#valetta oc

Lora laughed shyly as she was tugged into the apartment. The floor was light hardwood, making a border around the sunken, square sitting area of plush carpet. It was lined with dark couches and pillows. A wall separated the kitchen to the left, arranged with small river rocks with sparkling LED lights that twinkled between each stone. There was a doorway to the right, giving view of the bedroom. Straight ahead was a rolling door, propped open to the mechanical workroom.

“Will you guys friggin’ calm down?” Valetta called, tossing a hand towel over her shoulder as she emerged from the kitchen. She was already apologizing with her expression as she came over to interrupt her sisters. “God, you’re going to give her an aneurysm.” She took Lora’s hand smiling. “Sorry, they can be a bit much. Glad you could make it.”

“I brought dessert,” Lora smiled, feeling her face heat up when the sisters awed and peeped. “I didn’t want to show up empty-handed.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Valetta smiled, taking it from her with a peck on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

She then introduced Lora to each of her sisters. They were each so different, from their personalities to their occupations, and even their styles. But it was instantly apparent Valetta was the feistiest of the bunch and one of the only ones who lived out in the city. Lora felt almost instantly at home, welcomed, and had no problem sitting with them as Valetta finished helping her mother in the kitchen.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the cool side of Valetta,” her eldest sister, Andromache, said, “But what about the dorky side?”

“Um, I would love to hear about the dorky side.” Lora snickered, leaning as the second eldest, Joi, leaned in to share her phone.

“I think it’s our job to share baby pictures.”

“Absolutely,” Lora snickered. Joi tipped her phone to the side to better blow up the photograph of a child’s ballet class, zooming in on little Valetta in her little tutu and leotard, hair pulled back in a messy little bun. Lora couldn’t help the squeal as the phone was handed to her, taking a closer look. “Look at her!”

“Yup, she loved dance class.” Joi smiled. “She had just gotten fitted for a new prosthetic and she was so excited to dance.”

“She was good too!” Andromache nodded. “But the best part was, the instructor told us on her first day –she was, like, eight –they went around introducing one another. You know, say your name and something about yourself. And at Valetta’s turn, she puffs up her chest and said ‘I’m Valentine Barbie!’ like it was her entire identity!”

“Aww,” Lora laughed, staring down at the picture. The sisters started laughing.

“We’d call her Valentine sometimes, but we have no idea why she decided to tag that on!” Joi snickered.

“What are you guys talking about?!” Valetta called from the kitchen.

“Valentine Barbie!” They all chimed, prompting Valetta to storm out.

“No!”

“Yes!” Joi clapped. Lora turned to look at her, smiling as she held up the photo. Mrs. Hsieh followed her out confused but smiled when she saw the phone. “We have to!” Her younger siblings took her by the hand, pulling her down into the conversation pit.

“Remember when Val got really into baking when she was little?”

“Oh my god, I was like four!”

“And she’d always make the biggest mess because she thought when the box said mix by hand she’d literally stick her hands in the batter like a little gremlin!” Joi snickered, jostling Valetta.

“It was always in the middle of the night,” her mother joined in, stepping in to sit beside Lora. “She would call me to help, so I would rush down to the kitchen, and there she was -with batter up to her elbows. She was always trying to make them to surprise us.” She reached over patting Valetta’s knee.

Joi continued swiping through her phone, showing her different pictures. One was Valetta fishing, another with her learning to drive, helping at the orchard, or working with her dad on a car. Lora stopped her at one with a massive, scruffy old dog.

“Aw, who is that?”

Her mother squinted at the screen before smiling, “Oh, that’s A-di. He was the dog most of the girls grew up with. He was very sweet and very careful with them.” She took a moment, thinking of something before she started to softly laugh. “He was very close with Valetta. Every night after dinner, she would come and ask me for a cookie. And she would take it over to A-di and break it in half to share. He would get one half and she would get the other. And sometimes the cookie would be too hard to break so Valetta would just give him the whole thing.” She reached over, pinching Valetta’s cheek.

