“Hey,” Valerie said as she hugged Howie. “Wow you’re still short,” she laughed as she saw him roll his eyes. “I want to meet this kid of yours and let’s hope he got the good genes. So he can be tall and handsome, not just handsome like the father.”
“Whatever Vals, come on lets go Leigh is anxious to meet you,” Howie told his friend of many years. Actually she had pretty much vanished for a while. She had left Florida to go to school in North Carolina. “I am happy for you and your internship here,” he told her as they left the airport.
“I can’t believe you have a house here in California, man you backstreet boy you. But, I agreed to only stay with for you a month tops. I have to find myself a place of my own.” She gave him a grin as he opened the door for her. “Well at least you’re still the gentleman I know,” she told him.
“So mami sends you a hug and a hello. She wants to know when you’ll visit her and amuse her with your stories about your traveling adventures.” She laughed, “God I am so glad I only passed there for a few weeks. Now I am back on my own,” she told him as she looked at the scenery that passed as he drove.
“You’re the same rebel girl I remember,” he said giving her a friendly smile. “Did you at least get along with your Pops?”
“Nope he still thinks I need to loose weight and he keeps asking me when I am getting married. He even insinuated that maybe I was a lesbian.” She pretended to laugh but sometimes she actually did think about it. She was all brain and no beauty.
“You lesbian? Ha,” Howie said laughing… “He is so wrong remember when I caught you in my pool skinny dipping with some guy you had met just that day?” he laughed as he remembered. “That was the last time I let you house sit while on tour.” He stopped laughing as he saw her grin disappear on her face into a more serious. “Vals you are never going to be super skinny your Latin. You have the hips and thighs of one, don’t believe your old man he’s just scared that he will leave you alone in this world.”
She sighed as she heard him, “I know but sometimes it gets to me,” she told him as she patted his shoulder, “talking about that sorry about your Dad, he was such a sweetheart.”
“Thanks he’s still here with me,” Howie told her as he pointed to his heart. “Anyways enough about sad things, you should be happy that out of all the applicants you got the internship.”
“Yes I did baby I didn’t waste half my life studying for no reason.” She told him as she dug through her purse finding what she was looking for. “May I?”
“When did you pick up that habit?” Howie asked as he rolled down the windows nodding at her question.
“Ugh please don’t give me the same lecture my mami gave me. It just sort of happened, my ex-boyfriend smoked like crazy and then all of a sudden I was smoking too.” She told him as she lit the cigarette in her hand. “It helped me loose some weight too, haven’t you noticed.” She gave him a cheesy smile.
“Well FYI no smoking in the house for baby James sake,” Howie said as he pulled up to his house.
“Wow…damn Howie this is a huge place, I love it.” She told him as she finished her smoke. “You definitely have to help me find a home here,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out of the car.
“I said I would,” he told her as grabbed her belongings helping her bring them into there home.
*********
It had been exactly one week since Valerie Mendez had arrived to California. She was there for the sole purpose of finishing her internship and finally getting her residency in emergency medicine. She felt like that would be right for her she could almost feel her adrenaline pumping as she helped in the ICU. She had a rough first week where she basically only brought coffee and what not to her mentor Dr. Russell Bates. “Sir I would like to interact with the patients as well. I think I am not learning much when I am out getting you coffee or doing your errands.” She told Dr. Bates in frustration.
“Miss Mendez, why don’t you fetch me a nice cold bottle of water?” Dr. Bates told her as he gave her a grin.
“You know what I earned this internship and I will go above you to get the education I came here for!” she told him. “I am not your assistant I am your intern. I want to learn, so call me when you are ready to teach me and you get your water. Now I am my way to see Chief resident see if she can find me a better mentor.” She turned and began to walk away cussing in Spanish in frustration.
Dr. Bates smiled as he saw her sudden change in character, “Miss Mendez no need to see Dr. Roberts, I think you can help with the patient in room 214,” he told her as he grabbed her arm stopping her from walking away.
She gave him a fake smile as she pulled her arm away from his grip. “Really wow why the sudden change?” she asked him as she began to walk with him to room 214.
******
“Hello?” Valerie answered her phone as she saw Howie’s name appear on the caller ID.
“Hey how’s your day?” Howie asked her.
“Great I actually got to see and treat patients today,” she told him with a smile on her face. “I had to curse Dr. Bates in Spanish but I got him to treat me as his intern instead of his personal assistant.”
Howie laughed as he heard her, “well I was wondering if you wanted to join us for Dinner,” he asked as he looked back into the studio with his band mates were.
