Valerie's POV:
-5 months later-
My eyes couldn't pull away from my phone. The date was staring at me as if it were a beacon. I blinked, hoping I was dreaming, but unfortunately... I wasn't. I sighed, placing my phone down on my desk. "February 6th..." I breathed out, picking my pencil back up as I tried to concentrate on the drawing in front of me. "Happy birthday, mom..." I whispered to myself, fighting the pain that was cutting into me. It's been almost a year since I last saw her alive. It's been the hardest year of my entire life. As I focused on the drawing before me I noticed I was drawing more and more of how I felt; depressed. I groaned in irritation, ripping the paper off my notebook and throwing it away. These past few months were a struggle for me. I mostly kept to myself; ignoring calls even from Randy. The holidays were torture for me. But I tried my hardest to hide my feelings from those around me. However, when you have people in your life... it makes it hard to hide in your shell.
"It's so nice to see you again, dear." Heather, Randy's mother, said as she gave me a hug. I smiled, placing Oswald on the ground, "It's been a few months' honey, how is work? How are you doing?" She spoke, emphasizing the word 'You.' Before I could even respond, she was speaking once more, "How's Los Angeles? How is that model girl doing, you two getting along?"
"Love, let the poor girl breathe for a moment." I looked over to see Randy's father, sitting down in his favorite recliner with the family dog, Brownie, sleeping peacefully in his lap. "Hello, Valerie." He said with a knowing smile, his glasses slanted on the bridge of his nose as he looked up from the newspaper.
"It's good to see the both of you." I said with a genuine smile, "Thank you for inviting me."
"Oh, of course, you're part of the family," Heather said with a gentle smile. Randy emerged from around the corner, wearing only a towel around his waist. His brother Caleb on his tail, arguing with him about who was going to shower first. I raised my brow, smiling from ear to ear as Heather's voice startled the both of them. "Boys! What on earth are you doing?! Valerie is here!" She yelled, blocking my eyes. I smiled at the silly gesture.
"Jesus Christ!" Randy yelled in response, "You scared the crap out of me, mom!" He frowned, slamming his hand into his chest. "Can you please tell Caleb that I'm next to shower?!"
"You two are still fighting over this?! Caleb! Get in my bathtub right now!" Heather roared, pointing her finger towards the master bedroom. Caleb's face fell quickly, tears running down his face.
"But... But.... Mom! Your bathroom... Valley!" His demeanor changed so quickly the second he saw me. Next thing I knew I was being tackled to the wall by this little five-year-old boy. "I've missed you so much! Where's... Oswald!" He yelled once more, running over to my fur baby. Oswald squeaked with delight as he ran around with the smaller version of Randy.
"Hey, I didn't know what time you'd be coming by. Why didn't you text me back?" Randy asked, standing next to me as we watched Caleb and Oswald play. I rubbed the back of my neck as I looked at Randy. He was still in his towel.
"I don't know. Are you going to take a shower?" I questioned, wanting to change the subject. He gave me a knowing look for a brief second before looking back to Caleb.
"Yeah, I better go before that little shit throws a fit. Wanna go help mom in the kitchen?" He asked, walking around the corner and out of sight. I walked in the kitchen, loving the smell of her home cooking. Thoughts of Heather and my Mother laughing together as they drank a bottle of wine were coming to mind. I frowned, watching Heather lean against the counter with a sadden expression. She had two glasses on the counter, both full.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear..." She said with a watery smile, moving to block me from what I had seen. "I just was..." I looked her in the eye, noticing that I wasn't the only one in pain by the loss of my mom. They had been childhood friends after all. I lost my mother, she lost her best friend.
"It's okay, may I drink it?" I asked, walking up next to her, offering my hand for the glass. She raised her brow, looking down at it.
"You're not old enough... Oh, fuck it... your mother would understand... right?" She said with a smile, handing me the glass. I gave her a reassuring smile, clinking our glasses together as we took a long sip. "To Miranda, the woman we miss dearly..." She said, taking another sip.
