Authors: Jane Slate
Kade snickered and took a long drag of his smoke, clearing his lungs.
“Hell if I know,” he said with a shrug.
“Besides, she ain’t my old lady. We’re just friends. Nothing serious.”
Stella leaned against a tree and laughed bitterly.
“Sure,” she answered sarcastically.
Kade thought it over and shrugged.
“So what are you doing talking to me, then?” Stella countered.
Ouch.
A brief expression of hurt flashed across Kade’s face. It never really mattered who the girl was. It never seemed to take much for him to forget the only woman who had ever kept him grounded in favor of bleach blonde bike warmers. That is...until he got bored with them. And he
always
got bored with them.
Kade chuckled and looked Stella slowly over, changing the subject as his eyes grazed her cleavage.
“You know I care about you Stel.”
He furrowed his brows, nodding over his shoulder to where Stella’s father was standing with the other founding fathers of SOW.
“Your daddy said you dropped out of med school...”
“That true?”
Stella shrugged.
“What, we don’t hook up for a few days and you go talking to my father about me?”
Heavy rock music blasted from a sound system in the distance. Mel was on her knees beside it, attempting to help Dice set it all up. He never was technologically savvy.
“Maybe,” Kade bit back.
There was a playful glimmer in his eye that never failed to get under Stella’s skin.
“Really though, what’s up? I thought being a doctor was your drea-”
“It’s not anymore,” Stella interrupted.
She wasn’t in the mood to have another conversation about her future. Especially not with Kade. Their relationship, if it could even be called that, was a complex one that had been strictly physical in nature. They didn’t have these types of discussions. Hell, lately, they had barely even spoke at all.
Stella noticed the girl Kade had arrived with pushing through the crowd and sighed. Kade followed her train of vision and pushed away from the picnic table, flicking the bud of his cigarette.
“Well it was nice talking to you...”
His voice faltered. He stared at Stella, his gaze hot and intense.
“Yeah,” she answered.
She tore her eyes from his and swallowed down the lump in her throat. It wasn’t jealousy but it was something.
“See you around.”
With that, Kade walked through the matted grass toward the petite blonde. He looked briefly back at Stella but she refused to meet his gaze. The girl he had arrived with stood with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face.
“Why the hell were you talking to her?” she hissed. She went to slap Kade’s chest but he grabbed her roughly by the waist and pressed his mouth against hers.
Stella gagged and rolled her eyes as Kade swooped the girl into his arms and carried her over to where the rest of the SOW crew were gathered. Mel approached Stella and handed her a beer. Stella cracked it and took a well-needed sip.
“What was that little exchange?” Mel questioned.
Stella took a deep breath and wiped the excess moisture from her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Nothing.”
This time, Mel was the one poking Stella in the side.
“Right.”
“Who’s lying now?”
Stella remained silent. Mel took a seat in the grass and overlooked the crowd. Stella sat down beside her and stretched her legs. Each of them watched the men they had feelings for embrace other women.
It wasn’t a comforting feeling.
“Why do men have to suck so much?” Stella questioned, breaking the silence.
“It’s the testosterone,” Mel answered matter-of-factly, running a hand through Stella’s hair.
“I think it makes them stupid.”
Stella smiled and nodded, looking down at her watch. It was just past 3 P.M.
“So, are we still on for Margaritas?”
“I could
really
use one.”
Mel laughed.
“Yeah I don’t think I could deprive you of that. Besides, Dice said we could leave whenever we want. I guess he’s feeling generous.”
Dice.
It never failed to weird Stella out that Mel called her father by his club name, but that was just their way.
“Well what are we waiting for?”
Stella stood up and reached for Mel’s hand, pulling out her car keys and making a beeline for where her Firebird was parked in a makeshift parking lot. As far as she saw it, the quicker she got away from Kade and his current time passer, the better.
“Wait!” Mel called after her.
“I just have to grab my things and tell Dice I’m leaving.”
Stella nodded and started up the engine. The car shook to life.
“Be quick!” she called to Mel.
“You know traffic is going to be a nightmare and I really want to get there in time for their 4 o’clock special.”
Mel nodded and was back in a flash. As soon as she slammed the passenger side door, Stella gunned down on the gas and veered onto the dirt road that stretched back into actual civilization.
Falls Creek was a small town, but in comparison to the tiny suburb where Dice’s farm was located, it was practically NYC.
Mel rolled down her window and lit a smoke with a bright pink lighter.
“So where are we going?”
Stella raised an eyebrow.
“I thought you stopped smoking?”
Mel shrugged.
“I did, this one doesn’t count.”
Stella snickered. She was familiar with that lie. It was one she often told herself.
“Well?” Mel questioned, taking a drag.
Stella frowned, then she remembered Mel’s initial question.
“Ricos,” she answered, making a right hand turn onto a paved road and picking up speed.
“I haven’t been there in forever.”
Rico’s was the best Mexican grill Falls Creek had to offer. They had the best fajitas in town and their selection of Margarita flavors couldn’t be beat.
“Nice.”
Mel reached out to turn on the radio just as an upbeat pop song started playing. Stella rolled her eyes and tried to change the station but Mel stopped her, pouting.
“Aw come on Stel!”
