Forever Yours (6 page)

“Was that song…
”
She paused, hoping his answer was the one she was searching for. “Was that song about me?”

“Yes,” he said, cupping her chin with his hand.

“I was afraid that you only saw me as just another girl. A night of passion and then you were done with me. How could we possibly have a relationship when you’re a famous singer and I’m a…
nobody.
”

He looked hurt. “First of all, you’re not a
nobody
, not to me. Secondly, how could you say that about me Stella? You barely even know me. Just because I’m a famous singer doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I was just trying to make sense of all of this.” She looked at him, his beautiful eyes studying her facial reactions. “I’m here now aren’t I?” She half smiled hoping she hadn’t burned her bridges with him. She wanted to be with him. She could deny it all she wanted, and believe that he was just another guy. But she couldn’t help the feeling inside her, the feeling that she wanted to be consumed by him.

“Yes I suppose you are, although I didn’t expect you’d have to be knocked out for me to be able to get you in the same room as me,” he smiled at her. “You’re so confusing Stella. You act all guarded one minute, and then show up at my concerts the next.”

“Trust
me,
you’ve only seen the half of it.”

“Well I hope to see a lot more,” he grinned mischievously.

“There’s something you need to know first Tristan. I need you to understand why I’m so guarded. Why I am the way I am. I’m not who you think I am, and I’m not one to just sleep with someone like I did. A few years ago-”

“They’re ready for you Tristan.” Claire’s voice startled Stella as she stood at the doorway. She looked at Tristan and then turned to Stella. “What do you want to do now?” Claire asked.

Stella looked at Tristan, then back at Claire. She wanted to stay with him, but she knew he had to go back out and finish his concert. She reached out for Tristan’s arms to help her up off the couch. Tristan grabbed her arms, pulling her close, not bothered by the fact Claire was only a few metres away.

“Go back to my hotel Stella. I want to finish our conversation but I can’t now, and I don’t want you going back out there. I’m scared you’ll get hurt again.” He moved her closer and whispered in her ear, “Please Stella, give me one night, it’s all I’m asking. I’ll explain everything to you. Trust me.” His lips touched her cheek.

“Ok,” she agreed. She couldn’t just walk away now. She had tried the past few months to forget him, forget what they had. But now he was here, asking her for a chance.

He smiled. “I’ll get a driver to take you back to the hotel,” he told her, then glanced at Claire who was standing there with a stunned expression on her face. “I can have the driver drop Claire home as well if you’d like?”

“Sounds good,” Stella said without hesitation.  

“Stay here and I’ll go let Sam know. The concert finishes at eleven, so I’ll be back at midnight. I’ll see you later.” She nodded and he walked through the door leaving her standing there facing the very confused Claire.

“What is going on, what are you doing, where are you going?” Claire questioned Stella. Stella didn’t know how Claire would take her going back to Tristan’s hotel. She had never done anything like that
before,
Claire would think she was having a one night stand with him.

“I’m going back to his hotel. A driver will take us and drop you back at home.” She’d hoped this would be enough of an explanation for Claire, it’s not like she’d never done the same thing to her before.

Claire’s jaw dropped.
“What?!”

Clearly that wasn’t enough explanation for her as Stella thought it would be. Before Stella could explain any further a man in a black suit walked through the door.

“I’m Sam, you’re driver. Are you ready to go?” he asked them.

“Yes,” Stella replied, grabbing Claire’s arm and pulling her through the doorway and down the corridor. She pulled Claire close to her and smiled and reassuring smile. “I’ll explain everything in the car.” Her sister looked at her still speechless and as confused as ever.

Half an hour later Stella arrived back at the hotel and she made her way through Tristan’s penthouse suite. Sam had let her know he would be in the media room, should he be needed, and to make herself comfortable. She walked around the bedroom, not knowing what she should do, what she should expect. It was
8:30pm
, still another two and a half hours until Tristan finished his concert. She needed to do something to fill in the time.

She walked into the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She had barely had any time to get ready, which was clearly evident as she looked upon her messy hair. She also smelt like alcohol which someone must have spilt on her. A shower is what she needed. Turning her head to examine the bathroom she noticed the huge shower next to her with the biggest shower head she’d ever seen.
“Oh what the hell.
I might as well,” Stella said to herself. She didn’t want to look and feel the way she did right now when Tristan saw her again and she had plenty of time, he’d never know. She took her clothes off and jumped into the warm shower, it was even more relaxing than she had thought it would be.

Once she had finished, she wrapped the hanging towel around her, deciding to also use the hair dryer to make herself as presentable as possible. After she’d finished her hair it only then dawned on her, what was she going to wear? Her dress was still wet from the spilt drink and she obviously didn’t have any other clothes with her. She looked into his walk in wardrobe, maybe he had something for her to wear. She could smell his breath-taking scent as she searched through his shirts. She quickly picked out the biggest one she could and put it on along with the underwear she had.

After sitting through the only movie she could find on TV, trying to kill time, she found herself wondering what to do. Strangely enough she wasn’t tired, as she was too nervous to see Tristan. She decided to explore his room a little bit more. It was Tristan’s home. He only had a few personal items throughout the penthouse, Stella guessed because he was never in any place for too long he didn’t have the time to decorate it with his things. Looking at the chest of drawers she found a black photo frame with a picture of him singing on a stage with only a couple of people seated around him watching him, then she spotted the IPod and headphones on top of the drawers. She picked them up, placing the headphones in her ears, shuffling through the songs until it she found Tristan’s album. Clicking play on the first song she saw of his, she listened to his voice fill her ears. His voice was like a dream. . She closed her eyes and started slowly dancing around the room, completely out of character for her, but she couldn’t help but feel alive.
Happy.
Free.

