Chapter 3
1487 Words
VALERIE.
“Jules, what are you doing here?” I ask, surprise still coating my nerves as I stare at him.
He hasn't changed at all since the last time I saw him.
Still has the same wavy deep chestnut brown hair, green eyes like grass in a meadow, and the same intense aura around him that always manages to take my breath away.
“I am here for you,” he responds as he gazes into my eyes.
“For me? What do you mean?”
“I have been looking for you, Val. All these years and you were hiding among the stars. I will admit, that was a bold move.”
“I am not hiding. I am living my life!”
“As an actress? You never mentioned that you wanted to act,” he replies.
“Well, people grow up and discover new things about themselves. Is that a crime?” I challenge.
“No. No, you got me wrong. I just… look, can we talk? Privately?” he asks as he runs his hand through his hair. “I didn't… the way we left things, the way we broke up… it wasn't right. Can we talk?”
“There is nothing to talk about, Jules. I have moved on, so should you.”
“You know that is not true. We were both in a bad place when you left and no, Valerie, I can't move on. I haven't been able to move on for years. Not without you by my side.”
“Well, I suggest you fin-”
“Is there a problem here?” a voice interrupts me and I look over to see Raton heading my way as well as several sneaking glances thrown our way.
Great.
Just what I needed.
More rumors about my relationships.
“Babe?” Raton asks as he comes to stand by my side, his arms sneaking across my waist.
“Babe?!” Jules repeats in confusion.
“Yes. I am Raton, Valerie’s fiance. Who might you be?” he asks with an outstretched hand.
Jules eyes it for a while before taking it, his gaze fixed on me.
“Jules Jameson. CEO of The Pinnacle Corporation.
“Oh, wow. That is a big title. Not your excuse even though,” Raton responds.
“No. It is not.”
“So? What are you doing here and how do you know my fiancee?”
“I am a fan of hers,” Jules responds, surprising me. “I have watched a lot of her movies and was just beyond elated when she won Rising Actress of the Year. I was actually discussing a proposal of me funding her as an investor.”
“What benefit would that have for a corporate man?” Raton demands suspiciously.
“I am allowing my eccentricities, am I not?” he asks. “But I will leave you two to enjoy your victory. Valerie,” he says with a nod before turning and leaving, finally allowing me to relax.
“That was weird,” Raton says as we head to his table. “It is rare you see a businessman wanting to invest in the entertainment industry, much less an actress.”
“But it has happened before, yeah?”
“Yes… but still weird. Have you ever met him before?” he asks.
“No. Never.”
*********
“Ugh,” I groan out in delight as I sink into the alabaster Greek styled bathtub, filled with warm water and foamy bubbles.
We had stayed there at the after party for a few more hours before we finally left at a politely accepted time.
Sometimes, this world gives you everything and it is amazing and wonderful but other times, you just want to say f**k it and do what you want.
But you can't.
Because even after you are off the set, you are still putting on a show and everyone has to be perfect or else you tumble down to mediocrity and eventually fade into obsoletion.
Thankfully, Raton had made no mention of Jules again. I wasn't sure whether it was because he believed me or because he just didn't care.
My gut says it is neither, but I have zero desire to think about it anymore.
My body hurts, my feet are aching and my head feels like it is going to explode.
All I want to do is remain here in this tub, head empty of all thoughts until the water goes cold and my skin shrivels in it.
Unfortunately, my brain doesn't get the memo.
Instead, it replays the events of the past that led up to me breaking up with Jules.
My life wasn't always so rosy.
In fact, it was the opposite of rosy.
I had loved Jules, more passionately than I ever thought possible.
He was my refuge from the hell that was my home.
We had met in college and it was beautiful. He was perfect, our relationship was the personification of Cloud Nine.
And then I went home for the holidays and that was when the nightmare started.
John, my step dad, was an abusive, raging alcoholic. I wouldn't have cared at all if he had continued with ruining his life but he had to turn his gaze on me.
Maybe a switch went up in his head and realized that I was a looker.
It started small.
The occasional pat on my but when he walked by.
The indifferent way he would press into me when he was trying to get something from the upper shelf.
The side remarks he made about girls and suspicions in the supposed dirty things I got up to in college.
I had told him I want comfortable about it but he had ignored me saying it was all just friendly banter
My mother had told me to stop being a nitpicky princess and to get my head out of the butter.
Vida, my step sister, said I was a slut for thinking her father meant anything about it.
Basically, they had all gaslighted me until I believed it was all in my head.
Until it no longer wasn't.
I remember how hurt and violated I had felt.
How sacred and desperate and dark the world looks to me.
I told my mother what he had done but then she had screamed at me, hit me, and kicked me out of the house calling me a slut and how I wanted to ruin her marriage.
It was the neighbors who had helped me and dropped me back at college but by then the damage was already done.
I had been betrayed by those who I trusted and there was no going back.
Jules had tried to get me to talk but I only lashed out at him.
We were both young.
Both hurting.
We had no idea how to fix the relationship.
And then one day, he had barged in on me demanding if it was true I had slept with John.
Apparently, Vida was not satisfied that I was out of the house, no she wanted to ruin me completely.
His allegations hurt and I lashed out at him.
I screamed out the truth about what really happened -the first time I actually said it out loud- and kicked him out of my room, telling him it was over.
It was a really, really, dark place.
The next day, I headed to the school administrative board and filed in my request to drop out.
And just like that, Valerie Tate ceased to exist.
I moved from one place to another, taking on odd jobs here and there, when I discovered an improv class.
For a while -even if it was just a short while-, I was someone else.
No scars, no past, just the character I was playing
And that was where Raton found me.
He was researching on a character and needed hands in experience.
He paid me to help him and… the rest was history.
Or, I thought it was, until today.
He said he had been searching for me.
For years.
“Why?” I ask out loud. “Why would he do that after all he knows about me?”
“...Valerie, I can't move on. I haven't been able to move on for years. Not without you by my side.”
He couldn't have meant it.
Could he?
It is true… there was no closure but… it has been years already.
“No,” I say clearly as I get out of the tub and wrap myself in a fuzzy towel. “There is no point in dwelling on the past. I am Valerie White now, an orphan and fiancee of Raton Blaze.”
Whatever Jules is searching for died with Valerie Tate.
And he is just going to have to live with that.
- Writer
