The next few days pass slowly for Valeria as she spends most of her time hiding in her room. The day usually starts with Ray returning home from work in time to make breakfast for Evelyn and get her ready for school. How she gets to school, Valeria isn't sure because she walks out the apartment door and doesn't return until after four in the afternoon. Ray usually makes enough breakfast for Valeria. Though he doesn't say much, he makes her a cup of tea and heads to his room to sleep. She rarely ventures from the room, but today she felt like exploring a bit. She knows Ray is fast asleep, having waited an hour after his door shut before she opened hers. The only time she has emerged is to use the bathroom next door to her room. She has not gone for late-night snacks or glasses of water. She would have a few years ago before she moved in with Cory. He made sure to snuff out the quirks he thought were bad. If only she could have snuffed him out.
Valeria shakes the thoughts from her head as her door creaks open. She holds her breath, afraid of waking Ray, suspecting he wouldn't be too happy with her for waking him up. Knowing she will leave eventually, she would rather not have him kick her out. In her limited contact with Ray McLeod, she hasn't been able to figure him out. She used to be good at that, but Cory crushed her instinct about other people. The only instincts she had left were about what she felt when Cory was near. She learned to listen to the sound of footsteps, and from her short time in this apartment, she knows that to her right is a closed door that is the main door. She never hears it lock, though, and she doesn't know whether to be concerned or relieved. Had he felt the need to lock his door, that would mean he didn't trust someone in the building. However, he doesn't, which means he must trust everyone. Knowing she is in an entire building of people that Ray trusts makes her feel a little better about being in a strange place. Not that she knows Ray enough to trust him, but at least she knows him enough to know he isn't going to hurt her. Not like Cory did, anyway.
The bathroom is next to her room, and across the hallway is a door she knows is Ray's bedroom. Inching out of the doorway, she leaves her door open in case she needs to run back in. On the other side of the bathroom door is a door that has been left open partially. Seeing as it is already open, she peeks inside. As expected, it is Evelyn's room, for when the girl is home, she constantly comes and goes. However, she has been talking Valeria's ear off when she is home and sits on the bed coloring with her in Valeria's room. Evelyn's room is painted a pale yellow, with white shimmer curtains on her old windows. The girl's room is twice the size of the one Valeria is occupying, confirming to her that it was likely a storage room before she got here. White twinkle lights scatter the ceiling of Evelyn's room, and her small metal desk has flaking gold-ish pain that matches the metal-framed twin bed. Everything in the room looked bought second-hand, though it was more charming and homey to Valeria than her other home had been.
Valeria exits the room, leaving the door as she had found it. She peaks around the corner of the hallway, in case someone is there that she doesn't know, but finds no one. The rest of the apartment is spacious, with a living room area, round dining table, and kitchen space. There is an open, barn-style door opposite her; she can see it is an office space with bookshelves and a computer. She peeks her head inside and lightly browses the shelves. There is a wide variety of content and makes a mental note to examine it further. Instead, she takes the opportunity to return to the front door and peek out. It is a relatively empty brick stairway through a sliding door opposite her. She can hear voices from behind the door and more down the stairs. The building might have been an old factory, and exposed brick gives the building a unique look compared to what she is used to. All the money Cory possesses couldn't make a house into a home, yet she has been her little over a week, and it feels more like home, and she doesn't even live here.
"Making a break for it?" The sudden voice behind her causes her to startle, and she jumps around. The door slams shut, and she yelps while nearly running into Ray standing just behind her. He has one hand on the door frame and the other on his waist. She stares at him, wide-eyed and breathing heavily while waiting for him to start yelling. However, it doesn't come, and he stays quiet for a few seconds. "I didn't mean to scare you." His voice is calm again, and it almost infuriates her that he is doing it on purpose just to make her feel better. "I heard the door open...thought it was Denaya. She said she would stop by and see if you wanted to go shopping with her...." He gazes at her, and she doesn't miss the flash of hurt that crosses his dark eyes. "But if you want to leave...."
"I was just looking around...." Valeria whimpers, realizing how close she is to running back to her room and bursting into tears. It is what she would do when she made Cory mad, and she would pray he wouldn't follow her, but he always did. "I know I shouldn't have...."
