Chapter 8

There were a considerable number of people still at the party, a few more came in even though some left; some danced and just talked to one another but none of the happenings around Pete caught his attention.

"Hey," Stella said. "What are you thinking about?"

Pete looked aside to see Stella standing with a glass of wine in her right hand. She wore a black armless sleeved velvet minidress. He realized that it would be so easy to recognize her anywhere since she was probably the only woman, he knew who cut her hair.

"Was the sex that good?" Stella asked as she gave a mischievous smile.

"What?" Pete asked, surprised.

"I saw you with the girl," Stella said as she sat beside him. “Everyone in the company that cared to see, saw that.”

"Oh," Pete said and blushed when he realised what she was talking about. "She's not as good as you."

"Right! That makes me a happy woman," Stella said.

"I guess things just didn't go my way today," Pete said.

"What happened?" Stella asked.

"Nothing, at least, not one I know about. My dad had a talk with Paul while I was whoring myself around, a discussion I have no idea of."

"And what would your thoughts do about it," Stella asked.

Pete looked at Stella but didn't reply.

"I'm tired of the party and don't want to go home today," Stella said.

It took a while for Pete to realise the implication of those words and his eyes lit up as soon as he did.

"Your fiancé?" he asked.

"None of your business," she replied.

"Come on, tell me," Pete said. "Did something happen?"

"We are done," she said, after a long moment of silence.

"What?" Pete said as he turned abruptly, he lost his balance and almost fell out of the chair.

"Are you drunk?" Stella asked.

"Just tell me what happened," Pete said.

"It was my fault," Stella said, looking dejected.

"Okay?" Pete said. "Just tell me what happened."

Stella sighed and looked at Pete for some time before she talked.

"So, my fiancé came home yesterday and knocked on the door. I asked who it was, and I was happy to hear his voice. I walked briskly to the door, opened it, and I hugged him as soon as I did. Immediately I gave him a hug, I realised something was wrong. You see, I know what he smells like and that was far from it, it was the smell of another woman, at least that was what I thought."

She stopped talking for some time as though she needed to think about what happened next before she continued.

"The moment I realized what it could be, that he was seeing another woman, I panicked but tried my best not to show it, I couldn't. He asked what the problem was, and I was really pissed that he would ask such a question. “You should be prepared to ask the lady you've been seeing that question", I said to him angrily. I also sarcastically complimented the woman's perfume, saying it was a good one.”

As she talked, Pete paid enough attention to her. It was enough for him to notice that she had an expression of regret on her face, from time to time. He had no idea why. She should be angry at the guy, he thought.

"At that point," Stella continued, "I wasn't thinking properly. I guess one other thing that pissed me off was the fact that he showed no remorse, and he didn't even try to explain away my accusations. He only asked what we were going to do about the situation. I then began, like an idiot, to talk about the fact that if he thinks that's going to hurt me, it can't and that I've been seeing other people too. 'That's what I thought,' he said. He was wondering what that statement meant when he got up, went to his bag, produced a perfume from it and asked me to check out what it smells like. I knew I was fucked the moment I perceived the odor of the perfume, it was exactly the smell I thought belonged to a woman. When the realization hit me, I began to say that I said what I said out of anger, the part where I said I was also seeing other people, but he didn't reply to me. He said he was going to be back the following day, which was today, to get his things. I begged him not to leave, I held him and tried to stop him from getting to the door, that was when he yanked me away from himself and my face hit a table on the ground.”

"Bloody bastard," Pete said angrily.

"Yeah, my cheek was swollen, just a little though. It's gone down now. That was something I never thought would happen regardless of what I did to him," she said, laughing.

Pete knew what sort of laugh that was, it wasn't because she was happy, it was a laugh that made fun of how stupid she was to have held the idea that her fiancé was absolutely a good man.

"You'll be fine," Pete said to her.

"I know," she replied.

They remained quiet for some time and for the first time in a while, they paid some attention to what other people did at the party.

"Let's get out of here," Stella said as she tugged at his arm.

"I thought you didn't want people to see us together," Pete said, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"I guess I don't give a shit now," Stella said. "Come on, we're going to your place."

Stella could not see Pete's face at the time, but if she had, she would have seen him wear a very big smile, she would have guessed why he was happy, but she would have guessed wrongly.