Valentine stroked the cover of the notebook as memories came flooding back. She named each day after what was best for her that day. In the notebook she also found a couple of Polaroid pictures taken by Carole. In the pictures, she was holding little Bradley or hugging Ron while Iceman rolled his eyes next to them. All this touched her. The rush of memories and that familiar feeling...the feeling of home and security.
I had just entered the house when I bumped into Maverick at the door. He nodded at me, smiled and left the house. He sped off on his motorbike.
"Lotti, do you have something to tell me?" I asked her when I entered the house, pointing to the road.
"Nothing happened. I'm trying to get information out of him about the MIG 28. He saw it and won't tell. That information would allow me to get a better job and not have to move all the time." she explained, removing the wine glasses from the table.
"Ok. You just never brought students home. Be careful not to get hurt. Ok?"
"I know, Tina. How was it with Slider? Where did he take you?"
"He took me to a pastry shop in town. The best cheesecake I've ever tasted and a chocolate cake. I found out his name was Ron Kerner and the waitress told him to look after me because I could be his wife in 2 months. He told me I was beautiful and when I was ashamed and bowed my head, he told me that the queen bows to no one. And then he drove me home."
"Aww. Tina. I'm so happy for you. Finally." she said and squeezed my hand.
"When you went to talk to Maverick, he told the waitress that Iceman was paying our bill. I'm so embarrassed about that." I said and hid my face with my hands.
"I'll tell Iceman I'll pay him back. Don't worry. Are you going on a date again?" said Lottie.
"I don't think this was a date. Maybe. I don't know..."
Lotti was laughing at me as I looked at her in confusion.
"Geez, it's official. My little sister has fallen in love."
I hit her with a cloth from the table and she started chasing me around the house. We were like little girls as she tickled me on the couch because she caught me. We recounted the favorite days of our childhood. Dad was a physics professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and Charlotte followed in his footsteps while I fantasized about singing. I never had any ambitions for a serious career. Mom was a housewife and took care of us. I loved baking cakes and cooking. I saw writing poetry as my way out of reality. We got ready to go out because Lotti was taking me to a bar. I wore a flowing blue dress with black dots that fastened with buttons in the front. I loved it because it had puff sleeves down to the elbow. I tied my hair in a ponytail and put lipstick on my lips. I took the perfume from Lotti and headed for the car. She was wearing the usual white shirt tucked into a flowing gray high-waisted skirt and we were both wearing black heels. We sat in the car and she took me to that bar. As soon as we got out of the car, there were a lot of pilots in white uniforms in front of the bar. I was overcome with nervousness as Lotti led me inside by the hand, and the pilots looked at me like I was a piece of fresh meat. They whistled, smiled at me and called me beautiful. I wanted to run away.
"Get out of here. Now!" a voice I already knew growled at them. It was Iceman.
"Thank you." I thanked.
"It's okay. Slider is in the booth by the stage. Charlie, can I take her to be with us?" he asked Lotti to which she told him he was allowed and to watch me. I kissed her cheek and accepted Iceman's outstretched palm. He led me to the booth as Slider stood up.
"I just saved your lady. They were going to tear her apart at the entrance." he said to Slider and gave him my hand. I sat next to him and met Hollywood and Wolfman who were in the booth with them. They waited for the band to start singing, but the band was quite upset because their singer did not appear, and Commander Viper was in the bar with some generals. They wanted to make a good impression and discussed how to say that they would not perform. I got up and headed towards the band.
"Excuse me, I heard you don't have a singer. Can I help? I sing well." I told them.
"I think we can't help but try. We've already embarrassed ourselves. Do you know at least five songs?" the drummer asked me.
"Just go with the melody and leave the rest to me."
Slider looked at me in amazement with a smile because he didn't understand what I was up to. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Lotti was excited to see me on stage. I smiled as I waited for the drummer to start playing.
"I never meant to cause you any pain I only wanted that one time to see you laughing I only wanted to see you Laughing in the purple rain..." I started singing. Everything in the bar stopped. Only sighs remained.
"...Purple rain, purple rain Purple rain, purple rain Purple rain, purple rain I only wanted to see you Bathing in the purple rain..." my gaze was directed towards Slider, who was resting his hand on the table and covered his mouth with his palm. I continued to sing while the drummer played light ballads. "Waiting for a girl like you" is a song that filled the dance floor. Slider remained seated while Iceman danced with the hot blonde. That's how I sang "Take my breath away", "I want to know what love is", "Careless Whisper". The band thanked me and asked me to join them again next week. I agreed without thinking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have to take this opportunity to thank Vanentine for her help. I would like a round of applause for her." said drummer Tommy into the microphone and took my hand to bow together. I turned back to Slider with a big smile. I hugged him tightly.
"It was fantastic. Congratulations." he whispered.
"Thank you. This is a dream come true. They want me to sing with them next week too. So you'll see me again." I told him.
"You're better than their singer. It fits you so naturally. I'm Sarah." the girl Iceman was dancing with told me.
"Thank you. I'm Valentine." I introduced myself and made a friend in her. Slider took me aside so we could be alone. I leaned my back against the pillar, and he put his hand on the pillar and stood in front of me. I didn't change my mind but hugged him. His hands were on my waist when our lips touched. I backed away a little, to which he looked at me without moving. I looked at his lips to confirm that he could continue. He kissed me and sent tingles down my spine. His lips seemed to be made for mine. He gripped my waist tighter before we parted. I touched my lips with my finger and looked at him. His smile reminded me of Lotti's words. God, I fell in love. He snapped me out of my trance when he asked me if I wanted to go back to the booth and have a drink with him. I nodded, and he took my hand and led me. As we walked towards the booth I leaned on his shoulder and he gently kissed my forehead. That's when I knew. That's it...I'm in love.
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