"You can do anything you like." Ray shrugs his shoulders as he removes his hand from the door frame. "Got nothing to hide, and you are welcome to anything you want." Valeria stares at him with her mouth hanging open. This strange man in his strange apartment just told her to walk around as though she owned the place. Never, in a million years, does she think she could ever figure out Ray McLeod.
"I wasn't asleep if that is what you are upset about. It is alright. You didn't wake me up." He crosses his arms and leans back in the doorway. It is only then that she realizes he isn't wearing a shirt and quickly looks away. She hears him softly curse and rustle through something behind his door before emerging while pulling a dark tank top over his head. His arms are still exposed, but at least his chest isn't. "It gets hot in here sometimes. I didn't think, Valeria....I'm sorry." Now he is apologizing to her.
"It is your place." She shakes her head and blinks at him.
"Still," Ray shrugs his shoulders again as he gives her a look of empathy. He lets out a slow breath. "Everyone in this building has been through something in their past, even me, but I don't pretend to know what you went through. I do know that it must be difficult to be anywhere near a man, and I will try to keep my distance as much as possible for you. I will do better at making sure I am decent."
She might have laughed if Valeria's heart wasn't beating a thousand miles an hour. The entire situation of her being there would make her laugh. How can someone who doesn't even know her be more considerate of her feelings than someone she was married to? It baffles her.
"Like I said, it is your place, do as you want." She replies with a shake of her head. "Thank you, though...I don't really know how I would react." He steps back from her without saying anything, but she knows he is afraid he is too close to her. She takes a deep breath and lets it out before she looks back up at him. "I really don't know how to thank you for all you have done. My parents used to let my friends stay at our house for a while due to their situations, but...this is different." He watches her closely, hanging on to every word she says, which is different for her. No one ever listened. "I have never known anyone to take in a complete stranger."
"Well, if I am being honest, I did recognize you." He confesses with a sheepish grin. "And Evie called you Miss Marshall, which she has told everyone in this building a hundred times that you are her favorite teacher." Ray looks at her, and Valeria feels like someone is looking at her and seeing the real person for the first time in a long time. "Even if I didn't know you, even if Evie didn't, I still would have done the same thing. I guess that is just who I am. There was a time in my life when I made a lot of terrible choices, and I remember passing by someone getting beaten up on the street and not doing anything about it. When I left that life, I made myself better than that. When Evie came along, I didn't want her to be afraid to help someone in need. I didn't think she got it until she came home from school one day with a whole kit of stuff for emergencies. I knew that someone else was looking out for her, too. I knew that someone else wanted to make sure that she made the right choices and was safe." He shakes his head. "That was you."
Valeria shuffles on her feet for a second before replying to his statement. "I may not be a teacher anymore, but that doesn't mean I stopped carrying about my students."
"You may not be teaching anymore, but I don't think a teacher ever stops being a teacher." His face has a slight grin, but his tone is serious. He is right, Valeria mentally confirms. "I could a teacher's help with Evie." He offers, and she blinks up at him. "She is a smart kid, and for the most part, she does her homework, but I think it is getting harder for her, which I am glad she has a challenge. I wouldn't want it to be so easy; she is bored, but I can see she is getting discouraged with wanting to learn. I try to help as much as I can, but...." Ray rubs the back of his neck, and she can tell he is about to admit something he is not very proud of. "I wasn't the best student in school, and I barely got through grade school and dropped out of high school. The stuff she is learning is more than I know."
"My dad was the same way...." Valeria offers in a comforting way, and he gazes at her, once more hanging on to every word. "He dropped out of high school and married my mother, who was pregnant with my brother. Life got away from him for a while, but looking back, I could see that he wanted to learn. It wasn't until I was around Evie's age that he got his GED and even an associate's degree to help with work. He has a good job, and they helped pay for it because it was helping them out as well. It just shows that it is never too late if you have the motivation to work for it." She stares up at him for a long minute before there is a churning in her stomach that makes her internally panic at being near him. "Anyway, I would be happy to help. It gives me something to do...so I am not snooping around." She cracks a smile, and he returns it.
