CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
(part five)
“Are you going to start….”
“Our usual argument?” Valerie finished his statement. “You always start our usual argument.”
“I do? How?”
“‘You’re just going to leave again’,” Valerie imitated his voice. “‘You may as well just go.’ Or, my personal favorite, ‘If he’s that great, why don’t you just marry him?’”
“Ouch,” Mike said. “Wes?”
“The other two were just for the press,” Valerie said. “Yes, Wes.”
Mike stared at the wavy glass block window to the Castle garden. The moon hadn’t reached them yet. The distant street lights reflected off the glass creating a wispy dance of light. He sighed.
“Sorry. You just went on and on and on and on about him.”
“I did?” Valerie asked. “Really?”
“He was smart and sophisticated and went to all the cool parties and knew everyone and wore designer clothing and produced the best films and…. I figured you were already fucking him so…. Were you?”
“Not until you told me to leave,” she said.
She didn’t dare look at his face because she knew the pain she would see there. She wasn’t proud of herself or her actions. She and Mike danced this dance so long that she wasn’t really sure what were her decisions and what were his. Did he make her sleep with Wes? No. But he told her to. Or did he? She sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Mike asked.
“Oh, I was thinking about us.”
“What about us? Are you leaving again?”
She hit his leg with her hand and he laughed. She tipped her head up to kiss the underside of his chin.
“I….” Val started.
She shook her head. The thoughts bounced around her head like ping pong balls until a single image floated to the surface - Mike’s back as he left for basic training.
“I stood at the door for three hours hoping you would come back. You’d change your mind and work for my Dad. I was sure that you’d never, ever, ever leave me.”
Hoping she would continue, Mike let the silence lag. She almost never talked about herself, and never talked about this time in their life. She took a breath the let it out before saying anything else.
Denver Cereal continues tomorrow….
