Della Vane
A short story inspired by Abbey Wade
Mina didn’t knock. She came in like Kramer from Seinfeld.
“Two,” Mina said.
Della Vane held her hair up with one hand and stared into the front camera on her phone. The red lipstick was fresh. Sexy. Her white knit top was soft and bright, a clean lie. Three necklaces stacked at her throat and dropped down her chest. An invitation of sorts.
“Two what,” Della said, still posing.
“Two people in the lobby,” Mina said. “Both say they’re escorting you.”
Della blinked once. That was all she gave the world.
She angled her face a fraction. The light hit her cheekbone and did what it always did—made her look like she’d never asked for anything in her life.
“Names,” Della said.
Mina’s mouth tightened. “Ryder Kane.”
Della’s lips stayed still. Her stomach went quiet.
“And Elise Mercer.”
Della lowered her arm. Her hair fell in damp, deliberate pieces. She turned just enough to see Mina in the mirror.
Mina’s expression said please don’t kill me.
Della kept her voice calm. “Why?”
“I don’t know why,” Mina said. “I know they’re both downstairs and the doorman has already clocked it.”
“Which doorman?”
“The one with the tripod,” Mina said.
Of course. Hotels weren’t hotels anymore. They were content farms ready to catch any one of note in a ‘situation’.
Della looked back at herself, checking the red mouth, the steady eye. She liked the way the lipstick looked like a weapon nobody could take away.
Ryder was static with a jawline. A podcaster who turned feelings into clips, then sold the clips back to the audience as authenticity. He called Della “a menace” on-air and texted her heart emojis after, like that balanced the ledger.
Elise was quiet power. Film director. Black coats. The kind of woman who could look at you and make you feel seen and forgotten at the same time. Della had told Elise once she didn’t like being directed.
Elise had said, “You do. You just don’t like admitting it.”
Della had told Ryder he could walk her in tonight.
Della had told Elise she didn’t want to be seen tonight.
Both were true. Both were mistakes.
Della picked up her phone again and took one more selfie. Chin up. Lip perfect. Eyes calm.
She posted it.
A small rush hit. Then the shame behind it, like an echo.
“Send them up,” Della said.
Mina stared. “Both?”
“Yes,” Della said. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it where the lighting doesn’t hate me.”
“Della—”
“No lobby scene,” Della said. “No elevators full of strangers. We keep it contained.”
“Contained,” Mina repeated, like Della had suggested putting a vibrator in her purse.
Della tapped the coin charm at her throat. It was cool against her finger. Heavy enough to feel real.
Mina exhaled through her nose and went for the door. “Fine. But if anybody asks, I’m not here.”
“You’re always here,” Della said.
“That’s my problem,” Mina said to herself, and left.
Della turned back to the mirror. She checked the necklaces again. The spikes said don’t touch. The coin said I fun. The long chain said I still got it.
She liked messages. She liked control.
A knock came three minutes later, soft and measured.
Elise knock.
Della didn’t answer. She waited for the second knock, the one with confidence and volume before coming out.
It came. Ryder knock.
Della smiled at herself. “Cute.”
Mina opened the door before Della could change her mind.
Elise was tall, calm, hair pulled back. Dark coat. Neutral face that wasn’t neutral, just disciplined. Her eyes went to Della’s mouth, then to her throat. Elise always looked at the frame before the picture. It warmed her skin.
Ryder entered with a grin and a suit that fit too well. He held his phone in his hand like it was a passport.
They stopped when they saw each other.
The room got smaller.
Ryder recovered first because Ryder never let reality interrupt his momentum. “No way,” he said. “Elise Mercer.”
Elise looked at him like she was deciding if he was furniture.
Ryder kept going. “My ex made me watch your movie where nobody talks for ten minutes and then everyone cries.”
Elise said, “It’s called listening.”
Ryder laughed like the room was his audience. “You’re funny.”
Elise didn’t answer that. She looked at Della again.
Della stayed seated at the vanity. She didn’t rise. She didn’t greet them like they were equals. She let them stand and feel the imbalance. It was a diva move. It was also triage.
“Hi,” Della said, easy.
Ryder spread his arms. “Look at you. You’re the whole headline.”
Elise’s voice stayed low. “You said you weren’t going.”
“I said I didn’t want to be seen,” Della said.
