Thanksgiving break...
Evie's View:
I walked down the isle in the local grocery store searching for things to make a homemade gravy.
My diet was mostly vegan despite my love for honey and using products with beeswax.
So usually on holidays I had to make certain dishes for myself since meat was always the main course.
"Do you think I should buy pies or just make them myself?" Addie asked walking beside me.
"You're asking the wrong person" I laughed looking over at her.
"You're right" she rolled her eyes. "Is there anything you don't make from scratch or isn't straight from the garden?"
"Pasta?" I suggested chuckling as I stopped the cart to grab a few potatoes to place in the basket.
"That's like one thing. Evie even your underwear is made from plants! Who cares?!" Addie exclaimed.
"I do! They're ethical and made from organic cotton grown locally, recycled poly and plant based dyes. Plus no extra plastic on packing or the packaging is compostable and will go back into the earth" I said proudly.
Addie stared back at me with a dumb founded look. "I have no idea what you just said or what any of that meant"
"It means she's smart" a voice from behind us said.
I turned to look over my shoulder and jumped a little from seeing Valentina standing near a display of avocados.
"Valentina" I said nervously turning my body to face her.
"Evie.." she smirked before looking back at Addie. "Shopping for thanksgiving dinner I assume?"
I nodded gripping my hands tighter onto the handle of the basket.
"She thinks you're hot so that's why she's not talking, you make her nervous" Addie said out loud calmly.
My eyes went wide and I pushed her shoulder roughly giving her a look saying to shut up.
"What? It's true. Your journal is in a shitty hiding spot and I'm trying to help you out" Addie shrugged walking away to go grab a sample nearby.
I sighed rubbing my temple turning back to Valentina.
"I'm sorry.. about her"
"It's fine" Valentina chuckled. "I already knew what you thought of me"
I raised an eyebrow wondering what she meant.
"You're not very subtle when checking me out Evie. You practically eye fuck me every time I come around"
My eyes widened again but I quickly gathered myself.
"I-I just think you always look nice is all. It's not everyday you see a woman in a 2,000 dollar pant suit"
Valentina squinted her eyes a bit at me. "Mhmm.. so what are your plans for thanksgiving?"
"Uh well usually I just get together with Addie's family since I don't have any around" I said quietly.
"Not even your parents?"
I looked down to the shiny white floor, "Um.. no. No they passed away when I was really little so I never knew them".
"Evie I'm sorry, I didn't know I probably shouldn't have even asked" Valentina apologized stepping closer.
"No it's fine, don't worry about it" I said looking back up at her half smiling.
"Well.. if anything changes you are always welcome to join the girls and I. We'll be having dinner at my parents house and it's just going to be us so, I'm sure the girls would love to see you" she said placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Okay.." I smiled. "I-I can try and stop by after"
. . .
And that I did.
After joining Addie and her family along with Hannah, Addie's girlfriend. I made my way over to Valentina's parents house with excitement. Addie knew about my early departing from the family gathering so she primped me before I had left. Fluffing my hair, redoing my lipstick and having me change into something a little more flirty.
Flirty for me meant a spaghetti strap floral dress that still went down to my ankles. It was nice out today and not too cold or too hot so I was thriving in this dress that made me feel like some sort of delicate garden angel.
As I pulled up into the driveway of the house I turned off my ignition, glancing in my rear view mirror to check my appearance one last time.
This had become a habit of mine since Valentina and I last kissed. Though I'd never be able to beat her type of beauty, I wanted to impress her and at least look decent.
I waited for someone to open the door after knocking. I stood there with a covered dish in hand.
The sound of locks turning came from behind the door and it opened to reveal a casually dressed Valentina.
"Happy thanksgiving!" I smiled brightly holding out the dish in front of me with both hands.
Valentina's eyes started from the bottom of me all the way up to my face. A smile formed on the corner of her mouth and she lifted herself off of the door to walk closer.
"Happy thanksgiving Evie.. and you didn't have to bring anything" she said grabbing the dish from me.
"I know. I just thought it'd be nice to though and it's homemade so it was made with lots of love" I said proudly.
She raised an eyebrow at me smirking and stepped back into the house opening the door wider for me to come in.
I walked into the elegant home of her parent's taking in the smell of gravy and possibly a casserole being cooked.
