Ch. 6

The next morning, Valerie arrived at work earlier than usual. She wanted to try to catch Randy Hill before too much of the day passed. Her opportunity came when he entered the station carrying two lattes, one of which he offered to her. "Good morning, lovely lady. Here you go. I didn't really know what your favorite flavor was but I saw this and thought of you," he said as he handed her the butterscotch coffee. She laughed and returned his greeting, thanking him and then taking a sip. "I've never tried this flavor before—it's good. Now what exactly about me made you think of butterscotch?" she teased him. "Oh, I hope that wasn't offensive. I didn't mean it to be-" "Randy, relax. I was only teasing you. Thanks for the compliment." "Good. I didn't want to ruin my chances before we'd even got out of the gate. Sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble." Valerie exhaled a soft sigh which Randy heard. How to explain…

"Randy," she finally stated, "I had a great time last night. I really needed the release, so thank you again for taking me to Jake's. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea. And I don't want to lead you on because you're a nice guy. There is someone in my heart already. I don't know if he and I have a ghost of a chance, but I don't want to start something with anyone else just in case. Minimize the collateral damage, you know? I could always use another friend, though. That didn't come out right. Not that I want to use you—"

Randy gave her a rueful smile. "I can't say I'm not disappointed. Friendship works, but I'm quite a catch. You just might find yourself falling for me after all, once I've worked the full force of my mojo on you. Last night was only a taste." Valerie felt deep relief as they laughed together.

Dante was running late for work—the after-effects of insomnia and a pit stop he had made before going on to the PCPD. He walked in clutching two lattes just in time to see Valerie leaning forward at her desk toward Randy Hill. She was propping her chin on her fist and saying, "Full mojo, huh? That might actually be worth seeing. Tell you what. You have my permission to do your 'best,' or your 'worst,' whichever you prefer. Fair warning, though. Nothing about me is easy!" She winked at him and they laughed again. Suddenly, she let out a gasp, exclaiming, "Crap! I forgot I was supposed to arrange for a messenger service to deliver a file to Detective Maitland—he needs it for his testimony in court today! I've gotta go take care of this, Randy. Thanks again for the latte!" She threw, "Oh, hey Dante!" over her shoulder as she dashed down the hallway toward the room where the needed file was kept. Dante was still standing there holding the lattes when Randy approached him, pointing and remarking, "Whoa, two lattes, Falconeri? Sleepless night, huh? Been there." Dante shook his head self-deprecatingly and gave Hill a short laugh in return before saying, "Yeah, that must be why I'm standing here with two lattes in my hands. Because I needed the kick." He walked away muttering, "I need a kick, all right…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As she wandered about Sonny's penthouse later that evening, Valerie looked around the room marveling to herself. This time last year, she was busting her butt wondering how she was going to keep on paying for her mother's care. Now she was actually living in a penthouse. How had she ended up here? She looked at the fireplace and wondered if she'd be here long enough to enjoy warming herself by it. A sense of melancholy began to settle over her. Her life, such as it was, was at least predictable. Go to work, go home, go see her mother and visit for a while, go home. It might have been mundane but at least she understood it and could count on it. Now everything felt like an unsettled mess. SHE felt like an unsettled mess, and she didn't like the feeling. She walked over to the bar and perused her choices. Sonny had good taste in everything, including liquor, it seemed. The bar was restocked, the pillows on the couch were plumped, and not a speck of dust existed in the house. Sonny had ordered it to be so, and it was so. And he had ordered it because Dante had asked him to do it. God, Dante. Unwillingly, he started filling her thoughts. He had been so kind to her since they met. A genuinely good man. And lover, she thought, before shying away from that particular memory. What, if anything, was she supposed to do about him? She reached out to a decanter of brandy and then drew back, changing her mind. She was alone, and she was afraid of what might happen if she got in the habit of drinking alone. Valerie came to a decision. She grabbed her keys and her purse, and headed out the door. She was going to Jake's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Carly was sitting at a table at Jake's, leaning forward with her hand propping her head as she listened to Lulu's explosion of anger. She felt bad for her, rotten really. She knew Dante was "too perfect" and she had tried to warn Lulu in the past not to keep him on the pedestal upon which she seemed to have placed him. He was a good man, certainly, but without flaws? Dangerous thinking leads to dangerous expectations, which always leads to disappointments. She didn't remind Lulu of all this, though—she just sat and listened.

