Not Scared Anymore

Chapter 43 - Stephanie

It had been over two weeks since Stephanie had seen Kevin. David had started coming by her desk unannounced if he had a meeting in the office, or stopping by at the end of the day to offer her a ride home. To avoid him, she started to work sporadic hours, coming in earlier some days, and later others, which meant she was never on the subway with Kevin. Her boss didn't mind as long as she still worked the right number of hours.

The Home and Garden Show was just around the corner, which had Stephanie working long and hard to get it organized. When she wasn't busy, Kevin was; he was working weekends to keep his company on track. Another start-up had poached three of their programmers, and they were really short staffed with big deadlines coming up. 

Kevin was having one last lunch with Uncle Dean before Dean went on a big adventure vacation somewhere, and she was glad to finally be able to see him again. Even though they'd talked on the phone almost daily, not seeing Kevin was weird. She felt his absence acutely; without him she felt like plain macaroni without cheese. It was fine and she could live with it, it just wasn't as good as when they were together.

At 1:00pm she finally got his text and ran out to the elevators to meet him. She rushed into his arms and their kiss was urgent, forgetting they were in public. It seemed like he missed her as much as she was missing him.

They broke apart blushing when the elevators dinged.

"How much time until you have to go back to your office?" There was no reason to whisper, but Stephanie didn't want to break the spell around them. 

"Like, 20 minutes maybe? Let's go for a walk."

They headed down the stairs and he began to tell her about his lunch. "So, Dean wants you to come to our next lunch when he gets back. He really wants to meet you. Also, Nancy is totally gushing over David. Apparently, he has bought her lunch a few times, and hinted that he wants to take her out for real, but something always comes up, and he always says 'no one can know'. She just drops everything to help him though, so she's working twice as hard as normal. Today, he just kept calling her 'hun' and winking at her a lot. She barely even noticed I was there!"

Stephanie couldn't let the opportunity to tease Kevin pass. "Awe, are you jealous that Nancy's attentions are off of you now?" 

"No. I'm mad that they are fixed on a snake like him! But, I have noticed that almost all of the compliments he gives aren't actually very nice. He says nice words in a twisted way. So, you think he's just complimented your new glasses, but he's really just stated the fact they are new using pretty language so you feel noticed. It's infuriating!"

They had made it outside and the sun reflected off the neighbouring building, blinding them both. They both winced and looked away to find some shade. Stephanie laughed at their coordinated movements, but Kevin seemed lost in his rant. 

"I know this is probably just my male ego talking here, but I'm sick of him. I want him to know we are together just so he can lose for once. He can't keep getting away with this behaviour!"

"Did you know he's seeing at least four girls from my office now?" Kevin made a growling noise and threw his arms in the air while she continued. "Not like, dating any of them, just stringing them along, going for dinner, but telling them all he can't be seen dating any of his clients, so it's all very casual."

"How are they all okay with that?"

"I don't think any of them know they all work together. They've all asked me hushed questions about him when they catch me alone. It's so annoying. According to him, the occasional dinner or drink is okay, it just can't be a regular occurrence, so he always has a reason to reschedule and they can't be mad about it. And none of them are actually in a defined or exclusive relationship, so he's basically found a loophole to see them all guilt-free."

They walked in silence for a moment, and then Stephanie had an idea. "You know what I should do? If he asks me out again or anything, I'll tell him I can be the only one. No more dinners alone with other women. If he wants me, he only gets me. See how he reacts to that."

Kevin let out a heavy sigh. "No, Steph. That is a terrible idea."

"Are you saying that as my boyfriend, or do you actually think it's dumb?"

"I think it's a bad idea. You know he's bad news, don't willingly put yourself in that situation. He might be trying to make you jealous, so that plays right into his hand."

"Is it making you jealous?"

"Me? I'm a one-woman kind of man, and I've already got the best one of all, so why would I be jealous of him?" She leaned into his side as he tucked his arm around her, worried that the happiness inside her would bubble out and overwhelm them both.

*

On Friday, Kevin arrived at Stephanie's house for dinner, holding a small bouquet of flowers in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other.

Stephanie let him in, and kissed him on the cheek while she took what he was holding. "Hmm, these flowers don't look as edible as the last ones you brought me."

He was undoing his shoes, "No, I would not recommend eating these ones. Not everything I give you is food."

"Good to know. They're beautiful though. Thank you." She came over and kissed him on the lips as he stood up, then went to put the flowers in water. "Dinner is in the oven, it will probably be about another 30 minutes."

"What are we having?"

"Lasagna! Want a glass of wine to start?"

"Sure." He went over and wrapped his arms around her from behind while she poured the wine "I've missed you."

"You saw me two days ago!"

"I know, but I still missed you." He kissed the back of her neck, then picked up a glass of wine and headed to the couch. He sat down and she sat down beside him with her legs up over his lap, leaning against the arm rest of the couch. "So, why were your team plans cancelled tonight?"

"Well, Andrea said she had a date, and I would rather have a quiet night, so we all decided to cancel. It's definitely for the best, because Andrea told me she was actually meeting David for drinks, and I'm pretty sure Charlotte still thinks she's the only one with him. She's pretty possessive about him."

"Well, that ought to be interesting."

"Yeah, Charlotte and Andrea aren't close though, and basically never talk to each other, so he probably thinks he can get away with it."

Kevin looked thoughtful while slowly rubbing her knee. "I'd love to be there when this all blows up in his face." He took a sip of wine and then cracked a smile at her.

"He's been playing it pretty well so far. As much as I hate to admit it, he's being smart about it. I'm not even sure it will explode." She got up and headed back into the kitchen.

"He's too cocky. He'll slip up. Plus, you all work together, it's too many liabilities."

"You sound like an expert. Got some dark secrets to share with me?"

He scoffed. "Nope. I believe in karma, and he will get what's coming to him. Do you need any help with dinner?" he asked.

"No, I'm just gonna mix up the salad and put the garlic bread in the oven. You can set the table if you want."

He did, and then wrapped her in his arms once again, whispering in her ear, "So, what else did you have planned for tonight?"

"Nothing. I figure we'll just see where the night takes us."

The sly grin that crossed his face made her blood heat up.