Stella Starlet

Stella

Photo of Stella

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I always felt a sense that I didn't belong here with people my age; I couldn't connect with them usually. Sometimes it was frustrating.

Maybe that was where my penchant for older men came from; the fact that I connected with them better.

"Oh for Christ's sake, Stella, what has you so quiet?" Enzo asked as he exhaled his expensive cigar's smoke.

"No . . . nothing I was just thinking."

Enzo looked at me with suspicion.

"I have this event coming up soon. It's an auction for my friend's charity, will you come with me?" Enzo asked, laying next to me on my bed.

"Won't people see that I'm not your wife?"

He grimaced. "Let's just say that there is an unspoken rule that if you snitch to the wife, you'll get a bullet in your testicle." He cracked a smile and laughed.

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The auction was a pretentious. Everyone was around the age of forty or over, and I had no one to talk to. Just held onto Enzo's arm and smiled to everyone that came up to talk to him.

As much as I loved Enzo, these bored the hell out of me.

I excused myself from Enzo and walked to a door that led to a balcony overlooking the quiet garden and grounds of the massive mansion.

Lanterns and tea lights lit the balcony in a beautiful way.

I walked over to the thick, wooden railings of the balcony and opened up my clutch bag, pulling out a small bottle. I screwed open the top and on the tiny spoon was white powder.

I brought it to my nose and inhaled, then wiping the cocaine from my nose off.

"Pretty girls shouldn't be doing such ugly drugs," a voice came from somewhere near me.

I looked up and saw a handsome man looking at me.

The first thing that was striking about him was his pale blonde hair, almost white in color.

"Who said it was any of your business?" I replied, my temper short because of this ostentatious auction.

He chuckled and came up next to me, leaning on the railing as well.

"Enzo should keep a better eye on you. If he loves you, he'd get you to stop." There was a seriousness in his eyes. 

"Enzo loves me. And I really don't know how any of this is your business," I snapped. 

"Do not yell at me," he growled as his hand grasped my neck. 

He leaned closer and his nose brushed against mine. "Stella Starlet, my little harlot," he taunted. "You're mine. Not Enzo's."

He then released his hand and then turned around, walking away. 

I breathed heavily and tightly shut my eyes. 

"Stella, my love? Are you alright?" I heard Enzo's voice approaching me. 

I opened my eyes and gave a faux smile. "Yes, just needed some air."

"You don't look alright. You seem flushed." His eyes scanned over me, his concern present. 

I was good at this. I was good at faking my happiness. Hell, I had been doing that my whole life. 

I gave a forced laugh and hooked my arm into his. "Yes, I'm fine. Now . . . Let's return to that stuffy auction, shall we?" I gave a dazzling smile. 

He laughed at my comment and then we proceeded into the building. 

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Enzo had just left my apartment and the clock had just hit four o'clock in the morning. I unzipped that uncomfortable dress that costed a fortune, and left it in a heap on the ground. 

I changed into a night slip dress and came back into the kitchen. Reaching into the cabinet, I pulled out one of the bottles of vodka that Enzo gifted me that could've bought a car. 

I slinked down in the couch, taking a swig from the bottle. I was so ridiculously sad. 

I was always fucking sad. 

And it drove me insane. I just wanted to be happy, and the material stuff made me temporarily happy. That's why I was so obsessed with it. Because they made me happy, even if it was only for a little while. 

I reached onto the coffee table next to me and opened the bottle of sedatives and a couple other pills. 

I downed a couple with the alcohol and headed towards my room. I laid down on the bed and the darkness soon overcame me. 

* 

"Stella? Stella? Wake up, please," I heard a slightly desperate voice. I felt my body being shaken. 

I opened my eyes and looked to see Enzo with a disappointed facial expression. 

"What the hell?" I asked groggily. "What time is it?" 

"It's two o'clock in the morning. You've been asleep for almost twenty four hours. What the fuck did you take?" He exclaimed. 

"Oh. Just some sedatives. And Valium. I think." 

"For Christ's sake, Stella! That could have killed you if you took too many!" He yelled. 

"Stop fucking yelling!" I shouted.

He took a deep breath and looked down. "I'm sorry for shouting. I was worried. You weren't answering your phone, or the door." 

He looked over at me intensely. "Stella, what was everything in your system last night?"

"I know those two that I told you for sure. Um . . . something else. I don't know, it was on the coffee table. I took some coke too."

I could see the vein in his neck appearing. I looked away. 

"Stella!" He growled, grabbing my chin to look at him. "Look at me. Are you fucking crazy?"

I weakly shrugged and shifted my gaze away. 

"Do you know what all these will do to your body. You talk to me about wanting to get married. What if you had died, huh? What marriage then?! You talk about wanting a baby someday but you don't think all these will poison you so much that you just won't be able to have one?! Stella, I love you but you have to stop."

"I won't do it again." I smiled gently. "I promise." I didn't mean a word I said.