Forever: Chapter 7

On the following night, nobody could fall asleep at the Pattersons home. Since she was a little girl, Natasha hasn't been to a church, and tonight, for the first time in her life, she addressed God for help. She made some sort of pact with God, giving her life in exchange for her daughter's life. If someone had to die in her family, she was ready to die, just for her daughter to have a happy and long life. Philip was watching his wife, walking around in the room all night, talking to God, not knowing whether he should do the same.

In the next room, Tessa was blaming herself for not being a better sister. But how would she know that her sister will get seriously ill and that she might lose her? All night, she was thinking about how they used to play with their dolls in the treehouse when they were little. Every day after school, Valerie was writing her homework. She was always protecting her from the bad boys in her class, and she never let them bully her. Every Saturday they went to the cinema together, every Sunday they went to the beach, and sometimes Valerie took her out with her friends.

In one word, Valerie was a sister she could only wish for, and Tessa felt guilty for taking her for granted. That night, everything that Tessa wished for was Valerie to survive, and she to get another chance to be the best sister in the whole world.

Instead of putting herself first for once in her life and thinking about her disease, Valerie was trying to find a convincing reason to break up with Timothy, but she couldn't. A love like theirs doesn't end overnight. Or maybe a love like theirs never ends. She didn't know how she would look at him in the eyes and tell him that she doesn't love him anymore because when he will look at her eyes he will see that her eyes are full of love, only for him.

Early the next morning, before everyone else came downstairs, Philip locked himself in his office, but not to work. He was doing research about uterus cancer and how big Valerie's chances were of beating the disease. He was also interested in the real estate market and how much he could get for his house in Santa Monica and the old house that he had inherited from his uncle in England, but his family was never using it. Philip decided to work for weekends and on holidays. If necessary, he will find a second job to earn enough money to provide the best medical care and the best doctors for his daughter.

Today, Natasha didn't go to her job, and Tessa didn't go to college. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't talk Valerie out of her decision to go to London. Valerie knew that they were right, but she was determined. She hadn't forgotten how she felt yesterday at the hospital when the doctor told her that she had cancer and how much she needed to have someone by her side at that moment. Valerie was aware that when she will start with the treatment, she will need her family more than ever, but even in these moments, she wasn't as important as Timothy was. She loved him more than she loved herself.

Timothy wasn't sleeping either. He spent the entire night planning how to propose to Valerie. He was so focused on the planning that he didn't have much time to worry about why Valerie hadn't called him last night. Timothy was sure if something was wrong, he would be the first to know. He thought for sure Tessa had forgotten to pass his message to her sister, or Valerie had come home very late with her mother, and she hadn't called him, because she was afraid to wake him up.

But Valerie didn't need someone to remind her to call him. They were spending hours on the phone when they were not together. To pay the phone bills, they needed money from their savings every time Valerie went to England with her family or when Timothy was visiting his relatives in Texas. When they were kids, they couldn't go to sleep without saying "Good night" to each other every evening over the phone.

 

He continued with the planning and at work. His father was used to Timothy doing everything else but his job, but he got angry when Timothy asked him if he could leave the store five hours earlier. For his father, this was unacceptable. Yesterday, Timothy was on a lunch break for four hours, and today he wanted to leave as soon as he arrived at work.

Mathew was so mad that he wanted to tell him in the future not to bother to come to work at all; he would just send him the checks at home, but he didn't. He didn't want to upset his wife. If Mathew knew what Timothy was up to, he would be happy for his son. He would try to give him some useful advice if he could, and he would give him a week off.

Timothy arrived on the beach three hours earlier. He wanted everything to be perfect. One day, when Valerie and he get old, he wants to tell the story about the proposal to their grandchildren. He finished with the preparations on time, and he sat down in the sand to wait for Valerie.

Eight o'clock was slowly passing, and he began to worry. Never in her life before, Valerie was late. She was always on time. Then he remembered that she hadn't called him all day, but he couldn't call her now to ask if everything was all right because she didn't have a phone. He smiled, and he felt relieved when he saw her coming.