"Would you like a tour of the building?" Ray offers. "I think most everyone is at work. Damian and Denaya are off today, but I think that is it."
"Sure." Strangely, she can't refuse. Perhaps she still feels like she has to repay him, and in a way, she thinks she can by accepting his offer. Whatever it is, it is different but not in a bad way.
"I assume you have seen most of the apartment, so we can just head out. I hope you don't mind stairs." He states with a bit of humor, and she bites back a smile. He sidesteps her, careful not to touch her, and opens the apartment door. She wonders if he knows he is barefoot but decides not to say anything. Cory always made her wear heels. It was one of the rules, and now that she is wearing borrowed sneakers from Denaya, she suspects she feels rebellious even in that small detail. At some point over the last few days of her bringing awake, Ray's friend Denaya had heard she had nothing to wear other than his extra clothes. Apparently, from Evie's eavesdropping, he had gotten an ear full from his friend. The next day there was a duffle bag of women's clothes. She hasn't met Denaya, but from her clothes, she is roughly the same size as Valeria but a few inches shorter. She also has a different clothing style than Valeria does. However, she can hide the plunging necklines with tank tops underneath. Though she is thankful for any clothes, she might accept the offer to go shopping. Not that she wants to get out of the building and into public, but she doesn't think she can convey to Denaya what she would like to wear. Perhaps because Valeria doesn't know what she would want to buy, but she does know she doesn't want anything Cory made her wear. She never truly embraced the politician's wife style. Thinking about it now, there might be quite a bit about herself that she might change.
Ray McLeod leads the way from the apartment down a brick stairway. She counts the floors, noting that he lives on the fourth floor, though no other doors are in the stairway. It seems like a private entrance. When they reach the bottom, he leads her around the corner and opens a double glassed pained door. It isn't locked either. The door gives way to a massive converted inner warehouse. Industrial stairs and railings are the first things she notices. The second is that from her vantage point, she can see apartments have been made from the inside of the building. Valeria walks to the center of the room, keeping track of where they came from, and looks up. Each floor has multiple apartments, and each doorway is decorated differently, as though the tenants have been allowed to style it however they wish. It is a nice touch, she notes. The second and third-floor apartments have their own balconies and stairways. The fourth floor doesn't and is only accessed by a private stairway.
In a way, it looked like its own community within the walls of an old warehouse. An entire neighborhood is in one place. "All the apartments are rented out, and all of the income goes to pay the bill to keep the lights on for the building and all that," Ray states as he draws closer to her but still is over an arm's length away. "Damian and I bought it a few years back at an estate auction for super cheap. No one wanted an old warehouse, but I know developers wanted to demo it. It seemed like such a waste." When he speaks, he looks around, realizing what he and his friend have built. "Anyway, we don't keep any money for ourselves. It helps on keeping rent cheap for the guys." Valeria glances at him, realizing the entire building is men, apart from Damian's wife.
Ray catches her glance and knows immediately why she looked at him. "You are safe here." He states clearly. "We don't let anyone in that we don't trust. Though the guys own the apartments, there are a few women here apart from Denaya, though she is the only one married. Got a few that are engaged. All the guys are faithful to their partners, and those who aren't attached wouldn't touch you, I promise. We are all through our rowdy days. Now we are just blue-collar adults trying to make a life."
"Good to know." She nods, but something is bugging her about what he said. "Rowdy days? Any that involve jail?" He looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Just want to know what I am dealing with, no judgment."
"A couple has been arrested, and a couple has done some time, but they have moved past it," Ray answers, and she nods slowly while looking back up at the inner building.
"It is unique, and you should be very proud of what you have built here." She states feeling very out of place and far away from her family and friends.
He gives a huff of a laugh and motions to the stairs leading down. "You haven't seen anything yet." The basement is closed off all except the stairway leading down, and she can hear voices from it. "It is alright, Ria." His voice is soothing again when he notices her hesitate, and she has to resist the urge to glare at him. "It is just Damian, and it sounds like he is on the phone. He won't mind, and I know he wants to meet you."
