Stella swiveled back and forth in her chair in her office, facing out the window as she talked on the phone.
"We have to talk more often, Lori. I can't believe you got married almost three months ago and we've only talked twice."
With a quick stride, Flack walked in the door, stopping when he saw that she was on the phone. He held back for a moment, figuring she would be finished momentarily.
Stella listened before speaking again. "Oh, and how dreadful it must be," she said with a hint of sarcasm, "you get regular sex and you don't have to worry about any of the consequences." She laughed at the reply. "That's not a consequence. I want one of those."
Flack blushed furiously and realized instantly that this was a personal call, not a business call. He turned quickly to leave, deciding he could come back later. But in his haste to leave, he rammed his shoulder into the door with a very resounding thud. Realizing that there was no way that Stella could have missed the noise, Flack quickly tried to turn around and make it look as though he was just walking into the room.
Stella turned in her chair and ran her fingers through her hair. "Hey Lori, I need to get going. I'll call you back later." She put the phone down on the receiver and looked across her office at Flack, who was still a few shades of red. She tried to contain her grin as she folded her hands on her desk. "Something you needed, Flack?"
He stepped tentatively into her office and produced an envelope from his pocket. "This was in my box. Don't know how they confused 'Stella Bonasera' and 'Don Flack' in the mail room, but I ended up with this."
Stella held out her hand and took the envelope from him. "Thanks."
"Sure thing." He turned to leave, but half way across the office, he stopped and turned back. "Your friend Lori. That's the one whose wedding you took me to a couple months ago?"
"Uh huh."
"How's she doin'?"
"Pregnant."
"Really? Well tell her I say congratulations next time you talk to her." He walked back toward her desk and leaned forward, putting his weight on his palms and grinning. "And you can tell her all about how you got a date for the next bad movie to hit theatres."
"You remember that, huh?"
"We made a bet, Bonasera. I said the happy couple would be expecting within six months, and here we are. You owe me a movie."
"Yeah, yeah. If you're off before eight tonight, give me a call."
Flack turned and walked out the door of her office, giving a wave as he went.
--
As they waited in line at the movie theatre that night, Stella and Flack were silent. It was cold outside and they were bundled up, just focusing on staying warm until they could make their way in the doors.
Once Stella purchased the tickets, they went inside and found seats at the very back of the theatre.
As the movie began to play, Stella smiled and leaned over to whisper in Flack's ear. "If this is how I lose a bet, keep 'em coming."
"See, I was just thinkin' the exact opposite," he whispered back. "This doesn't really feel like I'm winning a bet. We're sitting in a dark movie theatre. I could be doing this alone. Or with Messer. Nothing special about that."
"What's it gonna take to settle my debt then?" When she whispered in his ear, Flack got chills, which only proved to give him an idea.
He turned quickly, holding the back of her head with one hand, and kissed her. There was no passion or time to truly feel the kiss. It was over as quickly as it had begun. When he pulled back, he was laughing softly.
Stella's jaw dropped and she laughed softly as well, settling in her seat to look back at the screen.
Flack continued to watch her, gauging her for a reaction of some kind. A minute passed before she said anything.
"If you really wanted payback, you should have done it like that," Stella pointed.
The two on the screen were tangled in a passionate kiss, arms held tightly around each other, hands feeling for every inch of skin they could find, breath coming in short gasps as their kiss grew deeper and deeper.
So he did.