Valeria didn't believe when Andrea asked for a meeting. It was still shocking to her, but she prepared for the day ahead.
The next morning, Valeria had three outfit placed before her. She didn't know which one was close enough to fancy but she made her pick.
As the evening weather dawned, she wore a brown gown with some black heels, and styled her hair into a high fancy bun. Light makeup was applied but not too much to indicate she was insecured about her natural beauty.
Valeria was pretty even without makeups. A light colored lip gloss was applied on her small lips.
She had chosen a location just close to her house. An expensive restaurant was the place her heart had chosen, not more than 30mins drive to her house. Moments later, Valeria had arrived at the location, and the worst thing had happened to her. She was waiting for her husband's concubine!
Andrea was running at least 15 mins late!
Valeria decided to be calm about that. A while later, and a slender young lady in some fancy dress and leather jacket walked in. She looked even more beautiful than Valeria could remember.
"Hi there," said Andrea.
Valeria frowned. "Aren't you going to apologize for coming late? Or you've no manners at all."
"Did I really come late? Or you came too early."
Valeria snapped. "We agreed 4pm! This is seventeen minutes past four!"
"Oops. Sorry." Said Andrea, feeling unapologetic whatsoever.
"Well of course what do I expect from someone like you." Valeria said, remembering James sad story.
"Someone like me?" Andrea didn't understand what she'd meant.
"Never mind." Replied Valeria. "You wanted to see me for some reason. I'm here now. You've got some nerve even--"
"You liked my picture on Instagram."
"Obviously by mistake!" Protested Valeria. "Is that why you would dare send me a message for us to meet up?"
"Well perhaps not." Confessed Andrea. "But, I would love for us to meet--"
"You're just beating around the bush. Speak now."
Andrea sighed, "why don't we order something first, huh?" She looked around to signify a waiter, then saw one and called for him to come. "We would like to order." She said to the lanky waiter before the now. "Get me the most expensive wine you have here. And ask what that woman over there wants."
"Get me a glass of water." Valeria smiled to the waiter. Once he left, she faced Andrea, "this isn't time for some celebration. And you need to respect your elders!"
"Elders? Ha!" Andrea laughed. "You are not the one for James. You know nothing about him." She said, and Valeria listened. "Do you know why he came to me? Because he was hurting and you were not there to comfort him. Of course you were a useless woman with no job, you stayed at home all the time and still, you provided nothing for the family! But I was there for him. I supported James all the time and turned him into the man that he is today!"
"And you know what?" Andrea continued. "James loves me. He was even thinking about filing a divorce! He doesn't loves you, he's only still with you because of his kids! And--"
Before Andrea could continue, Valeria bursted out into a loud laughter. "Can you even hear yourself?" She asked, and when she saw the perplexed look on Andrea's face, she laughed even more.
"Can you even hear yourself! Ha!" Valeria laughed again. "Is that what he told you? My dear, let me tell you now what really happened. The reason my dear husband James came to meet you was because we needed money. My poor son needed money for treatment, and we didn't know who to meet!"
"But listen to yourself. At least I was available for James."
"Maybe. But has it ever occurred to you that James used you? He used you because you were the one available. And because our son was more important than anything in the world, and it made James nearly run mad. He's still with me because of our children. He still loves me! Unlike you! You have nothing to offer him now that he has been promoted. He now has money than before. You're useless to him now and he can probably not wait to toss you out now."
Andrea was no longer smiling now.
"You see, I told him to end things with you now. And he listened to me. You wanna know why? Because I'm his wife! Because of our kids, I still have the upper hand!"
"Stop it. You're spewing nonsense,"
"No I'm not! The truth is because I am his wife who has borne kids for him. Don't you understand? You can be easily replaced. Even if he still cheats on me, I'll never be replaced. He can easily leave you once he finds someone smoking hot again!"
"You're lying!"
"Am I? We both know I'm not!" Replied Valeria. She hesitated for a while because she didn't want to break her heart. But now, she didn't really care anymore, "he told me about your mental issue. At least, now I know why he's still pretending that he cares about you. I know about how you pretended that you were in love with him, putting on the fake show for your mother!"
"Fake show? It was real! Everything was real! James loves me. And I'm not insane! I have no record of ever being mad!"
"No need to deny all that now. The cat is already out of the bag."
"I'm not lying! I swear it." Insisted Andrea.
Valeria hoped Andrea was lying and it wasn't James. Could James have lied to her again? But she wasn't ready to show any sign of weakness or doubt to Andrea now.
"Doesn't matter now." She said. "What matters now is that James loves me, and he will always love me. So will he love his kids. I think it's time for you to give up now." She said, then brought out a note and placed on the table. "Settle the bills."