“There’s something I need to tell you guys,” Valentine started after she managed to stop both Missy and Delilah from squealing. She gripped them on their wrists and pulled them straight back to the kitchen.
“Wait! But before that, you need to hear mine first,” Missy chirped.
“Yes, V. M had quite a hot night.” Delilah placed the used plates and utensils down to the sink before settling down to sit in front of Valentine.
“Really?”
The three of them sat on the chairs, while the two were both facing Valentine. She felt her muscles calm down knowing that she was given an opportunity to breathe and tell her little story later. This time, it was best to let Missy speak first. At least, to help her feel confident and talk normally.
“Do you remember those photographers last night?” Delilah inquired first.
“The photographers?” Valentine’s eyes squinted, her nose even s
“Don’t be silly, M. D was just doing the right thing. She’s preventing from cheating on Adam. It’s what a girlfriend or a wife is supposed to do. Once you’re in a relationship with someone, you’re stuck to that person for the rest of your life. In a good way. I don’t think Adam is treating her bad.” “I clearly do not know how we ended up becoming friends for years, V. The both of us have different perspectives in life that’s why we often argue,” Missy stated matter-of-factly, bringing Valentine to laugh. “True, I don’t get it too.” The both of them sealed their mouths shut as Delilah entered the kitchen. Only the sound of the plates clink against each other and the faucet conquered the room. “What did I miss?” Delilah inquired, sitting down on her chair. “Nothing, we were waiting for you,” Valentine lied simply. Somehow, she had gotten used to saying lies. They simply slip off her tongue naturally. “Wait, let’s continue once I’m done.”
“This may sound crazy but the both of you know exactly how I’m obsessed with him. After reading the news that you were engaged to him, V, struck me like a lightning bolt. But the words you said a minute ago… they lit me up. Let me prevent him from falling in love with you. I’ll make him love me instead.”With Missy’s words, she sounded slightly psychotic and crazy. But on the other hand, she was the perfect candidate – a strong barrier between her and William. The way she spoke proved she was sincere. Valentine nodded aggressively, agreeing.“Perfect. M, all you have to do is talk to him but don’t get too close because that might cause serious issues,” Valentine warned. If William’s reputation was slightly ruined by her own brother, what’s more if Missy jumped in abruptly into the picture?“Don’t worry, V.” Missy beamed.“Are you both serious?” Delilah i
Her words caused silence inside the kitchen. It was only her who knew nothing about the agreement. It was William who knew nothing about Valentine informing her friends too. The two girls stifled their laugh by clearing their throat and coughing.“You aren’t going to have babies?” Sofie queried. Her brows were raised, causing wrinkles to form on her forehead. Her thin lips shaped into a small circle in surprise. ““Well… we don’t have plans yet?” Valentine fidgeted, she noticed her reply was more like a question than an answer.“What?” Based on Sofie’s reaction, she was dumbfounded. Her hold released from William’s arm.“What Valentine’s trying to say is we haven’t talked about babies. For now, we’ll be enjoying our lives, travel around the world on my vacation days, go on dates and hang out with her friends. Babies take too much time so we agreed on not havin
The teenagers apologized after that. To prove that Valentine was indeed not in love with him – she experienced no butterflies fluttering inside her stomach filled with bits of pizza. She rolled her eyes.“Valentine?” His eyes bore into hers, making her nervous.She looked away. “Yeah?”“Let’s go to the garden.” He stood up and walked steps farther away from her. He was leaving her. In fact, he wanted her to follow him.Hurriedly, she wiped her lips with the tissue and followed him. As she got outside, she instantly thought he had left her. She followed the row of sunflowers, leading her to the back part of the pizza place which was the garden. There were benches made of bamboos with shades and a fountain in the middle. She was quite enthralled; it wasn’t merely a pizza place, it was also a tourist spot. Starting from its traditional look of using bamboos as furniture and the main materials for building
By that moment, Valentine at once decided that her plan with Missy must begin. As luck would have it, she had Missy by her side who willingly volunteered to be the one who was going to steal William from her. As a matter of fact, Valentine was actually willing as well to push William to her own friend.If Missy was willing to take William’s heart, she would be obviously willing to bear his child.“Okay, I shall provide you a child only when I’m ready.” It was another lie. She was never ready for a child. She wasn’t going to let one ruin her entire future.They returned to Sofie’s restaurant as William bought food for Mary and her mother. The girls had little to no time to interact with each other. Valentine said she’d be on shift by tomorrow morning, which caused the other two to smile.They headed back home afterwards. Mary pulled Valentine into a hug, repeatedly saying that she had missed her. William gave her t
Just when Valentine was about to sit down on the front passenger’s seat, Missy whispered to her that she wanted to be the one who’ll sit with William for the rest of the ride. Valentine, understanding fully that it was all part of their plan, agreed.Missy was the one who kept bombarding William with questions about where he had come from, what he does during work, if he gets to receive a good pay and what it would feel like to be a famous millionaire. After her questions, she started cracking jokes that were not too funny. Because of this, Valentine and Delilah was forced to fake their laughs until Missy arrived home.With Missy gone, the ride was silent. What filled the emptiness was Delilah’s voice as she guided William where her house was located.The next morning, Valentine took a deep breath as she was being brought down to the restaurant again by William. It was yet another day for work. Somehow, she felt good knowing that she had declin
more. Maybe they didn’t need to spend hundreds to renovate the restaurant. All they might need is do a few changes.Valentine wiped the sweat off her forehead as she stirred the boiling soup in the cooking pot. She was making Chicken Tinola, as what Sofie told her to make. It was a Philippine soup dish and according to what Sofie had heard, it was almost every Filipino’s favorite dish.Her ears caught up with inaudible yelling from outside the kitchen. A shatter of glass followed after.“What was that?” Missy brought the plate she held back on the sink then looked at Valentine worriedly.As if they had spoken telepathically, the girls nodded at each other. They rushed out of the kitchen and looked for where the noise had come from.Valentine’s eyes distinguished an angry Sofie. Delilah kept holding her back with her hand held tight on Sofie’s forearm. Their employer grabbed a plate from the nearby table and threw
That was the problem. Valentine didn’t know where William’s—their—house was located in spite of how many times she had been there. That was her fault for not paying attention to the directions, always complaining and zoning out of herself.“Why did Sofie leave that soup to you again?” Missy opened the pot, letting steam escape from being trapped inside. The scent of almost every ingredient combined, hovered itself in the air.“She told me it’s ours now. We can return the pot to her soon, though.” She looked at the both of them then continued, “are you both hungry?”Missy closed it back again and shook her head, disagreeing. “What about you, D?”Delilah held up her hand, gesturing them to wait as she continued typing down on her phone. Her brows were almost scrunched together and her thin lower lip got bitten by her upper teeth.“What are you busy again with, D? Is i