"Val! Thank God, you're here! Why haven't you called me since yesterday? Tessa told me that you'd lost your phone, but why didn't you call me from someone else's phone or from work? Is everything all right?"

"Timothy, we need to talk."

Timothy? She has never before called him Timothy. She was always calling him Timmy, as she had an exclusive right to call him that way. Nobody else in the whole world called him Timmy, only Valerie. He got scared. What does this mean? Why is she so serious? And why didn't she kiss him back when he kissed her?

"Val?"

"Let's sit down."

They sat down on the blanket covered with red rose petals, and he wasn't taking his eyes off Valerie. When she saw the rose petals, the food basket, the bottle of extremely expensive champagne, and the two glasses, she knew that he had planned something special for her.

"I can't hide the truth from you anymore. Please don't get upset, because what I'm going to say to you won't be pleasant at all. Tomorrow I'm going to London for good. Last spring, when I was there with my family for Easter, I met someone. He's a businessman and..."

"What? Wait a minute! What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, I was hoping you'd never find out. I thought he would be just a one-night stand, and when I'll return home to you I will forget him, and everything between us would be as it was, but I was so wrong. In the past year, I couldn't get him out of my mind. Yesterday he arrived here, in Santa Monica, and last night I wasn't sleeping at my parents' house, as Tessa told you. I was with him. We've realized we are in love, and we've decided to be together."

While she was talking, she was looking at the ground. She couldn't look at Timothy in the eyes and lie to him. He knew her too well. He knew that she did that every time she was trying to hide something from him. Like two years ago, when she lied to him that she was going with her friends to Miami for his birthday, pretending that she had forgotten it, but she secretly organized the best birthday party of his life. Or last year in December, she told him that every day after work she'd go to her parents' house to help Tessa with studying, but she was working extra hours just to earn more money to buy him for Christmas the laptop he wanted so badly, but he hesitated to buy it because it was too expensive.

For a few moments, Timothy was serious, and then he began to laugh.

"A nice try, Val! A very good joke! I almost believed you!"

"I wish I was joking, but I'm not. I'm telling you the truth. Look, here is my phone. I didn't lose it. I just didn't want to tell you the truth over the phone," Valerie said, and she took the phone from her bag.

"Val..."

"I'm sorry because our story ends like this. Please, try to understand that I'm in love with another man, and we can't be together anymore."

"I don't believe you! I don't believe a single word of what you're saying. Two days ago, you wanted to go to New York with me, and we were looking for ads for a studio..."

"Two days ago, I didn't know that he would come here for me, and his intentions were serious. I'm sorry. It's time to move on, and we should try to be happy with other people."

"No, no. How can you throw away everything we had?"

"I've always believed that we will stay together our whole lives and we will grow old together, but the stories about never-ending love exist only in fairytales for little children. In real life, everything is completely different, and we are not children anymore. Please try to forget me and go be happy with another girl. I wish you all the happiness in this world, I really do, because you deserve it. You are a great guy, and I hope very soon you'll find a perfect girl for you. One day, you'll see, your life will be so much better without me."

"I don't understand why you're doing this..."

"Please don't try to call me or see me again," Valerie said, and she began to cry.

"If you are happy with that other guy, as you're saying, why are you crying?"

"We have a past that can't be erased or forgotten, but we can't have a future together. I'm sorry. Tessa will come to pick up my stuff next week. Goodbye, Timothy."

Valerie got up fast, and she left him to seat on the beach, confused. More than anything, Valerie wanted to stay at least a few moments longer with Timothy. She thought, if she dies, she'll never see his beautiful eyes again, his smile, she'll never hear his voice... At that moment, like never before, Valerie longed to kiss his soft lips, but she had to go because she couldn't continue with the lies. She was afraid if she stayed a few more moments, she might become weak and she might tell him the whole truth. While she was leaving, she realized she didn't want to stay just a few moments longer with Timothy, but she wanted to stay there on the beach, with him, forever.