Ryder nodded like he’d just won a point. “She’s going with me.”
Elise didn’t look at Ryder. She watched Della. “Is she?”
Della stood. She moved between them, close enough to smell them. Ryder smelled earthy with leathery notes. Elise smelled like cedar and a hotel soap.
“Can we not,” Della said, “do this like a reality show.”
Ryder’s grin widened. “We’re in a hotel room with a diva and two escorts. This is a reality show.”
Elise’s gaze dropped to Della’s necklaces. Her expression tightened.
“That coin,” Elise said.
Ryder leaned in, squinting. “It’s cute, right? Vintage vibe.”
Elise stepped closer, eyes locked on the charm. “That’s from the auction.”
Della’s hand went to her chest without thinking. “What auction?”
Elise kept her eyes on the coin like it might run. “Tonight’s exhibit. The coin from the film case. It’s insured. It’s cataloged. It’s supposed to be in a display case.”
Ryder blinked. “So… she’s wearing stolen museum jewelry?”
Della turned her head toward Mina, who’d hovered near the door. “Mina.”
Mina lifted her hands fast. “Before you do the voice—”
Della did the voice. “Why am I wearing museum property?”
“It was in the sponsor bag,” Mina said. “The jewelry options. One bag had a label that said AUCTION.”
Elise’s eyes sharpened. “And you put it on her?”
Mina swallowed. “I didn’t know.”
Della’s lips didn’t move much when she spoke. “You didn’t know what ‘auction’ meant?”
Mina said, “In my defense, everything in your life comes with labels that sound like threats.”
Elise’s jaw tightened. “Security will check footage. Staff. Guests. Everyone.”
“They’ll check me,” Della said.
Ryder’s phone buzzed. He checked it, then smiled in a way that made Della want to take the phone and fling it into the tub.
“Okay,” Ryder said. “We have a second problem.”
Della’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t say ‘fun.’”
“I wasn’t going to say fun,” Ryder said. “I was going to say… viral.”
Mina went pale. “What?”
Ryder angled his phone toward them. “The lobby doorman streams. He’s live. And earlier, he got a nice shot of me and Elise standing downstairs like… whatever this is.”
Elise stared at the screen like it offended her. “People saw us!”
Ryder nodded. “They’re doing math. In the comments. It’s a whole thing.”
Della’s phone buzzed in her clutch. Then buzzed again. Mina’s too. Like the room had turned into a hive.
Della didn’t look. She didn’t want to watch herself become a narrative in real time.
Elise turned to Della. “Take it off.”
Della’s fingers touched the coin again. Cool. Heavy. A problem with shine.
“If I take it off,” Della said, “where does it go?”
“Back,” Elise said. “To the case.”
Ryder said, “Or we lean in. We walk in together, all three. Make it a bit. Blow up the carpet.”
Elise’s gaze cut to him. “This isn’t content.”
Ryder smiled. “Everything’s content. Even your contempt is content.”
Elise didn’t smile. “You’re exhausting.”
Ryder nodded, proud. “That’s my brand.”
Della held up both hands. “Stop. I’m not a prize you two argue over in my own hotel room.”
Elise’s eyes softened for half a breath. Then they hardened again. “Then act like it. Take control.”
Della looked at her assistant. “Mina. Talk.”
Mina hesitated, then made a choice with her face. “The coin isn’t the main problem.”
Elise went still. “What?”
Mina spoke fast, like the words would evaporate if she slowed down. “Tonight’s matching gift. Halcyon Beauty. The big announcement.”
Della’s mouth stayed calm. Her eyes didn’t. Halcyon was her sponsor. Halcyon was Todd.
Mina continued. “It’s not money. It’s a pledge. A press release disguised as generosity. The board chair wants the headline. Todd wants the optics. And if anyone calls it out, they need a scapegoat.”
Elise’s gaze sharpened. “Della.”
Mina nodded. “Della.”
Ryder made a low whistle. “Okay. That’s gross.”
Elise looked at Mina. “How do you know?”
Mina lifted her phone. “Todd forwarded an email chain to me by mistake. He called it contingency. He called Della the lightning rod.”
Della’s throat stayed smooth. Inside, something shut like a latch.
Elise took a step closer, voice low. “So the coin is bait?”
Mina nodded. “It’s a clean little scandal. Easy story. Diva entitlement. Celebrity chaos. People love hating the same person together.”
