Valerie

21 - Thomas

"You can't. It isn't furnished. There's no bed or anything." I said.

"What- okay, then I'll take the couch." She said, moving to sit down.

"No, I'll take the couch." I said, lying down on it and stretching out. 

"Thomas no-"

"Just take my room, Valerie. I'm insisting. It's no big deal."

"But this is your apartment and that's your room, I can't take that." She said, getting annoyed.

"Yes you can."

"No I can't-"

"You really can."

"Thomas Verner-" I loved it when she said my name.

"Valerie Fawkes."

"You said that this was my apartment, correct?" I said, putting my arms behind my head.

"Yes." She said, giving me a confused and exasperated look.

"Then as the owner of this property, I am telling you, my guest, to take my room. You'll get a much better sleep there." 

She stared at me, biting her lip, and then looked behind her, where my room was. 

"Fine." She huffed, trudging away.

"Goodnight." I called after her.

She just flipped me off, causing me to chuckle before disappearing behind the door to my bedroom. 

I fell asleep to thoughts of brown eyes, glossy hair and a girl with a cute accent, wearing my clothes.

---

"Thomas." I heard my mother's soft voice in my dream. "Thomas, wake up." My shoulder started to shake. That was weird. "Thomas Verner, wake up."

This wasn't a dream. This was my mother. She was waking me up. 

I peeled open my eyes and saw my mother crouching by my bed, her hair still perfectly styled, her makeup barely smudged, from the night before. 

"Thomas, I need you to come with me." She said, her lips pursed.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion.

"Come with me."

I grabbed my glasses from my nightstand and walked past the big bookshelf my father had bought me for my eleventh birthday. 

My mother did not hold out her hand. She never did. I supposed at thirteen, I was too old for that anyway.

"Mom!" I heard my older brother, Henry, shout from outside my bedroom door. 

We both came out to see my fourteen year old sister and sixteen year old brother standing just outside. Except they weren't the only people here. My father's close friend, and lawyer, Larry was here. Two policemen were at the penthouse's front door.  The board of my father's company was here. But my father wasn't.

Henry went straight for my mother while I moved to Rose. "Hey, Thomas." She said, wrapping her arms around me. 

"What's going on?" I asked, looking at all the different faces.

"Tommy, come here." Henry said.

"Don't call me that." I said.

"Come on, Henry, you know he doesn't like nicknames." Rose said from beside me.

"Does that really matter right now?!" He fired back.

"Your brother is right." My mother said. "Both of you, come here."