Valeria takes a deep breath and follows him as he descends the stairway. She stops at the bottom and looks around with her jaw hanging open slightly. The basements look to be the same square footage as the upper floors, but it is entirely open, apart from the far end of the room where there are two doors. One door is open to reveal a bathroom, the other is closed, and the light is off. It looks like an office, with large windows on two sides. The rest of the basement is an adult's dream, equipped with a massive kitchen, game area, fitness area, dining tables, bar, and even a place to watch movies on a giant tv. She supposes that with the cheap rent, they can all afford to have stuff like this, and Valeria is highly impressed.
"We like to hang out together, so it seemed fitting to make this space a place to do just that," Ray states, taking steps further into the area. Valeria follows, not wanting to be left alone but also staring around her in amazement.
"I'll call you back." The voice states and Valeria looks around to see a man standing up from the couch. "She does exist!" The man says in a loud, humorous voice, and Valeria flinches at the echo. She could hear the Hispanic flair to his English, but she could always pick it up with her students. The man approaches Ray, who gives his friend a glare. "I was beginning to think she was a ghost." Perhaps she was, Valeria mentally states.
Ray gestures to his friend. "Damian DeMarco, meet Valeria Marshall." She gives a small wave but doesn't offer her hand to shake, still unsure of how she will react to being touched by another man again. He makes no move to offer a handshake, and Valeria realizes that Ray must have told him something to keep him from doing so.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Marshall, as Evie calls you." Damian declares with a smile under his groomed facial hair. He is strong and tall, with tanned skin and short black hair, and his brown eyes are almost the same shade as Valeria's.
"Ria, please." She offers, feeling a bit awkward when he starts to study her. It isn't the same way Ray was before, but rather in how someone does when they are trying to decide if they are a problem or a solution.
Damian gives a nod of approval. "You may call me Mr. DeMarco...." Even as the words escape his mouth, Ray slaps a hand on the back of his friend's head. Valeria flinches, though she doesn't know if it is because of her past or because she just witnessed Ray hit someone. Damian is unfazed and gives Ray a mock glare. "I was kidding!" He declares before turning back to her. "You may call me Damian, obviously." He adds with a smile that shows perfect teeth. "They have tried giving me nicknames, and they all didn't work. I am not really a Boss, dude, and Dam made me sound like a woman. Damn was funny for a while until my clients started calling me that, and I had to stop it in its tracks. Neither DD nor DM sounded right either." Valeria has to chew her inner bottom lip to keep from laughing.
"I personally favored Big D," Ray suggests with a grin to his friend, and Damian hits him in the arm. Valeria swears she has seen children with more control over their humor than these two.
"You and my wife, both." Damian returns with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows to Ray, who grimaces, earning a laugh from Damian.
"What are you saying about your wife?" A new voice echoes through the basement. Valeria startles and looks back to see a woman descending the stairs behind her. "Honestly, I can't leave you two alone for a second." The woman is simply stunning, and there is no other word Valeria can think of to describe her. Even though she is dressed in regular day clothes, she would look lovely in anything despite the plunging necklines. Her black wavy hair hits her tiny waist and is held back from her face by silver aviators. She catches sight of Valeria and sucks in a breath with a giddy smile. "Finally! Someone to talk to!" Valeria can tell that Denaya is resisting the urge to hug her.
"And the other twenty people in the building....?" Damian questions his wife with a teasing smile.
"Are men or brainless bimbos." She adds, and Valeria has to look away to hide her grin. "This woman is educated and loves kids. I got a feeling I found my new best friend."
"You don't even know me," Valeria adds, though the corner of her mouth is still twitching a grin.
"Oh, please." Denaya laughs with a hand at her chest. "Evie talks about you non-stop. I think I know more about you than Ray does." Knowing Evie, she is probably right. "I was just coming to introduce myself upstairs but realized you weren't up there, so here I am." She offers her hand to shake, and Valeria takes it, knowing she has no problem with other women. "Denaya DeMarco, but everyone just calls me Denny."
"Valeria Marshall, but everyone calls me Ria." Valeria states, and she can see very clearly in Denaya's dark eyes that she knows much more about her than she is letting on.
