through, but we'll work on it."
The sun was starting to set as I look out toward the window of her apartment. "I should probably start heading out, we have work tomorrow." I said as I stand up from the couch.
Sheila nods, "Yeah I have to get ready for the week." She stands up as I grab my purse. "This was fun, we should do it again." She says with a smile.
"Definitely, I'll see you tomorrow though." I head to the door as she follows behind me.
"Bye!" She calls out as I walk down the steps, I wave to her before heading to my car and driving back home.
————-
Silly Stella, never commit to incomplete plans. Thanks for reading! Please vote!
-AuggiePooh_