CHAPTER TWO

***

After telling Rick that I'd be by his house in an hour or two to pick up Kirsten, I grabbed my office jacket off the back of my chair and walked across the street to the coffee shop; where I told Valerie I'd meet her after she picked up her paycheck for the night.

Five minutes into waiting, I had to smile inwardly to myself as I remembered the look on Valerie's face when she saw me. It was priceless; a classic moment that I'd probably remember for the rest of my life. Or atleast until something else came along to make me forget it.

"Hey, sorry it took me so long."

Snapping out of my thoughts, I smile at the woman in front of me as she takes a seat across from me. "It's okay, I just got here."

Ten minutes ago I add, inwardly.

As a small wave of silence passes between us, I take the time to study the new changes in Valerie's physical appearance; only finding one small thing different. Her hair, which I've always said was the color of dark chocolate, is now a mix between golden blonde and seasoned honeydew; two colors that I never really thought would look good with her naturally tanned skin, but from what I've seen so far it fits her to a T.

"I can't believe how much you've changed since the last time I saw you." She says, while eyeing me critically; causing me to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

I don't really think I've changed as much as she has in my outer appearance, but if she thinks I have, then far be it for me to tell her differently.

"I could say the same thing about you, Blondie."

She shrugs, while displaying her Colgate smile to me, "I wanted to see if blondes really did have more fun."

Knowing if I asked the next question that was on my mind, Valerie could possibly take that as flirting, I decided against it and merely asked her about her new job. "So, your a blues singer now?"

Watching as she fidgets slightly, I wonder if I asked the wrong question, but her next statement proves to me that I just said the wrong word. "I wouldn't really call myself a blues singer. I'm more of a realist."

Raising an eyebrow in interest, I inwardly tell her to go on; while silently wondering to myself what was the difference between blues and realism? They both, to me, focused solely on pain.

"Most of the music that I write has nothing to do about being depressed or feeling down and out. Instead it has everything to do about how I feel at the moment. For example, if I'm upset over not getting something that I want, then I write about that, but if I'm happy because my day went well and I didn't have to go through any extra drama, then I write about that. I'm a realist."

Sitting back in the booth, I nod my head slowly while part of me takes in what Valerie just said and the other part of me wonders where I was when Valerie became so damn philosophical.

"So, are you still Deejaying?" She asks; switching the topic as she opens one of the menus that is laid out in front of us.

Shaking my head, I pick up the menu that's in front of me and pretend like it's the first time I've looked at it, when really before she came in I browsed the selection twice; each time not finding anything that sparked my interest. "No, I'm an A&R over at J. Records now. I haven't really deejayed since Donna died a couple years ago."

Another bout of silence passes between us, this one I'm more used to--seeing as how every time I mention Donna's name someone either changes the subject or I shut down--but I'm surprised a second later when Valerie begins speaking once again.

"You know, I don't think I ever apologized to you for missing Donna's funeral. I wanted to go but-"

Not wanting to hear the same excuse that I got from other friends of mine, I cut Valerie off before she could even continue, "You couldn't bring yourself to, I understand."

Silently refusing to move my eyes from the menu in front of me, I could still feel Valerie's eyes boring into my head a minute later.

"Let's go."

Glancing upwards, I watch as Valerie picks up her purse, scoots out of her side of the booth, and then stands up; looking down at me as if I'm keeping her waiting. Which I am.

"Go where?" I ask, before absentmindedly grabbing my jacket and standing up, as well.

"We're going to my house. I want to show you something."

I open my mouth to ask what it is that she wants to show me but before I can do so, Valerie has already turned away from me and is almost clear across the room; leaving me to follow the invisible path that she has just taken.

This better be worth it.

Pulling up in the driveway beside Valerie's Navigator, I can't help but raise my eyebrows in surprise as I study the house in front of us. It's beautiful.

From what I could tell from the outside, it was a two story suburban home with, from the looks of things, five rooms--not including the main living room.

Looking around the neighborhood for a second, I can't help but whistle to myself; knowing that in order to afford this type of place Valerie either had to take out several loans or she was making a hell of a lot of money singing onstage. Something that I knew I should be doing.