"Well, I am delighted to meet you." She lets Valeria's hand go, and if she notices the bruises on her knuckles, she doesn't say anything. "I see my clothes fit you, but they are not quite your style." She reveals while looking Valeria over. She isn't wrong. "I was heading to the mall to pick up some things. Do you want to come with me?" She waits for Valeria to answer, but it doesn't take long before Valeria gives a nod. The thought of being outside in the open, where Cory could see her, makes her nervous. She also knows the probability of Cory being anywhere near this part of town. "Good, I am ready to go when you are."
Valeria glances down at herself, knowing already that she has what she needs on her. She always does, and it came in handy when she got the chance to run. Valeria shrugs as though saying she is as ready as she can be. Denaya doesn't skip a beat before interlocking her arm with Valeria's and escorts her up the stairs talking a mile a minute. She tries to listen, but all she can hear are the voices behind her. "You think she is safe here?" Damian questions and Valeria casts a slight glance behind her to see them standing at the bottom of the steps, not realizing that their voices carry a bit. Ray gives a small nod, and Damian's face is serious. "You know what you are doing?" Ray doesn't even hesitate to shake his head no, and Damian grins while clamping a hand on his friend's shoulder. She can't hear any more after Denaya leads her out of the building.
Hours later, she is standing in Ray's bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. Valeria had been overwhelmed by the crowd of people in the mall and almost turned and ran, but Denaya helped her stay focused. She promised to get Valeria in and out of the mall as quickly as possible. She is glad that Denaya was there, for she helped her think of things she needed that she had forgotten: toothpaste, shampoo, etc. by the time they were done, it was barely an hour into their outing. Valeria had made a bee-line for the door, but just before she exited the mall, she passed by a small salon that stated walk-ins were welcome. A thought overpowered her, and she only needed to glance at Denaya to silently tell her what she wanted. "If you are looking for an excuse not to get a make-over, you are looking at the wrong person." Denaya had grinned and linked her arm with Valeria's again, and they walked into the open door.
Valeria stares at herself in the mirror, seeing more of the girl she used to be staring back at her. Cory had made her grow her hair out. It was always relatively straight, and he demanded that his hair always be blonde. However, over the years, she got away with barely darkening it more and more each visit. By the time she left him, it was barely blonde and, in certain lighting, could be considered her normal brown. The woman staring back at her had cut her shoulder-length blonde hair and dyed it a copper brown. Cory would be furious, and for the first time in a long time, Valeria didn't care.
Pulling on the fabric of the dress, Valeria feels awkward. Denaya had informed her that one of the tenants got engaged the last week, and they are throwing a party for him and his new fiancé. The fiancé apparently wanted a classy theme, and Denaya talked Valeria into buying a floor-length dress with a slit up to her mid-thigh. It isn't super tight, but the fabric clings to her enough that when she showed Denaya in the fitting room, she stated very loudly what she thought. It made Valeria turn five shades of red in embarrassment at the strange compliment. Cory never let her wear anything skintight. She never wore pants in public and was forced to wear business-style dresses, and the only time it was anything less than that was when he wasn't home or they were at a formal event. He would always parade her around like a show dog while hiding his dark secrets under the conveniently placed fabric and layers of foundation.
"Are you coming out or not?" Denaya's voice causes her to jump, and she has to cling to the counter to keep herself from falling in the heels she bought to match. She can walk easily in heels, which are pointed rather than wide like Cory made her wear. Valeria supposes he thought she would take them off and hit him with them. She might have, too, if she had thought about it back then. "If you can come out, you can see what I am wearing and stop panicking about being overdressed." Denaya offers, as though being able to read Valeria's mind through the door.
Curiosity gets the better of her, and she cracks the door just enough to see what Denaya is wearing. She isn't kidding. Wearing a dark green satin formal dress, Valeria now realizes what skin tight really looks like. "What do you think?" Denaya twirls, and Valeria wonders how she was able to zip the dress up and fears she might pop the zipper later. The dark green is accented with silver. Her straps are parallel to her collarbone, and there is a slit that goes up to her hip.
"Fire," Valeria states with a small smile, making Denaya grin.
