CHAPTER 11

 

Isabel smiled at her. “I kind of made Romero mad. So, when it was all said and done and he was over it, he said I owed him albondigas because I’d bragged once that my albondigas were to die for.” She smiled at Valerie. “He’s coming over for dinner.”

Isabel made a face. “Well, you know how I was telling you I’ve been trying to slow things down, because I wasn’t sure exactly how serious he was?”

“Yeah?”

“A few nights ago, he asked me about my family. I told him a little about them, he was really impressed.” Isabel stopped to taste the soup.

Valerie wasn’t surprised Romero was impressed. She sure had been when Isabel first told her about her insanely accomplished siblings. Isabel was the only one that didn’t have a master’s degree, but then she was the youngest and was still working on it. Her oldest sister Patricia was always on her about it.

“So, yesterday, I was on the phone with my sister Pat at Romero’s place. I didn’t think he was listening to my conversation. I told her I was home getting ready to take a shower. When I hung up, he asked why I lied about where I was.” Isabel shrugged. “I didn’t really have an answer. So, then he asked if I’d even told her about him.” Valerie watched Isabel sprinkle some more cumin into the soup and waited. Isabel turned and bit her lip. “I haven’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need to hear what I know she’s going to say.”

“What’s that?” Valerie thought she knew. Patricia hadn’t even liked Lawrence the professor. It wasn’t just because he was an idiot. It was because she felt he wasn’t ambitious enough. She thought that at his age he should own his own place by now, not still be living in an apartment.

That made Valerie mad. Romero was a hard-working honest guy, currently proving that the word commitment was actually in his vocabulary. Unlike some people she knew. “You didn’t tell him all that, right?”

Isabel shook her head. “No. I just admitted I hadn’t told her about him yet.”

“What did he say?”

“At first not a lot, but I could tell he was hurt. Then he asked who I have told in my family. He hears me on the phone with them all the time, so, he knows how close I am to all of them. So, when I said I hadn’t told any of them, that’s when things got heated.” Isabel sighed. “I told him he hadn’t been real clear about what we were exactly. I didn’t want to tell them anything until I was sure. Then he really blew up. He couldn’t believe that all this time I didn’t consider us to be in a relationship already. He started asking if I was still going out with other people. He made a really huge deal out of that and kept asking if I was sure about this or not.”

Valerie couldn’t help laughing. “I hope you said you were.”

Isabel stirred the soup some more. “Of course I am.” She turned to Valerie. For the first time Valerie saw the worry in Isabel’s eyes. “I really am, but this is going to be tough. My family is so nit-picky about this kind of stuff and Romero holds nothing back. They’re going to butt heads. I’m not looking forward to it.”

Valerie rubbed Isabel’s back. “Well, if they really care about you, they’ll just have to accept it.” It hadn’t hit Valerie until this conversation. “I think you’ve really fallen for him, Isabel.”

Isabel’s expression said it all. She definitely had. Before the shower, she would’ve never imagined Isabel with Romero. This proved the theory even further. Opposites did attract. Isabel had told her sleeping with Romero was different than with any other guy she’d been with. Valerie got the feeling she was holding back the juicy details because Isabel felt bad for Valerie. She knew the struggle Valerie had just trying to get so much as a flicker out of Luke’s kisses. Judging from Isabel’s past experiences with all the uptight guys she usually dated, she was probably enjoying the best sex of her life.

Valerie served herself a big helping just as the doorbell rang. She took her bowl to her room to give Romero and Isabel some privacy. Isabel insisted she didn’t have to, but Valerie wanted to be alone. This week would to be hell, having to prepare herself mentally all over again to see Alex. She’d be back for more soup that was for sure.

 

 

 

*

 

Feeling like a damn nervous teenage kid, Alex approached Sarah as she filled salt and pepper shakers. The restaurant hadn’t opened yet, and Angel wasn’t due to arrive for a couple of hours. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have in front of him. He almost stopped and turned around but forced himself to keep walking. She looked up. Her big green eyes sparkled when she smiled. Angel was a lucky guy. He resisted telling her for the millionth time how beautiful her eyes were. Only because Angel wasn’t around, otherwise riling Angel by flirting with his soon to be sister-in-law was one of his most entertaining past times.

