Chapter 16 - Clay
“Val. What are you doing here?!”
I’m dreaming of her again, except it’s not a dream this time. She’s fucking standing in my bedroom with some slick Sopranos wanna be. Why is she here?
“Do you guys know each other?” Tony Soprano says in the exact meathead voice I expected of him.
My head is pounding and I’m having trouble processing what’s going on. Valerie Brooks is standing in my bedroom with some guy. I feel a pang of jealousy seeing her there with him. She turns towards him and I can’t take my eyes off her. She looks so good, like that skirt was painted on her ass. She reaches up and touches his forearm and the anger flashes through me. I can’t think straight. What the fuck is going on!
“Marino I am so, so sorry about this. I got the confirmation from his agent this morning it was ready to show but he obviously didn’t do his homework. I’m really embarrassed right now but if you’re still interested we can definitely reschedule.”
The viewing. I completely forgot. The realisation hits me like a train going at full speed. I try to get out of bed but stumble as I get up. I think I’m still a bit drunk because the floor wasn’t where I thought it would be.
“Look, Val, I’m really sorry I completely forgot about this I’ll get out of your way you guys can have a look around,” I blurt out as I I try to get up.
“Oh my God!” she exclaims as she looks at me and then turns away suddenly. Tony Soprano starts laughing. As if things are moving in slow motion, my confusion starts clearing when I feel the cold breeze over my ass. I look down and realise too late that I’m completely naked. My hands fly to cover my crotch and I stand frozen. I can feel the embarrassment burning through my body as I stand in front of them completely exposed.
Valerie takes the meathead by the arm and ushers him out of my room. She grabs the doorknob and before she closes the door behind her she glances back at me. The fire burning in her eyes is pure anger.
I can’t help but think about how good she looks, or how I wish she would look at me like that again. She slams the door behind her and I hear both their voices trail off as they leave the apartment. I lay back down in bed and put my hand on my forehead. My head is splitting. I feel like I’ve been run over. What the fuck just happened!
My phone is on the bedside table and I see seven missed calls from Chris. I’ve never felt like such an idiot. I turn my phone around and lay back in bed.
If I ever thought I had a chance with Valerie I’ve definitely blown it now. She’ll never look at me again. I groan and turn around in bed, trying to forget this morning ever happened. At least I’ve passed her file on to Sherry and I won’t have to see her at the office again.
Still, I secretly hope I do run into her. Maybe she’ll be wearing a skirt like she was today and I can watch her walk down the hallway and imagine what that ass would feel like in my hands.
I groan at the thought of standing in front of her, hungover and naked.
I try to piece together what happened last night. I remember Dave leaving me on my own at the bar, and just drinking one after another after another. I couldn’t stop thinking of Valerie and it was making me crazy. I couldn’t look at any other girls let alone talk to them. I sat on my own at the bar for ages.
I have no idea how or when I got home, but by the look of my bedroom I wasn’t in great shape. As my eyes sweep across my room I feel another wave of embarrassment and shame wash over me. She was here, right in front of me and I’ve acted like the biggest screw up in town. She’s seen me like this. Look at the fucking state of me!
Her face was dripping with disgust when she looked at me and she didn’t even say a word to me, just turned around and walked out. At least I got to watch her walk away in that skirt for a few seconds. The thought of her face and the anger in her eyes makes my cock twinge.
Maybe I can make it up to her. I’ve got to do something. I can get her phone number from her file at the office and apologise. That’s what I’ll do. I feel a bit better with a plan, so I lay back and try to close my eyes. The pounding in my head is not getting any better.
Today is turning out to be a lot worse than I could have imagined.