"I know, right?" Denaya laughs before gesturing to her. "Now, will you please come out?" Valeria decides that Denaya will probably stand there until she does, so she might as well exit the safety of the bathroom. She moves around the door and takes a few steps from the bathroom to the living room.
Valeria stops when three is a look on Denaya's face that she can't place. "What?" Internal panic hits Valeria, and she looks down at herself. "It is too much. I knew it." She stammers and fidgets with the dark blue-grey material. "Or is it not enough? Are the bruises showing? I thought I used enough concealer."
"Stop," Denaya states loudly and clearly, and Valeria quiets. "You look stunning, and if anyone can see the bruises, then good. You shouldn't hide. You should walk out with your head high as though nothing could ever break you. You got that?" Valeria swallows hard and tries to keep her eyes from watering. She worked too hard on her makeup to keep herself looking ordinary and simple. If she smudges her makeup now, she won't have the courage to make an appearance at the party. She fidgets with one of the spaghetti straps and puts it into place. Though the dress fits, she knows she is skinny due to her abuse.
"I didn't know what to do with my hair." She runs a hand through it, feeling the soft curls the hairstylist had put in it before she left the mall.
"You don't need to do anything. It looks pretty." Denaya offers, and it makes Valeria feel a little better. She walks up to Valeria with her heels clicking on the ground and has a serious look in her dark eyes. "I have a good guess of what that man did to you, and I have been there. You will get through it, just like I did. You have a spirit in you, and he couldn't break it. I can see that. One day, you may not feel like it or think it is possible, but there will be someone else, and he will show you what love should really be. He will treat you like the queen you are and worship the ground you walk on."
Valeria takes a deep breath to keep herself from crying and lets it out like a leaking balloon. "Now, let's go downstairs and get through this party. Between you and me, this girl is high-maintenance with a laugh like a hyena, but I am doing this because he is one of Damian's guys." One of his guys? Valeria mentally questions what she means and wonders if he works for Damian and lives in the same building. If she is right, how many of them work for Damian, and where does Ray fit in?
Drawing courage from Denaya, Valeria follows her out the door. She knows Ray and Evie left a half hour earlier, which must have prompted Denaya to come to check on her. As they exit Ray's apartment, Valeria looks down the stairway and gives Denaya a teasing smile. "You just had to make me wear heels."
Denaya shrugs with a wide smile. "All part of being a woman." She picks up the bottom of her dress and descends the stairs floor by floor like she has probably done many times in heels. Valeria grumbles about knowing her feet will kill her, but she knows Denaya will just come back up to drag her down if she doesn't move. It feels like an hour later when she makes it to the bottom with Denaya examining her nails and leaning on the railing to the stairway that leads to the basement. "Took you long enough." Classical music echoes through the warehouse, and she can hear many people below, causing her to hesitate. "I won't make you go down there," Denaya states while approaching her. "But if you don't do it now, you never will." Somehow she knows what Denaya is saying. She straightens up slightly and puts on a brave face. "There you go." Denaya grins and starts down the stairway.
Valeria's hands are trembling, and she tries to calm them by smoothing her dress. She knows they still shake but prays no one will notice. The last thing she wants to do is to embarrass herself in front of all these people. She doesn't want to embarrass Denaya, Damian, and especially Ray. They have been too kind to her, and she can't repay them by looking bad in front of their friends. She carefully watches Denaya descend the stairs. She mimics how Denaya lets the dress trail down the stairs behind her, walking ever so slightly on an angle with her exposed leg moving first.
Valeria looks down and watches her footing as she moves, using it as a shield to keep herself from looking at the faces of the people below. For a minute, she thinks she got away with sneaking down the steps unnoticed until she looks up when her feet hit the concrete floor. Though people are still mingling amongst others, she can see their gaze on her and knows what they must be saying about her. Everyone probably knows she is the potential mayor Cory Hogan's ex-wife, and her name has been smeared across town as being a liar who trapped him into marriage under the pretense that she was able to have children. She supposes it is half true, but she was the one trapped, not him...never him.
