She walked past his office, and trying to avoid any confrontation, she only glanced in his direction then looked away.
Stella couldn't bring herself to start the truth, what she had kept hidden for what seemed like an eternity.
"Stella?" Mac was becoming impatient again.
Her eyes met his, "Just give me a minute, ok?"
He nodded and went to the bathroom door, clicking the lock, shutting out the world from what he was about to be told.
Finally reaching her office, she felt more comfort there than she ever had before.
When the tears finally stopped and Stella had gotten everything off her chest, Mac just sat there, blank expressioned, with nothing to say.
Stella was becoming worried after about five minutes of silence and spoke, "Mac?"
He stood, looked to her, then looked away and left.
Stella watched him go, said nothing, just threw her body on to the floor and curled into a ball. The tears started flowing again, and she wished into the air, "Please, just end this now!"
( from chapter 1)
Stella finally reached her office, kicking her shoes off by her coat rack. Her feet had been aching a lot more lately, and wearing heels became a bother.
Slipping into her chair, Stella leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. Stress and other problems were building and she didn't know how much more she could handle before she broke down and shattered into a million pieces.
"Stell?" Danny walked into Stella's office, knocking gently on the before fully entering.
"Yes, Danny?" annoyance was evident in her voice.
"We got a lead on our central park murder case," he kept his distance from her.
A flow of tears sat in Stella's eyes, so instead of making eye contact, she nodded to Danny, hoping he would go on without her having to speak.
"Linds and I are gonna go check this guy out now, so we'll call if we get anything more." He turned to leave.
"Alright," Stella sniffled, wiping the tear that seemed to escape the brick wall Stella was building around her emotions.
Danny paused and turned back. "Stell?"
"It's nothing, Danny. GO!" anger shrieked from her thin frame.
Danny took the hint and left, but not without one last glance at Stella.
When Stella was finally alone again, she grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes and nose. 'Suck it up, Stell! This isn't you. You're stronger than this!' she told herself.
Soon the tears were gone, and in their place sat annoyance and anger. Stella logged onto her laptop and pulled up the case she was working on, trying to clear her mind of her personal life.
The clock in Stella's office chimed in midnight, and yet Stella continued her work. She couldn't go home, not now, not anytime soon. Home meant loneliness, and that was something she didn't need right now. Pulling up another tab on the internet, Stella typed google in the address bar and searched the problem that had been bugging her among other things.
After about 2 hours of research, Stella felt drained and dragged herself from her desk chair to her couch. She pulled the pillow that she had hidden under it and grabbed the blanket from the top of the couch. She was soon snuggled up and took only a few minutes more to finally let sleep take control of her body.
Mac's body went in to auto-pilot the minute he stepped out of the restroom. It seemed as if his thoughts consumed him. What he had just learned may have changed his life forever…