~Rushed and unedited~ Saree!
NOTE: OMG! Last two chapters before the epilogue. Can you hear that?! Yes, that’s me sobbing! LONG CHAPTER so make sure you VOTE and COMMENT. PLEEEAAASSSEEE?!!!
Copyright © zylgnagnaba 2013
Harry’s POV
“I love you,” I whisper breathlessly before kissing Valerie’s lips twice.
“I love you, baby. So much,” Her voice comes out barely as a whisper as she gasps for air. Our bare chests meet as they flutter against each other, both of us panting erratically from exhaustion.
I kiss her temple that’s damp with sweat before pulling myself from inside her, muttering a “Fuck!” in pleasure and she groans. I roll off of her body, our shoulders touch as I lay next to her and I dart my eyes up at the ceiling.
“Are we still going out? Do you still have the energy?” Both of us laugh at my question before we turn our heads to meet each other’s gaze. I can see by the way our chests heave up and down that our respiration matches each other. She flashes me a very alluring wide grin, her breath sifts through her perfect white teeth—a very captivating sight indeed.
I turn my body sideway to face her entirely, lifting my tired arm atop her head to sway the damp hair away from her sweat-soaked fringe. I rest my hand on top of her torso before she grabs it and kiss the cross tattoo imprinted between my thumb and forefinger. She idly starts fiddling with the bracelet she gave me, laughing as she reads the characters scribbled on the silver plate—H+V. I laugh too, knowing exactly what’s behind her mischievous cackles.
She really never ceases to amaze me. It’s like being with her is an adventure. As I continue spending time with her, I continuously explore something extraordinary about her. She’s like a locked chest and every time I open her, I discover new things. There’s never a dull moment with her. She’s opened my eyes to a whole lot of new things. That’s what is interesting about her. That’s why I always crave for her. It’s because I know there’s something more about her than meets the eyes.
Every day with her is like taking another leap farther into our relationship. It’s like a life challenge that when we overcome the first stage, we advance to another level. Fortunately, each level is not as difficult because we have each other to face it.
People mistake her as the one who’s lucky for being with me, when the truth is I am the one who’s lucky to be with her. She’s a very strong girl, witty, and always fun. She always makes the mood lighter when she’s around. Like most of our friends refer to her, she’s the life of the party. Everything’s fuzzy and dreary without her.
“I’m going to wash myself first.” The answer to my question comes out from her a matter of fifteen seconds later after her breathing becomes steady. With the flick of my head allowing her to get up, she uses her arms for leverage before she can finally sit up.
Her bare back is now facing me as she sits at the edge of the mattress, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her crumpled tunic dress, the zip still undone when she stands up and pull the skirt down halfway to her thighs.
Disbelief is written all over her face while smiling down at me after she spots her underwear hanging on top of the lampshade. I laugh, admitting that I accidentally threw it on there after I pull it off of her out of excitement. Chuckling, she shakes her head a bit when she retrieves it and starts taking casual steps to the bathroom.
I, on the other hand, finally kick myself off of the bed and stand on my feet on the floor. After hiding my little friend, I crouch down on the floor to retrieve my clothes and start dressing up, fixing myself. Just as I am through pulling my brown boots on, Valerie steps out of the bathroom while dabbing her moist face with a white towellette.
“A little help here, baby?” She asks me while facing the full-length mirror, referring to the zipper at the back of her dress. I briskly walk towards her direction and stands behind her. She practically gathers her dark hair in one hand, lifting it up so I can do the task without intervention.
I can’t help but admire her hour-glass figure. Her curves are so sexy and enthralling. I want to grab and touch them all of the time. My hands are so addicted to the way her breasts and arse feels against my palms. The way her soft and smooth skin creates friction against my own skin, it’s enchanting. I just literally want to feel and touch her every time. I am so obsessed with her.
“I want to fuck you all over again.” I whisper behind her ear and I notice my breath create goosebumps down the nape of her neck. Her cheeks flush and she giggles at my honest and lustful remark. After zipping her dress, my hands explore her body by rubbing her sides, pressing myself against her behind.
“You should get yourself checked.” She giggles once again. Her ticklish shoulder shrugs when I ghost her neck with a kiss. She giggles even more as I continue kissing her earlobe, the spot behind her ear, and her shoulder. I could never really get enough of her.
