Shut Up And Drive! Ch. 03

"Were you sweet on Ted at college, Marie?"

"Bloody-hell, Stella, the only girl I knew in that whole damned college that didn't have designs on Ted Harper was Estelle Warender. I should think Sarah Bishop thought all her Christmases had come at once when she heard you turning down Ted's request that day.

"Anyway, Estelle Warender didn't need anyone back then, but I get the feeling that Stella Cooper needs something now, so what is it Stella?"

"Am I being that obvious?"

"You are, Stella. You've been procrastinating ever since you walked through that door. Estelle Cooper doesn't delay; she comes right-out and tells people what she expects them to do. That assures me that something very serious has happened to your personality in the last few days. You appear to have turned back into the human being I remember from school. So come on, spit it out; tell me what is it you want me to do?"

"I've got to go back to the house, Marie, and I'm worried that Roger might still be there."

"And Ted?"

"Oh god, he'd come without a second thought, but he's got an appointment with a client this morning. To be honest with you, Marie; Ted hasn't been able to do a stroke of work since... Well, when I'm there with him, we tend to... Oh, you know what I mean?"

Marie giggled, "Ah still enjoying the first flush, are we? But surely you're jumping the gun a little, Stella. You're not even divorced yet!"

"Marie, I'm making hay while the sun shines. I understand that I've been behaving like an... obnoxious bitch for years now, and I just can't believe that Ted is giving me a second chance. I don't know how long it's going to be before he gets tired of me, but I won't hold any grudges when he does. But in the meantime... while the going's good... I intend to extract every ounce of enjoyment I can from the situation."

"Stella, you're not playing silly-buggers with Ted's emotions, are you?" Marie demanded. "Because if you are, you'll be sorry, girl; I promise you!"

"Hey no, Marie. I'm in love with Ted... I think. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him emotionally. I just can't bring myself to accept that. Oh Christ, Marie! I've been such a bitch to everyone all of my life... even to you. Why should you, Ted or anybody want to be nice to me now?"

"Basically, because we all knew that Stella was still hiding inside that mixed-up head of yours somewhere, hidden behind the bitch Estelle Warender. Even as the bitch, you did some pretty nice things, you know. The women's lib stance you took in college certainly made a lot of the bigots sit up and listen. Actually you achieved some things that only a bitch like Estelle could have achieved."

Although neither could recall how the situation came about, both women were standing and hugging each other.

"Come on," Marie said, "let's go and see if dumb-nuts has burnt your bloody house down?"

"Dumb-nuts?" Stella repeated.

"Yeah dumb-nuts, Stella. That was his name amongst the girls at college, either that or Octopus. Oh, and you remember that first date you went on with him?"

"Well, it wasn't so much a date, Marie. He took me to a university football match."

"And won him that bloody sweepstake pot, or so I'm assured. I should imagine that windfall paid for the second date he took you on!"

Stella didn't reply. She was totally convinced that Marie was speaking the truth. The scenario would fit Roger Cooper's personality to a tee.

----------TWT----------

Stella and Angela

They drove over to Stella's home in Marie's car. Marie suggesting that, should Roger still be at the house, he wouldn't be aware of their arrival. In fact, Marie had thought that Stella was in no fit mental condition to drive herself.

However Stella calmed down considerably when they saw that Roger Cooper's car was not parked in the drive.

What was parked there was a small white van with the words 'Night Security Patrol" written on the side. Stella recognised the van as belonging to one of her father's companies. A young man dressed in a cursory uniform got out of the vehicle and approached them as the two women climbed out of Marie's car.

He greeted them with the words. "Mrs Cooper?"

It wasn't really a question, the young man knew exactly who Stella was. In fact he was requesting permission to speak.

"Yes." Stella replied.

"Your husband has left, madam. There's a lady inside from your father's office; she will be able to explain everything," the young man said, gesturing toward the path that led to the rear door. Then he retreated and got back into his little van as quickly as he could.

Entering by the kitchen door, Stella found Angela -- one of her father's younger PA's -- sitting in the kitchen reading a book. On the table before her were two empty mugs.

