Page 52 of Unless It's You
Ben
If you don’t respond to this text, mate, I’m sending out a search party
Damn. Up until the point Stella kissed me last week, I could pretend that nothing was happening between us. I can’t deny itany longer. But talking to Ben and not telling him everything? It would feel like even more of a betrayal. I bailed on drinks last Friday night, and haven’t responded to his texts immediately like I usually do. What kind of friend does that make me? Especially after he opened up about feeling like he’ll never find someone to share his life with.
Me
Sorry for being MIA. Drinks on Wednesday?
Ben
There he is! No worries, mate
Ben
And yeah on drinks, but no bailing last minute. Last Friday you left me to drink with my wanker coworkers. What’d you get up to?
Me
Nothing, I just felt like rubbish
I turn my mobile over and groan. I need to compartmentalize my friendship with Ben, otherwise I won’t be able to work on things with Stella. I won’t be able to do what I’m about to do. I grab my laptop and head to the conference room.
“Good morning,” Tessa coos when I push open the door. She’s perched on the edge of her chair next to Stella, who pales when our eyes meet.
My heart squeezes at the sight of her.Hell, she’s so pretty sitting there.
Stella’swearing a sleeveless, semi see-through white shirt, jeans, and I’d bet a hundred quid another pair of those unreasonable, towering high heels.
“Morning.” I attempt to hold her gaze, but she can’t do it and looks down.
“Have a seat.” Tessa gestures to the empty chair next to Chloe, right across from Stella. “Did you have a nice weekend?”
I nod. “I did.”
No, I didn’t. I avoided my best friend, stressed about Stella, ran until my legs were too weak to hold me up, and beat myself up for even feeling this way about Ben’s ex-girlfriend. His history with Stella makes every bit of what I’m feeling so much more complicated.
“Excellent. Good.” Tessa is watching me with narrowed eyes, then glances over at Stella. It’s a weird vibe in the room, isn’t it? Shite.
“Well, shall we get started?” Tessa says. “Today, we have three things to finalize: storyboards, location, and talent. Why don’t we start with storyboards, as they should be close to final as we’ve incorporated all previous feedback.”
A silence falls on the room as Tessa looks expectantly at Stella, who is still staring at me like a blond, beautiful zombie.
“Graham?” Tessa says, sighing subtly. “Why don’t you take us through?”
“Absolutely. As we discussed before,” Graham says, “we’ll start off with this rugby scene. Two boys tossing a ball back and forth, with a coach off to the side.” He gestures to the big screen on the wall. “Then we’ll cut to a five-second clip of the interview with rugby boy number one talking about what the team means to him.”
I nod, temporarily distracted from thinking about Stella. I’ve gotten official approval from Leo’s guardian to let him be in the commercial. Both heandCallum. It’ll be a fantastic opportunity for them.
“Next, a group of four kids—the two rugby boys and two girls—will be seen walking toward a crop of trees with a pair of mentors,” Graham continues. “One more cut to a five-second interview with girl number one, then finally a shot of the group of six at a scenic overlook. Your team approved the script last week, Ethan.”
“It’s perfect.” I turn my hands palms up. “It’s a clearannouncement of the merger and call for donations. Exactly what Sporting UK Foundation is looking for.”
“That’s wonderful to hear.” Tessa clasps her hands together.
“We can move on to locations then.” Stella breaks her trance and clicks her mouse a few times to project her laptop onto the screen. “Here are the final options. Oh, and Gerald, our director, is on video call with us.”
“This sure is a tight one.” Tessa grins, cheery as always.