"So, you coming in or what?" Valerie asks, a minute later, through my open window; causing me to slightly jump before nodding my head and turning off the car engine.

"This is some place." I say to her as I lock up my SUV and join her in walking up the front pathway.

"Yeah, well wait until you see the inside." She says, more in a teasing tone than in the snobbish way that I could've taken it. "It's to die for."

Nodding my head, I waited for her to open the front door before cleaning my feet off on the "Welcome" mat and following her inside.

Once in, I can't help but notice that Valerie wasn't lying. The place was to die for; from the small sitting room that greeted you when you first stepped through the door to the long stemmed faux roses that, from what I could tell, were planted in every single corner of the house. "This is amazing. Very."

From the corner of my eye, I could tell Valerie was about to agree with me but before she could do so another voice was heard in the room.

"Miss. Malone, you're back already?"

Turning around, I notice for the first time a younger woman, probably in her late teens, standing against the living room doorway holding a bag of popcorn in her hands.

"Yeah, I decided to call it early for the night." Valerie replies, afterwards adverting her eyes towards mine; telling me silently that she almost forgot to introduce us, "You'll have to excuse my manners. David, I'd like for you to meet Lisa. Lisa, this is David, he's an old friend of mine from California."

"It's nice to meet you." Lisa says, extending her hand for me to shake before turning her eyes back towards Valerie; giving her, what looks to be, a hopeful stare. "I just put Ben in bed a half-n-hour ago, so am I free to leave for the night?"

Watching as Valerie nods before digging into her purse, handing Lisa what looks like two ten dollar bills, I can't help but wonder whose Ben?

"Thanks, Miss. Malone, I'll see you Sunday. And it was nice meeting you again, David."

After quickly telling her that it was nice to meet her as well, I watched as Lisa hurriedly grabbed her purse from the coat rack next to the door before exiting the house without another word directed towards Valerie or me.

"I wouldn't mind her too much. We call her Speedy Gonzales around here."

Believing it, I smirk slightly before turning my attention back towards Valerie; who at the moment is looking at the ceiling above us with a questioning expression on her face. "So, you wanted to show me something?"

Hearing a slight thud from upstairs, I move my eyes curiously towards the ceiling, but can tell Valerie is smiling about the noise as she answers my question, "Actually, it's more of a someone than a something. Care to wait for me in the living room?"

Taking one last look at the ceiling above us, I nod my head slowly; silently telling her that I don't mind at all.

"Thanks. I'll be right back."

After ten minutes of waiting, I wonder to myself if Valerie is ever going to come back down. But just as soon as the thought enters my head, it has to quickly exit, as I hear the sounds of, not only one, but two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"David?"

Standing up, my eyes feel like their going to burst out of their sockets, as I see Valerie standing at the entrance of the doorway, holding a little boy's hand in hers. "Is this...?"

"Ben...my son."

Her son? Not knowing what to say, I quickly close my mouth and stare at the small boy as he tries to hide behind his mother's legs.

"Hey you, come here and let me introduce you to somebody." Valerie says, before picking up the shy boy and carrying him towards me; all the while trying to get him to stop hiding his face in her shoulder. "Sweetie, this is one of mommy's friend's, David. David, this is my son, Ben."

Not really knowing what to do, seeing as how I still hadn't gotten my head around the idea that Valerie was a mother yet, I continued to stare at Ben; noting up close that he had Valerie's same hair color, before she dyed hers, and the same round cheeks; that I could pick out of a lineup anywhere.

"Say hi and I'll let you have a popsicle before you go to bed." Valerie slyly bribed her son; causing him to quickly pop his head up and smile at me.

"Hi."

Smiling slightly as I notice the two front teeth missing from Ben's mouth, I lift my hand and shake his slowly; producing a wider grin from both his and Valerie's faces. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Ben says, laughing slightly to himself as he realizes with his teeth missing it sounds more like "you who" than anything else.

"Your a silly little boy." Valerie says, before kissing her son on the forehead; causing me to remember that I should be doing the same thing to my little girl by now.

