chapter 2: strangers

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The next morning Valentina was gently woken up by Lucia and the bright sun shining through her window. She knew that she had gotten plenty of sleep to feel rested, but that same familiar feeling of exhaustion and sadness strained at her mind and body. Her eyes were tired and heavy; all she wanted to do was pull her covers back up and fall asleep.

However, another part of her was looking forward to getting out of bed and spending time away from the house with Lucia. So, after a few minutes of lying there, she finally decided to shower and get dressed for the day.

Once she was finished, she went downstairs to the living room where Lucia was waiting on the couch.

"Good morning Vale, you look very nice. Are you ready to go?"

She walked down to Lucia and gave her a quick hug before replying. "Yep, what all do you have to get done at work?"

"I have to look over the designs and make sure they're all on schedule for the photo shoot in a couple of weeks and do some paperwork. It'll only take a few hours. Do you mind or do you have plans later today?"

Valentina pondered for a second, suddenly wishing that she hadn't agreed to go. She didn't want to be away for most of the day, already longing to be curled up in her bed.

But seeing the hopeful look in Lucia's eyes made her feel guilty. She could tell her step mom was looking forward to spending time with her and she didn't want to hurt her feelings. Plus, if Lucho called later she had a good excuse not to spend time with him.

"No, not at all." She said smiling with only her lips.

Lucia's eyes gleamed with hope. "Alright then, vamos"

Alirio drove them both to Valentina's favorite cafe downtown. Lucia and her talked and ate for about an hour before they finished and drove to their company building.

Lucia lead Valentina through the building up to her office. She stared in surprise when they walked in, forgetting how beautiful it was.

The glass doors opened up to a large open room with glass windows all around. A large modern, wooden desk faced the open window looking out to the whole city. She had a black leather couch and two matching leather chairs on the opposite side with several plants put up around the room. It was elegant and very aesthetic.

Valentina looked to behind Lucia's desk where there were large framed printouts of the their company's magazine covers posted along the glass walls. As she was admiring them, there was one in particular that caught her eye.

The cover was of a woman in a gray pinstriped suit sitting in a wooden stool. She had gorgeous, dark features and was smiling brightly, looking off to the side.

Valentina's heart began to flutter as she looked over the woman's body, taking in every detail

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Valentina's heart began to flutter as she looked over the woman's body, taking in every detail. So beautiful she thought.

The words "Juliana Valdés: newest designer taking over the fashion industry" was read over the bottom corner.

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