I smiled, shaking my head at the memory. Thanksgiving wasn't my favorite holiday, but I did love spending it with everyone. Christmas on the other hand... that was a lot harder to get through. Turned out, Lyndsey and Emalie had no one to spend it with also.
"So, any plans?" I asked from my seat on the couch. My drawing pad laid across my lap, drumming my pen on it. Lyndsey was playing some sort of war game on her Xbox, wearing some sort of massive headset. "Hello?" I watched as she gripped her controller tighter, the color of her knuckles turning a whitish color.
"You made me die, thanks." She said with a huff, leaning back against the sofa. I rose a brow in amusement, smiling back at her as she glared at me.
"You died, simply because you suck." I winked. I watched as her ears turned slightly red, letting me know she was getting pretty heated. Then she looked at me a gleeful look about her.
"So, you think you could do better? Because I'm in first place right now." She spoke with such an ego. She picked up the controller once more and started to play. "That's what I thought."
"Yeah yeah yeah... Anyway... are you going to answer me now?" I asked, noticing that someone had killed her once again. "It appears, you still suck." I laughed, placing my pad on the side table with Lyndsey staring me with daggers in her eyes.
"You're bad luck, do you know that?" She said with a blank face, making me burst out in laughter. I rolled my eyes at her bitchy face, kicking her lightly. "Plans for what?"
"You don't listen to me, do you?" I frowned, with an actual bit of sadness laced in my voice. Though, I'm pretty sure she didn't even notice it. I clenched my jaw when laughter came from the kitchen. I looked over Lyndsey to see that Emalie was smiling behind the counter, chopping away at something.
"Whenever she's playing, everyone has always been bad luck. She doesn't care if you're the pope. You'll be near invisible at that point." I noticed that her accent was thicker than Lyndsey's when she said certain words. "Like watch...Lyndsey, can I steal your pretty cars?" Emalie asked, giving me a wink. I looked back to the brunette, who was concentrating on the game.
"Yeah, sure whatever you want." She said with a careless wave of her hand. My eyes fell to Emalie, who was wearing a smile on her face while shaking her head.
"So, what are your plans for Christmas?" She asked motioning for me to sit at the island. I stood up, walking only for a brief second in front of Lyndsey.
"Hey, come on!" She yelled, glaring at me. I laughed, waving her off as I took my seat in front of Emalie.
"Oh, just ignore her." She said, cutting what I assumed was a potato, "So?" She said as she looked up to me, still cutting the vegetable. 'Jesus, if I did that I'd chop my hand off!'
"Uh... well, I don't have any plans right now." I frowned, shrugging my shoulders as I drummed my fingers on the counter. "Randy and his family are going to Washington to visit his Grandmother. They invited me, but I kind of felt a little bit awkward crashing it? I mean I've met his grandmother before... but... she kind of thinks we are a couple." I laughed awkwardly. Emalie gave me a strange look before continuing her task. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling slightly awkward talking to her for some reason. I looked up to her to see that her eyes were trained on her task once again.
"Why not go visit your family?" She said, looking up at me for a moment. "I'm sure your family misses you. From what I've seen, you haven't seen them since I've known you."
"What about you? I'm sure your family misses you back in Australia." I watched as the knife in her hand stalled, but her eyes unmoving.
"My family... my dad left a few years ago; I haven't heard from him since then." She sighed, rolling her eyes as she moved the knife faster. "But my mother..." She sighed, placing the knife down. "The big c took her a few months ago." She looked up at me with glassy eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat, making it difficult to hold my own emotions back.
"I'm so sorry..." I frowned, knowing what it felt like to lose a parent, regardless of the circumstances. But, I knew someone saying that they were sorry meant nothing. It was an empty and cold gesture. But... at the same time, there really nothing else someone could say. Despite her sharing this sensitive information with me, I couldn't do the same in return.
"Thank you." She said, offering me a smile even though I could tell it wasn't genuine. I knew that all too well. "But..." She said with a somewhat reassuring sigh, "I have her back in my life at least. Right, Lyn?" I looked over my shoulder to see Lyndsey give a thumb up. "That's my dork." I gave her a short smile before looking elsewhere.