Lora smiled sweetly, tearing up. “She’s sweet like that.”

“Yeah, she is,” Joi cooed.

“Oh, quit,” Valetta laughed, swatting them away as they babied their teasing. It wasn’t long until the silvery voice of Valetta’s home assistant announced that dinner was ready. The girls got up, helping their mother out and back into the kitchen. Lora caught Valetta’s hand, pulling her close to kiss her on the cheek.

“See, I knew you were sweet.” She giggled.

“So much for my reputation,” Valetta laughed, leaning against her as they started for the kitchen.

With two drinks already in her system, Valetta hadn’t noticed whenever Lora walked in. But she couldn’t miss her now. She was sitting with a group, in one of her pencil skirt dresses with a dipping neckline and little cutouts up the sides. She wore her hair down, spilling down her back, nearly to her hips. And, as always, she was decorated to the nine with shimmering accessories, dangling earrings, and a jeweled choker.

Valetta berated herself any time she caught herself staring through the bustle of the dance floor. She tried entertaining herself by watching the mechanics of lasers and lights fixed on the ceiling. The bass bombarded every corner of the establishment, making her guts feel like they were inside a food processor and her brain rattling inside a jar of nails.

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Trapped. Smooshed as Garnet leaned closer.

“You plastered?” He called over the music, leaning in her ear. “You haven’t moved in, like, fifteen minutes.”

“I’m good.” She lied, gaze fixed on Lora who had moved away from the VIP table her group booked and onto the dance floor.

“Something in your drink?” Garnet asked, hand on her shoulder causing her to jolt. Even in the sway of the neon lights she could tell he was concerned.

“Lay off, I’m good!” She repeated, feeling like a trapped animal. Garnet leaned away, saying something to the woman he’d been chatting up. She nodded and stepped away, mingling back into the crowd.

“You don’t sound good,” Garnet returned, glancing down at the nearly empty scotch glass in her hand. “You want me to take you home?”

But she couldn’t answer. Her rattling brain detected something about one of the dancers in the crowd. He went up to Lora, leaning into her ear to talk, and she politely shook her head, turning her head to continue dancing. It wasn’t enough to end his pursuit. He had the audacity to grab Lora’s wrist, pulling her back around and talking more.

“Yeah, come on, we’re going home.” Garnet patted her shoulder.

Lora pulled her arm away, again politely excusing herself to a different part of the dance floor. Valetta sat up on the barstool, watching as the guy waited a moment before following her.

“You got me?!” Valetta yelled over the music and Garnet paused from waving down a bartender. He turned back to her.

“Always,” he answered just as loudly.

Valetta knocked back the last that was in her glass before sliding off the barstool, staggering to her feet. She felt Garnet bump into her as he stood as well, leaving room between them as Valetta hunted down her target. She found them at the far end of the bar, near the bathrooms where the creep had pulled her aside to block her exit back into the crowd.

Lora was still stern, showing off every skill she had to avoid confrontation. She hated fighting, physical or verbal –she’d told Valetta several times before. And even then, being backed into a corner by a creep, she was determined to find a civil way out. Valetta, however, was trained to handle danger fast and to the point. Delicate and deadly.

“There you are,” she said loudly, wedging them apart with an elbow. “Babe, I been looking everywhere for you. I got our drinks at the bar.” She glanced at the guy, making a show of looking him up and down. “Might wanna show some manners, my guy.”

“Manners, look who’s talking. Who the fuck are you?”

“Apparently the six o’clock news if I gotta inform you she’s not interested.” Valetta scoffed, using herself as a partition as Lora stepped around for an escape.

“Come on, V, it’s not worth it,” she whispered, taking her by a hand.

“Yeah, like you look like you could take care of her. You even tall enough to ride that ride?”

“You gotta ride tall enough to ride?” The drinks were hitting, starting to feel more invincible than she knew she probably was.

“I’ll bash your fuckin’ skull in—”

“Ay, alright,” Garnet tossed an arm across the man’s shoulders, turning him away. “C’mon man, let’s go get a light. You gotta light?”

