Valentine sucked in a deep breath, straightened her back then started, “Well… we met.”
“How?” Missy asked, blatant enough that she was eager to know more about her best friend’s story.
“W–We met at the bar?”
“Why does it seem like you’re questioning?” Delilah asked, confused.
Clearing her throat, Valentine repeated. “We met at the bar.”
“You went partying?” Missy asked, surprised. “Why didn’t you invite me? I’m confused… why did you went out partying? Didn’t you like parties? You even refused our invitations a thousand times. What’s with the change of–.”
“Please, let her talk,” Sofie interrupted them and both Delilah and Missy behaved.
Valentine officially got the time to herself, explaining how she and William met but, that was the problem. She didn’t know which story she&
Her fiancé pushed the door open to his house and she stepped in, greeted by a girl who appeared to be in her early teenage years. She ducked her head slightly. She was dressed like she’s at her own house–her shorts reaching mid-thigh and she wore a shirt bigger than her size. Every strand of her raven hair was tied up into a ponytail.“Welcome back, sir. I arranged miss’s properties according to what you told me to.”“Very good, what about dinner?”“All cooked,” she replied promptly, raising her head up to see them. The girl had tanned skin and scars on both arms and legs. Her smile was too wide to the point where it reached her eyes, her slightly yellow teeth exposing themselves at Valentine. “Pretty…”“Baby, this is my helper, Mary,” William introduced. “Mary, say hi to my fiancé, Valentine.”“Baby?” She felt her heart sink.
To Valentine, it was quite a bit of a shock but she still had to lie. William was out, heading Mary back to her house to her mother. He insisted on bringing Valentine along but she politely declined, looked up for an excuse to be left alone as she didn’t want to talk to Mary. In her young age, she’d be curious of so many things.As she entered the room William told her to go, she was rather enthralled with the sight of it. This was one of the rooms she entered yesterday morning since it was locked. It wasn’t really that huge compare to his but it had enough space.It felt like she was in William’s room. The arrangement of the bed, the mirror, the cabinet and the bedside table were exactly the same but the difference was, all her properties are stored within the furniture.“Do you like it?”Her body instantly shivered as William’s warm breath tickled against her ear. “Don’t get near me.” She warne
“Miss?”Valentine’s ears perked up at Mary’s voice. “Yeah?” she yawned.“Sir William told me to wake you before 8. It’s already 9 and the seamstress is here with loads of wedding dresses ready for you to choose!” she shrieked in excitement.Valentine’s eyes shot open and realized that she had overslept. It was unusual for her to be oversleeping. Plus, they were supposed to talk to Sofie today about her requesting for three days off.“Where’s William?” she asked, trying to make herself listening intently to Mary regardless of how much her head still wanted to drop on the pillow.“He’s already gone off to work. But… I think I remember him telling me that he will take care of your three days off… was it?”“Ah.” She sighed, she was worried for nothing. “What about the seamstress?”“She’s still a
Pepper didn’t say anything after hearing Valentine’s words. Perhaps she wasn’t expecting for Valentine to act like that, considering how innocent and stupid she actually looked. “P-Please choose dresses between those 2 racks. They contain dresses that reach up to your size. These 3 racks near me are… smaller,” she said, in a quieter tone.Triumphantly, Valentine treaded closer to the two racks while Mary kept herself comfortable on the couch, watching her pick. Her fingers running along from fabric to fabric. There were few who had sequins on it, ones had laces, and there were some that were only made from cloth but styled differently.She couldn’t deny though, the dresses were indeed wonderful, but she was only going to be using a dress once. Why did even William say he was going to buy it? Just in case everything ends well, they divorce then he can get married again and have his soon-to-be wife wear the same? That would
She expected for Pepper to talk back and so, she shifted her attention back to the dress to observe it further; wondering if it would fit her.Unexpectedly, she heard a loud sniff from behind her and a sob.“Did I say something bad?” Valentine fully shown that she was undeniably worried of her words. Her eyes travelled from Pepper to Mary. Instead of disgust to be written in Mary’s face, she was proud. Pepper had her face down on both of her palms. She was wiping her tears away.Valentine placed the dress back to the rack and went closer to Pepper. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you.” She slightly bent her knees to take a glance of Pepper’s face but she failed. She held the seamstress’s wrists and said, “I’m so sorry.”“No, you’re right. I really shouldn’t have let my husband’s words in to me,” Pepper sobbed.“Mary, can you go fetch a glass of water