“Harry…” She mumbles in a whiney tone when I wrap my arms tightly around her. I hum inquisitively over her shoulder as if I don’t know what she’s murmuring about. I lean my chin over her shoulder as I continue peppering kisses on there, back to her neck and onto her cheek. I just really can’t stop. “Baby, we really need to go. Your twenty-five minutes is over.” She chuckles endearingly which makes me want her more.
“Ah, baby…” I whine. “Let’s just stay here… and do it… all over… again.” I tell her between sloppy kisses on her skin.
“You’re a dickhead, you know that? You planned this date, you awaken my curiosity and you won’t even taking account on it. Wow, fuck you.” Her words are harsh but she’s laughing. “Come on, now.” She pulls away a bit, tugging my hand with her as she makes her way to the bed. She sits down on the edge after throwing her towel on the hamper, waiting for me to kneel down to grab her shoes and put it on her.
I comply anyway and wait when she makes her way to the walk-in closet to grab her make-up set. Honestly, I think she doesn’t need any of those; she’s already pretty as it is. Quiet clanks travel across the room as she walks around the room with her shoes before she steps inside the bathroom once again.
While waiting for her, I stand in front of the mirror to examine myself. I run my hands through my curls and shake my head to mess it up. I push back the loose strands from my fringe, stroking my hair for another three times. Adjusting my belt, I pull my tight jeans up for a secure hold—as if it’ll ever fall which is impossible because it hugs my legs firmly. Fixing the folds in my white printed shirt, I scrub my hand in front of me before pulling the collars of my black blazer up to my jaw.
Just few minutes later, Valerie finally goes out of the bathroom completely glammed up. Her sultry make-up complements her fiery red dress rather charmingly, especially with those lovely brown eyes. Her wavy jet-black hair falls down elegantly past both sides of her chest. Her fleshy red lips curves up to an attractive smile. My heart is beating fast, pounding against my ribcage at the beautiful sight. I’m so glad she’s mine.
Her mesmerizing and stunning beauty renders me speechless and ‘wow!’ is all I can muster matching my widened eyes.
I think I need to reinforce my guard over her against some competition when we go out. I laugh at the thought.
“Let’s go?” She gives me a nod while asking. I nod at her as an answer before grabbing a coat for her and drape it over her shoulders.
And so we end up in a Libera—a famous English all-boys vocal group—concert that I know all along that she’ll love. She is surprised and won’t even stop gushing about it even until we’re finally seated in the front row. I picked the seats especially for her. I know really well that she will appreciate it.
“Oh my gosh, baby. How did you know?” She gushes, her words muffled by her hands covering her gaping mouth. Her reaction makes me so elated that I mentally tap my own shoulder for a job well done.
“I wasn’t lying when I told you I could hear the obnoxious sounds from your old headphones. And I saw some of their songs in your playlist while I was choosing your new ringtone.” I admit to her, smiling as I say so. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are glossy in sheer happiness. I wouldn’t even trade the sight with anything in the world. She looks so lovely.
“I don’t even mention that I love them, but you… awe baby, I love you so much!” Her voice is contagiously jolly and it makes me all giddy inside.
The show hasn’t started yet so she tells me how she fell in love with them. She tells me that her parents brought her and her brother on one of their shows in Scotland. Apparently, her parents are one of those classy, modest, and rich individuals that appreciate quiet music. She says that from then on, she couldn’t stop listening to them anymore. After witnessing their first show, she tried playing their tunes in her piano with her mom. That’s very typical but what shocked me is the fact that her father invited them to sing on her sixteenth birthday. My jaw literally dropped at that information. They are that rich.
The boys are indeed so talented and impressive. They sound like angels and they could get me to sleep just by the sound of their voice singing. But instead of them, my concentration is drawn to Valerie as she watches the boys in awe. It’s like she’s dreaming when she listens to them.
“Awe. Heaven.” She sighs, scooting closer next to me so she can lean her head on my shoulder. I welcome her within my warmth by wrapping my arm around her waist while she tangles our fingers altogether with my other hand. “Thank you so much.” She whispers, tipping her head further in my shoulder. I intuitively tilt my head to kiss her lips delicately.
Right after the show, I take her to a fancy dinner but she ends up insisting to eat at a well-known 24/7 kebab restaurant—which blows me away. I am taken aback by her crazy appetite over spicy dishes. She even laughs at herself whenever a chili mix falls over her expensive dress. I have even wiped the smear of the mix from the corner of her lips too many times and I don’t even complain. She looks so adorable.
