On paper, Pete and Valentina are perfect for each other. Their friends used 'soulmates' when describing them and at one point they were. As they reflect on the last five years of their relationship, they try to understand the complexity of their lov...
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"I met someone. He's nice and sweet and cute. We've been on seven dates so far."
The room in which Valentina was in had stark white painted walls with a variety of doctorates hanging. There was some color in the room, it was to make the other clients feel more at ease when revealing their problems to the woman who sat across from them.
With a pen in hand and a notepad on her lap, Dr. Beth Macintyre focused on her patient of two years.
The raven-haired woman recalled when she first began sessions with the Arizonan: issues of trepidation, uselessness, and despair. Dr. Macintyre uncovered her habits of insomnia, the reoccurring feelings of worthlessness, diminished interests, the poor appetite, and intense sadness existing over a two-week period.
When given the diagnosis, Valentina denied it. There was no way that she was depressed— she had a happy childhood. One filled with love, attention, opportunities, and stability. Though, she did have those symptoms since she was a teenager, but she dismissed them, thinking it was some hormonal thing. The therapist had to tell explain to her that no one wished to have dark days and sleepless nights, but she would do everything to make her have less of them.
Eventually the dancer came to terms with her depression, she took her medication and implemented hobbies and other physical activities. Her episodes come and go, the doctor delighted with the progress she made over the years.
"He makes me want to get out of bed every morning. He makes me feel like I'm important. When he's with me, I get a strange sense of calmness like nothing wrong can happen when he's around. He makes life worth living for," Valentina gushed.
Within a split second, her daydream look instantly morphed into one of worry.
"Sounds like a pleasant young man. He's giving you loving attention, he makes you feel wanted and protected. So why do I feel like there's more you want to say?" The doctor inquired.
Without noticing, the ballerina practiced the breathing exercises that the therapist taught her to prevent panic attacks. She also dried her sweaty hands on her jeans, an action that only resurfaces when under extreme anxiety. Dr. Macintyre discreetly noted this on her pad of paper.
"I get these new thoughts now. They tell me that I'm not good enough for him. Saying it won't last, that they never do," Valentina's voice breaks, "I don't like them."
Putting down the pen and paper, Beth handed the girl a tissue. Val accepted it and dabbed the inner corner of her eyes.
"I must remind you that those with major depressive disorder tend to have more intense feelings than others when entering a romantic relationship. From what I am gathering, Miss Perez, these thoughts could be considered as fears. And I have reason to believe that this stems from fear of him seeing you experiencing your episodes. You want him to see you as this optimistic person, but you would be misleading his image of you."
Feeling like a little girl who had just been scolded, Valentina averted her eyes. Oh look, Dr. Macintyre bought a new plant she thought.
Beth simply sighed and checked her watch, informing the psychiatrist that there was five minutes remaining in their session, "The next time you see this boy, I want you to have a conversation with him about concerns. Although, you discuss it with me, I don't want you to hold these emotions inside of you— it is not good for your mental health."
•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Pete's body took up most of the brown couch in Valentina's home. The clacking from his laptop indicated that he was fully focused on whatever was on his screen. Valentina sat in front of him on the floor, working on her lesson plans for this upcoming summer workshop. The two could hear Mateo messing around on his make-shift studio in his room.
Valentina had been looking at the same page for a while now. She had been planning on what she was going to say for her talk with her.... her.... now thinking about it, she doesn't know what Pete was. They have gone out many times, they've kissed, they hold hands--- they do couple things, but they aren't officially together.
Maybe she's overthinking this, yeah, she doesn't need a label to define her love for Pete.
Right?
The sound of Pete talking snapped the worrisome brunette out of her thoughts, "This is nice. Me doing revisions of my drafts and you," He squinted so he can decipher what's on Val's papers, "Wait, what is--- what are you, what language is that?"
"It's English, Spanish, and French. I have to share my plans with my director, the Spanish is my own thoughts, and I teach the program in French so the kids have the cultural context," Val said with a smile.
"That is fucking amazing," Pete closed his laptop and sat down next to her, "Teach me something."
Val just laughed at him; when people find out that she spoke two other languages, they always berated her to say something or teach them phrases.
Pete noticed that she wasn't taking him seriously, "No, I'm serious. Start with Spanish, that's your first language, right?"
Gathering her stuff and placing it on the coffee table, Valentina moved to face in front of Pete. She taught him some basic things: esquina, tienda, bombilla.
"How do you say 'hey I'm walking here'!?" Pete said, his Staten Island accent slipping in.
"Oiga, estoy caminando aqui!"
"What about 'yer a wizard Harry'?" he asked in his Hagrid impression.
Using her deep man voice, "Eres un mago Harry."
"What's 'I want you to be mine' in Spanish?"
With a shaky breath, Valentina translated, "Quiero que seas mio."
Pete asked softly, "So what do you say? Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes," Valentina said in her mother tongue. Pete grinned from ear to ear after hearing the one word he knew in Spanish. He cupped her face and planted a kiss on her smiling lips.
The worries inside her dissipated and the thoughts were pushed aside. She concluded that she is good enough for the man in front of her. The ballerina will tell the comedian about her depression when the time is right.
She would come to find that as she explored her relationship with the New Yorker, Pete would stick by her when she goes through her episodes. He would hold her in his arms while she tells him to leave her because she is broken and that he deserves better. He refuses to follow her orders and makes it evident that he will never leave her side.
So, what happened between them the day when Pete left and never came back?
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y'all, it is 116 degrees here in AZ and i am melting but Val and Pete are official! eek!
does anyone watch new girl? i literally just finished the entire show and now i am experiencing that sadness of when you finished a good show :(
