Blue Plaid

Honesty

In which Tyson has many things to say to Stella. 

Hiking Cooper up at my side, I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow as I studied my surroundings, not entirely sure where to go. I’d typed the address Stella had given me into my phone’s navigation system, but now that I was standing in the lobby of the photography company’s studios holding Cooper in one arm and his bag of essentials in the other, I was still utterly confused.

Noticing a reception desk to my right, I hiked up the strap of Cooper’s bag on my shoulder and strode purposefully towards it, stretching my lips into my friendliest smile when I came to a stop in front of the wooden counter. “Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find Stella St. Clare?”

The redhead on the other side of the counter looked completely unimpressed as she lifted one eyebrow and shifted her gaze between me and Cooper. “And you are?”

My lips parted to explain, but I was kept from having to do so when the blonde to my right stood and smiled brightly. “Tyson Kingsley. You’re Stella’s boyfriend.”

“Yes,” my eyebrows lifted in surprise that she knew that information just from seeing me. I glanced down at Cooper, adjusting him in my arms. “And this is Cooper, our son.”

“I know,” she grinned sheepishly as she walked around the counter, allowing the redhead to return to her work. “I saw a picture of the three of you in the celeb sightings section of a tabloid. You guys make a super cute family.”

“Thanks,” I blinked. Of course I knew paparazzi were generally around when Stella and I were in public, but it hadn’t really occurred to me that all of those pictures that they took ended up in magazines that other people read. It was a bit surreal. “So, Stella?”

“Right this way,” she nodded down the hall, her hand reaching down to grab the identification card clipped to one of the belt loops on her gray trousers. “Stella didn’t mention that you guys were dropping by.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know,” I admitted, hoping my grand plan would pan out. “It’s kind of a surprise.”

Seeming to sense my concern, the girl reached out to squeeze my arm as we came to a stop outside a door at the end of hallway titled Studio 3 and she lifted her card to the scanner to unlock it, pushing the door open and gesturing for me to enter. “I’m sure she’ll love it. Good luck.”

Shooting her a grateful smile, I held Cooper close to my chest as we stepped into the studio, my heart pounding when I heard the door close behind us and realized there was no turning back. I wasn’t entirely sure where to go, so I approached the best lit part of the photography studio, making sure I stayed behind the multitude of screens and lights and cameras, and stopping short at the sight of Stella in the center of it all.

She was topless, wearing tight dark wash jeans and black stilettos, pressed against the bare chest of a man with an impressive six pack, also wearing jeans, though his feet were bare. My eyes widened and I held my breath as I watched her drag a finger down his chest before tilting her head back and with twinkling eyes, leaning in again to take his lower lip between her teeth.

There was no reason for me to be jealous. This was Stella’s job and I trusted her completely, but I still couldn’t seem to squash the twisting knots in my stomach as I watched my girlfriend do similar things to a complete stranger as she’d often done to seduce me. The pangs in my gut subsided when the photographer yelled out that he’d gotten what he wanted and Stella immediately stepped away from her buff coworker, slipping into a silk robe that someone nearby offered and tying it at her waist as she thanked the photographer for his work.

After hugging the photographer and waving to the male model, she turned on her heel, her expression lighting at the sight of me and Cooper, her smile widening as she approached.

“My favorite boys,” she sang out, pulling Cooper against her chest when he reached out towards her, immediately dropping a kiss to the top of his head before turning her attention to me. “This is a nice surprise. What are you guys doing here?”

Leaning in, I pressed a quick kiss to her lips and she smiled as she nodded towards the corner where a changing station was set up, silently urging me to follow. I did as I explained. “I actually have somewhere I want to take you.”

“Intriguing,” she smirked at me over her shoulder as we approached the standing partition for her to change behind. “What’s the occasion?”

She turned to set Cooper on his feet on the ground and I squatted down in front of him so I could more easily keep him wandering off as she disappeared behind the partition. “Do I need an occasion to take my girl on a date?”

“A date?” I could practically hear her smiling as she spoke. “Oh, Tyson Kingsley, you make me week at the knees.”

