Valerie and her mother had the same dream of becoming famous authors. Valerie would always buy composition notebooks to write her stories and hide them in her room under her mattress. She would include drawings that went with her stories, getting into digital design and illustration. Valerie would submit her stories in contests throughout high school and win prizes, making her proud of her work. One day, Valerie came home and saw her mother making her way outside the house.
MAY: I'm going to take these with me.
May walks down the stairs holding a small stack of notebooks with Nickolas following behind her.
NICKOLAS: Those aren't yours; you won't take them.
MAY: Oh, honey. Just be glad there's something in this house that I want.
May smiles and turns to the door where Valerie is standing.
MAY: Oh, Valerie, hold the door open for me.
Valerie moves aside, not knowing what's happening as May walks out to her car.
Nick follows after her and tries to snatch one of the notebooks away from May.
NICK: These do not belong to you!
MAY: Let go!
They tug and pull on the notebooks.
VALERIE: Dad!? Dad?!
Nickolas falls to the ground with one final pull, and pieces of paper go flying. Valerie rushes to her father and kneels next to him.
MAY: You idiot! Well, I at least have these.
VALERIE: Dad!
May looks down at them before walking to her car.
MAY: Valerie?
Valerie looks up at her.
MAY: I hope to see you soon.
Valerie helps her father stand up as May gets into her car and drives away. Nick gets back on the ground and starts gathering the papers.
NICK: I'm so sorry, sweetie.
VALERIE: Dad, get up.
Valerie pulls him up, but Nickolas pulls himself down to grab more papers.
VALERIE: I can rewrite it. Just get up.
Nick starts crying, and Valerie hugs him.
Valerie thinks about this day as she walks down the hallway at her apartment when she sees Nickolas sitting by her door.
VALERIE: Dad?
Nicholas stands up and cleans himself off.
Levi walks to his office to his desk, where May waited.
LEVI: Ms. Cortez, I'm sorry for making you wait.
MAY: Oh, don't worry. I understand. She's never been good at confrontation.
May takes a sip of her water.
MAY: So, when would you like to do the book signing? I'm booked for the next two weeks, but I should be free after that.
LEVI: Actually, I don't think we'll be doing the book signing anymore.
MAY: Really? How come?
LEVI: I just think it's for the best.
MAY: I'll bring more customers to your mall.
LEVI: Did you see the roller rink downstairs? Thanks to that, there's already been an increase in foot traffic. I wouldn't want to fill the mall to its capacity.
YOU ARE READING
A Moment Like This
RomanceAfter his assistant drunkenly confesses she's in love with him, Levi Wells attempts to get Valerie to confess again. Only this time, it leads to a bigger secret Valerie's kept for years.
