My Southern Belle

20

(Val's POV)

I arrived in Texas around 9:30. I went home to put my things down and got in my car. I drove straight to Chloe's house running a couple of red lights and stops signs along the way.

When I got there I saw her car in her driveway which told me she was there. I ran up to her front porch and knocked on the door. She opened the door and then slammed it in my face.

"Chloe, what's wrong? Can you open the door?" I knocked on the door again

"Val just leave me alone!" She yelled from inside

"No! Not until you tell me what's wrong."

She opened the door and I made my way in and closed the door behind me.

"Chloe, tell me what's wrong? I was worried about you."

"No you weren't! You don't care about me!" She said as she started crying and I was confused as hell.

"Chloe, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh please. Don't act stupid."

"Trust me, I'm not acting. I'm oblivious to the situation."

"I fucking hate you!" She said hitting me. I grabbed her and held her against the wall.

"Can you just explain what's going on?" I asked

"No let me go!"

"Not until you talk to me. Chloe I was in another state worried to death about you. You weren't answering and I thought something happened to you!"

"Were you worried about me or Olivia?" I let her go and backed away. How could she know that name?

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Your wife Val! She came to my house. She said you two have been married for four years. You were lying to me this whole time."

"Chloe, I swear I have never lied to you. Olivia is not my wife. She's a girl I've known since high school and when I told her I didn't want her, she snapped. I guess this is her way of getting back at me."

"How do I know your not lying?"

"You just have to trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you. I love you Chloe. You have no idea how much I love you. This isn't how I wanted you to know but I need you to know that I don't want to lose you. I can't lose someone else. I don't think I'll be able make it through another one."

Chloe just stood there. I couldn't read her mind. There's no telling what she was thinking. "Say something." I said desperately. She started crying again. This time she walked over to me and hugged me. Her tears soaked my shirt and sobs filled her house. I'm guessing her legs grew weak because she slid to the ground. I got on the ground with her and she continued to cry into my shirt. We were both so hurt by something that wasn't true. How could Olivia be so evil?

She fell asleep and as much as I wanted to stay the night, I knew I couldn't. My line of work doesn't do well with excuses. I helped Chloe to her room and I kissed her goodnight and promised her I would be back the next day. I walked out being sure to lock her front door. I got in my car and I was no longer sad, now I was angry. Olivia almost ruined everything for me and Chloe.

"Fuck!" I said punching my steering wheel. I drove home and got in bed. It was after 11 when I got there. I took a shower and went to sleep. I wasn't sure how I would react the next time I saw Olivia.

(Chloe's POV)

I woke up with the worst headache. I was in my pajamas so I knew I wasn't drinking the night before. Then I remembered what happened last night. I started crying again. Yeah I know I'm a whimp. This time I was crying because I felt bad. I ignored Val and doubted her loyalty. I was laying across my bed when I heard Calvin's voice.

"How are you doing?" Calvin asked

"Fine. I'm also changing the locks on my door."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes I'm sure. I saw Valentine last night. She came over after she landed. She said she was worried about me because I wasn't answering her calls. She thought something happened to me. She also said that the whole wife thing was a lie that the girl made up to get back at her for something."

"So you're not her mistress?"

"Nope and I've been stressing out for 2 days over nothing."

"Do you love her?" I never really thought about it. I didn't tell him that Val told me she loved me last night. I didn't think it was crucial at the moment.

"I think I do. I know I care about her a lot."

"That's all that counts. So now that everything is cleared up, you owe Valerie an apology."

"Calvin, her name is Valentine. If you can't remember that, call her Val."

"Ok. Val it is. Anyway, you need to apologize and maybe buy her a sandwich."

"Yeah yeah. Now get out and go love your wife or something." I said kicking off my bed

"Fine. I'm telling mama you're trying to change the locks too." He said walking out.

Calvin was right. Valentine did deserve an apology. She had been nothing but good to me and I let someone try and break us up. I didn't even ask her I just assumed.

I heard a noise come from my laptop and it was Mrs. Donald emailing all of the teachers. She was reminding us not to forget about making our lesson plans. I rolled my eyes and thought about how I only had 2 days to start and finish these lesson plans.

Long story short I spent the rest of my morning and afternoon starting on my lesson plans and by 6 I just wanted to take a nap. As soon as I closed my laptop Val walked in.

"Do you have a key too?" I asked

"No, your door wasn't locked."

"Oh. Can I talk to you about what happened?"

"No because you're about to apologize. You were hurt and that's the end of the story. I don't blame you."

"I still didn't answer your calls and I should have. I didn't want to hear your part."

"Its fine. As long as you say you still want me, that's all I need."

"Do you really love me?" I asked

"What do you mean?"

"Last night, you said that you love me. Were you just saying that or is it true?"

"Boy do you have trust issues. Chloe, I meant everything I said last night and everything I said before. Who did this to you? Who made you build a wall, because its frustrating trying to knock it down and get you to trust me."

"I'm not sure. Maybe its been all of my relationships. I was heartbroken and then when I finally learned to live with it I was pretty lonely. Then you come along and made everything ok again. I guess I just thought it was too good to be true so when Olivia came along I just knew I was right all along. Now I'm sitting here trying to figure out how the hell I was wrong when I'm always right."

Val walked over to where I was sitting on the bed and held my face in her hands.

"Chloe Ellison, I love you. You're only wrong because you wanted to be right. You wanted it to be true so you wouldn't have to put your heart and feeling out there not knowing you already did. Well, I'm not going anywhere no time soon, so get ready to be wrong about a lot of things."

I laughed and kissed Val. It has never felt so good to be wrong. Val even spent the night with me because she didn't have to go work the next day.