An Unexpected Love (Women's Fiction/BWWM Romance) (3 page)

“This won’t take long.” Corrine took off
her shades and laid her purse on Valerie’s living room ottoman the next day.
“How you been?”

“Busy.” Valerie typed on her laptop at her
computer desk. “What do you want?”

Corrine sashayed around the room and
stopped behind Valerie’s chair. “Why I gotta want something?”

“Let me put it this way,
lil
’ sis…” Valerie flattened her hands against the
keyboard. “What are you
up
to?”

“I see.” Corrine rocked on her designer
high heels. “I gotta always be up to something?”

Valerie started typing. “Is this visit
important, or are you just bored in that big ass house in Garden Oaks?”

Corrine leaned over and laughed. “Unlike
this big ass house here in Memorial?”

“Look, I don’t have time for this, Corrine.”
Valerie took off her reading glasses and gestured to the computer. “Some of us
have a real job.”

“A real job?” Corrine balled her fists to
quell the rising anger. “I’m so sick of you making jabs about my career. I’m a
TV news anchor.” She put her hand on her hip. “I make a difference with my job,
as opposed to typing on a computer all day.”

“I’m a computer analyst for several of
Houston’s biggest corporations, Corrine.” Valerie snickered when she slipped
her glasses on. “Maybe one day I’ll have enough time to explain how my job
makes more of a difference than yours. But right now, I’m busy…”

“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking
coming here.” Corrine yanked up her purse and headed out the door. “Bye.”

Valerie sipped from her cup of coffee.

“No, hold up.” Corrine stopped and turned
around. “I came here because someone needs to talk some sense into your
stubborn ass.”

She threw her purse on the couch.

“And that would be you?” Valerie took
another bird sip of her coffee and tossed a sarcastic glance at Corrine.
“Believe me, I don’t need my baby sister to tell me anything.”

“You need
someone
to.” Corrine marched to Valerie’s desk. “I know you can’t
stand me, Val. I’m not stupid. And I know you know I didn’t come here just to
shoot the breeze.”

She shrugged and typed.

“What’s so pathetic is I came here because
I actually care about you, even though you hate me.”

“Hold it.” Valerie swung her chair around
and faced her. “First off, you can knock off the innocent act. Okay, Corrine?
This is me you’re talking to. I didn’t just meet you yesterday.”

Corrine huffed and crossed her arms as
Valerie continued, “Second, I could stand you a lot more if you weren’t such a
manipulative, conniving little heifer.” Then she swung her chair back around.

“Hey, I admit I’m not a saint,” Corrine
said as she uncrossed her arms. “I’ve done my dirt, but I own up to it.”

Valerie chuckled. “Yeah, when your ass
gets caught.”

“This isn’t about me. It’s about you and
David.”

Valerie faced her again. “Excuse me?”

“You walk around like you’re so damn
worldly and intelligent.” Corrine glided back and forth, waving her arms. “You
always the first to give others advice about shit, and you are as blind as
Stevie Wonder when it comes to your own husband.”

Valerie yanked her glasses off. “How the
hell are you gonna call me blind while your dumb ass is sleeping with married
men?”

Corrine swallowed the painful comment. “I
do not sleep with married men.”

“Oh, so that dude you were fucking for the
last three years wasn’t married?” Valerie held her ear as if she needed Corrine
to speak louder. “That big time, white, oil man you were dating who kicked your
stupid ass to the curb after he got your dumb ass to believe he was leaving his
wife…he wasn’t married?”

Corrine shook her balled fists.

“Ah, what’s wrong,
lil
’
sis?” Valerie snickered. “Hard to face your mistakes when you’re looking at
them in the mirror, isn’t it?”

“At least I see mine.” She loosened her
hands. “But he was the only married man I ever slept with, and I loved him. You
just love bringing up my mistakes.”

“You damn right.” Valerie sipped coffee.
“I hope if I do, then maybe you’ll change. But you’re thirty-five now, so it’s
safe to say this is just who you are.”

“Seems like if you put more stock into
your husband and less on hating me then he wouldn’t be walking around with his
face twisted.”

“Say what you gotta say and get the hell
out.”

“David is miserable.”

Valerie glared through her glasses. “Miserable?”

“Yes. He is sad, depressed, and desperate.
He’s lonely, Val. He misses being close to you.”