“You know, I admire my parents’ love for each other.” She tells me out of the blue after wiping her cheek with the table napkin. I scrunch my brows, nodding at her to show my interest. “They couldn’t bear child but they still stayed together. I don’t know who’s sterile and infertile but…” I try to hold my laughter at her bluntness about the subject. “My dad, he once told me that if you love someone, no matter what the odds are, you’d do anything to be together. I was too young to understand then, but now it’s all so clear to me.” She sighs, smiling at herself as she casts her head down while tracing patterns on the table with her finger.
When she meets my gaze, her smile widens into a charming beam that meets her glistening brown eyes. “After I found out that I was adopted, it was clear to me… that they really do love each other. They don’t have biological children but they stayed together. My dad didn’t explain to me his deep quotes because I wasn’t supposed to know that I was adopted, but now…” She peels her eyes off of me to look at a far distant, letting go of a deep breath as she shakes her head slowly. “I want to have a love like them, you know Harry?”
Her words send volts of electricity through all my veins, waking every cell in my body.
“You won’t have a love like them, baby.” I tell her simply and she frowns automatically when she darts her sight at me. I know she misunderstands me so I retort quickly, “… Because we’ll have love better than theirs.” I reassure her and I know from that night on, I am going to stand by my words. I will love her better than how her father loves her mom.
*****
“What?” She asks, narrowing her eyes at me but the smile on her face is priceless. Only then I have realized that I have been glancing at her too many times, smiling at myself as I continue to drive the car. I know this is quite dangerous—we could get involved in an accident—but I just can’t help but admire this beautiful lass sitting next to me in the front seat of my car.
“Nothing,” I sigh, smiling at myself and try to focus on driving instead. It’s not ‘nothing’, it’s everything. Everything’s just perfect—me, Valerie, us together. It’s like I am experiencing utopia.
“Why do you think Mister Shaw needs to talk to us?” But she breaks my own version of utopia when she mentions the name of the guy behind Modest! Management. It’s like each time his name is mentioned, both of us cower away and it just ruins the mood.
“I don’t know, baby.” I tell her honestly. I have no clue.
“What if he already found out that we’re dating? I mean, not pretending this time?” I feel her gaze burning the side of my face as she speaks.
“Don’t worry about it, okay? He can’t do anything about it. Our contract is still in effect within fifteen months.” I say, holding her hand on her lap in an attempt to calm her without taking my eyes off of the road.
“Okay,” Her voice comes out merely as a whisper before she leans her head to the seat. As she squeezes my hand back and look out the window, I can tell that she’s still bothered about this meeting with Mister—I can’t even say his name—you-know-who.
A matter of thirty minute drive, I finally pull up to a paved lot in front of the management’s building. I notice Valerie let go of a deep breath before she unbuckles her seatbelt waiting for me to open the door for her. I chuckle as I remember the few times that we argued about her being stubbornly insistent about opening her door for herself.
Holding the door open, I allow her to climb off of the car and I grab her hand, interlocking our fingers. Both of us tip our head a little to see the vast structure of the building in front of us. I can exactly read what is reeling on both our heads as of the moment.
“This is where we first met.” I whisper into her ear romantically, earning a giggle from her.
“I would never forget.” There is bitterness underlying in her voice, and I know exactly why—because I wasn’t exactly the bit of a gentleman when we first met. I was so rude to her.
“I know… because I was being a jerk to you back then.” I tell her as we started walking towards the building. A security guard in his light blue uniform holds the glass door open for us and I nod at him, muttering a ‘thank you’.
“Back then?” She repeats my last two words in a quizzical tone. “You’re still being a jerk up until now, baby.” I widen my eyes at her and she chuckles at my expense. “Only a little, you know when you’re in a shitty mood. That’s all.” She restores the smile in my face with that, both of us chuckling because we both know that’s true.
We step inside the elevator—I press the number 6 button to carry us to the floor where Mister You-know-who’s office is located. As we ascend one floor up, I can feel the tension in Valerie’s grip with my hand. Her hand becomes sweaty; her breathing becomes unsteady while she wriggles her free hand in her side.
“Hey baby, it’s okay.” I try to calm her down and she pulls off a weak smile at me, nodding her head. I think I’m equally as nervous as her, but I manage to not let it show because it’ll make her feel worse.
If he calls us about something, that something could either be bad or really bad. I’ve been into his office too many times and nothing resorts into a good thing after stepping out of there—well, except me having Valerie.
