Chapter 29 by: Owen

Before Alex had time to even consider stopping cowering enough to answer, Penny walked, or rather waddled, out of the kitchen. The way in which she smiled at me and the loving look she gave Alex only cemented my plan. I would let her have him, but not without making Alex the worm uncomfortable first.

“Sorry that took so long, Stella,” she said. “I can normally put together a batch of cookies faster than that, I guess this little bundle of love is slowing me down a bit.” The way she cooed and rubbed her swollen belly made me alternately jealous and nauseous, but the look of horror on Alex's face was worth it.

“No worries, dear,” I replied in as smooth a tone as I could. My throat was finally letting me talk after my little outburst at Alex. “You must have picked up quite a few handy tricks being a caterer.” Before I had a chance to go on Penelope ushered me to the couch. That awful couch Alex refused to replace. Well, he could certainly keep it.

“Alex, Stella may be your best friend, but you should still have offered her a seat! She's a guest.” I was starting to like Penny a little bit more. “Now, I was hoping you could tell me about New York. I've always wanted to see a really big city like that.” The look in Penny's eyes made me pity her even more. She resembled so many girls I'd known that had big dreams but were forced to settle down just a couple blocks from where they were raised.

I smiled at the woman, but I reserved a wicked look for Alex who was just kind of gaping in the background.

“Well I actually wasn't in New York a couple weeks ago.”

Penny looked mildly surprised, and Alex had a grimace on his face. I hoped he was imagining all the horrible things that could happen if I chose to tell the truth.

“Alex is so absent minded when it comes to what I'm up to,” I paused for effect. “I was in New York months ago.” It was actually true, I'd taken a week off from work right after the break up and just went to New York to shop and recuperate. “No, the day of your shower I had a big meeting at G.M. that I couldn't wiggle out of. I had to make a bunch of important executive decisions, you see,” I told her indulgently. “I do hope Alex got the gift I'd sent for you though.” I sent him a look that told him he'd better buy her something nice for me.

Luckily for Alex, the timer for the cookies went off before Penney had a chance to inquire about any sort of missing baby shower present. While Penny was busy, Alex pulled a document out of a manila folder I hadn't noticed him with before.

“Here's the paperwork about signing the house over fully to my name. And here's a check worth half the property. Thank you for going along with things.” He looked grateful as I signed the paper. I waved the check he offered away.

“Alex, I probably make more than the two of you combined. You keep your money, I don't need it. I just came here for my things. Please tell me that Penny brought her own kitchen-ware and that you've boxed up all of my stuff.”

Penny chose that moment to return with cookies. Alex shuffled for a moment to put the paper work we'd just been looking at back in it's folder. It was a little amusing to see him attempting to cover his tracks so well. It was only a matter of time before Penny found out about our past, and it wasn't going to be from me. Alex would probably screw up sometime, and I was going to make sure to hang around enough to give him opportunities to do so.

“Honey, sit down,” he said to Penny as she placed the tray of steaming cookies on the table before us. “You shouldn't be on your feet so much.” Before Penny had a chance to respond, he continued. “All of your things are boxed up in the other spare room, Stella. I made sure to tell Penny that most almost everything in the kitchen was yours, so she insisted we go out and buy new everything so you could have it back.”

“Honestly,” Penny interjected. “I have no idea why Alex thought he and Sarah could keep all of your lovely kitchen-ware. You have some nice silverware, and great taste in appliances. I was pretty jealous, but didn't want to break anything.”

Okay, plain looking as this girl was, she was too sweet for this new cowardly Alex. And she could make a damn fine batch of cookies. I'd have to get her recipe before I left. We chatted for a little while longer, mostly Penny asking questions. When I said that I had to go and work on painting my house, she insisted that Alex do all the heavy lifting for me. The shade of red his face turned when he lifted the box with all my shoes in it was priceless.

Driving back to my monastery, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I knew I would never be very chummy with Alex, but I was genuinely starting to like Penny, even though she more or less stole my man. I didn't truly think she meant to, it was more Alex's fault than anything. And men thought women were the fickle ones. I was looking forward to getting some quality me time in, just me, some Korean pop music and a paint roller. Rebuilding my life wasn't so hard as I'd thought it would be just a couple months ago.