The Stella I Remember

16| Everything & Anything

"Caring is sharing, Elliot." 

I rolled my eyes and handed Stella the last slice of pepperoni pizza. "Fine. Take it." 

"Thank you," she replied with a satisfied smile. She took the pizza and bit into it happily. 

I still couldn't believe we were in New Orleans. No, I couldn't believe Stella was in New Orleans. With me. Twelve hours ago I was an emotional mess on my couch, begging Stella to come with me. 

Okay...I didn't necessarily have to beg. She said yes the first time I asked. That in and of itself was surprising. She didn't remember me. She didn't know the Elliot that she met twenty years ago outside of a music festival. I was basically a stranger to her. 

God, that fucking killed me. I remembered everything that happened between us. Every. Single. Thing. But she didn't remember anything about me. 

I knew it wasn't her fault, though. But now we were at a hotel in New Orleans. With separate rooms, of course. 

"You're doing it again."

Her soft voice pulled me from my thoughts. 

I grabbed a breadstick and dipped it in the marinara sauce. "Doing what?"

"Leaving me." 

I snorted and took a bite. "Seems impossible since I'm still sitting right here." 

She picked up her cup and sipped her soda. "You know what I mean. You leave me and go somewhere else in your mind sometimes." 

Suddenly uncomfortable, I leaned back against the chair I was sitting in. She was right. The past—our past—was haunting me. More so now than before. 

"Be honest," she said. "When that happens, is it because of me? Are you...remembering us?" 

My eyes met her. "Yes." 

"What do you think about?" 

Ignoring her question, I broke eye contact and got up from the table. I started collecting the trash from our dinner. I wanted to do everything and anything to not talk about where I went when I 'left' her. 

"Elliot?" she called when I didn't answer. "Elliot, please don't ignore me." 

"I'm not ignoring you, Stella," I said from by the window. "It's just been a really long day." I ran my hands through my hair. "You know what happened this morning. Then we drove for almost eleven hours. I'm tired. Stressed. And honestly, I'm still a little thrown by you being back in my life." 

After I said the words, I looked at her again. She had a quizzical expression on her face. I could see the wheels turning in her mind. She was up to something. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" 

She tapped her chin as she continued to stare at me. 

All of a sudden, she shot up from her chair and grabbed her purse. "Let's go." 

"Go? Go where?"

She grabbed her keys and black jacket. "We're going out."

"Out?"

"Is there an echo in here? Yes, out."

She grabbed her key card and started out of her room, instructing me to follow. While she got into the driver's seat of her car, I got in the passenger. She pulled out of the parking lot made a right. 

"Mind telling me where we're going?" I asked curiously. "Not that I'm complaining, but I was serious about what I said. It's just been a fucked up couple of days."