Stepping out of the elevator, both our eyes dart almost immediately to the most familiar door in the premise. It’s amazing how Valerie and I keep doing little things in chorus—when she sighs, I sigh; when she takes a deep breath, me too; our steps are even in unison. It just gives me enough reason to believe that we are really meant to be.
We halt in front of the door, letting go of another deep breaths before I turn the knob open. As soon as the door flings open, both of us walk in and his office chair turns around to welcome us. I mentally face-palm myself for how he is being so cliché.
“Harry! Valerie!” He hails, granting us a wide sarcastic grin. “I’m so glad to see you. How long has it been?” He asks to no one in particular, looking down on his side creasing his forehead in a deep thought manner before looking right back at us. “Eight, nine months? I can’t even remember.” Even his chuckle is so fucking irritating.
“Nine months,” I clip, answering him anyway while Valerie keeps her mouth shut next to me.
“Oh yeah,” He nods rather dramatically. “Sit, sit. Both of you.” He enthusiastically sway us, gesturing his hand to the chairs set up on both sides of his office table.
A loud screeching sound travels across the room when I drag the chairs few feet away in front of his table, rearranging it so Valerie and I can sit next to each other, facing him.
“Baby…” I call Valerie and she snaps her head at me before she drags her sight to the stern looking guy behind the office table. I can tell she was a bit terrified when I call her using our endearment.
She tentatively takes few steps before she reaches my side and we both sit down.
“So, what is it this time?” I can’t even hide my annoyance towards the middle-aged guy in front of us. Valerie elbows me, mentally asking me to be more polite but I ignore her plea. This guy is the reason of her anxiety. I hate when she’s like this. I already saw her too many times being worried as heck—most of them I caused—and I wouldn’t allow anyone to make her feel that way again. Even this… this jerk.
“I just want to praise you about everything you’ve accomplish. Your cooperation is so effective. I mean, I can’t even tell if you two are still pretending because it all seems so real to me.” At his word, I feel Valerie tense even more in her seat and it takes me ounce of patience before I can walk out of this office with her.
“You handle the cheating rumour really well,” He nods, astonishment laced in his voice—only I know something dark is deep-seated within his hard skull. “You went out on a date last night, am I right? That’s really brilliant—clever both of you. I didn’t even have to instruct you on what to do. That’s amazing.” He leans his elbows on the surface of his table before he continues on his unsolicited speech.
“I must say, you two worked really great together these past few months. Amazing job. I must commend you both for that, especially you, Miss Scott.” His line of vision goes straight to my girlfriend at the same damn time that Valerie snaps her head upon the mention of her name. And that’s when I start to mentally panic. Looking back and forth at their exchange of gaze, I can sense animosity in his eyes, while horror on Valerie’s brown ones.
“Miss Scott?” He looks away, narrowing his brows and his forehead creases as if pondering something before he glance back at Valerie who’s head is cast down now on her lap. “Or should I call you, Miss Epperson?”
Her last name echoes in my head, spinning and spinning until it sink in with his malefic voice. What the actual fuck? How did he know her real last name? I notice Valerie widen her eyes in horror at the mention of the name, tensing in her seat and I grab her trembling hand but she doesn’t meet my eyes. Instead, she looks down at her side, her eyes trickling with fresh tears.
I’m going to blow this arsehole's head!
“Am I right, Miss Scott? Oh sorry, I mean Miss Epperson.” He chuckles at himself. He is so evil!
“What do you want?!” I growl, scowling at him. I am so angry that I can’t hold myself from flaring up against this jerk of a guy.
“Oh, you know about this, Harry? You both are conniving? I should’ve known that you too are going to go behind my back.”
“Shut up!” I stand up before releasing Valerie’s hand and with heavy steps, walk towards his office table. I am towering his sitting position and even if he stands up, I can still win over him.
“You don’t understand what the consequence of her hiding her real identity, Harry. It’s going to ruin the management, me, and especially you. You know that, don’t you?” If he’s worried about the management, himself and me—I don’t even care about myself—, then why is he still sitting calmly in his chair? It’s as if he’s playing with me and Valerie of who can go the longest without freaking out. But obviously, he already won in that category.
“No, I don’t. I don’t even care. I only care about her!” I tell him, my voice firm and decisive. Without looking back to Valerie, I know she’s already tearing up. The hatred I feel towards this guy is beyond any words comparable to the feeling. I despise him. I loathe him for making Valerie feel this way.
“What about what people will say about her, Harry? She lied about herself. I can get sued as well for forging her documents. I have her name in her passport and most of her documents as Valerie Scott.”
