Forever: Chapter 11

No matter how much Valerie's family wanted to be with her all the time, they couldn't. They had to return to their lives in Santa Monica. If she stayed just one day longer, Natasha risked losing her job. Tessa had obligations at college, and despite all the efforts, Philip couldn't work in London because he was in a different time zone from his clients.

On the same day, when she came back home, Tessa went to collect Valerie's things. Valerie gave her the key and a list of things she left in her former apartment. Tessa was a regular guest in her sister's home, and it won't be difficult for her to find all the things from the list if Timothy, in a meantime didn't rearrange something.

The place has changed since Valerie lived here. The kitchen was piled high with dirty dishes, a broken vase stood in the middle of the room, pizza leftovers sat on the table for who knows how long, and a pair of jeans lay on the living room floor...

Tessa was surprised when someone unlocked the door of the apartment and got in. Her sister explained her well: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Timothy is coming home from work after 4 PM, and on the other working days around 9 PM. It was a Thursday, and she didn't expect that he'll be at home before 6 PM. She wasn't ready to see him, because she didn't know what to say to him.

"Tessa? What are you doing here? Where is Valerie?" Timothy asked, confused when he saw Tessa in his apartment.

"I wasn't expecting you at home before nine. Val told me that your father's store closes at eight."

"These days, my father is letting me go home earlier. Where is Val? Is she back in Santa Monica?"

"No, she's not. She asked me to pick her things..."

"Will you please explain to me what is going on? Is it true that she is already married to this English guy I've met in London?"

"Please Tim, don't ask me anything. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't tell you more than Valerie told you."

"But, why?"

In one moment, when she saw the pain in his eyes and how much he loved her sister, Tessa got weak, and she was ready to tell him the truth. She knew she'd be doing the right thing if she told him Valerie had cancer and needed him more than ever. If Timothy were by her sister's side in these difficult times, her will to fight the disease would increase, and she'd have a better chance of winning the battle. But she didn't. Tessa couldn't break the promise she gave to her sick sister, and she knew that she'd regret it for the rest of her life for not telling Timothy the truth.

"Since the day Valerie brought you to our home, I accepted you as my brother. Please understand, she is my sister, and I'll do as she told me. I know that none of this that is going on makes sense to you. Believe me, it doesn't make any sense to me either, but it's the way it is."

"I can't accept the fact that Valerie is with someone else. I thought we were doing fine; we had a stable relationship, and I still can't understand why she left me. Have I done or said something wrong? If I did, can I take it back? I just want her back, and I'll do everything she wants."

"No, you haven't done anything wrong, just sometimes life sucks. I want you to know that I don't support Val's decision to break up with you. I'm not okay with that, but there is nothing you can do to change her mind. When she decided to leave you, we all tried to talk her out, but we couldn't make her see that she had made a huge mistake. Please don't try to contact her anymore, and don't go to London again. Trust me, it will be in vain. I don't want to give you false hope, and I don't want to encourage you to believe that she'll be back to you one day, because I'm not sure that that will happen. It's in your interest to move on with your life. She's trying to build a new life far from here, and I think you should do the same."

"People talk that she is pregnant with that other guy, and she married him..."

"What?"

Tessa was shocked. She just arrived from London, and she still hasn't heard the nasty rumors about her sick sister.

"Is that true? Is that why you were all in London, for her wedding?"

"Tim, please..."

"I clearly remember the day she left me. She was at her gynecologist, and if the doctor told her that she was pregnant with that man's child, it's okay! She doesn't need to marry him just because she is pregnant with his child. If she still loves me more, I'll accept it, and I'll raise her child as my own. I promise. I just want her back."

Tessa had always considered Timothy to be a very smart man, but now, after hearing what he had just told her, she needed to reconsider her previous conclusion. How could he be that stupid to believe what the other people are saying? He should know Valerie better, and he should know that she could never be with another man but him. Who made up this silly story, anyway? It's probably someone who has never met Valerie in his or her life.

"The night she left me, I wanted to propose to her. The day before, I bought her a ring..."

"Oh, God! What took you so long? You were together for ten years. Why didn't you do it earlier? If you married her last year, or sooner, now she would be here with you."

"Then, why can't I have her back now?"

"Because you are too late, Tim! You are too late!"

Timothy didn't understand what Tessa was saying, as she was speaking in codes. But he understood clearly that Valerie wouldn't come back, and he needed to move on with his life. He couldn't imagine life without Valerie. When she left him, he didn't lose half of him, but he lost all of him.

While Valerie was here, he was always happy and smiling, and he was full of stories. Valerie was teasing him that if the day could last longer, he would be writing a new book every day. After she left him, he didn't write a single word. But he wasn't worried about his stories, and if he never writes again, he could live with that, but he could never live without her. His parents were seriously worried about his condition, but they didn't know how to find a way to help him.

