She stared at me for a while, sliding her fingers through her hair. “It was fine. A little bumpy.”
Silence lingered.
I continued to look at her, having no idea what to say. I wished she would just go back to the room and let Derek and me hang out. I glanced to the side and saw Tucker standing there. He cringed and mouthed, “Yikes.”
Derek looked around. “Is Cleo coming?”
I wished Derek hadn’t asked, because Valerie immediately looked pissed at the question.
I patted his shoulder. “No. It’s just going to be us three.”
“Oh…” He looked devastated even though he’d just gotten here. “Will we see her tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure.” I directed him toward the front doors. “We’ll see.”
The three of us went to dinner.
We sat at a table, Derek beside me, while Valerie chose the seat directly across from me.
I wished she’d taken the other seat.
She drank her glass of wine, smearing her lipstick all over the glass, and she picked at her salad like she didn’t really enjoy it all that much.
“This is the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had.” Derek kept scooping it into his mouth. When he’d wanted to order something I didn’t approve of, I didn’t argue, because I really didn’t want to deal with it right now.
Valerie kept staring at me, giving me that look that told me there would be retribution if I wasn’t kind enough, if I didn’t talk enough. To her, I was a freak who didn’t know how to communicate. Now that I had Cleo, I realized Valerie just didn’t know how to listen. She expected me to become more like her instead of her becoming more like me.
Fuck, I missed Cleo.
“How’s your dinner?” I asked, trying to dissolve her aggression.
She shrugged. “You’d think a five-star restaurant would know how to throw a salad together…”
My salmon was good, but I couldn’t really enjoy it because I was so uncomfortable with the situation. “I’m sure the room service is good at the hotel if you’re still hungry.”
She shook her head. “I don’t eat past eight. Why do you think I look like this?”
“Like what?” I asked.
She raised an eyebrow. “Like a hot piece of ass.”
Both of my eyebrows shot up when she cursed in front of Derek. Did she talk like that all the time?
Derek continued to eat like he hadn’t noticed anything. He either really didn’t notice…or he was used to it.
I wanted to reprimand her, but there would be consequences if I confronted her, so I just let it go. It gave me a bit of anxiety because I felt like I was going back in time, back to a difficult marriage with a toxic person. I felt trapped then. I felt trapped now. But Derek was the prize that hung over my head, and if I didn’t play nice, she would take him away from me.
Sometimes I wished she were dead.
She continued to stab her fork into her salad, taking small bites like she was bored. “What are we doing tomorrow?”
“Thought we’d have lunch, then go to the aquarium.”
She didn’t seem excited by that.
“The aquarium?” Derek asked. “That sounds so cool.” He was totally immune to her coldness, his light unaffected by her darkness.
“They have a starfish exhibit,” I said. “You can touch them.”
“Wow, really?” Derek turned to me. “Did you know starfish push their stomach out of their bodies, digest their food, and then pull it back in?”
“Actually, yes,” I answered. “But I’m impressed you know that.”
“I want to know everything.” He returned his attention to his macaroni. “Like you do.”
“Trust me, I don’t know everything,” I said immediately. Basic human interactions were beyond my scope of understanding.
“I think you do.” Derek stirred his macaroni and took another bite.
A smile formed on my lips, and I suddenly felt a sense of pride, loving the way my son looked up to me, thought I was his superhero. “Well…thanks.”
Valerie cleared her throat—and destroyed everything.
I turned back to her.
“Are you done?” she asked, looking at my plate where there was food I was clearly still eating.
I stared at her blankly, surprised she’d asked that.
“I want to see your place.”
“I thought I would just walk you guys back to the hotel.” I didn’t want her anywhere near my private space.
“I want to see your place,” she repeated. “See what the big deal is about this fancy building.”
Derek went quiet, eating his food with his head down like he wanted to disappear from the tension. He wasn’t himself, the happy and curious child who loved to have discussions at the dinner table. Like he knew a fight was about to happen, he became as small as possible.
I hated this bitch. “Yeah…sure.”
We took the elevator to my floor then walked to the front door.
Valerie stared at everything, scoping it out.
I got the door unlocked, and we stepped inside.