Eddie, who had been walking behind her, bumped into Stella.
His neck hit her head and he asked, "What's wrong dear? Not feeling well?"
Seeing that Stella did not reply, Eddie shook her by the shoulders, saying, "Stella? Stella!?! You all right?"
Stella seemed to be brought back to reality as she looked around the hallway and then at Eddie. She sighed, "Yeah. Come on, I would like to introduce you to someone."
Stella said as she walked towards the living room.
Upon entering, Eddie was taken aback to see a very handsome man stretched across the sofa. The top two buttons of his blue shirt were open, showing his muscled chest, which made Eddie self-conscious. The man looked at the two of them and raised an eyebrow from his perfectly carved face.
Eddie had to admit, he had never seen such a beautiful man before. Those deep red eyes, perfect eyebrows, straight nose and thin lips, he looked like a male god straight from heaven.
Eddie's reverie was broken by Stella's voice. She said, "Hello Sharp. How come you are out?"
Sharp? Eddie wondered what kind of a name was that.
The man frowned, "Out? I am home after quite a few days. I have been out till now."
"Oh....." was Stella's only response. She had been surprised to think that Den had come out of his room, but now she was all the more surprised to know he wasn't at home these past few days.
Where had he been? What was he doing? When did he leave? Stella pushed all these thoughts to the back of her mind as Den's gaze lazily wandered to Eddie.
She hurriedly said, "Sharp, this is Eddie Bauer. He works at the restaurant with me."
Den raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but made no response.
"And Eddie, this is Den Sharp. He is.....umm... my roommate." Stella hesitated, not sure how to define her's and Den's relationship.
After the introductions, there was an awkward pause as Stella was still taking in how different Den looked from the last time she had seen him, how casual and relaxed he was.
Den broke the silence as he said, "McCartney, won't you offer your 'friend' something to drink?"
"Oh right! What would you like Eddie? Juice? Coffee? And please, sit down." Stella asked, wondering about Den's emphasis on the word friend.
"Juice will be fine." Eddie replied, taking a seat just opposite Den.
When Stella came back in with a glass of juice, she saw Eddie in an animated conversation with Den. He was telling something to which Den was listening with an amused expression.
He turned as Stella entered, "Oh McCartney. Bauer here was just telling me stories about the restaurant. You seem to enjoy working there quite much."
Stella gave a smile as she sat down beside Eddie, who seemed more at ease now.
He put an arm across her shoulders and said, "Yeah dear. I was just telling Mr. Sharp here how you pulled that prank over the manager. I still wonder how you didn't get fired."
Den's eyes flickered to Eddie's arm around Stella's shoulders and he frowned, "Dear? Are you two... dating?"
He seemed to get the last word out of his mouth with difficulty.