"In the bookstore, they told me that this was the most popular book for this month. It's number one on every bestseller list. Have you read it? We don't have much work these days, so I thought you could read a book."

Timothy looked at his father, surprised, and he didn't know what to say. He forgot to thank him for the book. This was something new for him because his father had never bought him a book as a present before.

"Used to, you were reading and writing all the time. Your mother and I are worried because you stopped writing..." Mathew continued.

"Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"No, Tim. That's not what I wanted. I want my children to be happy, and you can't be happy if you don't work in life what you really want. If I work in a furniture store, that doesn't mean that I'm an idiot, and I don't know what it is like to have love and a passion in life. I never liked your idea of moving to New York just to keep you away from disappointment. Every year in New York, exceptionally talented young people from all around the world come, and they dream of becoming the world's most famous musicians, actors, and writers, but unfortunately, ninety percent of them end up working in clubs and restaurants. Among them are young people who are more talented than Tina Turner, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Meryl Streep, but they never got a chance to show their talent to the world. Why is that? I don't know, but that is how that industry works. The talent is not enough to make it. Every piece of paper you're throwing in the garbage, I'm taking it from there, and I'm carefully reading it. I'm not a literal critic, but I know what I like. You have a gift, Tim. I don't want you to waste your talent on waiting tables and delivering pizzas. Today you have the internet, social media, and God knows what else, and you can present your work to the whole world from everywhere." 

"Wow, Dad, I had no idea you had such a strong interest in the arts."

"I'm interested in everything my children are interested in. All the time you're complaining that I don't support you and I don't understand you, but all I'm trying to do is to be realistic. Maybe all I'm doing is wrong, but I want what's best for you. If you want to go to New York..."

"No, dad, I wanted to go to New York with Valerie. I don't know what I would do there alone. And you're right, I can write from anywhere on the planet, but I can't write without Valerie, because she was my inspiration. I don't know what to write about anymore."

Valerie was feeling the same. She lost her interest in photography and everything she loved before. Stella was feeling horrible because she couldn't make her get out of the room. She made a promise to her parents that she would take good care of her, and she felt responsible for her. Stella could understand that Valerie was going through a lot lately. The cancer, the break-up with Timothy, leaving home… But she wanted Valerie to forget about the problems for even a moment, and for help, she asked her children, Rebecca and Justin.

"Come on, Val! Rise and shine! Get up from your bed! We have a perfect sunny day in London. It would be such a shame if you stay in bed all day, and you miss the sunny weather," Justin said at the moment he came into her room.

"What do you want me to do? I'm ill."

"So and millions of other people around the world who have cancer are ill, but they are also trying to enjoy every day they have..."

"Yes, because their days are counted."

"Val, I didn't mean it that way. But I seriously can't understand why you are all the time thinking about dying?"

"Because death is looking at me right in the face, and it's laughing at me."

"Come on, every one of us can die at any moment. I could walk down the street and be hit by a bus or a drunk driver, I could trip and fall and break my neck, I could have a heart attack or a stroke...There are a million different ways I could die before the end of the day."

"When you have cancer, it's different..."

"If you have cancer, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to die. I mean, one day, you will die, but I hope not soon, and not from cancer."

"What do you know about cancer?"

"Maybe I know nothing, but I know where you are going today. You are going to a museum with me, and tomorrow you'll have lunch with Rebecca. It's about time to meet her new girlfriend. They are together for five months, and I think this time is serious."

"I can't go anywhere."

"You can't, or you don't want to? That's not the same. I'll wait for you downstairs to get dressed, and we're going. And please, don't try to run away from the window. It's too high, and you'll just break an arm or a leg."

Since that day, a few times a week, Justin took Valerie to various cultural events. He knew that since she was little; she loved art. And every Friday night, Rebecca took her out with her friends and with her girlfriend. Valerie has never seen her cousin this happy and in love. She was truly happy because Rebecca had someone gorgeous, like Scarlett in her life.

  

Every second weekend, her grandparents were coming for her, and they were taking her to be their guest in Cookham, a peaceful village, thirty miles away from London. They thought the countryside and the fresh air would make her feel better. But nothing could make her truly happy. She was missing the life she had before the disease.

Back at home, Valerie's family got tired of people asking where Valerie was, what she was doing in London, and when she will be back. They were not denying or confirming the rumors that she had gotten married to some rich Englishman. The Pattersons have made up a simple story that Valerie needed a change in her life, so she moved to London. That is nothing unusual these days. People are constantly migrating from one location to another in search of a better life, a better job, an adventure, love... But something was not right in their story, and everyone suspected that the Pattersons were hiding something. Why would Valerie move to another country in search of something new when she already had at home what most people seek their entire lives?