#stellars

Doll? Whoever she is, this Kelly doesn’t much care for being called ‘doll.’ I can hear her tearin into him, and I’m standin none too close, neither.

Simon giggles.

Then almost immediately shouts, “No!”

He sets his jaw and holds his ground. “Fuck no!”

He huffs and turns to me as if to say, ‘Can you believe this shit?’

I shrug, and shake my head no.

“No?” He asks.

Is he talkin to her or to me? I shrug again.

Before I can speak, he’s turned away and under his breath says, “No.”

This is followed by a surreptitious glance my way, and a whispered, “No.”

He moves away, because apparently he needs privacy in order to say, “Nuh-uh, no.”

He shifts uncomfortably. “No. Seriously, no! God!”

Until he can’t even manage more than just a series of half-started N’s. “N-…….N-………nnn….welllll...no.”

Simon turns back to quickly glance at me with a guilty look, and gives her a sheepish “No?”

As he’s walking back toward me, I can hear Kelly’s still shouting curses in his ear. He sighs deeply, and rolls his eyes.

“Fuckin hate you, too,” he says, fondly. “K, bye.”

He turns to me and gives me a huge, contented smile, as if he’s just gotten the best hug of his life. “That was Kelly.”

“Yeah, mate. I got that much. Not much else. What the fuck?”

“She’s my PA. She fuckin hates me. It’s kind of our thing,” he sighs, with a smile. “And we’re on the guest list.”

“Kelly? How? When? In-between curses?”