"I hate her. Plain and simple. I hate her. Every single thing that has happened to my so-called life lately can be linked to her! She staked him out, Carly. She saw her prey, bided her time, and pounced. I knew this was her plan from the beginning!"

"I don't think it's that simple, Lulu. First of all, it takes two to tango. Don't just blame Valerie-"

"I DON'T just blame Valerie! Dante proved to be a rat bastard, too! I blame them both! But she started the whole thing, put it in motion, I know she did-"

"You DON'T know that. You think it, but you don't know it. Not for sure. For what it's worth, I don't think that's how it happened. I don't get the sense from her that she was out to get your husband away from you. Circumstances-"

"Why are you defending her, Carly? Huh? You're MY cousin, remember? You're supposed to be on my side! I'm not here to hear you defending her!"

"I'm not defending her, Lulu. I'm not. What she did was wrong, and I'm sure she knows that. I'm saying there are two sides to every story, and I just don't see her as some kind of predator. I am on your side in this, and I don't blame you for hating her. She's my cousin, too, though, and I don't see myself hating her just because you want me to. She's had a difficult time lately, and-"

"I'm SICK of hearing about the hard time she's had lately! Everybody has hard times! I'm sick of it! I don't care! And she doesn't seem like a predator to you because she wasn't after YOUR husband! If she'd gone after Sonny, you'd totally be singing a different tune!"

"You're right. I'll admit it. If she had gone after Sonny, I'd be looking to plant her somewhere in the Pine Barrens. But that's my point—she didn't go after Dante. I just won't believe she did that. I can see one thing leading to another; I can see her getting herself in a situation she didn't intend to get in. More than that, I think, is your hatred talking. Dante didn't tell you how it all happened, did he? Did you even give him a chance to?"

Lulu could barely contain her ire as she looked at her cousin, grabbing her hair in frustration. "NO I DIDN'T GIVE HIM A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN! I don't care how it happened! SHE. SLEPT. WITH. MY. HUSBAND! What part of that aren't you getting?"

"And I slept with my mother's husband. People screw up all the time. I'm not trying to make light of your feelings, Lulu, I'm really not. I'm only saying I think there's more going on here. You're entitled to be as pissed off as you want, for as long as you want. I support that. But you want me to hate her, too, without knowing the whole story and I don't want to do that. I'm sorry. You're my cousin, and she's my cousin. I am on your side, but not enough to hate her, ok?"

"Well can you at least kick her out of the Metro Court? Can you do that much for me, Cousin?"

Carly leaned back in her chair as she covered her face with her hands and sighed. "About that. She's not actually staying at the MC anymore, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Well, thank you very much for that at least!"

"Yeah. She's not at the Metro, she's in Sonny's penthouse."

Lulu was mind-boggled and trying hard to process this new information. "No possible way. Sonny's penthouse? She's in Sonny's penthouse? How did that happen? How did she even know about Sonny's penthouse? How did Sonny get in this in the first place? It doesn't make any sense-"

"Listen, Lulu. Ok, look. Don't blow a gasket here, ok? Vain request, I know. Sonny offered her the penthouse because Dante asked him to. She didn't have anywhere else to go, she didn't want to stay at the Metro Court because of our relationship, and Dante-"

"I don't wanna hear any more! I can't hear this! That utter bastard! He doesn't even want to work things out with me, does he? Not if he can do this! He should be helping to get her out of town, not finding her a place to stay! I'm done! Just totally done! And he's dead!"

Lulu jumped up from her chair and snatched her purse in unbridled fury. Valerie's or Dante's, it didn't matter whose first, but she wanted someone's blood on her hands. And it was into this storm that Valerie unwittingly entered when she walked into Jake's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX