Betrayal

Chapter 5

Valerie just woke up and thought she could prepare breakfast for Yolanda and herself. They had been living together for over six months, she was amazing to her and so was Rayan. They had been trying to get her to join them when they went out for dinner but Valerie was still not ready to expose herself to the world.

She found the lovebirds making out on the kitchen counter, she cleared her throat making them pull away from each other. "Good morning lovebirds", Valerie had been using that nickname for them for a while, they hated it at first but Yolanda warmed up to it causing Rayan to follow suit. "Good morning", they replied at the same time. Rayan liked to be hands on his girlfriend all the time so you can imagine how many times Valerie had to avoid awkward moments. "I would like to assume that there is no breakfast made", Valerie teased knowing the answer already. When she moved in the first thing she had to deal with was takeaway boxes, Yolanda hated cooking so when she found out Valerie loved cooking she was so excited that she kept going grocery shopping. When there was no answer as she expected she went on to pleasing their sweet tooth by making cinnamon rolls. "Please make an extra batch I want to take some to my family, they loved the cookies you made last time", Rayan said making her smile. "Baby, You mean the cookies that you stole from our kitchen?", His girlfriend intervened making him smile. "No Landa, I didn't steal because we are family and I wanted them to taste her food...you know to share with our other family right Val?", he wiggled his eyebrows at her making her laugh. "You are not putting me in the middle of that" she placed the dough in the oven and went to her room to freshen up.

When she was rubbing the loaf on her wrists she looked at the scars making her remember the past. It had been four years since it happened but she was also grateful that she was able to move on. She finished taking a bath and then got dressed. Thought about getting back to job hunting which was so difficult since she didn't have any certificates because of what happened before, she was running with a story that they got destroyed in a house fire. She even had the legal documents she was given by Agent Stonebrige to back her up but most companies didn't acknowledge it. So she had to try harder. She returned to the kitchen just when the timer went off. Placing her laptop on the counter, she opened the oven to reveal beautiful cinnamon buns the same moment that Rayan entered with Yolanda and a bigger version of Rayan, the only difference was that he had deep blue eyes and his hair was black, unlike Rayan who had deep brown hair. He was just a piece of art that deserved to be on someone's wall. Rayan had to clear his throat to bring her back to reality. "What?", she asked Rayan who had a smirk on his face, she knew he saw her ogling his relative. "Zain, this is Valerie, she is Landa's roommate and our amazing cook as you can see. Val this is my older brother Zain", "Nice to meet you", she said avoiding his eyes. "Likewise", his voice was so deep it was almost as if he was forcing himself to speak, the bass just made her feel things that she promised herself not to feel ever again. She took a deep breath and proceeded to drizzle the thin icing on the buns. 

"This is your batch Rayan, you owe me big time", she said placing a container in front of him. She served them breakfast, making sure not to look at Zain not even by accident. They sat and ate quietly, "Oh god, this is just heaven", Landa said with her eyes closed enjoying the bun, the way she said it made Rayan look at her like he wanted to eat her. Before Valerie could comment her phone rang, the caller ID was from one of the companies she applied for. "Is it them?", Landa asked excitedly. "Yes, yes...wish me luck", she said leaving her breakfast behind. "Miss Armstrong?", "Yes this is she", "I called to inform you in person that you did not qualify for the position you applied for", "oh, ok...Thank you for letting me know, bye", Valerie hang up and when she turned she saw a sad Yolanda with her arms open. She went into the hug releasing a breath. "Hey, don't worry ok? You will get it, we just need to keep looking and not give up", she said as they walked back to the kitchen. "What's up with you two?", Rayan asked going for what looked like his third bun. "It's nothing", Valerie rushed to reply making Landa smile. "Val don't be silly, she has been looking for a job for a while now but hasn't been able to get any", she said sitting next to Rayan, who had the same sad expression. "Am sorry about that Val", he said and she nodded her head returning to her breakfast. All this time Zain was quiet, just eating his breakfast, Valerie was not surprised to see he had a sweet tooth too. He was on his fourth bun after all.

"Have you ever been employed before?", Zain asked when the lovebirds moved to the living room to watch movies leaving Valerie on her laptop. "Yes, but there was an accident and I lost all my certificates, so I think that's one of the disadvantages I have. A lawyer told me his letter would help me get employment but so far it has only raised more questions than actually helping", she turned to meet his eyes for the second time since she met him. There was something in his eyes that just pulled her in. She was the first to divert her attention back to the laptop. "How long have you been living with Yolanda?", he asked sitting right next to her. "It's been six months I think, could be more", she said trying to recall but giving up, she heard a chuckle from him. She turned to him with curiosity, "What's so funny?", "Nothing, it's just... the way you tried to remember, just reminded me of someone", he said smiling at her, he looked like Zeus himself.