"Well, it's getting late and I told Rick I'd be by to pick up Kirsten in an hour."

"That's your daughter?" Valerie asks, questioningly; causing me to nod while realizing once again just how much time had passed since we last saw one another. "You should bring her by sometime. I'd love to meet her and with all the kids in the neighborhood being around Lisa's age, I'm sure Ben wouldn't mind meeting her as well."

Figuring that'd be a good idea since, besides Madeline, Kirsten never really got to hang out with other kids her age, I nodded my head before saying, "Sounds like a plan. You have any particular day that you'd like to do this?"

Watching Valerie as she thinks for a second, I can't help but notice that she's absentmindedly rubbing Ben's back; causing him, without her even knowing it, to begin drooping off in her arms.

I need to remember that trick when Kirsten can't sleep.

"How about Sunday? That's usually my free day when I leave Ben here with Lisa and go do mindless non-work related stuff. So, you and I can either take the kids out for a day of fun or we can just leave them here and go hang out at places where our mini-me's can't find us."

Chuckling at her use of words, I tell Valerie that she's got herself a deal before writing my number down on a small sticky pad, that she's got by the phone, and telling her to feel free to call me anytime before or after Sunday.

Just not when Kirsten or I am sleeping.

"You got yourself a deal."

Sunday, August 31, 2005

After spending the entire day before, teaching Kirsten how to swim and answering questions, that I didn't know the answers to, about Ben, I was almost just as giddy as my daughter was when seeing Valerie's place up ahead; knowing soon I'd be able to get the small girl to calm down just a tad.

"Ben's house?"

Looking in my rearview mirror, I had to smile to myself as I saw Kirsten trying to situate herself in her car seat so she could get a better view of the house in front of us. "Yeah, sweetie, this is Miss. Valerie and Ben's house."

Pulling into the driveway beside Valerie's truck, I hear Kirsten mumble the word, "Big", before I turn off the engine; silently adding to myself that for the second time today my daughter was correct. The house was huge.

"Ready to go?" I ask, before opening my door and the back door of the car; letting first myself and then Kirsten out. "Where's your bag?"

Pointing towards the floor, Kirsten shows me that she dropped her toy bag on the floor with her bag full of clean clothes. "There."

Smiling, I quickly pick up her two bags and close the back door, before swiftly locking up and heading towards Valerie's front door.

With my hands full, I ask Kirsten if she can ring the doorbell for me; causing her to immediately smile at the task before quickly doing as I asked.

After waiting for only ten seconds, we're greeted at the door by Lisa; who looks a mix between slightly worried and partially relieved.

"Hey, we were just wondering when you two were going to get here. This must be Kirsten?"

Nodding, I feel Kirsten start to fidget; meaning she wants to get down--and not wanting to have to hold her and the two bags at the same time any longer, I quickly do as she wishes and sit her down on the floor. "Yeah, this is my munchkin. Kirsten, say hi to Lisa, she's a friend of Ben and Miss. Valerie's."

"Hello." Kirsten says, before doing the exact opposite of what Ben did last night, and sticking out her hand first to shake Lisa's. "Nice to meet you."

Meeting the younger woman's eye, I can see that she's slightly taken aback by how cordial Kirsten is; causing me to inwardly remind myself to thank Donna's mother for that.

"So, is Valerie ready to go?" I ask as Lisa steps to the side; letting us through the door before she closes it behind us tightly.

"Not exactly." She says, displaying once again a look of worry on her face, as she takes Kirsten's bags from me.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, while quickly trying to remember from the small conversation we had this morning if it sounded like anything had been bothering Valerie. To my knowledge, it didn't seem like it.

But then again, she was always good at hiding her emotions. Atleast from me anyway.

"I'm really not at liberty to say what happened but she's downstairs in the studio, so you might want to go check on her yourself."

Studio? Not wanting Lisa or Kirsten, who was staring at me intently, to see my surprise, I nodded an "okay" before making my way down the hall, in the direction that Lisa points me towards; finding the basement door a couple of seconds later.

