Next week, Valerie arrived at the hotel around noon. She dragged a couple bags behind her as she entered the hotel. It was a bit strange to see the hotel empty; last week it had been bustling with people.
"Hello, Valerie!" Valerie grinned when she heard Wendy call to her. She was standing in the elevator, Jack and Danny at her sides. She held the door open for Valerie.
Valerie just managed to squeeze in; she was pressed between Jack, a large suitcase, and the wall. "Close quarters, huh?" she muttered to Jack, laughing.
"Yep," Jack replied, laughing a little under his breath.
When the elevator reached their floor, Valerie was the first to jump out. "So, what numbers were our rooms again?" she asked Wendy, lugging her bags out of the elevator.
"Um... 335 and 336." Valerie nodded, slowing her pace so Wendy could catch up to her.
"So, after we get situated, how about we check out the boiler room together?" Wendy asked, smiling over at Valerie.
"Why wouldn't Jack come with us?" Valerie asked.
"He's a writer, y'see," Wendy explained, "and I figure he'd like to get started with his new project."
"Oh, I see," Valerie responded. She stopped suddenly when she saw her door. "I'll be out in a minute, Wendy."
She set her bags on the bed and hung up all her clothes in the closet. Her room was nice; it had a queen size bed facing a dresser with a mirror. There was a bathroom at the other end of the room. She pulled her hair up in a bun and examined her face in the mirror for a moment, then turned away and joined Wendy in the hallway.
Working the boiler room was easy enough; you had to turn off the boiler currently in use after seven days, then turn on the next one. The cycle repeated. After a few hours of fiddling around with the machinery, Valerie and Wendy figured they knew everything they had to.
Wendy and Valerie walked up to the ground floor lobby, where Jack was writing. Danny was sitting at the top of the stairs, playing with his firetruck beside him. "Hi, Danny!" Valerie said, sitting cross-legged beside him. "I didn't know you liked firetrucks."
He sat in silence, continuing to play with the truck. "Danny?" Valerie repeated, and her disappointment was present in her voice.
"I don't wanna talk to you," Danny murmured.
"Danny!" Wendy scolded, seeming partly angry and partly surprised. "That was very rude of you, young man - "
"No, no, it's fine," Valerie said, dejected. She stood up and started walking away, waving briefly at Danny. Wendy hurried after her, watching Danny play with his toy truck.
"I'm so sorry, Valerie, I don't know why he - "
"No, it's fine, really. I know little kids can be fussy like that." Valerie cracked her knuckles.
"Well, anyways..." Wendy smiled halfheartedly. "How about we make sandwiches and we have some dinner with Jack?"
"That sounds nice." Valerie started to head towards the kitchen.
She and Wendy made four sandwiches and grabbed a bag of chips. They headed to the ballroom that Mr. Ullman had told them about and set the food down. "Do you wanna go get Danny?" Wendy asked.
"No, I don't think he wants to see me," Valerie responded, bitterly. "I'll get Jack."
She stood up and left the room. It took her a little while to figure out which way to go, but soon she found Jack.
He was sitting at his typewriter, but he wasn't typing anything. Valerie walked up to him. "Hi, Jack."
He jumped, whipping his head around. He relaxed when he saw it was Valerie. "God, you scared me!" he said, laughing. Valerie smiled. Jack had a full, bellowing laugh that filled up the whole room.
"Sorry. Did I interrupt you?" she asked, and Jack shook his head.
"No, I think I've gotten all my thoughts for the day down," he mused, flipping through the papers he had.
"That's good, because Wendy and I made some sandwiches, if you wanna join us." Jack's face lit up.
"Perfect, I'm starving." He stood up. "Lead the way!" Valerie and Jack walked back to the ballroom. After taking a couple turns, Valerie soon realized she was lost. She felt a shiver go down her spine when Jack grabbed her hand to guide her through the hallways. "The ballroom, right?" Valerie nodded, feeling too flustered to do much of anything else. "I've done some exploring in between writing." He looked back at her and winked.
Finally, they made it to the ballroom. Wendy sat at a table near the front of the room, with Danny sitting in her lap. "Hey, honey," Jack said, giving Wendy a short peck on the lips. At that moment, Valerie came to her senses. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about how she had reacted when he took her hand. He was married, for God's sake! Valerie sighed as she sat down, across from Jack and next to Wendy.
"So, Jack... What are you writing about?" Valerie asked nonchalantly, cutting her sandwich in half.
"Well, it's a play, for starters," Jack replied, "and it's about a girl who gets pulled into a murder mystery after she's found at the crime scene."
"Oh, that sounds interesting!" Valerie said, as enthusiastically as she could. She picked up her sandwich, unable to think of anything else to say.
Her starting to eat seemed to remind Jack, Wendy, and Danny that they had sandwiches sitting in front of them, so they started eating too. It was silent, but not uncomfortable. Valerie ate a couple chips.
"Did you make these, Valerie?" Jack asked suddenly. Valerie found the question odd.
"Well, yeah, I put the peanut butter and jelly on the bread if that's what you're asking." She almost laughed, the question was so absurd to her - especially coming from Jack.
"Well, I don't - I don't know how to explain it - but you make really good sandwiches."
Valerie gave Jack a confused look, but accepted the strange compliment anyways. "Uh, thanks, I guess." She glanced at Wendy and saw that she was just as confused as Valerie was. She looked over at Danny and was surprised to see him staring at her with a blank gaze that almost seemed to hold contempt. She stood up. "Well, I'll take everyone's plates, if you want."
She walked around and picked up the plates, then went back to the kitchen. She washed them silently, still pondering about Jack's sudden fixation on her and Danny's seeming hatred towards her. It made her very upset that Danny didn't like her; she'd always adored children, and they adored her. She hoped she would be able to find time to talk with Danny soon. Then again, she thought, a bitter smile growing on her face, I'm sure I'll find time. I'm stuck with him here for the next seven months, aren't I?
A/N: hey everyone! thanks for reading. ive been thinking about the plot of this fanfiction a lot, and i have a lot of interesting ideas! im excited to get them down. also, thank you so much IglooPenguin231! it means so much that you like this! :)