Stella's Bad Day
“I’m going to Australia,” she muttered to herself.
“Australia?”
Stella’s head shot up from the glass of wine that she had been nursing at the bar. There was a tall, dark stranger wearing a red shirt standing next to her. A very attractive stranger, with a brown Stetson, and a white dog - “Oh! Constable Fraser. I didn’t see you there.” She was rather disappointed that it wasn’t some easy man that she could use for the night, but silently admitted to herself that it was probably for the best. Given how my luck has been today, he probably would have turned out to be Ted Bundy.
“I was looking for Ray, and I knew that he had mentioned frequenting this establishment in the past …” His voice trailed off, more than likely due to the confused look that Stella knew she must be wearing. But he still tried again. “Have you seen him? I was worried about him.”
“No.” Which came out a little more hostile than she intended. And she felt like she had just hit a puppy, which was not good. So she went for round two, because it wasn’t the Mountie’s fault that her day was complete crap. “He more than likely wanted to be alone for awhile. In times of stress, he is pretty likely to retreat into himself. I called it his turtle instincts.”
“Ah.” Fraser stood there, shifting his weight. After a moment of awkward silence, he tipped his hat and said “Thank you kindly. So sorry to have bothered you. Diefenbaker and I should be heading back to the Consulate.”
Stella didn’t know what came over her at that moment - I think I’ll just blame it on the wine - but she found herself saying “Would you like to join me?”
~ * ~
“I don’t like him very much these days either.”
“Well, it isn’t precisely that I don’t like Springsteen, it is just that I liked his earlier stuff better.” This might just be one of the more surreal moments that Stella has had in her entire life. Sharing a bottle of wine with her ex-husband’s Mountie partner and discussing tastes in music and movies. Maybe that time with Ray, the black leather pants, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the girl who was dressed as Frankenfurter, but this was a pretty close second.
Usually Stella was not very good with the surreal. That was part of the reason why she had to call it quits with Ray - his undercover work kept making their life rub shoulders with the surreal on a daily basis.
But a little bit of surrealness in life could keep life from getting dull. And wasn’t playing it safe how she had ended up in the relationship which had caused this day in the first place?
Her ex-husband may still be in love with her, her ex-boyfriend may still be a corrupt asshole, and someone did still just try to kill her earlier that day. But Stella Kowalski had made a new friend. A very witty, attractive new friend. And who knew? Maybe if she played her cards right, they might just be able to be a little more than just friends …
Stella Kowalski’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day was beginning to look a little bit brighter after all.
“Australia?”
Stella’s head shot up from the glass of wine that she had been nursing at the bar. There was a tall, dark stranger wearing a red shirt standing next to her. A very attractive stranger, with a brown Stetson, and a white dog - “Oh! Constable Fraser. I didn’t see you there.” She was rather disappointed that it wasn’t some easy man that she could use for the night, but silently admitted to herself that it was probably for the best. Given how my luck has been today, he probably would have turned out to be Ted Bundy.
“I was looking for Ray, and I knew that he had mentioned frequenting this establishment in the past …” His voice trailed off, more than likely due to the confused look that Stella knew she must be wearing. But he still tried again. “Have you seen him? I was worried about him.”
“No.” Which came out a little more hostile than she intended. And she felt like she had just hit a puppy, which was not good. So she went for round two, because it wasn’t the Mountie’s fault that her day was complete crap. “He more than likely wanted to be alone for awhile. In times of stress, he is pretty likely to retreat into himself. I called it his turtle instincts.”
“Ah.” Fraser stood there, shifting his weight. After a moment of awkward silence, he tipped his hat and said “Thank you kindly. So sorry to have bothered you. Diefenbaker and I should be heading back to the Consulate.”
Stella didn’t know what came over her at that moment - I think I’ll just blame it on the wine - but she found herself saying “Would you like to join me?”
~ * ~
“I don’t like him very much these days either.”
“Well, it isn’t precisely that I don’t like Springsteen, it is just that I liked his earlier stuff better.” This might just be one of the more surreal moments that Stella has had in her entire life. Sharing a bottle of wine with her ex-husband’s Mountie partner and discussing tastes in music and movies. Maybe that time with Ray, the black leather pants, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the girl who was dressed as Frankenfurter, but this was a pretty close second.
Usually Stella was not very good with the surreal. That was part of the reason why she had to call it quits with Ray - his undercover work kept making their life rub shoulders with the surreal on a daily basis.
But a little bit of surrealness in life could keep life from getting dull. And wasn’t playing it safe how she had ended up in the relationship which had caused this day in the first place?
Her ex-husband may still be in love with her, her ex-boyfriend may still be a corrupt asshole, and someone did still just try to kill her earlier that day. But Stella Kowalski had made a new friend. A very witty, attractive new friend. And who knew? Maybe if she played her cards right, they might just be able to be a little more than just friends …
Stella Kowalski’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day was beginning to look a little bit brighter after all.