Angela had been charged by Stella's father with tidying up and guarding the inside of the house, while Greg (the security man) had been dispatched to guard the outside of the property. Greg's presence was designed to deter Roger Cooper (or anybody else) from returning to the empty property.

Taken by surprise, Angela almost leapt to her feet when she became aware that Stella and Marie were entering the kitchen. "Good morning, Estelle," Angela said, grabbing the mugs from the table and hurriedly beginning to wash them up. "I didn't hear you arrive."

"Hi Angela, how long have you been here?" Stella asked, in a cordial tone that surprised the young woman.

"Um, since about eight this morning, Estelle. Your neighbour called the office yesterday afternoon and informed us that your husband had left the house wide open. I called your father and met him here. It seems that your father did not wish to disturb you yesterday. It was quite a mess in here, but we cleared up most of it last night."

Although she was itching to know the details, Angela did not dare ask Estelle what had occurred. She'd guessed that Estelle's marriage was over, and hadn't even dared to ask Norman Warender for an explanation.

"Your father had the security company station a man outside to keep an eye on things overnight, Mrs Cooper. Then he asked me to wait here today until you arrived. I made Gregory some coffee, I hope that was all right?"

Marie had watched the obviously nervous Angela gush out the hurried explanation of her presence. Marie had seated herself in one of the chairs by the table, where she sat with a silly expression on her face, repeatedly looking from Angela to Stella and back again.

Stella nodded at Angela then glanced around the room before heading off, obviously on a hurried tour of inspection of the house. She returned, remarkably quickly.

"Everything seems to pass muster okay, Angie; thank you very much," Stella said with a smile. "It would appear that you put everything back where it logically should go."

"I did the best I could, Estelle. Someone threw all your lovely clothes all over the place," Angela replied nervously.

It was patently clear to Marie that Angela was frightened stiff of her boss' daughter, and she was fascinated to see how Stella was going to handle the situation. What made it even more interesting for Marie was the fact that she knew that Stella was aware of both aforementioned points.

An ominous silence remained in the room while Stella worked out in her own mind what she should do. Then Ted's words popped into her mind.

"Angie, would you kindly do me a service, please?" she asked in as gentle a tone of voice as she could muster.

Fearing what Estelle was going to ask, Angela nodded in reply.

"From now on, Angela, I'm Stella, and I can assure you that I no longer bite. In fact, in the future if I..." Stella had to stop to think of the right words to use. "Come on a little too strong or all self-righteous on you, you have carte blanche to tell me to... eff-off! And there'll be no comebacks resulting from doing so for you; that I will promise you! Marie here will be your witness to what I've just told you."

Angela stared back at her boss's daughter, struggling to comprehend what she had just said to her.

"What Stella is trying to tell you, Angela," Marie tried to interpret, "is that the pain in the arse Estelle Cooper is no more. This lady here is Stella Warender... soon to be Stella Harper as I understand it, and you might be surprised to learn that she's a very nice person. I know, I went to school with her."

Confused, Angela looked between the two women, as she continued to struggle to comprehend what was happening.

The best Angela could come up with in reply was, "I, er!"

While Norman Warender had always been a great boss and employer to Angela, she had experienced issues with Mrs Warender, over the years -- as she'd had with Estelle on occasion as well. Those experiences had taught Angela to use a healthy helping of discretion around the female members of the Warender clan.

"Angela, I apologise for all the thoughtless things I've said to you in the past. I can promise that will never happen again.

"Thoughtless. I somehow doubt that!" Marie added, in jest. "As I recall, Estelle worked very hard on her insults."

"You're not making this any easier, Marie!" Stella commented.

"Hey kid, I'm not here to make this any easier for you, Stella. By the look on Angela's face, you've got a mighty big portion of humble pie to eat. What did she call you, Angela?"

To this day Angela cannot explain why she answered Marie's question so bluntly.

"Um well, a precocious little schoolgirl, the first week I started with the company. And she told me that my skirts were too short."

"See, I didn't work as hard at being nasty as you claim, Marie." Stella grinned. "Actually I probably meant to call you a salacious little tart that day, Angela; that's far more insulting isn't it? But I apologise to you again, Angela. In my... Estelle's defence," Stella smiled at Marie, "I... Estelle was extremely jealous of you. You are extremely pretty and your legs are far better than mine. And... Well, I was the one who was supposed to... Oh, blimey know what I mean. But I can promise you, Angela, that I will never, ever again say anything nasty, derogatory or be disrespectful to you in the future. Will you please forgive me my crass ignorance and stupidity in the past?"