“Hey.” She picked up a few shakers. “Need some?’

“No, actually I just wanted to talk to you, if you have a minute.”

He had no intentions about confessing the truth to Sarah about the tutor… for now. All he wanted now was to find out more about Valerie and Luke. He needed a little insight before this weekend. Maybe if he knew a little more, he’d know at least if he had a chance in hell of winning her back.

“Sure,” Sarah stopped what she was doing and searched his eyes. “Something wrong?”

“Not really. I was just wondering…” Annoyed, he brushed his sweaty palm on his pants. “How serious is Valerie about this guy she’s seeing?”

“I know what it looked like, but believe it or not, I cared about Valerie. I still do.” Saying he cared about her didn’t even begin to cover all the emotions he felt for her now.

Sarah’s expression softened. “I’ve always known you did. That’s why I could never figure out the things you did. Why would you hurt her like that?”

“It was never my intention.” He glanced away. “I just… it was complicated.”

He turned back to her and just like that, Sarah’s expression was rigid again.

“It’s a long story, Sarah. But you have to believe me when I say I do care about her. I need to know if there’s even a chance of us working things out.” He reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Can you help me out here?”

Sarah pressed her lips together. “I’m not sure she’d be okay with me divulging that kind of information, especially to you.”

Alex frowned. “I’m not asking for any secrets, just your opinion. Do you think she’s really into him?”

With a sigh, Sarah gave in. “It’s only been a few weeks that I know of. But she’s known him for quite some time. She works with him, so, I can only assume she got to know him pretty well, before getting… involved.”

The emphasis on that final word was like sandpaper to an open wound. Alex stared at her hard, not wanting to speak for fear he would explode. As much as he had wanted details earlier, he didn’t want to hear another word. Never in his life had he felt so damn tormented.

Luke wasn’t someone Valerie had just met a few weeks ago. She’d known the guy for quite some time. They had an established relationship and were now involved. This was so much worst than he thought.

“Promise.” Sarah raised her voice. If he hadn’t been so enraged still about the thought of Valerie and Luke’s involvement, he might’ve been amused by sweet Sarah’s sudden hard-nosed demeanor. “Of course I promise.”

She said nothing for a moment, just stared at him. As if she still wasn’t completely persuaded. “Don’t you dare tell her I told you this, Alex Moreno.”

He nodded but said nothing, wondering where this was going.

“She puts up a good act sometimes, like she’s really moving on with this guy.” She paused giving Alex time to grind his teeth. Hearing about Valerie moving on wasn’t exactly what he was expecting when she made him promise. “I can tell she’s trying really hard to get over you. But I think if you try hard enough, she’d be more than willing to give it another shot.” She took one resolute foot forward. “But I swear, Alex, if you hurt her again, I will never forgive you.”

The tiniest sliver of light escaped through the storm cloud that had loomed over his head for weeks. He walked back toward Sarah and hugged tightly. “Don’t worry. I don’t break my promises. Ask anyone.”

 

 

 

That week, the office received a couple of calls from someone saying that Valerie was getting special treatment because she was doing the manager. Two different people had taken the calls, and brought it to Luke’s attention.

There was no doubt about who made the calls. Valerie wanted to kill him. She was definitely going to look into getting a restraining order on Bruce, possibly even sue for defamation. She started getting a definite feeling she was being followed, but she was more angry about it than creeped out.

Of course, Luke denied the accusations made on the calls, but some people in the office were beginning to look at her differently. Valerie wanted to believe that she imagined it. She was so mad at herself for getting involved with either Bruce or Luke in the first place. She’d worked too hard to have people believe she was sleeping her way to success.

Twice, she got into it with Luke for things she thought he was doing to save face. He sided with another agent in the morning meeting about something she knew she was right about, then later he claimed he misunderstood.