Tristan stood at the doorway, watching Stella move freely around the room. She had her eyes closed and she’d obviously not heard him come home. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her, she was stunning. Her beautiful dark blonde hair swayed softly against her back. She moved gracefully around the room, her hips moving to the song.

The look of her in one of his shirts, the way it barely covered her legs, made his breath quicken. He’d never seen someone look so sexy before, his body was throbbing in desire.

He wanted so badly to pull her into his arms and make love to her, but he wouldn’t. If this was going to work it had to be on her terms, he wasn’t about to let her go again, so he wasn’t going to give
her a
reason to. He would do whatever it took for their relationship to
work,
he was hers in every way possible.

Stella couldn’t help but sway her hips to the sound of his music. His voice touched her soul with every note, as she turned once more she felt hands wrap her waist. She opened her eyes startled by the sudden contact. Tristan looked down at her smiling a sweet mischievous smile. She quickly pulled the headphones out.

“You dance beautifully,” he said stroking the loose strands of her hair back off her face.

She smiled, attempting to steady her feet. “Thank you.”

“I see you’ve made yourself at home.” He eyed her up and down.

Stella blushed. She’d hoped her dress would be dry by the time he came home and he wouldn’t catch her in his shirt. Here she now stood, the shirt barely covering her legs, leaving them fully exposed.

“Um… Yes, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He grinned again. “You look much better in it than me.” He pulled the iPod out of her hand and placed it on the speaker dock, shuffling through the songs, and then pressing play. She instantly knew the song, it was Bloodstream by Stateless. Putting one hand behind his back and the holding the other hand out to her, he titled his head and politely asked, “May I have this dance Miss Green?”

She smiled at him, thinking how ridiculous he was. “You may,” she replied, putting her hand in his. To her surprise he picked her up and spun her around in his arms.

Both laughing he lowered her to the ground. “I’ll have you know I won the state dancing championship, twice,” Stella said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Did you
now
?” He held her waist pulling her closer. “And how old were you when you achieved such an accomplishment?” he said in a mocking tone.

She tried to keep her face as serious as possible. “Seven,” she replied, they both erupted in laughter. Tristan traced her jawline as he leaned in, softly kissing her lips. She moved her lips against his feeling the softness of his touch.

He pulled himself from their embrace, holding her head in his hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about who I was-”

She put her fingers to his lips. “It’s ok. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me Stella. I don’t want to ever give you a reason to leave me or not want to be with me again. I’ve never felt like this with anyone else and I want to make this work. I want us to be together.”

Stella’s heartbeat quickened, her breathing became more rapid. She wanted to be with him as well, but there was a part of her that was hesitant. She knew her past couldn’t be undone and she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone, but she still couldn’t help but feel resistant.
She had suppressed all feelings of love in her life, and vowed to never let herself fall so easily again.
But then she had never felt like this with her last relationships, she’d never felt the burning desire to be with someone like she did with Tristan. That night at the hotel had been nothing like she’d ever experienced before.

“I want to as well Tristan but I’m scared. Things happened in my past, things I’ll never be able to forget, never be able to take back.” Stella fought back her tears. “I’m not a relationship kind of person, I haven’t been in years. Being with you will go against everything I’ve told myself I don’t want to be. But, over the past few months I couldn’t help fight the feeling of wanting to be with you, it frustrates me and terrifies me at the same time. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, I didn’t want one, but ever since you came into my life I can’t shake the feeling of wanting to be with you.” Shaking her head she continued, “I can’t even believe I’m talking to you like this. This is not me. Well… it’s not
the me
I’ve been for the last four years. If we do this Tristan, we have to take things slow. I’m not sure if I’m ready for this, but I don’t think I can walk away now without giving it a try. But please understand this, I am making no promises. I can’t promise you I might not just walk away one day.”

If she was honest with herself, the last time she had a proper relationship was four years ago. She was an adult now, being a couple now would be a lot different than a high school relationship, and after everything that had happened since then she didn’t even know how to do this.

“I understand. Whatever you want Stella, I’ll do it.”

She tilted her head upwards, touching her lips with his. “Thank you,” she whispered, letting her lips linger on his mouth. She wanted to be with him, the way they had been intimate the night at the hotel three months ago, but she knew she was doing the right thing. She needed to take things slow, make sure this was what they both wanted.

“So what now?”
Stella asked.

“You tell me,” he said with a husky voice, as he kissed her again, she melted in his arms. She had dreamt about the moment they would be together again many times in the months after their first encounter, and now it was finally happening. This was real.

Stella woke the next morning with the sudden fear that Tristan had left her when she found the bed empty and Tristan nowhere to be seen. Quickly leaping from the bed she walked over to the door leading out of the bedroom. She opened it, searching for him. She spotted him on the long white leather lounge talking on his phone, and let out a sigh of relief. Although she didn’t believe Tristan could just leave her, especially after recent events, she still found herself hesitant in truly trusting him. It had happened to her once before, by someone she once thought she loved. He had left her, and Tristan could do the same just as easily right now.

Tristan smiled up at her and signalled he was nearly finished, so she decided not to hover and turned back into the room. The room was still dark, the curtains drawn closed. Looking at the clock, she saw it was nearly ten in the morning. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept in so late. Stella thought about convincing Tristan to come back to bed with her so they could spend the day together, but quickly realised she had no idea what his plans were today. He clearly had a lot going on, unlike
herself
. She
sighed,
her life was anything but interesting.

She walked to the sliding doors, grabbing the curtains in her hands to open them, she wasn’t one to sleep the day away and she wasn’t about to do it with Tristan in the other room. She wanted to learn more about him, about his life, but most of all, she wanted to know where they stood with their relationship.