Ryder glanced at Della. For the first time, his grin had an edge of real concern. “You’re being set up.”
Della smiled a little, like she’d heard this before. “I’m always being set up. It’s the constant in my life.”
Elise’s voice went colder. “Then don’t play their game.”
Della looked at Elise. There was history in that look. A night in a cutting room. Elise behind her, hands on Della’s shoulders, voice in her ear: “If you want control, take it. Don’t ask for it.”
Della said, “I’m not playing. I’m redirecting.”
Elise’s eyes narrowed. “To what.”
Della pointed at Ryder. “You’re loud.”
Ryder brightened. “Thank you.”
“You’re useful,” Della said. “You can’t help it.”
Ryder laughed. “Also true.”
Della pointed at Elise. “You’re calm. You’re credible. You look like you’ve never done a stupid thing in your life.”
Elise said, flat, “I’ve done plenty.”
“Not on camera,” Della said.
Mina watched Della carefully. “What are you thinking?”
Della turned back to the mirror for a second, checked the red mouth. The necklaces. The coin. The problem.
Then she turned to them. “We walk in together.”
Elise’s eyes widened. “No!”
“Yes,” Della said. “They want a scandal? I’ll give them one with edges. Security will glue themselves to me. Cameras will follow. The livestream will explode. Everybody will stare at my throat.”
Elise said, “And while they stare…”
“Mina fixes the coin,” Della said.
Mina’s face tightened. “I can’t just—”
“You can,” Della said. “You’re the only person in this room who’s actually employed.”
Ryder held up his phone. “So my job is to be… what, a human flare?”
“Exactly,” Della said. “You flare. Elise looks disappointed. I look unbothered. We let the internet do what it does.”
Elise stared at Della like she was watching someone step toward a ledge. “This will get out of your control.”
Della’s voice stayed soft. “It’s already out. I’m just choosing the direction it falls.”
Mina’s phone buzzed. She read it, then looked up. “Security sweep starts in ten.”
Della picked up her clutch. “Then we move.”
The elevator ride down was all mirrored walls and tight breathing. Ryder adjusted his tie twice. Elise didn’t touch anything.
Ryder glanced at Elise in the reflection. “So you and Della. Like… this is a thing?”
Elise didn’t look at him. “No.”
Ryder glanced at Della. “Is it?”
Della watched the numbers drop. “It’s a chapter people keep quoting out of context.”
Elise’s jaw tightened. Della felt it like a hand on a live wire.
Ryder tried again. “I’m not threatened. Just curious.”
Elise finally looked at him. “You’re not curious. You’re collecting.”
Ryder smiled. “That’s fair.”
The doors opened on the lobby.
The air hit them first… piano music trying to make money feel romantic, luggage wheels, quiet laughter. One vivid detail: orchids the size of small animals, arranged like they were on parade.
And there it was, the doorman’s tripod by the orchids. Ring light. Phone. The doorman grinning at his own screen like it loved him back.
His lens found them instantly.
Ryder slipped into performance like it was muscle memory. “What’s up, beautiful people,” he said, waving at the camera like the world was his feed.
Elise’s posture went rigid. Her face said I hate all of you and I will survive it.
Della stepped into the ring light.
She didn’t smile. She didn’t scowl. She gave the camera the look she saved for critics and exes: calm, amused, untouchable.
The coin at her throat flashed.
The doorman’s eyes widened. He whispered to his stream, excited. Della didn’t need to hear the words. She could read the hunger in the way the phone tilted up for a better angle.
Behind the orchids, a security guard’s head snapped up. Another one touched an earpiece.
Good, Della thought. Come get me.
Ryder leaned closer to Della, stage whispering loud enough for the mic. “Babe, you didn’t tell me we were doing the two dates thing.”
Della didn’t deny it. She let the silence do the dirty work.
Elise stepped in, voice cool and tight. “This is humiliating.”
Ryder smiled wider. “For you, maybe.”
Elise looked at Della like Della was a stranger wearing their past. “Tell him to stop.”
Della said, soft, eyes on the lens, “Play nice, Ryder,” with a wink.
The stream went hotter. You could feel it. Phones rose across the lobby like flowers turning toward the sun.
Security moved in.
A man in a suit approached with polite panic in his face. Museum staff. He tried to keep it discreet. The ring light ruined him.
