I grabbed a ham, bacon, and cheese sandwich at the deli around the corner from my work and took it up to my office to eat. I had no desire to eat earlier—my stomach was in knots over being out in public with Skyla. I was terrified that my mother had placed surveillance on me to make sure I broke it off. Disobeying my mother was one thing, but disobeying a D Glow queen? It was punishable by death. I justified it, after pacing back and forth, by deciding that it was better to break up with her in person—that's at least what I would say if the security team reported that they saw me with her. I didn’t see anyone in the end though. I had made up a story on the fly about Ty jumping out at me to try and explain my behavior, and I think Skyla bought it. Not a bad lie.
I got to my desk and took the sandwich out of the bag and scarfed it down. I had intended to break it off, but there was just something keeping me from doing it. Her smile maybe? I smiled in spite of myself as I remembered the surprised look on her face when she saw the charm. Stop thinking about her like that! She is just someone you are trying to turn! You have to break it off next time. My personal berating was interrupted when a pink plastic pig went flying past my head.
“Think fast!” Ty said, laughing.
“What the…?” I picked up the toy and it squeaked. That made Ty laugh louder.
“Where in darkness did you find this and why?” I asked.
“I took it off of someone's desk,” Ty said, chuckling.
“Can I call you Stephen yet?”
“No, I think they are releasing the cover story this week though. Next Monday, I will be Stephen LeBete officially.”
“Cool.”
I just remembered that if Skyla called and someone else answered, they would say “Stephen LeBete's phone.” Crap! This is precisely why I need to break it off now.
“So how are things now that your mom…you know.” Ty asked without saying it out loud.
“Things are the same for me,” I said. “Alecia's head is certainly bigger.” She thought she was pretty much better than anyone else now that Mom was a queen.
“And how's it going with the project?”
“What?” I asked.
“You know, project Stella?” He winked.
“Oh yeah. Off and on.”
“And?” Ty asked, closing my office door so no one could hear our conversation.
“And…nothing. It's got to move slowly to be believable, Ty,” I explained.
“What about Sabrina? Seeing her on the side?” He raised an eyebrow mischievously.
I sighed. “She is not really my type, Ty.”
“What is your type?”
“Someone whose nails are not as long as a wolverine's.”
“Ha!” Ty laughed. “Maybe I could hook you up.”
“You hook yourself up first,” I said, throwing the pig at him.