Wondering what was going on, I turn the knob to the door, opening the frame, and wince a little as the pulsating sounds of guitar strumming come up from the basement. What the hell.

"After all you put me through.." I hear Valerie say, causing me to furrow my eyebrows; not having known anyone else was down there, "you think I despise you? But in the end, I want to thank you..cause you made me that much stronger."

Hearing the music get louder, I can't help but quietly continue down the stairs, hoping to get a good look as to who she's talking to. But when I reach the bottom landing, I'm surprised to find that Valerie, who hasn't yet noticed that I'm in the room, is by herself, lost in her own little world, singing and dancing in front of a mirror.

Watching Valerie as she practically screams in the microphone, I can't help but think that whoever it was that caused her to sound like that, I'm glad they weren't me--especially since it looked like, with Valerie's anger alone, she could kill them without another single thought.

Watching as Valerie continues to sing the chorus of the song, even after the music dies down, I can't help but feel guilty for watching her in one of her weakest moments.

"Son of a bitch." She practically screams, before walking towards the mirror and collapsing down on the ground beside it; my guess, frustrated at still not having let all her anger out yet. "Son of a mother effin bitch."

Feeling more guilty than ever, I clear my throat, causing her to look up at me, startled.

"David!"

Figuring I might as well act nonchalant about it, I smile slightly before making my way closer to her; making her slightly fidget while I do so. "Hey."

"When did you get here?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I look down at my watch, noticing that I'd been down there for about five minutes now, "Not that long. Lisa told me you were down here, I hope you don't mind."

Watching as the small blush, that's on her face, slowly starts to disappear, I wonder if I should risk it and ask her what's wrong.

It's her business, not mine. But, even though we haven't seen each other in a while, that doesn't mean I don't still care about her.

Realizing that I'm being silly, and Valerie is still just as much my close friend as she once was, I take a seat at her feet and hit her with my famous talk to me stare; one that used to have her spilling her guts to me in a matter of seconds. And hopefully still does.

"What's going on?"

"It's nothing." She states after a second; causing me to reach out a hand to her leg--telling her without words that she can talk to me.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me, so spill it already."

As if those were the words she wanted to hear, I watch as Valerie smiles a little before telling me what's on her mind. "Tony called me an hour ago. He said that while I've been a great asset to his club, he doesn't want it to become a feminist type place, and thinks that it'd be best for the both of us if I stopped playing there."

Widening my eyes in disbelief, I can't help but find myself getting just as angry as Valerie once was. "You're telling me he's firing you because you're not bringing in the type of crowd he wants you to?"

Watching as she nods in agreement, I find myself silently wondering if this could be turned into a lawsuit. "He can't do that. You should sue him for it. Make him continue paying you until you find another job. One with more benefits than the ones he's giving you right now."

"He's not giving me any now." Valerie says, while absentmindedly running a small hand through her uncombed hair, "But it doesn't matter anyway because I'm not going to sue him. I don't even need his money."

"Like hell you don't." I say; after the fact wondering where those words came from, "You don't just have to take care of yourself here, Val, you also have a four year old son to worry about."

"I know that, David." Valerie counters back, glaring at me as if I'm the one that's suddenly lost my mind, "But I also know that when I took this gig at Tony's, Ben and I didn't need the money then either. I only took it to give me something to do. Other than that, without me working there, Ben and I are still practically set for life."

Slowly calming down at this, I raise my eyebrows; wondering what exactly she means by practically set for life.

Noticing that I'm confused, Valerie lets out a slow sigh, "I thought you figured this out by now, but, I'm rich..or atleast, my mother was before she died."

"Are you..what? Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"

Watching as she shrugs, I can tell Valerie is starting to close up on me, "Their wasn't much to tell. My mom died almost a year after you got married, I got pregnant soon after that. Almost a month later, I found out that she'd left me with her entire estate in her will. Wanting a change, I moved here, bought this house and knowing that I needed to do something besides hanging around here with Ben all day, I got a job singing at a local club. Nothing left to tell."

Opening my mouth to make a comment, I quickly close it; knowing that by Valerie's facial expression, I wasn't going to get anywhere else at the moment.

****