While you were Sleeping

15. The misunderstanding

Valentina woke the next morning with pounding headache and a stuffed tiger in her arms. She groaned when the shrill ringtone on her phone, announced Eva was calling. It was early, too early, she had barely slept the night before. Her head had been too full to switch off and now it was struggling to reboot.

She reached for her phone, wanting to end the awful noise. "Eva?" she mumbled.

"Vale? Are you still in bed?"

Valentina winced; Eva's loud voice seemed to reverberate inside her head. "What do you want?"

"Get up!" Valentina pulled the phone away from her ear, Eva's voice was far too loud. "Go shower, I'm on my way to the house to collect you. Dad had an emergency meeting with one of our investors this morning so you are coming to the hospital with me."

"Uh huh..." she agreed while snuggling into her pillow again.

"Vale! Wake up!" Eva was starting to sound exasperated. "We agreed we would go see Guille this morning, I have a busy afternoon I can't rearrange."

"I know! I'm up!" She huffed as she rolled onto her back. "How long will you be?"

"Twenty minutes. I've already called Chivis to warn her, so get up! We'll have breakfast then go to the hospital together."

"Fine, I'll see you soon." Valentina ended the call and lay staring at the ceiling. She was exhausted, her head was sore and her mouth felt dry.

The day before had been a rollercoaster of emotions. She had managed to make it to the hospital to visit an already sleeping Guille and got home again without crying but her emotions were all over the place. She was happy about Guille but she didn't know what to do about Juliana.

Thankfully, no one had mentioned her. She wasn't ready to talk about her yet, she was still trying to process everything. The more she thought about it, the more questions she came up with. Why did Juliana keep the charade going? Why didn't she confess sooner? What was going on between them? Did Juliana want something more? Why did I allow myself to become so attached?

Valentina was getting nowhere though, she hadn't heard from Juliana since she'd walked out of the alley, which was probably a good thing because she wasn't ready to talk to her, about any of it, including the three little words that had slipped out at the end. Why did I tell her I loved her? Valentina's hands came up to cover her face, she had no idea why she said it. Maybe it was the result of all her conflicting emotions, maybe it was out of fear, afraid she would never see her again. She liked Juliana, more than she should, but love? That was pushing it! "Ugh! I've only known her a week! This shouldn't be so hard!"

There was also the issue of Renata. Valentina had struggled over the decision to contact her; she didn't know how her father would react but she decided Juliana was right. Renata deserved to know, she loved Guille. Renata had cried with joy at the news, she thanked Valentina for calling and asked her to pass on a message to Guille. Valentina refused and told her to deliver the message herself, inviting her to join them at the hospital in the morning. She would deal with her father and Eva when the time came, which unfortunately was much sooner than she'd like.

She looked at the time on her phone and groaned. Time to get up!

* * * * *

Juliana lay on her bed, exhausted. She barely slept the night before. She replayed their conversation over and over again, torturing herself. She was glad she told her; Valentina deserved to hear it from her. But she wasn't prepared for Valentina's silence, it was agonising. She would've preferred an angry reaction, to be shouted at and told to stay away from her, at least she would know where she stood.