Angela sank back into the chair she'd been occupying before Stella and Marie entered the kitchen and looked at Marie again, hoping for some kind of an explanation.

Marie read Angela's expression correctly.

"She claims that she's fallen in love with Ted Harper." Marie explained. "Personally I think she's completely lost her marbles. Whatever, this incarnation has gotta be better than that sodding Estelle front she's been putting on for years."

"The artist bloke?" Angela asked.

"That's the man. Apparently he's not only swept Stella off her feet... and out of her knickers." Marie threw another sarcastic smile at Stella. Who -- much to Angela's amazement -- failed to react in anyway, if one ignores the silly face Stella pulled back at Marie. "But he's also swept that bitch Estelle right off the face of the earth," Marie continued.

"No wonder her husband was so pissed-off. He made a right mess of this place yesterday!" Angela commented, without really thinking.

Stella picked up the kettle and began filling it. Instinctively Angela went to stand, with intention of taking over the task. But Stella signalled her to remain seated.

"I wonder if... what's-'is-name, that lad outside, would like another cup of coffee?" Stella mused out loud.

"Greg," Angela replied, "I'll go and ask him."

"No you won't, Angie; I will go! Unlike everybody else around here, I need to practice being pleasant, polite and civil to people." Stella said with a smile, then disappeared through the door.

Angela was left staring at the empty doorway. "Oh my!" She commented.

"Yeah, scary, isn't it?" Marie grinned back at her. "But I do believe that this Stella is going to be with us for a very long time. Teddy Harper has had a thing going for Stella, ever since I've known the bloke, and she's... Well, something gave her one almighty kick up the bum over the weekend. As far as I can see, it can only have been Ted Harper."

"I wonder what are the girls in her office going to make of the new Estelle?" Angela pondered, unintentionally out loud.

"Do you know them?" Marie asked

"Yes, some on them. Well, just to talk to on the telephone. They all claim that Estelle's a real harridan to work for," Angela replied.

"Should be interesting then," Marie grinned. "I think we're going there next. Do you fancy coming along to watch the fun?"

Angela smiled. "You know, I do believe I would. But I think I'd better get back to the Office. I'm sure there's lots of work piling up back there for me."

"Norman's a pile of fun. He'll excuse your absence for a few more hours, I'm sure. Just tell him Marie... and Stella insisted you came with us."

"You know Mr Warender?" Angela asked.

"Probably better than most people, Angela. Stella and I grew up together. We were like sisters for donkey's years. We were round each other's houses all the time while we were at school. Uncle Norm wasn't far short of a surrogate father to me. But then Stella morphed into that bitch Estelle, we've all grown to know too well. It happened very suddenly, you know -- just after we hit puberty. In a matter of months my one-time good friend changed into that selfish cow Estelle. As her boobs grew larger, so did her ego. Hi, Stella."

Marie felt slightly embarrassed as she pondered whether Stella had overheard any part of what she had just said. But then a smile came over her face as she realised that she didn't particularly care if Stella had. Stella wouldn't mind anyway and would take it as a hoot.

Stella, led the bewildered looking young security man (Greg) into the kitchen. Invited him to take a seat and then set about making coffee for all four of them.

Gregory felt self-conscious and wondered what the boss' daughter had planned for him. The lad had never experienced a personal encounter with Estelle Cooper before, but he had he had heard lurid tales concerning the Witch. In fact he was having some difficulty in equating the pleasant, apparently extremely affable and undeniable attractive young woman he'd met that morning with any of those descriptions/warnings, he'd been in receipt of in the past.

Greg was more concerned about the position he found himself in that day, than he had been about some of encounters he'd experienced with a few of the district's ne'er-do-wells, while out on his usual night patrols of the affluent areas of the town.

Marie and Angela sat there looking between Greg and each other, with silly smiles on their faces. That fact added to Greg's confusion, and made him feel even more concerned.