“I know you’re all about classics but can I control the radio?”
“Please? Just this once.”
Stella started to object but relented when Mel gave her a doe eyed glare.
“I hate when you do that you know.”
Mel smiled.
“I know.”
“But it works doesn’t it?”
Touché
Mel began to sing along and eventually she got Stella to do the same. Five equally bad tunes later, it occurred to Stella that she had passed the restaurant. She turned around in an abandoned parking lot and gave the driver of a rusty pick-up truck the finger as he cut her off and barreled down the narrow road.
She slammed down on her horn even though he was long gone.
“Asshole!”
“You know it’s only a matter of time before someone doesn’t like that,” Mel spoke up.
Stella shrugged. Then, she got an idea.
“I dare you to do it.”
Mel frowned.
“What?”
Stella nodded at the truck, which was now a few good feet down the road.
“Flip him the bird. Come on! It’ll be liberating! You can’t be such a good girl all the time, Mel. Besides he won’t even see you. Just...pretend its Maddox!”
Mel hesitated and right when Stella was sure she wouldn’t do it, she stuck up her middle finger and proudly displayed it out her window.
Stella laughed, cocking her head to look at her friend.
“See!”
“Feels good don’t it?”
Mel didn’t answer but Stella could tell by the look on her face that she was satisfied. She turned up the radio as one of Mel’s favorite Britney songs began to play and pulled up in front of Rico’s, shifting the car into park.
“That’s why I can’t stand Blessing of the Bikes,” Stella continued as the song came to an end.
“It’s like...the one weekend when every asshole in or around Falls Creek decides to come out and play.”
Mel nodded in agreement.
Both girls climbed out of the car and made their way inside the dimly lit restaurant. The smell of Mexican food and tequila filled Stella’s nostrils. She slid into an empty booth across from Mel and looked over a menu on the table.
A timid looking waitress surfaced from the back of the restaurant and set a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa down in front of the girls.
“Good evening,” she said with a smile.
“What can I get you? We have very good tostadas on special.”
She spoke in broken English and had a heavy accent but Stella had been coming here long enough to understand her.
“We’ll share an order of fajitas.”
She looked over at Mel for approval and she nodded.
“And I’ll have a strawberry margarita.”
“Same here,” Mel piped in.
The waitress nodded and gathered up both menus. She capped her pen and walked away, handing the order on her notepad over to someone in the kitchen.
Stella took in the scenery. The restaurant was more or less empty aside from an elderly couple seated a few tables away and a leather-clad man, an obvious straggler from the festival, at the bar. It was quiet and desolate and cool and Stella couldn’t have been happier.
“So,” she spoke up, scooping a large amount of salsa onto a chip.
“Not that I’m trying to kill the mood but...are you ever going to tell me what exactly happened between you and Maddox?”
She thought of Scarlett and waved a hand in the air.
“Besides, you know, the obvious.”
A heat flooded through Mel as her cheeks drained of color. Clearly Stella had hit a sore spot.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to...” she trailed off.
“No.”
“It’s fine. It’s just...”
“Just?” Stella questioned, nodding for Mel to continue.
Mel shook her head and backtracked.
“Actually, yeah, I don’t feel like talking about it.”
Stella sighed and shoved another salsa-covered chip into her mouth. She kicked Mel softly beneath the table.
“Come on Mel. If you can’t tell me, your best friend, who can you tell?”
Mel furrowed her perfectly plucked brows in thought.
“He told me he would leave her,” she whispered, lowering her eyes as she caressed a spot on the table.
“And I guess...I don’t know. I guess it scared the shit out of me.”
“He
what
?” Stella hissed.
“Jesus. Do you think he would really do that to Scarlett and the kids? I mean-”
Mel held up a hand to stop Stella from continuing.
“Stop. See...this is why I didn’t tell you. It’s always about Scarlett and the kids. And I’m not saying it shouldn’t be. I know my role, Stel. Don’t think I don’t. It’s just...why don’t my feelings ever matter?”
Mel’s voice cracked as the final words left her mouth. Stella’s face softened. She reached across the table for Mel’s hand but she snatched it away.
“I’m sorry,” Stella said.
“I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. Your feelings do matter. It’s just...do you really want to be with a man who would do that? Leave his family, I mean?”
The waitress reappeared with a tray of drinks in her hands. She set the margaritas down in front of Stella and Mel and informed them in broken English that their food would be out soon. When she was out of earshot, Mel spoke up.
“Duh,” she said.
“Why do you think I told him we were through?”
Stella took a long sip of her drink and Mel did the same.
“You made the right choice,” Stella said with a nod.
“Really, you know Maddox and the boys are trouble. Sexy as hell, sure, but trouble all the same. Besides, how long would it be before Maddox did to you what he’s doing to Scarlett? A week? Five months? A year?”
“How dependable is he
really
?”
Mel sighed.
“I know, I know,” she said with a wave of her hand.
She took another long drink and began to relax against the back of the booth.
“Trust me. I’ve asked myself the same questions dozens of times. I just wish we didn’t have so much history. It would certainly make things easier.”
“He’s a jerk,” Stella shrugged.
“He’s not worth your time, Mel.”
“He never was.”
Mel cleared her throat and relented.