●be mine, valentine●

chapter two

You can do this.

The mantra in Valentine's head plays over and over, a recap of what his brain has been like in the last twenty minutes. The walk to the office building seemingly only taking a few short seconds with his racing thoughts.

He wanted more time, needed it, going as far to debate walking around the block just a few more times. But he didn't have time for that. Not after he spent way too long saying goodbye to Luca. He didn't regret a second of it though. If he was going to leave his baby in a new environment he would make sure he was okay first.

"This is for Luca." He whispers to himself as he enters the large, tall building. It's intimidating, really, the glass structure he finds himself walking into. Everything seems very modern, not much warmth to the atmosphere. The floors were a dark grey, a complete contrast to the light gray of the walls and the lighting felt like he was in an interrogation room.

His whole view of the place was a bit of an over exaggeration, Valentine could admit that, but the place needed more warmth to it, he knew that for sure.

"Can I help you?" A rather rude voice broke him from his thoughts. It was the secretary at the front desk, seemingly disturbed by his entrance.

"U-Um, yes. I'm here for an interview." He fought the urge to look away from the harsh women but forced his eye contact to stay firm. "My name's Valentine Moore." His voice fades to a whisper when a grimace appears on her face. He's not sure what he said wrong but obviously she's not very fond of him.

"Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything in the books. Maybe try coming back another ti-" Her grating voice is cut off by the sound of a new women entering the lobby.

"He's with me, Lindsey. You can put the claws away now." The women speaks as she sends a glare towards the secretary and directs her attention to Valentine.

"I'm Caroline, it's so nice to meet you, Valentine!" The woman he now knows as Caroline says as she reaches her hand out to him. He stutters out a quick 'Good to meet you too.' As she leads him towards what he assumes is the elevator. "Don't worry about her, hon, she's just jealous we have a new cute thing like you in the office."

Valentine can't help the blush that heats up his face after her statement. He hasn't met a lot of nice people in his life, Caroline was a much needed refresher for him.

He notices the way she holds a nonchalant arm under her stomach as she presses the button for the fifty sixth floor of the building. That paired with the glow on her freckle covered face, he could tell she was most likely pregnant. As soon as he realized that, some of the weight on his shoulders was lifted. She would understand him, he hopes.

"So, that's why I've gotta find a replacement. Overprotective husbands, you know? Can't bare to have their four-month-along wife still working." His brain tunes in to the last few words Caroline speaks, too nervous to fully listen. He couldn't help the jealousy that seemed to replace the nerves. He couldn't quite muster up a response to her. Despite her light hearted tone, he couldn't help but feel envious of her life. After all, that wasn't a very familiar situation for him.

The elevator got a bit quiet after that. He managed to offer up a small fake smile that didn't quite reach his eyes but Caroline didn't seem to buy it. He tried reading her face and he saw what looked like... concern? That couldn't be right, she just met him. People aren't this worried and sincere with people they've just met. At least, not in Valentine's past experiences.

Valentine wanted what she had. He wanted somebody to take care of him and make good decisions for him. He wanted to feel the obvious care-free happiness that Caroline felt. But even if he couldn't have that, he was happy that she did. She deserved it, he knew that after only knowing her for a few short minutes.