Under the Surface

Chapter 14: Stella

It was 4:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon and Stella decided to leave the office for the day. She had a busy evening ahead of her, she had to go home and cook a meal for her family for dinner and then had a very important PTA meeting at 7pm, the last one in fact until the carnival fundraiser this Saturday in which they will all be discussing details of the day and ensuring everyone has a job to do. She climbed into her Range Rover and made her way to Levell High to collect Danielle and JJ. As she started driving to the school she kept thinking how Martin would probably be walking into the house at any second now. They hadn't spoken since Saturday night and Martin sometimes, only sometimes would call when he is away on business trips but he didn't this time. Stella hated awkward and uncomfortable situations but she felt it would be best tonight after she gets home from the PTA meeting to sit down with her husband to try and talk to him. Talk to him about everything recently, how they never spend time together, or they never do anything together. She wanted them to get back to how they were a few years ago. It was her mission, she wasn't going to let her marriage slip away due to laziness. Stella pressed the button on her radio to change song and made a right turn into the school and pulled up at the front where she normally would to wait for her children. Stella was allowed to do this because she was head of the PTA, no other parents were allowed to do it, in fact she had a special sticker on the bumper of her car which shows that she has the right to do it. They were finished school at three, but JJ had soccer practise afterwards and Stella is making Danielle go to the library after school to study and to get her assignments done. She better have gone to the library, Stella thought to herself and as she did she saw JJ walking out of the school entrance, lugging his heavy soccer bag and laughing with his teammates as they all distinguished into different directions to go into the cars waiting for them. JJ was a soccer fanatic! When he was younger, Martin would always take him to the local park and play it with him, that is until JJ got too 'embarrassed' to be seen with his dad playing soccer. It was JJ's dream to get a soccor scholarship to the University of Notre Dame and eventually become professional. He was smart too, and he looked like a younger version of his father so you can add handsome to the books also. Stella was proud of him, even at the tender age of thirteen he had a goal and was working hard to achieve it. Gone are the days when Danielle had a goal, she thought. She remembered when becoming a doctor was the biggest mission in Danielle's life but now, it seems as though getting into as much trouble as possible is her mission. Stella felt herself frowning and shaking her head thinking about her daughter as her son jumped into the back of the car and said 'hey!'.  "Hi, honey. How was school?" she said, turning around to him and smiling. "It was alright, Damien twisted his ankle at practise..it was so cool it like fully twisted and all, someone should have got it on video then we could slow it down and watch it," he said. "Oh gosh, I hope he is alright?" frowned Stella to her son, who was busy now typing away on his iPhone at full speed. "Yeah, he's fine," he replied, eyes fixed on his phone. Stella started tapping her fingers on the wheel as she sat waiting for her daughter. It was 4:40pm now and she told Danielle to be here by 4:30...she know's I have a busy evening ahead what with the PTA meeting and all. Just as she was about to get out of the car and make her way to the library herself to find her daughter she saw her push open the doors of the school and stroll to the car. "Well hello, I was just about to go looking for you," said Stella to her daughter and she slumped into the front seat of the car. Danielle pulled out her earphones and said, "what?" to her mother, in which Stella repeated herself. "Yeah sorry sorry," sighed Danielle before saying, "I was in the library, feel free to go check if you want," whilst offering her mother a sarcastic smile. "No...I trust you," replied her mother and she started the car to leave the school. She didn't really trust her, and she probably will check with the librarian to see if she was actually there but she wasn't in the mood for a screaming match between herself and her daughter right now.

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Stella had perfectly whipped up beef bourguignon within the time span of fifty minutes after she came home with the kids after collecting them from school. She had yet to see her husband, who she assumed was upstairs showering because she could hear the boiler making the faint noise it does when someone is showering and she saw his suitcase at the front door. She felt uneasy and weird, but cooking allowed herself to be distracted. Why do I feel so jittery? Her and her husband fought a lot, especially recently but something about the last fight made her feel uneasy. She carefully divided the meal into four separate dinner bowls and brought them over to the table. Just as she did her husband walked in and the both made awkward eye contact. They couldn't have the talk that Stella has planning to have with him now because, firstly she needed to plan out what she wanted to say, secondly her children were sitting down at the table and would witness everything and thirdly, her beef bourguignon would go cold. "Hi," she offered with a slight smile as she placed down his bowl in front of him. "Hey," he said, sounding awkward. Is this what it's going to be like from now on? Awkwardness? "How was your trip dad?"  wondered JJ, taking a mouthful of his dinner. "Oh, you know the same as usual!" smiled back Martin as he cut up a slice of beef. He looked weird...maybe he is planning on talking to me tonight as well, wondered Stella.

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Stella pushed open the gymnasium doors to where all the parents were sitting and engaged in conversation. This meeting Stella brought brownies which she had time to make after dinner. "Good evening everyone! So I doubt this meeting will take too long, I just want to run over a few things for Saturday," she smiled as she walked in her stilettos over to her head chair and placed the box of brownies down on the table beside her. "So...I was having a look at the sign up sheet from last week where I got you all to put your names down in the job area you'd most likely want to work for on Saturday and we just need one more person to work as security, would anyone like to volunteer?" she questioned, holding up the sign up sheet. "My husband will do it! Or, I'll make him do it," laughed Debbie Knowles, as she took a sip of her take away coffee. "Oh, perfect!" smiled back Stella as she scribbled his name down on the piece of paper. "Stells! Just checking, will all the rides be safe? I mean could you image one of those ferris wheel carts falling off! We'd end up on the news or something, would be very bad for Levell High's rep," battered on Liane Goldman. Stells? Don't call me that, it's not like we're BFF'S, thought Stella. "Well...I think ending up on the news would be the least of our problems to be honest Liane, however yes they will be safe, the Jackson's have been supplying the equipment for years to events and they're perfectly fine," fake smiled back Stella. She could feel her clenching her teeth. She hated that annoying woman.