“It’s your entire fault, not hers. You were so desperate to control my life, you looked over her background. So don’t you dare blame her for your failures!”
A soft hand grips on my arm and the next thing I know is Valerie is already standing next to me. Her flushed cheeks are stained with tears, her eyes are bleary and she looks down on the table.
She fixes her vulnerable stance before daring herself to look at him. “I’m sorry, Mister Shaw,” Her voice comes out as a whisper, barely even audible so she repeats. “I’m sorry…” She sniffles, wiping spot between her nose and upper lips. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble, Mister Shaw. I’m sorry about lying.” She shakes her head slowly, sniffling again and I open my mouth to say something, to get her to stop from apologizing to this arsehole but she beats me to it. “If it’s that much of a bother, then maybe you can just make a public announcement that Harry and I broke up.” I widen my eyes at her statement.
“Valerie, that’s not the solution for everything. Are you crazy?!” I try to tell her as gently as possible, but I can’t hide the disbelief in my voice.
She shakes her head and doesn’t even dare to look my way, either to the guy behind the table below us. She seems lost, confused, and frustrated. I hate to see her like this.
“I don’t know what to think anymore.” She sobs and I focus my eyes back to Mister Shaw—I finally got to say his name in my mind—, glaring daggers at him while he just looks amused at her words and my outburst. He’s so sadistic, heartless, and atrocious—every word similar to that! He’s the epitome of evil.
With a loud slam, both his and my sight trail to the door. I didn’t even feel Valerie’s grip loosen from my arm because I was so concentrated with Mister Shaw. I look around for any sign of her, but she’s already gone. She ran away.
I turn around to look at Mister Shaw again, my chest heaving up and down as I try to calm myself and hold myself from connecting my fist on his jaw. The heat in my body is increasing as I worry about Valerie.
“If something happens to her, I swear you’re going to regret it!” I warn, pointing at his face with fuming eyes. The fury I have against him only increases when he only shrugs like he isn’t even scared with my threat. “You know what? Piece of advice, Mister Shaw. Why don’t you go home to your wife more often instead of spending most of the nights with different bimbos?” I tell him and he widens his eyes at my statement. He looks quite surprised and mortified at my statement. The boys and I know about his infidelity, but we try to keep it for future use. And I guess, this is the right time to use it against him.
“And stop controlling our lives—by that, I mean mine and the rest of the boys’ lives.” His silence and frozen state is my cue to walk out of his office to go find Valerie.
I look around, asking whoever might have seen her and the guard informed me that she took off with a cab. I’m so worried that I called everyone in my contacts to ask if Valerie’s with anyone of them, especially Eleanor and Liam—even Walt, her agent who hates me so much. All of them have negative answers. Then I figured she wouldn’t dare to look for comfort from them. She’s hunted by the truth and the lies, and being with them would only make her feel even worse.
As I drive back to our flat, I look around on the street just in case I’ll see her walking by the sidewalk. When I pull up in front of the flat, I quickly climb off the car, slamming the door shut in the process. I quickly pull out the house keys and call Valerie’s name as soon as I step in the dark foyer, but there’s no answer.
I quickly walk towards our bedroom, terribly hoping that she’s just there slumped on the floor, hugging her knees and crying. But when I fling the door open, the bedroom is dark except the walk-in closet. I am mentally praying that she didn’t do what I am scared that she might have done. Oh no, please Valerie.
I look around the confines of the closet and my eyes immediately search for Valerie’s allotted space for her stuffs. I slide the wooden door open and I freeze when I see that her cabinet is empty—except with the tiny little note lying at the bottom of the shelves.
I regret nothing. i just wish we had a little more time spent with each other. But we both knew this is bound to happen. You are my first, and I prayed so hard to be my last...
I love you, Harry!
Val xx
Tears fall even more as I take notice of the necklace I gave her on top of a sketch—a sketch of me—signed with a G.V. Epperson.
*****
Awe! Sorry about this chapter.
Awe! Hahahahah xxD
READ ‘Darling Harbor’, guysss. If you do, you might be shocked because it’s not as fun and humorous as this book. It might make your heart break, but I promise you a happy ending on that book too. My next update on that book will already include Valerie in the future. You’ll know what happens with her and Harry. I’m so excited for you to find out.
That’s all. Xx
Thanks for the comments and votes. Mwah
Love,
Glyz <3
PS: if you don't know who LIBERA is/are, check the sidebar. That's their cover of Carol of the Bells. They sound like angels. omg!