Feeling like she is being watched under a microscope, she starts to panic, but then there is a voice behind her. "It is alright, Valeria." That stupid calming voice does exactly what he wants it to, and she turns to face him. For a fraction of a second, she thinks she is looking at the wrong person but realizes she isn't. He is more clean-cut and highly suspects that Denaya got ahold of him between the time they got back from the mall, and she came upstairs for her. It wasn't so much his gelled hair or fancy attire that caught her off guard, but rather that she was sure he had dark eyes like hers. However, the pair looking back at her are dark grey, like the shadows of the sea in a storm. How had she not noticed before? Perhaps it is the lighting, or maybe she just didn't want to see it before.
Ray takes a step towards her, though still cautious. "You look..." He trails off as his gaze follows the fabric. She felt strange being looked at like that, and though her stomach churned, she couldn't look away. "Beautiful, Valeria." For a fraction of a second, she thinks he might be looking at her in a way that Denaya had suggested someone would, but she realizes that it is her mind playing tricks on her. Ray wouldn't look at her like that. She is far too damaged to used to be looked at like a rare diamond. She can't imagine any woman catching his eye; the only girl in his life is his daughter.
Valeria shakes her head slightly, clearing her mind and looking around. There are many people around, all milling about in conversation, with occasional glances at her. The couple she suspects is the future bride and groom standing not far away, and the fiancé's laugh sounds like a hyena. She cracks a grin, meeting Denaya's eye, who glances at the fiancé and then back to her as if to say, "I know, right?"
Watching the people around her has become a way of ensuring her secrets are hers. Gossip always ran wild at the political events she attended with Cory. He would always take out his anger on her if he even heard a negative rumor about her. So, she watches those around her, listening in to conversations. It almost makes her jump when she hears Ray's voice close to her. "You changed your hair." She looks up at him to see what he thinks, though it hits her a second later that she shouldn't care. Cory always cared, and it was wrong how he controlled her. It is her hair, and she should do what she wants. Ray smiles softly while gazing back at her. "It suits you."
Unsure of what to say to that, she simply mumbles her thanks and forces herself to look away from him. She looks back at the crowd, studying them. She takes in their appearances and how they interact with others. What catches her attention the most are Damian and Denaya. They move through the crowd like a king and queen, and everyone greets them. For a moment, she questions who the party is for, but they turn their attention to the celebrating couple.
Damian starts a long speech that Valeria isn't listening to because something else has caught her eye. Though people smile at Ray, they are at least ten feet or more from him, as though being a forcefield at keeping people away from her. However, she can't tell if that is what he is doing. They look at him like Valeria has seen in her students; the way first graders look at a high school senior...an idol, and a friend. They look at Damian, and Denaya like kids do to parents, but Ray is the big brother, the protector. But Valeria wonders if they are keeping their distance because he told them to stay away from her, and they were not about to anger him...or are they just afraid of his wrath in general. Either way, he is respected, looked up to, and feared. Valeria wonders what has happened in their past that made them look at him that way. The way they interact with each other, there is a clear hierarchy. Though Damian and Ray both own the building and may act like brothers, it is clear which one is the older one, the dominant one.
Valeria gets an apparent thought into her mind and pieces together some of what she had learned about Ray. He had said that he had a difficult and troubled past and that some of the people in the building had been in jail. He had told her that everyone in the building had a troubled past. She isn't blind to their appearances. She can see the tattoos and hear the way they talk. This isn't just a group of friends living together or a makeshift neighborhood. This is much deeper, a family not built on blood but by choice, and she has walked right into it.
Damian talks for a few minutes and then toasts the happy couple. Only after the toast does Ray turn to her and realize she doesn't have anything to drink. She almost misses his question, but she mumbles something about drinking anything. He disappears into the crowd for a few seconds before emerging with a glass of champagne extended to her. He offers his glass for her to cheer, and then she downs it. She ignores the flash of concern that crosses his face, but she hears him ask. "Are you alright, Ria?"
"Yup." She pops the word and lies through her teeth. How could she not see it before? In this part of town, she should have expected it. She was too eager for safety from Cory that she didn't even realize she had wandered into a hornet's nest.
