Connections | ✔️

Forty

I waited for a few more hours, before glancing at the time. It was well past when she usually finished working on Mondays, so I decided I'd give her another ring. No answer once again. I wonder what she's up to? I decided to send her a text instead.

Me

Hey Val 😊 can I come over?

I have some stuff for you to
sign regarding the merch

The three dots in a bubble popped up, before it disappeared. I paused as I waited for her text to come up. It didn't. After a few minutes, the bubbles started up again.

Valerie

Okay

Not thinking too much of the reply, I grabbed the papers, my keys, wallet and phone to head on over.

"Hey gorgeous," I smiled coming over to wrap my arms around her in a hug. She stiffened at the contact a little, before patting me on the back. That was weird.

"Hey," she said quietly, before shutting the door.

"You okay?" I asked her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her very lacklustre behaviour.

"Yeah, um just tired I guess," she mumbled, walking over to sit at the dining table.

"Aww, we can take a nap if you want after?" I said as I followed her.

"So what do I have to sign?" Val asked bluntly with a blank stare. I frowned, she seemed really off. I brushed it aside, she was probably really tired and out of it. Like she said.

"Oh yeah, just some agreements saying that I have full permission to use your intellectual property on my merchandise, and that you have no right to claim any interests from the sales of such." I explained briefly, as I spread out the forms. She studied business, so I'm sure she would understand it easily. Val nodded silently as she skimmed over the three pages. "But, we do have a cheque for you to compensate for your work, and you need to sign off that you agree to selling it."

"What no? It's fine, I was just helping," she shook her head at me.

"No Valerie, really I want you to have it. It's just not in me to ask you to do work for nothing, even if you were just trying to help me out. Besides this technically counts as professional work for all the styling and design stuff you're into," I smiled.

She turned her head to look at me, with a little crease between her brows, her lips turned down at the corners. "I-" she took a deep sigh, "Okay..." She grabbed a pen and began to sign her name where all the blank spaces were, adding in the date as necessary.

"Thank you," I beamed. "This is for you." I handed her an envelope with her name on it.

She slid it open, before pulling out the cheque. Her eyes widened. "Carter! This is $2000. I barely did anything!"

"That's a reasonable price generally for artists, especially since it's a tiny portion of the projected sales profit... and I may have inflated that commission rate a little bit..." I admitted with a sheepish laugh. What? The less time she spent at Bean Crushers, the more time she could spend with me. Plus I may have been bias.

She put the piece of paper down, before putting her head in her hands and groaned. "This is too much."

She stayed in that position for a couple moments longer, looking distraught. Valerie really doesn't seem okay.

"Hey..." I reached out to touch her arm. She broke away from her position, causing my hand to fall loose. What's going on with her? "I can change it if it's making you really unhappy." I said concernedly.

"No it's fine. Just, I'm just gonna go to sleep okay. Alone. I just want to be alone right now," she said getting up from the table.

I stared at her confusedly as she started collecting all the pieces of paper together before handing it over to me. I took them from her hands and placed them back on the table before standing up to come over to her.

How did we go from having the time of our lives together to being so... detached?

"Val, are you sure you're alright?" I asked her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

I took in her features, as I cupped her face in my hands. Her eyes looked full of emotion as her forehead creased with lines and her lips settled into a small frown. I could see her mind churning with something.

"Talk to me," I whispered softly.

Her glaze flickered to mine for a split second, before she looked down and grabbed onto my hands to remove them from her. Okay. That kind of stung.

"I don't want to do this right now," she mumbled, before turning away to run to her bedroom.

There she was.

Running again.

I stood frozen in my spot as I contemplated what to do. I should definitely go after her. I had to. But? What if this is what she needs? Some space? I don't know what was going on with her but maybe this is her way of saying she needs time? I don't know.

I can see why they say that love fucking hurts. Because seeing her like this hurts, and seeing her push me away hurts.

I heard the door click shut, like a nail in a coffin.

I picked up the forms as I let myself out, driving home in a crestfallen state. Maybe this is what she needs to cope at the moment, I reminded myself. With a big sigh, I sent her a message to let her know I care.

Me

I love you