“I was hoping you’d stay with me, baby. I’m in a nice studio apartment in the theater district.”
“Maybe we’ll have time to watch a play in one of the other theaters? Of course I’ll come to your performances, but it would be fun to sit together with you in an auditorium, too.”
“We can do whatever you want. I’ll send you my schedule, then you can do some planning.”
He kissed her, full of longing. “Text me when you land in Philadelphia. I’ll track your flight, but I want to hear from you directly. Please, baby.”
“I will. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks,” Stella said. “I’d better go in now. This isn’t getting any easier. I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby. Goodnight,” he kissed her one last time, then watched her walk away.
Letting her go was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
CHAPTER 37
Stella—July/August 2018
S
tella stopped typing and looked out the window. In the far distance, she spotted a handful of other airplanes on the horizon, and over thirty thousand feet below them, freight ships were making their way from one continent to the other. Somewhere out there, under the same blue sky, David was now on his way to London.
Back when they first dated, she used to look up at the sky, and if the clouds were moving toward wherever he was at the time, she’d send imaginary thoughts and wishes his way. It was childish, but it helped her get through the days and weeks without him.
Or maybe she was just a hopeless romantic. Stella shrugged and got back to work.
It was hard to believe how different this flight was from last weekend, when she and Naomi were flying in the opposite direction. Only a few days ago she was looking forward to seeing Paris and escaping her pain, at least for a little while.
Now she’d found her happiness again, yet she had to leave half of her heart in Europe. But it wasn’t in pieces anymore. It was one half of a whole now, and she knew the other half was longing for her as much as she was longing for him.
“What’re you doing? You’ve been hacking away on your tablet for an hour, if not longer,” Naomi asked and pointed to the dessert Stella had saved from her meal. “And you barely ate anything.”
“David said I can make plans for when I’m in London. Theaters are usually closed one day per week, and sometimes his understudy takes over when there’s only an afternoon performance, which gives us two full days to visit someplace outside of London.”
“Look up Oxford and Stonehenge. They are a nice day trip, and can easily be reached by train. Bath and Wells are also pretty. Where are you staying?”
“With David. He has a studio apartment in the theater district.”
“I know I’ve asked you this before, but do you think all will go well this time?” Naomi asked. “I don’t want you to be hurt again.”
Stella sighed. “I know. I really believe we can make it work. The irony is, none of what happened last year would’ve been necessary if only David had talked to me, and I need to follow up on his fear of being let down.”
“What you told me about that Adrienne hussy sounds terrible. Makes you wonder why they hooked up in the first place.”
“He said they slowly slid from a friendship into a relationship. Who knows? People connect for the strangest reasons. When he and I started to date, he told me he hasn’t been in a serious relationship for a while. It was too difficult with him traveling so much. But I didn’t ask more questions, assuming it was in the past and had nothing to do with us. Now I wish I had. Hey, I should google her. Find out more about the woman who messed him up.”
“Let’s do it now. We’ll start with Facebook,” Naomi said. “Thank goodness for inflight Wi-Fi. What’s her last name?”
“Adrienne… let me think, hmm… Canasta.”
“Hah! Here she is. Wow, she’s nothing like you. The only thing you have in common is brown hair.” Naomi held up her iPhone for both to see.
“David says we’re not at all alike.” Stella nodded.
Naomi narrowed her eyes. “And those girls of hers are fake, too. Man, what did he see in her?”
“I don’t know. Does it say where she works now? I don’t want her anywhere near David.”
“What do you mean, you don’t want her anywhere near David? If she’s still performing, they might end up together on some stage. But if he’s not strong enough to resist her, he’s not worth your time.” Naomi continued to flip through photos of Adrienne.
Stella waved a hand toward the phone. “Forget about her. He was devastated by her betrayal and wants nothing to do with her. She’s history! But I thought about something else.”
Naomi sighed. “Could it have anything to do with him?”
Stella ignored the comment. “I think we should invite Luca, Jo, and Rev for dinner. We could cook something French, serve French wine, and show them our photos. I took tons.”
“I took plenty, too. But instead of cooking, can we just make a niçoise salad? Maybe with some baguettes and cheese to go with it? I don’t feel like standing in the kitchen all evening when the guys are having a good time outside. We should try to get the sparkling wine Julia ordered on the train to make it authentic.”
“Okay, we’ll pick a weekend as soon as we’re home. I assume Luca will still be in Philly when we get there, and I’ll ask him. I’m sure