"Yeah, she is."
I rubbed my head in frustration as the memory left me. We decided to all stay at the condo for Christmas; playing some board games, watching a crap ton of movies and just stuffing our faces with crap. But now... on my mother's birthday... I felt as if I was losing my mind all over again.
"Stella?" I looked up from my desk to see Lyndsey in the ball gown I had designed for the winter shoot that was coming up. "Do you have a second?"
"What's the matter?" I asked, standing up and walking over to her. I made her spin for me a few times, thinking that she was referring to the dress. "It needs the stitching fixed on your left side..."
"No, the dress is fine. I just wanted to talk to you." She said, shutting my office door behind her. I eyed her curiously, noticing that she was fidgeting with her hands. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Well? What is it?" I asked, probably sounding agitated.
"I just wanted to come and check up on you, like seeing how you are? Ana said you yelled at her." I looked up at her with a bored expression before leaning against my desk. "What's the matter? You're not being yourself today." She sounded concerned, which caught me off guard.
"Nothing, it's just one of those days." I shrugged, my eyes finding an interesting piece on the floor.
"Right. I can tell you're lying." She walked closer to me, making my nerves skyrocket I wasn't sure what was going on with me lately. Every time she comes close to me, my heart just flutters at a million miles per second. I chewed on the side of my cheek as I looked up to her, my breath catching in my throat. She looked beautiful; hair in a messy but eloquent bun with hardly any makeup on. She rose a brow as she looked down at me, forcing me to look away quickly. "You need to get out; you've barely left this office the past few days. All you've been doing is sketching new outfits. Come on." She demanded, grabbing my hand. She pulled me out of the office, despite my obvious protesting, and dragged me to her room. "Wait right here." She smiled, closing the door behind her. I groaned, leaning up against the said door.
"Where are you taking me?" I called out after a few moments of silence. I nearly fell on my ass as she opened the door quickly, but she reacted quickly and caught me with no problem.
"Jesus woman, why on earth would you lean against a door knowing I'd be coming out any moment?" She laughed as she steadied me. I glared at her before rolling my eyes.
"So, where are we going?" I asked once again. Lyndsey gave me a look before walking down the doorway towards the parking garage. "Are you planning on answering me? You do this too much..." I sighed as I followed behind her.
"You're so snippy today." I clenched my jaw in annoyance. Lyndsey pushed the door open, waiting for me to follow. "Come on, Stella." She said with a gentle smile. "Calm down, just relax and enjoy the fresh air for once."
"...We are in a parking garage, what fresh air?" I laughed as I walked over to her bright red Maserati.
"You're so bitchy today." She laughed as she opened the door for me. "Just get in, Stella."
"Are you going to tell me where you're taking me?" I questioned, glaring at her as she leaned on my door motioning for me to get in. I just stared at her.
"I'm taking you out to eat." She answered, her accent thick. "Can you get in now?"
"Nope, that wasn't a good enough answer for me," I argued, crossing my arms over my chest. Lyndsey rose her slender brow at my sass, but I didn't care. She knew I was in a mood today, I gave her fair amount of warning. But... the next thing I knew was that she lifted me up and threw me in the seat and slamming the door shut. "Hey!" I yelled at her through the glass window, but she just simply smirked as she ran over to her side. "I should report you for kidnapping!" I joked but attempted to sound serious. Lyndsey rolled her eyes as she gave me a classic smirk of hers, throwing in a wink.
"Want me in cuffs, huh?" She winked, making me blush instantly. "Oh jeez, your face!" She laughed out, making me feel even more embarrassed.
"Seriously?!" I ground my teeth together.
"What? I wasn't joking. If it's you putting me in the cuffs." My face must have turned 100 shades of red.
"Yeah, you wish." I laughed, trying to hide the fact that thinking about her... 'Nope! Stop it brain!'
"What if I Did?"
Author Note:
Hey please Vote and Comment, it lets me know if i should keep writing this story or not. Thanks guys :)
-Amy