She smiled but wasn’t feeling it. She hadn’t talked to Luke in a couple of days and thought maybe he was still angry about her calling him out about the meeting incident. She hadn’t been very nice about it.

“Because I don’t think us going out in the first place was ever a good idea. We both knew it would be frowned upon, and now look what’s happening.”

“C’mon Val, since when can’t two colleagues get together for a drink after work? I know a place that serves the best peach Mojitos. Ever been to Moreno’s?”

Valerie’s face shot up from her briefcase expecting to see a smirk on his face, but he was serious. It took a moment but then she couldn’t help laughing. “You wanna take me to Moreno’s?”

“Yeah, why’s that so funny?”

Valerie pictured herself walking in there with Luke while maybe Angel or possibly even Alex waited on them and laughed even harder.

“What?” Luke obviously didn’t get it, but he seemed pleased with her sudden change in mood.

She hadn’t laughed so hard in a very long time. When she was finally composed enough, she wiped the sides of her eyes. She’d been so uptight lately she actually felt some of the tension release. “You know what? I think I will have that drink with you after all. Only not at Moreno’s.”

Valerie was starving—as usual, so they went to an all-you-can-eat sushi bar. She began to give him a vague explanation about Moreno’s, and then decided just to tell him the truth. They weren’t seeing each other anymore, so, what did it matter?

Luke took it in stride and didn’t ask any more questions. He teased her about the amount of food she could put away. They talked about the seminar that Valerie had no intention of canceling. She was counting on George Stone to pull her out of this mood.

Luke wasn’t the wittiest. He was a bit too uptight for that. Maybe it was that she was already in a giggly mood from his invitation to Moreno’s, but she laughed a lot through out dinner.

In the end, she was glad she went. It was nice not to think about Bruce or Alex for at least a few hours.

 

*

 

First thing Friday morning Valerie got a call on her private extension from Bruce. “You must not care too much about your reputation in that office. Do you?”

Valerie stood up. “Your calls are doing nothing to change what anyone here thinks about me. Everyone thinks you’re a psycho idiot. You’re not taken seriously, Bruce.”

“You better watch what you say to me, Valerie. I swear to God I’ll make you regret it.” His tone was much harsher than she heard before, and it sent a chill up her spine.

“You don’t scare me, Bruce,” she lied. “I saw what you were made of at the club. Why don’t you just do us both a favor and get a damn life? I want nothing to do with you and never will.”

“I had a life, darling. A good one, until you ruined it. Remember that!”

Valerie squeezed her eyes shut. He was going to blame her forever. “You ruined your own-”

“Tell me something, darling. Is Luke the first man you’ve been in love with?”

Jesus, for someone who thought he knew so much, he had no idea how far from the truth he was. Apparently, he fell for her story. Hadn’t he noticed she wasn’t seeing him anymore?

“Yes.” She kept her eyes closed, concentrating hard on sounding as sincere as she could. Not wanting anyone in the office to hear her, her voice was barely a whisper. “I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel about him.”

“But you broke up with him. Why?”

Her eyes bolted open. How could he know? She heard his maniacal laughter low at first then louder with more conviction. The line suddenly went dead. Squeezing the receiver she stood there even after the dial tone started blaring in her ear. With a deep breath, she hung it up. She had too much on her mind to add this to her plate.

Valerie was out of the office most of the day showing properties and meeting with potential clients. She managed to keep her mind off Bruce. She went back to the office and worked for a while before finally calling it a night.

It was already getting dark and she walked quickly through the empty parking lot. Her briefcase weighed heavy on her shoulder, and the stack of files she carried rendered her completely vulnerable if anyone approached her. She thought she heard footsteps behind her but decided she was just being paranoid. Still, she picked up her step, feeling her heart beat a little faster. She’d almost reached her car when she heard the footsteps again.

“Hey, Valerie.”

Valerie jumped and half the files she held dropped to the ground. She spun around, ready to scream until she saw Alex staring at her wide-eyed.