Valerie was in disbelief by his actions, she thought to herself 'Who's this man? What sort of madness is this', She had no idea of how to react she just knew she wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, She wondered why I stranger was saying this to her or was he one of those stalkers she had heard about? Either way, she had to free herself from his grip, he broke her from her wave of thoughts by standing up.
He went closer to her and held her chin up "You're mine" and with those last words he left the cafe leaving her with a wave of thoughts and disbelief, she couldn't fathom his forwardness and somewhat his attractiveness, He was very attractive man.
She quickly collected herself and marched out of the cafe in a hurry, calling for a taxi and heading straight home, Her drive home was a short one, when she arrived she dashed into the house and went straight to Carmen's room, she needed to tell someone about it and she thought maybe Carmen will help to decode what she just experienced a few minutes ago.
"Carmen, Carmen" she yelled with worry in her voice, The other hand was in the bathroom, The company she works for had a function so they were all given a day off, She was having her much-needed hot bath when she heard Valerie's voice calling out to her, she could hear the urgency so she thought it best to reply from inside the bathroom "yes Val I'll be out in a sec" she finished up quickly and put on a towel.
She opened the bathroom door and saw the anxious Valerie pacing around her room, She wondered what had got Valerie in such a worrying state, so she walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, She was curious as to what exactly that got Valerie all worked up "Val, could you please tell me exactly what the problem is?"
Valerie was lost in thought, she didn't understand what had happened so she didn't even know whether to tell Carmen or not, she felt uneasy and didn't want anyone to worry about her, "It's nothing Carmen, I just wanted to come to talk to you, did I frighten you?" Carmen was finding it hard to believe what she just heard "Val you know you can tell me anything" With a soothing voice and calm tone, Valerie wanted to tell Carmen but she felt it was nothing and she would probably not see him again and maybe he thought she was someone else and it's all a misunderstanding, she smiled and hugged Carmen and said, "it's nothing, I'm completely fine, why aren't you at work?"
Carmen replied "The company has a function, but that's not the matter at hand" She held Valerie's hand and said "Val I'm your big sister, You can tell me what the problem is, you know that right" Valerie's shoulder dropped and she wanted to utter the words and tell Carmen all she had experienced just a moment ago "I- I-" she stuttered, then Gwen barged into the room.
Valerie fixed up her posture and smiled, Gwen was wearing a crop top with mini cargo skirts, she had her makeup done and she was looking beautiful, Valerie couldn't hold back her compliments "Oh wow Gwen, you look so lovely" Gwen flipped her hair and replied vehemently "of course I look lovely, it's nothing new, but thanks anyway" Carmen wanted to get Valerie to talk but maybe she didn't want to talk about it or there's actually nothing to talk about and I'm just overthinking it.
Gwen came into Carmen's room to get a phone charger but then she saw her sisters talking and she was too nosy not to ask "What are you two talking about?" With these words, Valerie quickly replied "Oh nothing, I was about to leave, Enjoy your day" She dashed out of the room leaving her sisters confused as to why she rushed out, Carmen confided in Gwen and told her about her observation.
Gwen shut her down "You know how Val can be, she probably wanted to ask you about the whole resume stuff Dad and Mr. Smith were talking about the other day" but Carmen said "I know Valerie and this was different she was honestly worried, but then again I might just be overthinking this" and Gwen reassured her "I'm sure she's fine if she isn't we're her sisters, she can tell us anything I mean we're always here" with the air being cleared they both changed the topic and chatted away.
Valerie was still stuck in thoughts on her bed, She had already thought to herself to clear the thoughts off her mind and she did try not to give any more thought to the situation but she couldn't help herself, she tried to distract herself but it was of no use, she decided to go downstairs to make lunch for everyone since it was already past noon, she went downstairs and was still deciding on what to cook and she got a notification on her phone, it was from that same unknown number, she was pondered on whether she should reply the message or not, it read "I know you're thinking about what I said" she didn't want to entertain him any more than she had already, she replied "who are you?" going straight to the point so she won't he wouldn't think she's playing his little game, She sent the message and a few minutes passed and she was still waiting for his reply she wondered why he was taking time to reply such an easy question.
She was still waiting for the answer when her mom came knocking on the door, She was asking for help with the groceries she had just bought, and being the only one at arms reach she swiftly helped to offload the groceries from the car, while still thinking about the stranger, she didn't know why he was so stuck on her mind, She wanted to open up to her mom and tell her everything, "Mom, I need to tell you something". Mrs. John fixed her eyes on Valerie and asked her to proceed "Go on sweet heart" Valerie didn't know what to say or how to say it, She thought maybe he wasn't going to message her anymore, "Oh it's nothing Mom I just wanted to tell you I love you so much" Mrs. John smiled and replied "I love you too" Valerie couldn't bring herself to tell anyone. Who was this man and why was he constantly lingering on her mind?