Why,
I don’t know,
Corrine thought
.

“He’s stressed like you wouldn’t believe,”
Corrine said. “You need to cool it with the baby stuff.”

“Wow.” Valerie yanked her glasses off
again. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you really giving me advice about
my
husband?”

“Yes, because even though you think I care
about no one but myself, I care about David. You know I’ve always thought he
was a nice person and treated him kindly.”

“Yes you have.” Valerie looked her up and
down. “And I’ve always wondered why.”

“Why?” Corrine shook her head. “Because
he’s a good person, and we’ve built a connection.”

“Let me guess.” Valerie rocked in the
chair. “Has David been whining to you again about our relationship? I told him
I wasn’t comfortable with that.”

Corrine smirked. “You think something’s
going on between us?”

“Girl, please.” Valerie guffawed. “David’s
a good man, and since when has a good man ever wanted
you
?”

“Fuck you.” Corrine snatched her purse and
marched toward the door. Then she stopped. “Your marriage is falling apart, and
you better do something.”

Valerie looked at her with wide eyes.

“David loves you within every inch of
himself. You are damn lucky to have a man like that to come home to. I can name
a million women who would want him and treat him right.”

“Including you?” Valerie stood and pushed
the rolling chair from behind her. “You want David? Is that it? It wouldn’t be
the first time you wanted a man I loved.” She walked up to her. “But I swear to
God, you won’t get David. Other men might fall for the hair flipping and the
swiveling hips and sweet voice. But I know what you are, and so does David.”

“You just said David would never want me,
right?” Corrine shrugged. “Then why are you so threatened?”

“Just get the hell
outta
my face, Corrine.” Valerie went back to her desk. “After all you’ve taken from
me, you’re lucky I don’t beat your ass into that carpet.”

“When are you gonna stop blaming me for
you not having kids?”

“Never! Because it
is
your fault!” Valerie slammed her hand on the desk. “You pushed
me down those stairs, and I lost my baby.” She began to sob. “I couldn’t ever carry
another one because of you!”

“You’re so wrong about that.” Corrine reached
for her but stopped. “I didn’t push you on purpose. We were arguing, and you
fell. I’d never hurt you.”

“Bullshit.” A tear dangled from Valerie’s
lips. “You were so jealous that I was carrying David’s baby, so you pushed me.”
She covered her mouth. “I knew you didn’t like me, but I never thought you
could be so hateful.”

“Val…” She walked toward her.

“Stay away from me.” She wailed in her
hands. “I think about that every day. Because of that miscarriage, my body was
never the same. I haven’t been able to get pregnant since.”

“You can’t blame that on me.” Corrine
burst into tears. “The doctor said you’d have lost the baby anyway. He said—”

“Shut your mouth before I smack the shit
out of you.”

“It’s the truth! He said you’d never carry
that baby to term.”

“
You
made sure of that, didn’t you?”

“This isn’t fair, Val.” Corrine’s lips
trembled. “You’ve put this on me for the last ten years, and it isn’t fair.”

“You took everything from me.” Valerie
lowered her hands. “Ever since we were kids, you hated me. You were always
jealous, and you still are. Just admit you’re happy I can’t have children.”

“Stop it!” Corrine slapped tears. “You
know damn well I wouldn’t want that. I love you, Val. I know we’ve had our
problems, but I love you.”

“Then how come you’ve never shown it?
Today is a good example. You came over here for David, not for me. How many
talks have we had because of what
I’m
going through?”

Corrine rubbed her forehead.

“Everyone else has talked to me over and
over and tried to console me. They know how much it kills me that I can’t have
a baby. Where have you been, Corrine? Where?”

“You won’t
let
me be there for you.” She sniffled. “Whenever I try to be nice
to you, you think there’s some hidden agenda.”

“Because there always is.”

“You can blame me for a lot of shit.” Corrine
pointed to her. “But don’t blame me for you not having a child. I’ll take the
blame for anything but that.”

Then she marched out of the room.

“Having dissociative identity disorder is
just…hard.” The heavy-set black woman with the corn rolls rubbed her hands
together. “Sometimes I feel like I’m from another planet.” She looked at the
small group of people who sat around her in a circle. “What was really
difficult was dealing with what my father had done to me. The different
personalities helped me to forget about being molested.” She looked at Layla,
who glanced away. “I’ve felt like I’ve been in a war with myself for twenty
years. A part of me wanted to conquer my demons, but the other felt I needed to
hang on to them to survive.”