“Who’s us?” she asked him smiling.
“Well me and the guys have been in a recording studio and will be starving after this so we are going out to eat, Leigh is going to meet us there so do you want to come?” he asked her.
“Uhm ok, since today I get out early.” She told him, why not she had nothing else to do and it was apparent that if she didn’t accept she would be stuck in the big house alone till they came back. “Give me the address, I’ll meet you there first I have to go home and change out of my scrubs.”
*********
After trying on many shirts she had decided on one that hid her big rolls, “ok here I go,” she sighed as she looked at the sign. “I am actually meeting someone here, Howard Dorough,” she told the waiter that helped her. A few seconds later she was following a waiter toward the back of the restaurant. She smiled as she saw Howie smiling as he carried little James in his hands. “Where’s a camera when you need one?” she said as she approached the table.
“Hey Vals glad you made it,” Leigh told her as she stood up and greeted her. “We were waiting on you,” she told her.
“Oh you didn’t have too,” she told her as she looked around recognizing the other faces from a long time ago. “Hi,” she told them shyly.
“Oh yeah guys remember my friend Valerie Mendez,” Howie said to his other friends.
“I do,” Brian said as he stood and startled Valerie with a warm hug. “I don’t know if you remember me, but just in case I’m Brian.”
“Yeah I remember you and that one prank you and him pulled on Howie.” She gave him a smile.
“So you remember me? I don’t remember you maybe because I was much younger then,” Nick said as he stood up and shook her hand. He didn’t know if he could actually give her a hug she was still a stranger to him.
“I see you lost the chili bowl hair cut,” she told him making everyone laugh.
“Why are we laughing?” AJ said as he finally joined the table. He stopped talking when he saw who was there, “No way? Vals?” he asked as he gave her a big smile.
“The one and only… wow you’ve changed.” She told AJ as she hugged him and gave him a small peck on the cheek. Something she did to everyone she was comfortable with, it was her roots. It meant respect. “Nice tattoos… so many.”
“I know but they describe me the best. So I heard about the internship good for you.” he told her taking a seat by Nick.
“Yeah thanks, I worked hard for it.” She told him as she stared at him. She knew AJ the best because he was the one that hung around Howie the most back in the days.
“So why don’t we order?” Howie said as he handed sleeping James back to Leigh.
She cringed as she heard everyone order something delicious, but not for her she needed to loose more weight she knew that, “I’ll have a salad with lemon and salt no dressing.” She told the waiter. “I’m not that hungry today,” she told Leigh who was looking at her a little odd. “After this one patient I had yeah I lost my appetite.”
********
She had walked out on them for a smoke; she stood outside enjoying the nicotine that invaded her lungs. She exhaled the smoke and almost jumped when she felt the tap on her shoulder, “Damn it AJ you scared the crap out of me,” she told him facing him.
“Sorry I needed one too,” he told her as he lit his own cigarette. “So when did you start smoking?”
“Eh, it’s been a while.” She told him giving him a smile. “So how you been?”
“Today was a good day, you know I take it a day at a time.” he gave her a smile.
“Howie told me about your solo album, that’s good for you…” she told him suddenly looking at the floor. How could she forget her silly crush on him back in the day?
“Yeah, hopefully it will be released soon.” He told her as he finished his smoke. Finally after rubbing the back of his neck several times he asked her, “So have you seen Becky?”
There it was he was only being friendly to her because of Becky. Seriously that was a long time ago… “No we stopped talking after I beat the crap out of her one Christmas.”
“What when was this,” he asked giving her a smile.
“Well by then you and Howie were never really there. I just got tired of being her friend just to feel like I was someone special. I knew she only used me and I allowed it till she began telling me what to eat and wear. I got tired of it and one day I just jumped on her. Mami had to pull me off her. Last thing I heard about her was she was married to her high school sweetheart.” She smiled as she saw his expression change. “Please don’t tell me you still had hopes with her? Please you can and deserve someone better.”
“No I was curious I used to have a major crush on her sue me.” he shrugged at her and then he kissed her on the cheek. “It’s good to see you and hopefully we can hangout again.”
She watched him go back into the restaurant. Suddenly all she could feel was his lips on her cheek. “No Valerie you can’t still have a crush on him. That was so yesterday. Besides he doesn’t date cows.” She told herself as she threw her cigarette butt on the pavement and walked back inside.
Chapter End Notes:
Ok so here is another story I had put down and now I am reposting.. FYI I am rewriting it so it my be little different not in the first few chapters though. Please let me know what you think. :)
