Valerie

Part 3

VALERIE

I sigh. "Thank you. I don't want Lew to feel like he has to look after me just because Toto is my father. He's already watching out for his sister."

"Yeah, it's all good. Did you enjoy your evening?" Daniel leans back in his chair, letting his arm stretch out on the back of my chair.

"I did, thank you." I look down at my hands, a piece of hair falling in my face, I push it back behind my ears and smile at Daniel. "Did you enjoy the evening?"

"I still am." he grins. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk?"

I drink the rest of my wine. "Yes, let's get outta here."

We stand at the same time and he grabs my pinky with his, leading me out of the restaurant. We walk in silence for a while, and I watch my feet on the pavement.

"Let's go down here." He says quietly. I realize we're going onto the beach. I stop and take my shoes off, tucking my socks into them, before I step onto the sand. Daniel does the same.

"It's so peaceful out here," I say quietly, taking a deep breath, my arms held out at my sides.

"I love the beach, the waves make me feel calm," Daniel says, walking a little further and then plopping down on the sand. I walk over to him, dropping down next to him.

We watch the ocean for a while.

"Hey, Valerie. Can I ask you something?" Daniel asks quietly.

I turn and see he's watching me, a careful look on his face.

"Sure, go ahead," I whisper, leaning back on the sand, resting on my hands.

"Look, you can tell me to fuck off if you don't want to talk about it," he says. "I just... I was looking through your Instagram. Who is Marcus?"

I feel my heart start pounding when he says Marcus' name. I don't say anything for a while.

"Valerie, I'm sorry. You don't-"

I cut him off. "No, it's okay. My therapist says I should speak about it more." I take a deep breath, putting my hand to my chest to feel the ring on the chain there. "Marcus is, was, my fiance'. He passed away last year." I stare out at the ocean, not wanting to see the pitiful look that I'm sure is on his face right now, the same look that I've been getting for the last year.

"I'm so sorry Valerie," Daniel whispers. "What happened?"

I sigh. "We were driving home from a function, we used to do photography together, I was driving..." I stop, trying to collect myself, I can hear the shaking in my voice. "I was driving, our light was green, but by the time we got to the middle of the intersection, a drunk driver that had skipped the red light in his massive pickup truck hit us, full-on impact on the passenger's side of our car. Our car rolled. Marcus passed away before the ambulance could get there. I had a head injury and was in a coma for three weeks. The other driver also passed away at the scene." I wipe my tears quickly, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my head on them. "When I woke up they told me he had passed away. We were supposed to be getting married two weeks after I woke up. So instead of a wedding, we had a funeral on that day. I came out of the hospital and went straight to his funeral. I was a widow before I could be a wife." I stop talking, my eyes closed as the tears roll down my cheeks. My chest is on fire. I can feel my broken heart breaking more with every word I say.

Suddenly I feel an arm around my shoulders, Daniel pulls me to him. Holding me tightly. "That's horrible. I'm so sorry Valerie. I can't imagine what you're going through." he whispers while rubbing my shoulder gently.