Chapter 24 by: Owen

I could feel my heart lurching to a stop as I held my ringing cellphone to my ear. I was sitting t my desk, me seat of power, but I still felt akin to a helpless little girl. I almost wished that he'd screen the call and I'd go straight to voice mail or something. Anything so that I didn't have to directly speak to him just yet. Of course the bastard picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” Damn his voice. Even though I'd just heard it in my dream, it didn't compare to hearing it in reality, even altered by the phone. “Hello, who is this?” Damn it! I needed to pull myself together now!

“Alex,” I said in my most business-like voice I could muster. “It's been a while, I know. We need to settle a few things we left up in the air after our break-up. The house is still half in my name, and I left a load of personal belongings that I would like back. When are you free to meet?” I knew that if I paused for a moment my feelings would get the best of me, so I said everything that I needed to say at once. In order to make this clean break work I had to be blunt and to the point.

“S-Stella?” He sounded almost as surprised to hear from me as I was nervous. “Of course you want your things back. I-I was surprised you didn't take them when you first left. Do you want to come over tonight?”

There was something odd about Alex's voice, and I couldn't quite place what it was. The more I heard him talk, the less his voice affected me. I realized that I was getting over him faster than I thought, and I smiled. Maybe I'd make him sweat a little.

“Tonight's no good for me,” I said, sounding nonchalant. “I have dinner plans.” That was a lie, of course, but it's not like I couldn't make some. “How about tomorrow around four-thirty-ish? Would that work for you?”

I could barely hear him muttering under his breath, and I caught the faint found of pages being turned. Probably making sure Penelope didn't have any doctor's appointments or anything. I was torn between wanting to meet the other woman and fear of meeting her. It might be for the best that she wasn't there for our confrontation about the end of our relationship.

“Four-thirty works for me,” he said, finally. “I'll see you then.”

I heard a small click, and then silence. Well, that was rude, I thought. In any case, I had work to do. There was another huge pile of files that I had to read before the meeting the day after tomorrow, and I was determined to be better prepared than I was for the one today. Even though it would take herculean effort, I would regain the control I once had over the company's research.

Several hours later, my stomach told me that I'd been in the office too long. I looked at the time and was startled to find I'd spent five hours reading through files and taking notes of my own. Even though my neck hurt like hell and my stomach was making rather embarrassing noises, I felt great for being so productive. There were only a few files left to go over, and I could take care of those tomorrow.

After packing my things into a briefcase, I took the elevator down to the first floor. I made sure to say goodbye to Rebecca before exiting the building. While driving through the city, it struck me that I should probably start seriously remodeling the monastery. While I couldn't replicate the extravagant elegance of the dream monastery, it still inspired me.

When I came to the decision of starting by cleaning the floors and painting some walls, I'd just passed the last paint shop before my house. I made as quick left turn and made my way to the shop. I emerged a little over half an hour later with a perfect selection of colors. If I hadn't had the dream for inspiration, I probably would have taken hours and not come up with such a good selection. I also had to make a pit stop to get a relatively healthy sandwich from a sub shop. I would have to stock the kitchen as my next order of business. Maybe after I got my kitchenware back from Alex.

While eating my sub, I checked my e-mails and Facebook. I resisted the temptation to Facebook stalk Alex and Penelope and saw that I'd gotten an e-mail from Cassie.

Stella,

I enjoyed having lunch with you today! This had better be at least a weekly thing! In the meantime, I thought you might like this music video. Knowing you, you've just been listening to depressing Adelle songs or something like that! You need something more upbeat!

Your best gal,

Cassie the Great <3

Smiling, I clicked the link she'd sent me. I expected some popular song one could dance to, and was surprised to find it was Korean. Cassie'd recently gone on a tour of Asia to promote her brand, and must have picked up a taste for the music. I couldn't understand a word the girl was saying except something about boys and bubbles, but it was still incredibly entertaining and fun. I decided to let it be the soundtrack to the beginning of my restoration of the monastery, Stella style.

Cleaning the floor was merely a manner of mopping the stone and hardwood floors. I didn't really spend too much time on them since I'd be covering them with protective tarps anyways. Paint would be a bitch to get off them if any spilled. I couldn't help but allow myself to be in an incredibly cheerful mood. I'd always loved redecorating, and the previous paint job had already been scrapped off for me, so I didn't even need to do the most annoying and tedious part of painting walls. The ceiling was high enough and in good enough repair that I could leave it alone.

After a couple hours of painting and dancing to Korean music, the first coat of paint was drying on the walls of the space I'd designated as the living area. I'd probably start on the kitchen and do the second coat tomorrow. It was late, so I turned off my macbook and went upstairs for a soak in the tub. I'd really have to replace that thing soon as well. Maybe I'd have a plumber come in and redo the pipes over the weekend, and maybe an electrician to rewire the place. My wifi was seriously slow.

By the time my head hit my pillow, I was so tired I didn't even have time to think about Alex, Penelope or Project Miracle. I was exhausted and fell asleep right away. I didn't wake up until my alarm went off the next morning.