Instead of being the most beautiful evening of their lives so far, this evening turned out to be a total nightmare. Timothy was sure that Valerie would say "Yes," but he didn't expect this. He knew her well, he knew how she was breathing, how she was thinking, and he was sure that nothing she said tonight was true, only he couldn't understand why she did it. If something was wrong in their relationship, he would notice, and if she was really in love with someone else, he would know. When things are not working between two people, there are always signs, but he couldn't find any that would tell him that something was wrong between them. Until yesterday, everything between them was as it always was.

He continued to believe that she was joking with him, and that she would come back any minute. For some time, Timothy sat alone in the sand, then he packed his things and left. He was hoping he would find her at home, but when he arrived there, all he found was an empty apartment.

Timothy sat down on the bed. He took from his pocket a little jewelry box with the ring he bought for Valerie, and he left it in the drawer of his nightstand. He opened the bottle of the expensive champagne, and he drank almost half of the bottle. The silence in the empty apartment was unbearable. He couldn't stand it, and he had to get out. He went into the first bar he passed by and there he found his friends from high school, Derek and Patrick.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Timothy said.

"Hey, man!" Derek said.

"Hi! What are you doing here, this late?" Patrick asked, surprised.

"I need a drink," Timothy told them.

"Aren't you already drunk?" Patrick said, and he began to laugh.

"What will Valerie say when she sees you?" Derek asked.

"She doesn't care anymore," Timothy answered him.

Patrick and Derek looked at each other, confused. They were not sure if they heard him well.

"What's the matter? Trouble in paradise?" Patrick asked him.

"Yesterday, on a way to work, I passed by a jewelry shop, I saw a beautiful ring, more expensive than I can afford, and spontaneously it came to my mind to propose to Valerie. After I bought the ring, Val began to ignore me. She wasn't answering my phone calls, and she spent the night at her parents' house. Tonight we met on the beach, and I wanted to propose to her, but when she came, she told me that it was over. Apparently, she met some rich guy in London, and she chose him."

"That can't be true. I mean, Valerie is not that kind of girl who will choose money over you," Patrick said.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either," Timothy said.

"I don't know what to say," Patrick said.

"Bro, does Valerie know someone at the jewelry shop?" Derek asked Timothy.

"I don't think so. Why are you asking me this?"

"Maybe someone who knows her saw you while you were buying the ring, and she got cold feet. Maybe she's not ready yet to marry you. You know, photography was everything in her life, and maybe she wants to build a career first. That is what the girls are doing these days; they're building a career before they get married, and they want to be independent. We're not living in middle age. Nobody is getting married at our age anymore."

Timothy started to think seriously about what his friend had just said. Because of too much alcohol in his blood, Derek's story began to seem true to him.

"You know what? This you're saying has sense. Maybe she needs more time. What a fool I've been to believe in her story. Thanks, man! Now I'm going straight to her parents' home..."

"Better not! It's one in the morning. Wait until tomorrow. You're drunk, and you'll freak out her parents when they'll see you in this condition," Patrick said.

"Yeah, Patrick is right. Go to sleep, get sober, and you'll talk to her tomorrow. She's not going anywhere," Derek said.

"You're right! Thanks, guys! I would never have to figure it out without your help," Timothy said with relief.

"We're friends, man! That's why friends are for," Patrick said.

Why did Timothy believe in Derek's story when Derek didn't know Valerie as well as he did? Just a few hours ago, he was sure that she would positively answer his question because she truly loves him. He would not be proposing to her if he wasn't sure that she wanted to spend her life with him.

If only he started to think that Valerie's strange behavior might be somehow related to her yesterday's visit to the doctor. Used to, every time after leaving the doctor's office, Valerie would call him to let him know that she was all right. But she didn't call him yesterday. If only he started to think in that direction, if he left his drunk friends in the bar, and went straight to her parents' house, maybe he'd find out the truth, and he'd stop her from going to London.