I laughed and lifted my shoulders in a shrug, despite the fact that she couldn’t see me. “It’s about time, don’t you think?”

“So where are we going?”

“I scored tickets to the Ed Sheeran concert tonight,” I chewed on my lower lip, dropping one eye in a wink at Cooper because I knew Stella was going to freak out.

“What!” she gasped, sticking just her head out from behind the partition to gush. “That’s amazing! How’d you swing that, I thought it was sold out.”

“I know people,” I shrugged, not bothering to mention that the person I knew was Mia and that she’d only agreed to do me the favor after I promised to grill some steaks for her and her husband’s anniversary dinner.

Stella’s smile widened, but then her gaze shifted to Cooper and her mood dropped slightly before she disappeared behind the screen once more. “Baby, I appreciate the thought, but we can’t bring Cooper to a concert. His ears are much too sensitive to handle that level of noise.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing Alex agreed to babysit,” I replied. I was starting to feel bad that we constantly asked Dani to watch Cooper when one of us couldn’t be there, and despite the fact that I knew she didn’t mind, I decided to give her a break and call Stella’s friend, who had happily agreed. “I told him we’d drop Cooper by his place on the way to the show.”

“Wow,” she said, stepping out from behind the screen in thigh high leather boots worn with black leggings and paired with a gray sweater and white button up combination, a small black bag swinging from her shoulder and her pea coat tossed over her arm. “You really thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“What can I say?” I grinned back, pulling Cooper into my chest with one arm and hiking the strap of his bag onto my shoulder with the other. “I want things to go well. I’m trying to impress you.”

Stepping forward, she lifted one hand to cup my cheek and leaned in to kiss me softly on the lips, the corners of her mouth lifted into a small smile when she pulled away. “I’m impressed. Come on, let’s go.”

After dropping a very sleepy Cooper off with a more than gracious Alex, we went to a small pub nearby for dinner before the show. We scarfed down burgers and sipped on sodas and stole each other’s fries and I listened to Stella tell me about the antics her brother was using to woo his new girlfriend and about the new play she’d heard was opening on Broadway that she was dying to see and how although the closer she got to fashion week, the more nervous she became, she finally felt like she was doing exactly what she was meant to be doing. And I sat there and watched the way her eyes filled with excitement as she spoke and how she used her hands to talk, even if the gestures made no sense, and wondered how I could have possibly spent so many years of my life hating her at all.

“Oh hey, I forgot to ask,” she said, slipping her hand into the crook of my elbow as we exited the pub and began the walk to the nearest subway station. “Have you found out whether you got into that culinary program yet?”

Shoving my fingers into the pockets of my jeans to keep them from getting cold, I hesitated before replying. “Yeah, I got in.”

“Baby, that’s amazing!” she squealed, leaning in to press her lips to my cold cheek, her eyes shining with excitement when she pulled away, but her face dropping when she realized I wasn’t sharing in her joy. “What’s wrong?”

When I had told Stella about the program two weeks ago, there was one pretty significant detail that I had conveniently forgotten to mention. At the time, I figured there was no point in bringing it up because it wouldn’t even matter if I didn’t get in, but now that I had, I had to tell her. I’d been struggling with how to do just that since finding out the news three days ago, but it seemed there was no way to run from it now.

“The program…,” I began slowly, trying to find the right words. “The program is a three-month intensive course…in Florence.”

She froze and we stopped in our tracks in front of the stairs that led down to the subway, her dropping from my elbow, so I nudged her gently towards a nearby alley, knowing this conversation might take a while and not wanting to block up the sidewalk.

“Florence,” she repeated once we were in the alley, shoving her fingers into the pockets of her coat and staring me down. “As in, Florence, Italy? As in, this program is on a different continent?”

“Yeah,” I winced, sighing as I reached up to tug my fingers through my hair in frustration. “Look, I know I should have told you sooner, but honestly, I didn’t think I would get in, so I figured there was no use worrying you.”

“Well, you got in,” she pointed out, her tone completely devoid of emotion. “And now what? You’re gonna leave Cooper and I and go gallivanting around Europe for three months?”