"Do you want to head back up?" He offers and takes her glass from her fingers. Their fingers brush ever so slightly, and she is glad he took the glass because her fingers tremble, and she would have dropped it. "I am done with the party anyway." He shrugs, and she gives him a suspicious look. "I am not one for social events. I can hang with the guys, but this is a bit overkill, don't you think?" How could she tell him that she attended events fancier than this one on a weekly bases not long ago? That had been her terrifying normal.
"You should stay." She states, hoping he would not follow her or be mad at her for leaving early. She has done her part, as Denaya had suggested, but right now, escaping is all that she can think about. Without another word, she kicks off her shoes, picks them up, and heads up the stairs. She doesn't care if Denaya calls her out on being a coward. She doesn't care if Evelyn asks her a million questions about why she left early. What she doesn't want is for him to follow her. Cory always did, and she always paid the price for running instead of facing him head-on.
When she walks into the unlocked apartment, she goes to her room, drops the shoes on the floor, and sits on the bed. Her mistake had been leaving her door open because not five minutes later, she looked up to see Ray standing in the doorway watching her. He followed her.
"What is wrong, Valeria?" He isn't using his calm voice, but one that clearly voices his concern. She almost gets mad at him for not using her nickname but decides against it and lets it go. She can't get mad at him, not if he is who she thinks he is.
"I got to leave." She reveals and stands up to face him.
"Why?" A hurt expression crosses his face, and she tries her hardest not to let that affect her. She knows she is starting to care about Ray McLeod, even if it is for Evelyn's sake. Caring for him, in any way, is more dangerous than walking out into the open knowing Cory could see her. It had to be a chance worth taking. She can't stay here, not with them, not with him.
"I am better now." She isn't lying, but that is her excuse. "I can't stay here forever, and I am imposed long enough on your lives."
"You are not...." Ray trails off, and she can see the storm of thoughts running through his mind as his eyes look at her. "Don't you think for one minute that you are a burden..." He is a bit fiery in his temper, but she knows he isn't truly that mad. He can't be. "You have nowhere else to go, Valeria. You are safe here. Have you not felt safe? Do you think he will find you? I can take more precautions." Valeria listens to what he is saying and wonders what precautions he has already taken. "I thought you liked it here, and Evie likes having you around. You were going to help her with homework." An excuse, she can see it clear as day behind his dark blue eyes.
"I can still help her." She states while trying to fight any excuse he has. "I just need to...."
"No, you don't need to." He answers, already knowing what she is going to say. "Not until you find a place to live. Just don't walk out without a plan, Valeria. Don't run."
She stares up at him, deciding the only way she will know for sure is if she asks him directly. "Is this a gang?" She questions and studies him closely. He blinks once at her, surprised by her change in attitude and topic. "I have seen everyone down there and see how they look at you and Damian."
"I can see how you would think that. Most people do when they look at us." Ray returns with a leveled tone to match his gaze. "We have all come from places, and yes, some came from gangs, and some are hiding from them. We are just a group of guys dealt a bad hand and trying to bluff our way through life."
Valeria studies him but can't tell if he is lying to her. "If you honestly don't feel safe here, I can help you find a place tomorrow, and you can be out by the end of the day. But you underestimate us if you think we could hurt you... if you think we would let someone else hurt you." Somehow she knows that when she speaks for the group, he means himself most of all.
"What do you get out of this?" She questions while shaking her head. She doesn't understand him. He is still a stranger to her. "What exactly are you expecting me to do?"
"Not what you are implying, Valeria." He warns with a slight tilt of his head. She regrets even thinking he would try to touch her for a second if she didn't let him. "Is it so far-fetched for you to believe I just want to help?" There is the hurt tone in his voice again, and she has to let out a deep breath to keep herself in check.
"No one wants something for nothing." She shakes her head again. "And don't say it is a fair trade for me helping Evelyn. You have saved my life and let me live in your home for nothing. What is it that you hope to gain? What is it that you want?"
"Like I said, is it so far-fetched for you to believe that I just want to help?" He replies to her questions with his own, which she always finds annoying. "Not everyone has ulterior motives, Valeria. Sometimes, help is just help."
"Fine." Valeria gives in, realizing she is too tired to fight him. "I will stay, but only until I find a place where Cory won't find me."