To be more precise, Marie had sensed a certain embarrassment in the young Angela's facial expression, and she read into it a certain something. The smiles she was throwing at Angela were intended more of a tease to let the young woman know that Marie was aware that she had sensed a mutual attraction between the two youngsters.

Greg had been quite... taken with the pretty Angela when he'd seen Mr Warender drop her off at the house that morning. Shortly after, he'd been pleasantly surprised when the attractive young woman had invited him inside for coffee. He'd even dared to believe that he might be making some headway while they sat and talked, whilst they drank said coffee. (Come on, you were young once, so you know exactly what the handsome lad was contemplating).

That first coffee had been followed by a second an hour or so later, during the consumption of which Greg had assured himself that Angela might possibly find him attractive, even if only slightly. Greg had thought that Angela was giving out all the right vibes anyway.

The lad had been sitting in his van trying to think of the correct approach to use to ask Angela out on a date, when he became aware that Estelle Warender was climbing out of a car that had just pulled up by the curb.

Although he had never encountered the woman in person, Greg had instantly recognised Estelle for whom she was. There were photographs of the family plastered all over the walls of Mr Warender's office and company boardroom. On occasions, Greg had patrolled those offices during the night and over weekends.

It had been a very cautious Gregory, who -- trying to look and sound as efficient as possible -- had snapped to attention and reported to Estelle when she'd first arrived home. And Greg was feeling more than a little concerned when she'd reappeared and cordially invited him inside for coffee.

Well, from what Greg had been assured, let's put it bluntly, Greg was kind of wondering whether he'd said anything he should not have done, to the apparently pleasant Angela. With a reputation like Estelle Warender's (or Cooper as she'd become), everyone knew that she still remained "the boss' daughter" when it came to how the staff behaved in her presence. The unexpected affability could well be the calm before the storm, designed to put Greg off of his guard and instil a false sense of security in him.

Stella, having poured the coffees, transferred them to the table and then went to sit herself. But she halted while still only half-seated, Stella's eyes had fallen on the embarrassed expressions on the two youngsters' faces.

Stella failed to understand that Greg's expression wasn't caused so much by the embarrassment, but concern that he was about to get his short and curlies chewed off. (We're not talking in the literal sense here, by the way!) However, Stella had recognised the underlying attraction the two youngsters felt towards each other, even if Gregory was fearing that he was about to lose his job.

"Oh my, that is a surprise!" Stella said, looking at Marie.

Marie grinned back at her. "Yeah, ain't it? What you going to do about it, Stella?"

"Well aren't they...?" Stella asked

"First time they've ever run into each other, today, as I understand it," Marie, grinned back at her.

Greg had no idea what the two women were talking about, but Angela immediately suspected and that suspicion caused her complexion to take on a distinct pinkish hue. That in its turn assured Stella that she was correct, even if it had made Greg look like he wished that he was somewhere else.

Stella smiled at Marie again and then set about interrogating the lad, albeit in a friendly manner and with a smile on her face. In fact, Stella was struggling a little trying to think of all questions that -- in Angela's position -- she'd like to ask a prospective suitor. The grin on Marie's face got larger as she began to realise exactly what Stella was doing.

Considering Greg thoroughly and satisfactorily, grilled -- and having consumed her own coffee -- Stella announced that she was going to upstairs to get changed. But as she stood, she looked Marie right in the eye, before throwing a quick glance in Angela's direction.

"Your turn, Marie." She smiled, then left the room.

While Stella was gone, Marie -- as instructed -- subjected Angela to a remarkably similar inquisition as the one her friend had subjected poor Gregory to.

However all three occupants of the kitchen were in for a shock when Estelle returned to the room a short while later. She was wearing an expensive, well tailored suit designed to make Estelle look efficient and business-like, but at the same time show-off her god given assets to their greatest advantage. She was also sporting a superior expression on her face. That expression proclaimed, "Estelle is here!" and gave no hint that Stella could ever exist.

Stella struggled to prevent herself from laughing as she issued the command, "Angela, would you kindly get my father on the telephone for me, please?"

As was usual, politely spoken, but with the commanding tone of voice, that Estelle had always been infamous for. No one could mistake that the request was an order.