“Ms. Vane,” he said.
Della turned slowly. “Yes.”
His gaze dropped to the coin. His face twitched. “We need to speak with you privately.”
Ryder cut in, smiling. “No private conversations. Not tonight.”
Elise’s voice stayed low. “Do not touch her.”
The man swallowed. “That charm belongs to the museum. It’s missing from the display.”
Della touched it like it had sentimental value. “It was gifted to me.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “By whom.”
Della looked past him, straight into the doorman’s phone. She pictured Todd watching from somewhere, already drafting the statement where she took the fall with a smile.
Della said, clear enough for the mic, “By Halcyon Beauty.”
The man’s expression changed. Sponsor names had gravity. Sponsor names had lawyers.
Across the lobby, the guard with the earpiece stiffened. He listened to someone talking fast. Then he looked at Della like she’d just turned the room into a courtroom.
Ryder made a pleased sound. Elise looked like she wanted to slap Della and pull her close, possibly in that order.
The museum man stepped back, suddenly careful. “One moment.”
He moved away.
Della felt her clutch buzz. She didn’t look. She didn’t need to. The room had already told her what was happening: everybody watching her throat while Mina slipped through the crowd.
Della kept walking, slow, toward the front doors, toward the waiting car, dragging Ryder and Elise with her like accessories she’d chosen on purpose.
Ryder leaned in, low. “This is insane and I’m obsessed.”
Elise leaned in on the other side. “You’re feeding them.”
Della’s voice was barely a breath. “I’m distracting them.”
Elise’s eyes flicked to the security cluster. “And if they grab you.”
Della’s mouth curled. “Then you’ll finally get the scene you wanted.”
Elise didn’t answer. Her fingers flexed once at her side, like she was resisting the urge to take over.
Near the orchids, the doorman angled his phone again, hungry for the money shot. Della gave him nothing but composure. She’d learned the hard way: you didn’t give strangers your panic for free.
In the crush of bodies by the door, Della caught sight of Mina for half a second… face calm, hands empty, walking like she belonged to the building.
Mina met Della’s eyes and gave a tiny nod.
The coin was handled. Or at least, moved back into a story that wasn’t Della’s.
They hit the sidewalk. The city air felt colder. The driver held the car door open like he’d been trained to witness anything and react to nothing.
Della slid in first. Ryder started to follow.
Elise stopped, half in, half out, like she wasn’t sure she wanted to ride with the mess or abandon it.
Della looked up at her. “Coming?”
Elise’s jaw worked. “I’m not part of your brand.”
Della’s red mouth stayed steady. “No. You’re the part I don’t show.”
That landed. Elise hated that it landed.
Elise got in.
The door shut. The car pulled away.
Inside the quiet, Ryder finally let his grin drop a notch. “So… we good?”
Elise looked out the window, voice flat. “No.”
Ryder laughed softly. “Love that honesty.”
Della’s phone buzzed again in her clutch. This time she looked.
Unknown number.
STOP TALKING.
Another message arrived before she could type.
THE COIN ISN’T THE ITEM THAT’S MISSING.
Della’s eyes didn’t widen. She’d learned not to give fear a face.
Elise noticed anyway. “What?”
Della held the phone low, angled so Elise could see.
Elise read it. Her expression tightened. “Who is that?”
Della shrugged. “Someone with a better view than we have.”
Ryder leaned over, trying to catch the screen. “Is this the part where we get blackmailed. Because that’s very on-theme.”
Elise said, “Shut up.”
Ryder sat back, smiling. “I’ll try.”
Della’s phone buzzed again. This one wasn’t unknown.
Todd.
A single text, all caps like it could make reality behave.
WHERE’S THE ORIGINAL?
Della stared at it. The red in her mouth felt heavier now. Less lipstick, more warning.
She looked at Elise. Elise’s eyes were already on her, sharp with the same question.
Ryder said, too cheerful, “Okay, I’m officially invested.”
Della leaned back against the seat.
“Turns out,” Della said, softly, “we were all fighting over the decoy.”
And the car kept moving toward the museum like it didn’t care what kind of night it was carrying.
Please give Abbey Wade a follow.
SO. DAMN. GOOD. I’m so touched and honored❤️
I like the story itself, but the prose and dialogie feel overly polished at quite a few points. Fun overall though.