“How did that make you feel?” Dr.
Livingston scribbled on her notepad. “How hard was it to have to hang on to
these personalities?”

“It was hard.” A tear ran down the woman’s
chubby cheek. “I felt like if I had someone who truly cared about me, than I
wouldn’t have needed the personalities. It’s like a prison.”

Layla inhaled and wiggled her foot.

“There’s no other way to describe it,” the
woman’s voice drifted.

“Thank you for sharing your story, Janet.”
Dr. Livingston patted Janet’s hand. “Anyone else?”

The group dropped their heads except for
Cross who’d once again been staring at Layla the entire time.

“Layla?” Dr. Livingston smiled at her.
“Would you like to say something?”

Everyone looked at her.

“I don’t think I’m ready,” she told Dr.
Livingston.

Cross chuckled. “Is anyone ever ready?”

The group grinned. Layla tapped her foot.

“It’s okay.” Dr. Livingston touched Layla’s
thigh. “You know we’re here for you.”

“It’s just funny.” Layla exhaled into her
palms. “I’ve done this a million times, and it’s never easy.”

Cross leaned forward and clasped his
hands. His attention irritated yet comforted her at the same time.

“I checked myself back in because I fell
off the deep end again,” Layla said. “I started hallucinating, and I thought my
house was on fire.”

Dr. Livingston nodded.

“It’s amazing how real it all seemed. I
smelled the smoke. I saw the ashes.” She touched her arm. “I felt the heat on
my skin. I…” She clasped her hands.

“I’m sure that was scary,” Dr. Livingston
said. “To be a part of a present that’s not real…how does it make you feel,
Layla?”

“Like an idiot. Like someone who isn’t
even human. Like no one would ever understand.”

“Is there something that recently happened
that might’ve triggered it?” Dr. Livingston asked. “You’d been doing fine for
over a year.”

“I don’t think anything really triggers
the hallucinations, but I recently got divorced a month ago.”

Cross leaned back and crossed his arms.

“That was hard,” Layla said. “I’d been
married twenty years, and I was used to that structure. When you wake up to the
same person, even if it’s not paradise, you still miss it.”

“Why wasn’t it paradise?” Dr. Livingston
whispered.

“It was at first.” Layla straightened up
in the chair. “I thought Patrick was my soul mate because he accepted me.
Before I met him, I’d lost relationships because of my illness. It takes a toll
on the ones closest to you.” Her gaze landed on the bald man. “When I met
Patrick, I had everything. I was making moves to start my business, Royal Delights.”

“The catering company?” the blonde-haired
woman beside Cross asked. “That’s yours?”

Layla nodded.

“Wow.” The blonde woman smiled. “My sister
had you guys cater her wedding last year. The food was amazing.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Layla said. “I haven’t
worked in two years. I went through a rough patch. The medicine was getting to
me, and I stayed stressed. Funny thing is I loved working, but the doctor and
Patrick said it was best that I cooled it. So I left.”

“Did you want to?” Cross asked.

“No,” Layla answered. “I felt Patrick
pushed me into it, like he always pushed me into things.”

“What do you mean?” Dr. Livingston asked
her.

“Patrick thinks he always knows what’s
best for me, and he doesn’t like to hear otherwise.” Layla gripped the bottom
of her chair. “He thinks he knows more about my illness than I do. That bugged
the hell out of me. On top of that, everything was always my fault. He sucked
the life out of me.”

“Why do you say that?” Janet asked.

“I feel like he stripped me of what makes
me…me. I was always independent, and I loved being a chef and running my catering
company.” She began to rock. “Other than my girls—we have two teenagers—nothing
made me happy like working. It was a part of me. I felt so lost after not being
able to do it. It’s like as time went on he took pieces of me.” She breathed
into her hands. “I hate to say this, but I think he was glad I was
schizophrenic so that…when I fell to pieces…he could put me back together. I
think that’s why he married me. Because it made him feel strong to have someone
he had to rescue.”

“That’s deep,” Cross said. “Do you really
believe that?”

“Yes.” A tear escaped the corner of her
eye. “I do.”