The door slowly creaked open. Valentine felt her ear slightly perk up as it picked up the sound and she opened her eyes. They landed upon a beaming Mary, her hair was tied into a ponytail and she was looking fresh than ever. “Good afternoon, miss,” she chirped. “Good aftern– Wait, it’s already afternoon?” Valentine sat upright, with the palm of her hand pressed against her forehead. How did she even sleep that long? What was she doing yesterday? Picking dresses. Who would have ever thought that picking wedding dresses would tire her out? She remembered the wedding and asked about it. She could have been late. There was no way she was going to be late for a wedding. Mary told her to calm down and relayed the words William had asked her earlier in the morning before he went off to work. Hurriedly, Valentine ate the pizza displaying itself on the table at the kitchen. She offered the half of it to Mary, who agreed. She took her shower afterwards, not onc
Valentine’s eye squinted as she watched every person around her. They had just finished eating dinner and she was full. A hand on her tummy proved it that she had eaten too much. The service crew had just taken every empty plate and used utensils, leaving only champagne, glasses and finger foods for some who wanted them. An hour before, Valentine and William had shared their first dance together in which they didn’t rehearsed. She constantly and purposely stepped on his foot several times. When she did it, she would tilt her head slightly, push up a brow and smirk triumphantly. That was the best moment Valentine had during the reception so far. The rest were not good; for the number of guests invited, the two men constantly flashing their cameras at them, and the noise irritated her. “I thought we were going to have a wedding with only a few guests?” Through gritted teeth, Valentine asked as she leaned slightly close to his ear. “I know and I’m sorry
“What were you doing?” William’s voice landed in her ear and she groaned. “Shh… quiet.” “You’re drunk.” “No, I’m not,” Valentine replied immediately. “You are.” She turned around to face him. Her eye lids were getting heavier and heavier by the second. She pushed her index finger against his lips and smiled goofily. “Kiss me.” “You moved your head earlier because you didn’t want me to kiss you and now, you want to?” She giggled and wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him closer. William bent down, placed his arm to the back of her knees while the other hand on her back. He lifted her up and he walked back to shore. Valentine gave him a tight-lipped smile with her eyes half-closed. “William?” He didn’t respond to her. Instead, he brought the both of them to the hotel. The place where the reception was held became noisier–joyful cheers and disco music boomed. It seemed more like a party than a wedding recep
The lights inside the room were dimmed, although it was dimmed enough for them to see each other. They were standing near the bed, with William behind her. “I want to see you wearing it again,” William pleaded. His breath tickled against her neck as he moved the strands of Valentine’s hair aside to kiss her nape. “No,” Valentine replied promptly. What was he thinking? They already had a three-year old Xavier and a two-month old baby Yvonne to watch over. They just couldn’t simply hit a home run now that they had company. “Please? It’s been years since you wore my gift. I just want to see you in it one last time,” he begged. She scoffed, not believing in him with his words. “Are you certain with that ‘one last time’ of yours?” “Yes, I am.” She was convinced. Valentine sighed and wiggled out of William’s arms around her. She looked for the white lingerie he gave her the day after their wedding. It definitely had been a while since she wo
Twelve months had passed since they popped out the news of her pregnancy to Helen. And the mother-in-law herself popped the news out to the guests during her birthday celebration as well. Considering that there will always be paparazzi everywhere, it made the big announcement as a headline for the next day’s television news. Just after a few days since the announcement, Dave Henson, the manager of the restaurant where William proposed to her, apologized and introduced himself as William’s cousin. The second ‘little bird’ who did background checks on her for Helen. As Valentine didn’t want drama in her life anymore, she forgave him. After two months since Valentine gave birth to their first son, they went on a ‘little’ outing trip. Valentine, William, their baby, Billy, Helen, Vaughn, and Lucy went to Paris, France. Every time she would catch Lucy’s stare at her, she’d always receive multiple apologies at once. Yet, she forgave her too. Either once, twice, or
Just as planned, Valentine was already inside the room, she was just standing a meter away from the door, her back against the wall, and the gift she made for Helen was on her hand. William closed the door and she heard every step of his shoes click against the floor as he left.It had been minutes but Helen still hadn’t arrived. She was getting anxious; Valentine might have gotten inside the wrong room. Because of the nervousness she was earning, she’d been tightening her calves for a while now and they ached.Rather than making herself stand against the wall and wait for someone that took ages to arrive, she decided to get out of her position and pace around the room.The door opened as Helen came inside. To Valentine’s luck, it seemed that her mother-in-law hadn’t noticed her yet as she was busy talking with William. Quickly, Valentine went back to her previous position.As Helen walked in, she saw William carrying the gifts she
