The turning of the door knob followed with a cracking sound, arousing Valentine's head to the door.
Splits of seconds was gone staring at the door and it's motion, and she laid back her tear ridden face between her knees as she sat on one corner of the room, near the window where the morning's influence loomed in volumes, and a voice decapitated the sorrowful silence harboured in the room.
"Val— Valentine?" Palemo's voice surged from the other side. "Val? Are you there?" And a knock followed, disturbing the young girl's terrible peace.
"Go away" she muttered through dried lips. She thought that her father had finally come to his senses, and she wasn't ready for his apology.
"Fine…" he said with no touch of emotion. Valentine raised her head, surprised that it was all he had to say.
"I know is morning…" he looked at his watch. "Oh, is 11am already. And there is someone who is looking for you. Says his name is Jemima, and he is waiting outside for you." He said, and his footsteps were observed leaving the corner.
Valentine's heart raced with wonders and uncertainty. Who knew what he had come to do, or did Josef sent him? It couldn't be— Jemima doesn't roll closely with Josef.
She staggered up to her feet and rushed to wear something to cover her bum short and singlet.
On the verge, her image was caught by the mirror close by, and she drew back effortlessly, gasping at her tardy appearance. Her hair had been twigged and ragged, and her face was no where near to the clear and clean depot.
She walked into the bathroom and made the best use of water, toothbrush and hair tools. She came out refreshed from the outside but still turned pale and pain on the inside, and an exhale made the final stance before turning to the door.
The walk to the living room was seamless, as Palemo graved in, obviously looking to see and hear what would happen, and she resisted to look at his face or accept that he was even there.
She approched the door and calmed herself and thought for a while if they would actually talk outside because of her father.
The opening of the door brought in light shots like the opening of heaven where Angels descend, then, Jemima's sweet fragrance hit her nose— appetizing and savory.
The guy seemed to have a thing with strawberry flavors, and his majestic smile wasn't left out, the light shone crefting his face from the rear and it looked like he had been graced by God himself from birth. His lips parted a bit and his face was laced with a smile. His calm, but bold voice came…
"Good morning, Valentine, how are you?"
"Fine… thanks…" she gulped a bit. "Am I allowed to ask what you are doing here, at this time?" Valentine asked.
Jemima chuckled, perched eyes on his watch. "Is 11am. Don't tell me you have been sleeping?"
"And what if?"
"May I?" He asked.
Valentine turned red to his proposal, and a face was put on as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
"Sorry?"
"Are you going to keep the visitor outside, Valentine? Where are your manners?" Palemo trudged in with a spear, attacking her defense at once. She cringed at his statement, and opened the door.
"Have a seat, please. My daughter's not the best, you know" Palemo said, leaving Valentine in awe; he hadn't any remorse for all he had recently said and done and still was a menace. But her best bet would be leaving him to it.
"Thank you, sir" insinuated from Jemima and he sat down at the other end while Valentine slowly sat away from her father, clipping at the edge of the cushion chair while facing Jemima.
He sat like an executive, and made himself feel at home, his eyes too— for not taking a spare time off Valentine, who continued her fight to be comfortable in the situation.
There was a lot in her mind to say, but they are the kind words that her father would attack her for.
"Sorry, we don't have much…" he chuckled. "Can I get you something? There's a new bottle of wine, if you don't mind…"
"Thank you…" he smiled. "I'm okay, don't you worry"
"Oh, okay then…" he cleared his throat and glanced at Valentine. Why would no one talk?
But a moment of grace only passed by for Valentine to realise that it was her life to live and not her father's.
"So, what are you doing here, Jemima?"
"Stop acting like you don't know why…"
"How about hearing it from the horse's mouth?" She asked.
"Valen—"
"Can you excuse Sir? Please…" Jemima said to Palemo— an intelligent fellow he was too.
Palemo got up and walked inside without a word.
