Instant Connection

22

The obnoxious knocking on my door causes me to roll over in my bed, bearing my face into the mattress, yanking a pillow over the top of my head.

"Wakey, wakey!" Mike shouts, knocking again.

"No." I groan.

"Need everyone downstairs in 5." his voice slowly fading away.

"Ugh, he's torturing me." I sigh, throwing the blankets off my body. I give myself a good stretch out, walking over to my little table I use as a vanity. I put deodorant on and walk out of my room towards the bathroom.

"Stella, did you know Johnny's mom doesn't know he's in the bureau?" Charlie asks me.

"Yeah, why?"

"Did everyone know but me?" she turns back to Johnny, who was standing in front of the other mirror.

"It's complicated, Chuck." he sighs.

"You don't tell her and you're ignoring her calls, good son." she rolls her eyes. I take a sit on the counter, waiting my turn to brush my teeth.

"Oh, so you know Mike wants me to go pay a visit to Lucia?" he asks, changing the subject.

"He's got you barking up that tree 'cause Carlito's gone?" Charlie asks.

"Yeah, I told him the girl doesn't know anything about the business and it's a lost cause, but... Mike says he's the patron saint of lost causes."

"Yeah, well, that's got to change." she says, leaving the bathroom.

"She may know more than you think." I comment, hopping down from the counter and turning to the now free sink, "I mean, she's around them so she might've heard something. Besides, I doubt she doesn't know where her brother is. Even if they don't get along, and Carlito is a psychopath, I don't think he wouldn't let her know. I mean the two live together." I squirt the toothpaste on the brush and put it in my mouth.

"She doesn't seem interested in the business, though." he shakes his head.

"She seems interested in you." I mutter with my mouth full of foamy toothpaste.

"What was that?" he asked.

I spit into the sink, "She may know more than you."

"Maybe, that's what Mike seems to think." he wipes his face off with a towel, tossing it over shoulder.

"Just be careful, Johnny." I plead.

"So, you're here to stay then, Mikey?" I ask, pouring a cup of coffee.

He leans against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms, "Looks like it."

"Mr. Boss Warren, got it." I stick my thumb up to him.

"You know when I said 5 minutes, I was expecting everyone in those 5 minutes and to be dressed for the day." he says, looking down at my sweatpants.

"How was I supposed to get dressed when I didn't know where I was going? And I can get dressed in 5 minutes, if needed." I smirk, taking a sip from my mug.

Briggs jogs down the stairs dressed in a button-up and blazer.

"Oh-la-la! Look at you!" I beam.

"Looking good?" he asks.

"Looking great!"

He pours himself a cup of coffee, leaning against the end of the island. Mike pours his own mug and leans to the other side of the counter. I hop onto the kitchen counter, as they talk about how Mike crashed Markham's breakfast this morning.