"Wow, smells amazing in here"
"I know. My parents are great cooks, dinner will be ready in a bit. I'm going to go help them in the kitchen real quick okay. Make yourself at home and the girls are out back in the garden" Valentina said placing her hand on the side of my arm.
I looked through the two open white doors that led to the backyard. I glanced back at Valentina nodding giving her a small smile. "Okay.."
She eyed me a bit mocking my smile then walked away, sliding her hand down my arm slowly without looking back.
I shivered as I watched her beautiful figure walk away from into the kitchen.
The backyard was gorgeous and you could tell her parents put a lot of work into it. A vegetable garden was set up and closed off, likely to keep animals away. There was also a flower garden of an array of planted flowers and bushes. I smiled at all of the beauty of nature around me.
Her parents were my kind of people.
"Miss Love!" I heard two tiny voices say.
Nani and Vivi jumped out from behind a group of tulips running towards me. I hugged them and tickled their sides as I always did when greeting the girls at school.
"Hello my loves. Happy thanksgiving!" I said chuckling with them.
"Happy thanksgiving!" they said together.
"What were you guys doing?"
"We were picking flowers for mama. Grandma says we can only pick the wild flowers or dandelions though" Nani said looking up at me squinting from the sun getting in her eyes.
My body tensed at the mention of Yolei and I wondered if I should change the subject. I didn't want another conflict with Valentina. But I also didn't want the girls to feel like their feelings about their mama didn't matter. If this was how they coped with her death then it should be supported.
"Oh.. did you find any flowers yet then?" I asked treading lightly.
"Yup! Come on we'll show you!" Nani said as her and Vivi ran off towards where they were sitting originally.
I followed them with the bottom of my dress flowing behind me.
We sat near the tulips underneath a beautifully large tree that look like it hand been planted there as well.
"Do you think our mama will like them Miss Love?" Vivi asked.
They had a collection of bundles of baby's breath, my favorite flower, and random sizes of dandelions laying across their blanket.
"They're beautiful girls.. I'm sure she'll love them" I smiled down at them as I folded my legs underneath me.
"Mommy said we can leave them for mama at her special resting place" Vivi said looking at the flowers in her hands. "Mommy doesn't like going though" she frowned.
I frowned along with her wondering still if I should distract them from the topic.
"Yeah mommy would always cries when she went and tell us to go back to the car. Sometimes she cries by herself though like last night. I think she just likes crying" Nani said clueless to her mother's mourning.
"She cries because she's sad dummy!" Vivi rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Nani pouted and pushed her sister by the arm. Vivi pushed her back telling her to stop.
"Girls.." I said warning them. I pulled them closer to my sides wrapping my arms around their shoulders. "Your mommy just misses your mama. She loved her a lot.. just like she loves you two. Sometimes people cry because they're sad or angry or even happy" I sighed.
"Your mommy probably cries because she's sad. Her partner is gone and she misses having her here with you guys. You get what I mean right?"
They both nodded looking up at me listening intently. "Yeah because my mama was her wife. They were married" Nani grinned. I chuckled and nodded, "You're correct, they were married".
"Next time you see your mommy cry just hug her and tell her it's okay to be sad. Tell her you love her. Anything to let her know that you girls will always be there for her now that your mama isn't" I said softly stroking their hair back.
They smiled softly nodding. Nani and Vivi were bright for their age so I had no worry as to if they understood me or not. I knew they did.
"Mama used to blow these with us. She would tell us to make a wish and it would come true!" Vivi grabbed a dandelion as did Nani who handed me one as well.
"Let's make a wish together Miss Love!" Nani said smiling as she held her dandelion in front of her.
"Okay" I chuckled. "What should we wish for then?"
"Umm... pie! Wait no.. ice cream!" Nani said excitedly. "Yeah!" Vivi agreed.
I continued to laugh and went along with their wish blowing the dandelions together.
The white fuzzy feathered pieces floated off into the air leaving us with green stems. We giggled together watching the white fuzz drift away.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked from behind us.
I looked over my shoulder seeing Valentina stand there with a teary eyed expression.
I gulped setting down the stem and removed my arms from around the girls. "They were just showing me how to make wishes on the flowers..." I said softly hoping I didn't screw up again.
"Girls, Go inside and wash up with gram" Valentina's voice shook as she continued to stare back at me.