"Have you come here to make me beg? You should go ask your brother how that has turned out for him" Valentine said.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Valentine, b—"
"Oh come on, aren't you your brother's keeper and best friend?"
Jemima sighed and stared at her for a while. "You are not well, and you are angry too. Have you been resting well?"
Valentine couldn't say a word. Somehow her cleaning didn't work, or was it just normal for him to identify emotions?
"I know what happened…"
"Of course, you will. And you have come to pay a condolence visit, right?"
Jemima chuckled. "Ha. I'm not Josef . You can direct your anger at him alone."
"Oh. You don't care anymore? I thought you were your brother's best?"
"That doesn't mean that all man still, shouldn't take care of their mess or face their repercussions…"
"Whatever…"
"Have you talked to your girlfriend since?"
"No" she replied abruptly.
"Why?"
"I just couldn't"
"You know what else you're missing around?"
"I know, I know"
"No. I don't think you do…" Jemima said.
Valentine raised her head looking straight at him with some shades of confusion.
"This is the first semester exam. And you are not taking any of it. Do you know what that means? You are getting carry overs on all the courses, which also means that you are adding one or more years to your degree, and it's affecting your scores too"
Valentine gulped, clenched her hands together, having blood rush through her arm veins. It was the worst feeling, and she didn't think it would be that much.
But what did she expect? When she turned down her chance to get back to Liege College. Her lips were too heavy to flutter for a speech, so she remained still.
"And Val, you can get back to Liege. Is not too late… sometimes we need to make sacrifices for what we want…"
"I- I'm not going to beg that jerk"
"Valentine, it won't—"
"So, that's why you are here? To help your brother accomplish his goal?" She said with a chuckle.
"Val, you are getting this all wrong. This is not about my brother. This is about you, this is your fu—"
Valentine stood up in a quick motion "I'm sorry, but you need to leave, please?"
Jemima chuckled. "Seriously? Are you really chasing me out of your house?"
"Yes. That's what I'm doing right now, because as long as you here, the whole thing is burning in my head…"
"Well…" he stood. "I hope it doesn't drive you crazy" he took to the door and had himself move from the inside, fully engulfed by the light and vibrance of the day.
Valentine got out of the house after him, and stood some meters away from him. They both stood along the pavement, facing the cool neighbourhood, while Jemima's car furnished the scape at a glance.
"It's beautiful today" inhaled and exhaled with his hands fixed in his pockets.
"Yes, it is" she said effortlessly. "You are not a billionaire as well, are you?"
"I see you have got to find out about my brother well enough"
"He doesn't deserve it" she added.
Jemima looked at her and thought of nothing else but to defend his brother, but there was no will and zeal to. Valentine had been capturing his attention. He smiled. "How so?"
She sighed. "It would have been you. At least, you are better than him, much more."
"Don't underestimate Josef. Besides you are only seeing him in college and as a college student. Not when he is being a billionaire and a business man. Moreover, a lot of wealthy people aren't too nice to other people"
"Is whatever…" she shrugged.
"Why don't you come with me, let's go see him together?"
"No. I'm sorry. I can't"
"You don't even want to think about it. Anyways… you shouldn't give up on your girlfriend now. I don't know what your relationship with her is like, but strong or not, don't give up on her now"
Valentine ran her hands on her hair and down to her face. "I don't know…" she shrugged. "Maybe I shouldn't had helped her in the first place and gotten myself into this mess. I'm starting to think if she was really worth it. What if I made a big mistake?"
"Don't take it that way, my dear. You did good. Something no one would ever do at Liege College, and I feel like you have made a big difference there…" he started taking slow steps away and toward his car.
"Like i said, don't give up on her now. You already sacrificed enough for her, something we don't see at Liege College." He clicked on the key to his car, beeps, lights and the opening of the door followed.
"See you soon, Val" he smiled. Slid into his car and drove away.
Valentine had a few minutes in her mind to stay outside before she retreated inside.