Valetta pulled them away from the crowd, towards the edge of the room on the quieter side of one of the subwoofers. There were only a few couples this far back, dotting down the wall to either take a break from dancing or making out.

“Are you okay?” Valetta turned to Lora, dropping her hand to hold her at the shoulders only to flounder when she got a closer look at her face. Her makeup was more suited for the club than what she ever wore for work, and her perfume was to die for. Valetta wasn’t even sure if the alcohol was making it worse.

Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. Her intrusive thoughts wouldn’t quiet down.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Lora nodded, clearly still a little shocked if her shaking hands were anything to go by. Her smile flashed before quickly falling away. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah, you know how Garnet is he won’t go out—”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Lora interrupted, slamming her eyes shut and shaking her head before laughing. “Sorry.”

“Hey, I’m glad I’m here too. Usually don’t have to worry about creeps in this p-place.” She honest to God stammered when Lora placed a hand on her side, moving in closer as someone squeezed past to head down the corridor for the bathrooms. “Do you wanna step out, maybe get some air?”

“Can we grab a dance first?” Lora laughed nervously. “No one at my table wants to dance, and that’s all I’ve been looking forward to all week.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“They paid VIP cover to sit at a table? Are they deranged?” Valetta laughed when that earned a smile. “Hell yeah, sweetheart, let’s get you a dance!” She playfully tugged at Lora’s hand, grinning as she led her into the crowd. It was packed and loud, Valetta having to adjust the sensitivity of her hearing aids, but it was entirely worth it to see Lora come alive.

Valetta caught glimpses of her between the flash of laser light, glinting on her jewelry and bangles. It was apparent she loved to dance, infectious to have Valetta joining in. It wasn’t long before they were swaying and bouncing with the beat, belting out lyrics to any song they knew, unsure how many they danced to. Lora was pure energy, radiant and irresistible.

At one point Valetta found herself pulled in close, Lora’s hands cradling the back of her neck with her manicured nails scraping in and out of the short hair on the back of her head. Valetta held her at the waist, matching her movements as the crowd grows more and more packed. Lora leaned down, closer, tilting her face towards Valetta’s neck.

And talking to her.

“I’m really glad you were here,” She called over the music. “You see, I’ve been wanting to ask you out for weeks.” Lora moved one hand, brushing her hair back, exposing more of her throat. “I’ve been too nervous.”

“Nervous?” Valetta asked stupidly, grateful the music was loud enough to swallow the croak to her voice. At least, she hoped so.

“Yeah!” Lora giggled and Valetta nearly melted on the spot. “You’re such a badass and I’m so lame. You literally just tried to fight a man twice your height!” She was laughing hard enough to wrap her arms around Valetta.

“He was a creep!” Valetta laughed too. “And I can’t dance.”

“I like dancing with you!” Lora leaned back something about her face softening. Valetta stopped trying to quiet her intrusive thoughts. She reached up, framing Lora’s face to tilt her into a proper kiss. Lora melted against her, flush chest to chest as Valetta kept them swaying to the beat. Nails scraped into her hair, thankful one of her knees was prosthetic to keep them both from spilling on the floor.

Both of them were smiling too hard to continue kissing, moving to the beat as a new song began to play.

“I like that kind of dancing,” Valetta snickered. Lora gave her a few lingering pecks before leaning to speak in her ear again.

“Why don’t we go get some air now? The back door’s just over there.” She pointed through the lights, “Food?”

“Oh, fuck yeah.” Valetta cheered, stepping back for Lora to take the lead, threading their fingers together to head for the door. “Wait, what about your VIP table?”

“I’ll text them. This is way more important.” She pressed the door open, smiling as she urged Valetta out into the cool night air.

Garnet waited out front, sitting on one of the massive installed greenery beds. He leisurely worked on his cigarette, staring at his phone screen trying to decide if he should hit send. He didn’t even know if Beau was awake at this time of night. Or online. Whatever.

The notification of a new text popped up at the top of the screen.

Tiny Terror >Don't wait up heading home w Lora >😜💋