The twins ran off taking their flowers with them, leaving Valentina and I alone in the garden. I stayed seated on the blanket underneath the tree awaiting my conviction.
She took in a shaky breath moving to sit down next to me on the blanket.
I looked over at Valentina as she stared off into the distance. Her eyes were still glossy.
"I thought..." she sighed. "I thought I-I saw Yolei"
"What?" My brows furrowed.
"When you were sitting with the girls out here... I only saw the back of your head and I immediately saw Yolei.." Valentina whispered. "She would sit out here all the time with them and do what you three just did. Exactly that.." she continued to whisper, her voice slightly cracking in the end.
My heart broke hearing Valentina get emotional. I looked at her hands in her lap and reached over to place one of mine on top of them.
"I'm sorry if I overstepped again... I just didn't want to dismiss the girls feelings and act like the subject didn't matter. I'll be more careful"
Valentina shook her head.
"I want to be mad at you but I can't" her voice wavered. "Before, the girls would never feel comfortable talking about their mama because they knew it was forbidden... and that's my fault" she whispered at the end.
"I was the one dismissing their feelings this whole time. But now..." Valentina looked towards me as a tear fell. "I can't because they never stop. The girls mostly talk about Yolei at bed time and say their prayers to her or read a bedtime story for her" she chuckled. "And that's all thanks to you..."
A small smile formed on her red lips.
"Like I said I should be mad but I'm not. My girls get so happy to talk about their mama but it's hard. It's hard to sit there and act like I'm okay with hearing them talk about her. So I've learned to just hide my feelings from them and cry alone when I get the chance... they don't need to see me like that" Valentina let out another shaky breath and laced my hand with her's.
I wiped my own tears beneath my eyes holding her hand.
"Which is understandable.. but I want you to know that they know you do that" I said looking back at Valentina.
"Nani and Vivi told me you cry at the cemetery but tell them to leave, and they saw you last night crying as well.."
Valentina didn't say anything and broke down right in front of me.
I panicked wondering if this was actually happening. The woman in front of me who always presented herself high and mighty as a head bitch was in a puddle of tears.
I sat closer to Valentina and wrapped my arms around her shaking body.
"It's okay to not always be strong... some days are harder than others but, I really think you need to see someone. Therapy isn't a bad thing and I think you and the girls would benefit so much from it" I said softly, rubbing the side of Valentina's arm.
She leaned her head against me sniffling.
"There's no way in hell I'd do that.. let alone put my girls in it. I can deal with this pain myself" she scoffed.
I sighed and continued to hold her in my arms. "Just think about it at least..."
Valentina nodded and sat up moving away from me to wipe underneath her eyes.
"I'm sorry for being such a mess"
"No.. don't worry about it. Like I said I know your pain and what you're going through so if I can help in any way then I will. Even if that just means you talking about it and me listening" I smiled at her.
Valentina sniffled again looking at me.
"You're a good person Evie.." she sighed. "Kind of makes me hate you even more"
I laughed and leaned on my hand against the blanket getting closer to her.
"You don't hate me"
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
My eyes trailed up and down Valentina before stopping on her eyes. "You seem to like kissing me. That's not really something you do when you hate someone" I smirked.
Valentina rolled her eyes, "I also hate you because you're an annoying pain in my ass".
I giggled knowing she wasn't serious. "I am not otherwise you wouldn't have invited me over. Did you think about how much you're gonna miss me over thanksgiving break? Is that why I'm here?" I pouted jokingly.
She shoved me with one of her hands scoffing.
"Don't flatter yourself, I just thought it'd be nice to have you over because the girls love you to death. Plus I didn't want you to be lonely" Valentina said in a snobby tone.
This time I was the one who rolled their eyes. This gorgeous woman was never going to admit she had some sort of attraction to me.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night Valentina"
She stared back at me curiously and smirking, "Where did this little attitude come from?".
I leaned in closer to Valentina, our faces inches apart as our lips hovered near each other's.
"I learned from the best.." I said softly glancing at her lips and back to her longing eyes.
A smirk formed across Valentina's mouth as she shook her head, then she gripped my chin roughly before pressing a firm kiss to my lips.
. . .
A/N:
Just a small heads up for the next chapter for previous readers! I changed a bit of what happened just to avoid any issues with wattpad's guidelines, even though I've read way worse on this app...
However it won't have an affect on the story entirely (:
- Des