Valentine returned upstairs right after her conversation with Helen ended. Her husband was on his laptop. Based on the way he almost had his face plant itself to the monitor of his device, it showed that he typing away as if his life depended on it. Well, of course. William’s life did depend on it. She smiled at her silliness. “Hey.” “Why did you want to talk with her?” William asked as his eyes were still focused on the screen. “I wanted to tell her about this.” She circled her hand around her tummy as a gesture for him to understand why. His face softened and he closed his laptop. “How did it go?” the way his voice sounded smooth and cozy made Valentine want to jump on him, cuddle and scoop with him until this evening. “Well…” She plopped herself down on the bed, sitting with her back slouched and continued with a tone of disappointment, “I didn’t get the chance to tell her.” “And that’s because?” “I think your mothe
A maid knocked on their doors, as she said loudly that Helen requested for their presence as she wished to eat breakfast together with them. Valentine figured out that this could be the opportunity she’d take to tell her mother-in-law about the great news — which, she thought could be the reason if Helen would change her perspective of William and her.They got out of the room. Valentine thanked the maid for informing them and they followed her towards the dining room. Helen was already sitting on her seat with her food untouched.“Happy birthday,” Valentine greeted.She didn’t receive a verbal response. Instead, she received a stare. They ate their breakfast. All she could hear was the clink every time their spoons and forks knocked lightly against the plates. Just when they finished, Helen started a conversation about the company with William, making Valentine left out.She had to keep herself quiet just like what she did l
For every trip to almost all of the jewelry shops in the city the couple did to find the perfect gift for Helen, it took them half an hour until they switched to another shop. The both knew Helen Fajardo was a woman with the highest standards and expectations, considering that she was a wealthy widowed woman, of course she deserved something that would amuse her the most.Afterwards, they headed off to the arcade and spent the entire afternoon playing. They never once thought of eating for lunch. Valentine’s constant cheering, giggling, and laughing and William’s chuckling added fun to their little date.Not until William received a call from his mother, asking where he was and why it took the two of them to return back to the residence. They sped off back to the mansion not a minute later and had dinner together.It was a quiet one. They exchanged a few words every now and then, to be exact, it was only William and Helen who conversed, as Valentine
As they arrived to the dress shop, Valentine immediately pulled Delilah in. She dragged her friend towards the part of the shop where there were many dresses lined up, where they could discuss about Adam privately and to make sure that they were far enough as possible.When they reached the part of the shop, they halted.“What are you doing?” Delilah wanted to know the reason behind her abrupt action.“There is something you need to know,” she said.“Valentine?” William’s voice entered her ears and that’s where she realized that her husband followed them. Valentine’s eyes widened as she saw Adam with him.“You can go stay there at the bench. You know us, girls, we usually take an hour to pick our own clothes,” she laughed nervously.“Okay. We’ll wait there. But take note that I’ll pay for your dress and Delilah’s if ever she wants one.”&ld
“Hey guys!” Delilah’s voice boomed across the floor. “I thought you left! It’s hard to look for you since this place is pretty much packed.” There were three employees behind her, carrying a tray on their hands. Valentine felt relieved as she didn’t want to take care of Adam anymore. She watched as Delilah rocked her hips sideways, walking towards their table. She sat down beside Adam and placed her tray. She and Delilah said their ‘thank yous’ to the employees as they placed the rest of the trays on the table then left. “Where’s your husband?” her friend’s question caused Adam to flinch visibly. “He’s on a call,” Valentine answered, with her eyes sticking suspiciously at him. And as she faced her left, William came into view. “Oh, there he is.” “Hey.” William sat down beside her and apologized, “sorry it took me that long.” “Where were you?” Delilah unwrapped her rice from the paper, looking curious. “Work.” “Ah, very
A ringing sound of William’s phone took over the silence. Valentine looked at him, worried if he’d pick it up or not. He glanced at Adam and Valentine then said, “sorry, I’ll just have to take this.” He fished for his phone from his pocket then answered, “Hello, yes?” Valentine wanted to eavesdrop but the voice from the other end of the line was quite inaudible. She stayed silent but still wanted to know what it was about. Instead, her eyes focused on Adam — who was showing difficulty in avoiding her stare. “What?” he spat promptly, yet in hushed tones. His sudden manner of speaking made her to look back at him and mouth, “what’s wrong?” “Work,” he mouthed back then returned his attention to the caller, “tell them to contact me.” He stood up as he pulled the phone away from his face. “I’ll be back. I need to take care of this.” Valentine nodded, understanding that he’d be busy all the time. Nevertheless, she decided to take this opport