Paparazzi Girl

9. Deny It

Stella opened her eyes swiftly as she heard the elevator ding. She walked out, waving goodbye to everybody inside like she always did. This time, instead of her searching for Isabel, Isabel came up to her, handing her papers that she probably had to print right now for the newspaper.

"Hey," Stella gave her a hug, wanting to feel someone's warmth. A motherlike warmth that her own mom couldn't give to her.

"Where have you been? You're late." And the warmth was gone. It was obvious she wasn't going to get any at the moment.

Stella was hardly even able to sleep a wink yesterday because of the little incident between Xavier and her.

"I just had trouble sleeping," she told her, giving her a smile.

Her expression quickly turned into a frown.

"What's going on? I know when something's up. Tell me what's going on," Isabel whispered.

Stella grabbed her hand gently, yanking her taking her towards the lady's restroom so she could talk to her privately. As they walked in she locked the door and searched all seven stalls, hoping nobody was in here.

No, nobody in sight.

"Okay, now spill it," she said as she sat down on the small couch there. Isabel patted the seat next to her, indicating for her to sit down as well.

Stella sat down, leaning down to lay her head on her lap as Stella's legs laid in the other direction. Isabel brushed her fingers through her hair. She loved it when she Isabel did that.

"Now, what's going on?" She whispered softly, still brushing her hair.

"A lot of things," Stella whispered back, afraid of opening up after such a long time of keeping shut and keeping things to herself.

"Like?" She wasn't going to stop asking until Stella gave her answers, Stella knew it. But somehow, it didn't bother her. She liked having at least someone who cared.

"Well, yesterday, I got stuck in an alley corner with Xavier Harrington," she started, remembering to add his last name in case Isabel didn't know who he was.

"Ah, that boy. I saw his face on a magazine at the supermarket yesterday." She gave out a lovely, warm laugh. "His face is everywhere, especially in this building."

Stella laughed along, because that happened to her all the time. Even with pictures she had taken herself.

"Do you like him?"

Her eyes went wide, but then that's when her brain began processing. Did she like him? No, no she didn't. He was attractive, really attractive, and nice, and sweet, and gentle. But growing a liking towards him would be a lot different.

"Of course not," Stella snorted as she turned to lay on her back to look up at Isabel's beautiful, tanned, wrinkled face.

"What's wrong with liking him?"

Everything. The fact that I have no chance. The fact that he's perfect and I'm a big mess.

She took in a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing, I guess."

Isabel sighed and stroked Stella's cheek softly. She let out a soft smile that warmed her heart. When was the last time her mother smiled at her that way? At that very second, her father came to mind. She missed him so much.

"Okay, then what happened?"

Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered kissing his cheek. The feeling of his skin against her lips made goosebumps surround her. It was scary, the feeling she had for him yesterday... and today. It was unfamiliar. Was she starting to like him?

"I gave him a peck on the cheek," Stella confessed below a whisper.

"What did it feel like?"

"Out of this world," she confessed honestly. It felt as if they were talking about a kiss from lip to lip, but yet, it was only a kiss on the cheek.

She chuckled again but her eyes sparkled as she did so. "My little girl is growing up."

She grinned and picked herself up to hug her. She wished she was sharing this with her mother. She wished she could tell her all her secrets and actually have her listen to her. But they were both so lost, it was hard to find each other in the darkness they had sunk into.

Stella got up and walked towards the door, but before unlocking it, she heard Isabel's voice.

"The worst thing you can do for love, is deny it," she told Stella.

Stella smiled at her uneasily and unhooked the latch and walked out, her words echoing in her head, "The worst thing you can do for love, is deny it."

Well, she wasn't denying anything, right? She didn't feel anything for Xavier. She was just having an infatuation.

She jogged towards Mr. Robin's door and knocked on it. She opened the door and found him next to the printer, probably coping something for the paper.

"Hey, anything new?" He asked as his arms wrapped around Stella tightly, the smell of strong cologne burned her nostrils. It was suffocating.

As she pushed him away, she gave him her camera and recorder and walked towards the printer, copying the papers Isabel had given her while Mr. Robins examined her work.

"Good job! I'm very proud. Did anything else happen yesterday?"

Does he know anything about him running away with someone? And that someone being her?

No. He can't know.

"No, not really. Why, did you hear anything?"

He shook his head and said, "No reason. Just making sure we're on top of our competition."

"Always, Mr. Robbins."

"Well, you may go now and see what he's up to."

She nodded and grabbed her stuff, wanting to leave quickly. She was too nervous to talk to him.

"The papers are in the printer," she said before leaving the door.

The rest of the way to the hotel, her mind was concentrated on Xavier. No matter how much she tried to set her mind on other things, it didn't work. Yesterday really did affect her.

She parked her car in between an old truck and a white Honda. She jumped out of the front seat and found a bench she could sit down at which was right outside the hotel. Every time the door would open or a person would come out, she would assume it was Xavier.

But it never was. A few other paparazzi came to lounge around as well. She always tried to be first but it was hard with so many of them trying to follow one person. They looked at all of them. Only two of them were girls. This industry was run by men.

The excitement she had for seeing him was dying down slowly. The smile she had plastered on her face disappeared as she checked her watch to find out that three hours had already past of her just sitting there.

Did she scare him away with the kiss she gave him on the cheek? Maybe he left from another door because he saw her and freaked out. She sighed in disappointment, deciding to go home.