With a totally disgruntled Tesla in his carrier carefully secured in the rental car, Stella hugged and kissed Elena good bye.<br/><br/>"Now you take care kiddo," said her friend who had been the soul of patience with Stella's waffling. "And keep me updated."<br/><br/>Stella promised she would and quickly got in her car before her eyes got too misty. She had enjoyed her time away, had enjoyed having a close female friend by her side, someone she could really talk to, confide in, and someone who asked the right questions at the right time, and knew when to be quiet.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It was a sunny and warm day and Stella stopped once at a rest stop just because the place looked more like a gorgeous park than a place people stopped at to pee and stretch their legs, while their dogs did their constitutionals. She attached Tesla's leash to his harness and took him for a walk which the curious cat enjoyed his bushy tail twitching like an upright flagpole as if to proclaim his dominance over all he saw.  But they couldn't stay here all day, and soon they were headed back to the small sedan she had rented. The drive home seemed shorter and it wasn't long before Stella, Tesla, her bags, and all her now maybe a little less confused thoughts were back in front of the brown brick building she called home. She looked up at Anton's window and her heart beat a little faster, was he home? Tesla recognized it too and began caterwauling as soon as he was out of the car, batting his fat paws at the cage door demanding immediate release.<br/><br/>"Stop it cat," grumbled Stella trying her best to carry everything in at once, "Besides, Lics will smell the other woman, and you'll really be in deep shit, trust me, as a woman I can promise you that." She put down the carrier and looked at her overstuffed backpack, three shopping bags full from a day long shopping spree, the cat carrier, the cooler, filled to the brim with yummies Elena had baked and made for her to take along, and another large duffel bag. Like almost all women she didn't believe in travelling light. You never knew when you needed three extra pairs of socks, or two additional pairs of jeans or a warm jacket, even though it was summer. She realized that there was no way for her to carry everything at once. She wasn't leaving the cat out, but she felt equally protective of her clothes, and the idea of leaving a tempting cooler full of amazing goodies  on the sidewalk was not appealing either. What to do, what to do????<br/><br/>Stella, put the duffel bag handle on her left shoulder and hoisted the bag up under her arm to hold there between her arm and her body, while holding the cat carrier in her left hand. Her backpack which had a shoulder strap missing went on her right shoulder and the heavy cooler went to that hand, her purse was slung over her neck. But there were still three large shopping bags full staring at her asking her why she didn't have a third, fully functioning arm. Frustrated, overwhelmed, and just plain irritated Stella stamped her foot and grunted  when she looked up and saw Anton heading down the walk. And there went her heart...tripping over itself, panting with happiness like a golden retriever, and near on melting into a puddle.<br/><br/>"Uh, Hi," she managed, her voice suddenly thick. She cleared her throat, "help a girl out?"