“I won’t be gallivanting, I’ll be learning,” I shot back, my irritation level rising. This wasn’t the first fight Stella and I had ever had and I was damn sure it wouldn’t be the last, but it was about something that was stressing us out more than either of would like to admit. “Besides, you won’t have time to miss me because you’ll have so many half naked male models to keep you company.”

That was a completely immature response and I knew it, but I had no idea how to handle the situation. This conversation would have been difficult to have even if we weren’t a couple, but now that we were together, it just added to the intensity and possible c*****e.

“For f**k’s sake, Tyson,” she scoffed, sending me a fiery glare. “It’s not like it means, anything – it’s my job. If anything, you should be impressed that I can convincingly act like I want other men when I’m obviously in love with you.”

My lips parted to make some sort of retort about how she wasn’t that good of an actress, but I stopped short when my brain finally processed her words. I wondered if she even realized what she had just said, because her arms were now across her chest and she was glaring at me, undoubtedly waiting for me to have a witty comeback so that our argument could continue, but I was too floored by her subconscious admission to keep it up.

“Stella…,” I whispered, because I couldn’t make my voice go any louder. “Did you just…say you’re in love with me?”

The fact that I pointed it out caused her to snap out of her rage and her face went completely expressionless as she blinked slowly in response. “Did I?”

“I think so,” I said, because in all honesty, maybe I had just imagined hearing it. Technically speaking, we’d only been dating for about six weeks, which in the grand scheme of things, seemed a little too soon to be dropping the ‘l’ word. But nothing about our relationship had ever been by the book and even if things between us didn’t work out romantically, I knew for a fact that I’d been in love with Stella for much longer than we’d actually been together and this was my chance to find out if she could possibly feel the same way. Tilting my head to the side as I studied her, I rocked forward onto the toes of my favorite black boots. “Are you...in love with me, I mean?”

There were a few different ways this could play out. She could say that she had just been ranting and she hadn’t meant to say those words, in which case, I would be perfectly fine, because at the end of the day, I still knew how I felt and if Stella needed time to figure out her feelings, that was alright by me. On the other hand, if she said she felt the same way, we’d be entering an entirely new phase in our relationship, unchartered territory for both of us because I knew Stella had never really had a long term boyfriend and I’d never really let anyone get close enough to get to this point. So we’d be braving those waters together, a thought that was both exhilarating and terrifying.

“Yes,” she breathed out after what felt like an eternity. “I’m in love with you.”

My lips immediately stretched into a wide grin and I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I stepped towards her, seeing her eyes widen as she let out a loud, “Oh, shit.”

She tried to fight it, but it wasn’t long before she was smiling as well and then the smile progressed into a laugh and was only stopped when I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my chest and kissed her firmly on the lips. I felt her smile against my mouth as her hands flattened against my chest, her lips staying curved upwards when we pulled apart.

“I love you, too,” I said sincerely, unable to hold back a smile, admiring the way she seemed to be glowing with happiness.

“We’re so f****d,” she laughed quietly, the smile staying on her lips, but her voice becoming softer as she spoke, her fingers curling over the buttons on my jacket. “How am I gonna deal with you being away for three months now?”

In the midst of our newly spoken feelings, I had completely forgotten what we’d been fighting about in the first place. “Just because I got in doesn’t mean I have to go. I could decline.”

“No,” she shook her head immediately, keeping her gaze locked on mine. “You have to go. This could be such an amazing opportunity for you. Don’t get me wrong, Cooper and I will miss you like crazy, but you can’t walk away from this. We’ll deal with the distance. We’ll figure it out.”

“We will?” I smiled softly, glad that she seemed to be so optimistic about our future.

Nodding, she moved her hands so that her arms were around my neck, her fingers tugging at the hair poking out from beneath my beanie. “Yeah, from what I’ve heard, that’s what couples in relationships do.”

Lifting the corners of my lips into a smile, I leaned in to kiss her again, so glad that it was something I had the privilege of doing on a regular basis. “Okay. We’ll figure it out.”