Generation 4, Chapter 13: Unleashing anger

After the small family reunion of a week ago, we still found ourselves in Starlight Shores, at the request of my mom. In a joking manner, she had become my psychologist, and believed that it would do me well to be away from Bridgeport and all of its craziness. Apparently, I was a silent soul, and the city was a place I did not fit in.

What was even crazier was that my mother ordered Vala to take me out to have some fun. I knew just what her supposed "fun" was like. In other words, I'd pass out drunk and puke my guts out for the next couple of days.

At 8 PM, we miraculously found ourselves in one of the highly recommended drinking establishments in Starlight Shores, which also turned out to be Karaoke club. No wonder it happened to be an extremely busy night for the club. With so many things to do, other than drinking, it was suitable for a variety of people with different interests.

"Please tell me you're not gonna abandon me like you did the other night...," the fact that was bothering me the entire night ended up being too much to bear, and I quickly voiced my concern to Vala.

She sat back in her seat, a look of utter shock all over her face. The stern stare that I gave her was enough to make her abandon her innocent facade that she always groped at in situations like this one. She knew exactly why I was acting this way towards her, and she knew that I definitely did not appreciate the experience. 

Vala was the one that took me out into the night and into the unsafe part of Bridgeport, where most of the clubs were located. There, she abandoned me at the bar, not knowing that I had never been exposed to alcohol all that much, and the invigorating feeling that it left me with was intoxicating, enough so that I became drunk. Worst of all, I was all alone, with no one to even drive me back home. What if I was robbed, or worse, killed? The past reckless behavior of Vala, who had disappeared to speak with one of her ex-partners in crime, was enough to make me feel uneasy being in another club with her.

But she had grown out of her old character. Sure, she was still as crazy and flirty and always, but perhaps a bit more responsible...I hoped.

"I'm offended that you would even think that, my dear Daniel. So maybe I kidnapped you two years ago, and maybe I left you all alone in a club....but that's old news - I'm innocent of all of this judgment you're giving off!"

I simply rolled my eyes at her antics. Even though she could be extremely irritating most of the time, especially when her English accent makes her sound smarter than me, I found myself surprisingly intrigued by her personality. We were like night and day squished together in one room. Sometimes you have chaos reigning, but sometimes...there were moments of tranquility, where we found ourselves in harmony. Those were truly magical moments.

"I find it unbelievable how you, of all people, how you can use 'kidnapped' and 'innocent' together in the same sentence," the sound of the chuckle that escaped my lips shocked me. How could I act this way with her, someone that had treated me like garbage not too long ago?

The image of Sarah flickered before my eyes for a moment, and the guilt that settled itself on my chest was suffocating me. This was wrong. I couldn't be acting like this, all jolly as if nothing had happened.

She playfully wiggled her eyebrows at me, her lips curling into a small smile. "It's easy. When you have the gift of confidence and flirtation on your side, you got to use it."

There was no way for me to respond, not after the revelation that swirled around in my head, but there was no need to. Vala had grown silent, her gaze fixed upon a man behind us, casually reading a newspaper. That was a rather odd sight: No one came to a bar just to catch up on the news. You had TV for that, or the library where they gave our newspapers for a small fee.

"It can't be....," she kept repeating to herself, shaking her head as she spoke.

"What?"

"Do you smell that?" she purposefully sniffed at the air, as if she couldn't believe what her mind was registering.

"What? Did you recognize the smell of a rich guy, and that you must have him and all of his riches?" The attitude that I displayed was too insensitive, but I couldn't help myself. She had that effect on people.

She drew a breath. "No... Not at all. It's just... I know that smell. My father always used it."

I couldn't stop myself from frowning. "I thought your father was dead?"

"My stepfather, yes, but...not my real one. He walked out on us. But still, my mother had a bottle of his aftershave in the house, and I loved spraying it all over the bathroom. It's a really old brand, and I'd be shocked that it still exists."

I peeked over my shoulder, wondering if he had heard anything that we had just said. Yet, he did not turn away from the reading material in front of him. "Seriously?"

"I think so...," her eyes were wide as she spoke with a muffled tone, her lips hidden behind her folded hands. "Could you do me a favor? Could you go sit next to him and order a drink, and observe the way he looks?" When I showed signs of protest, she bit her lip. "Please?"

Grudgingly, I scooted the chair backwards, glaring at her. "Fine. But just this once."

The whole espionage and being sneaky was not up my alley, and I would never enter a career that demanded such skills. How Vala survived for this long was beyond my understanding.

But still, I found myself casually taking a seat upon the barstool, respectfully nodding at the barmaid. "What will it be tonight, sugar?" she winked at me while polishing a wine glass with a rather stained and worn-out cloth.

"Just some water, please," I didn't need to act when I spoke, my voice having disappeared all together because of the nerves that had set in. "My voice-"

"Ah, I get it. Got some nerves, don't you? The girl doing that to you, huh?"

"Kind of," I coughed, hitting on my chest like some kind of primal ape to get rid of the huskiness that clung onto me.

All during the dramatized acting, the man beside me was still unperturbed by what had taken place, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to idly look at some of his features. he had sharp features, accentuated by a sharp-styled nose. His eyes could once have been considered as kind, but years of troubles had caused lines to appear all around them, and it hardened the pale blue eyes.

The barmaid took her merry time to give me a simple glass of water, most likely to give me time to collect my thoughts to face the girl that "took my breath away", or so she thought. With a curt "thank you", I took my leave from her, and approached Vala with unforgiving eyes. "Did I mention I hate you?"

"Enough of your nonsense," she hit a fist on the table. "What do you think? What does he look like?"

I paused to think long and hard about just how to deliver the news. "To be honest, I don't think there's any relation between you two. The only thing that looked remotely like something you have is-"

"-the nose?" she completed the sentence, sighing. "I got everything from my mother, my charm, my wit, my good looks, so people never thought I was my father's daughter."

"What did you get from your father then?"

"Some minor food allergies."

"Oh..."

She sighed. "Look, Daniel. You at least had a good family to take care of you, but..." She broke off, scooting out of her seat and hurrying towards the staircase, to the supposedly closed off section of the club. All we knew was that it had been hired for some kind of party, but no one had shown up yet, so we were safe.

Not in the mood to be abandoned for a second time, I followed close behind her.

There was a good reason she wanted to stay out of the public's eye. Vala was a strong character, but sometimes that strong part of her was a little bit too strong, and she nearly blew up in someone's face. She had sneaked away to spare everyone from seeing such a horrible display of anger and anguish.

"Hey...," I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, feeling the way her whole body was shaking with the anger that convulsed through her. "You don't need your father anymore. You're a grown woman, now, and you grew up all right without him. Sure, your life is definitely not perfect, but you've learned from your mistakes. Don't make another by attacking him. Just...let him go."

"I wish I could, Daniel. But the fact that he could have been here in Starlight Shores, living a luxurious life while my mother and I suffered in England... It's unsettling."

"Tell you what. How about we just get away from here? We'll go back to the hotel and get you some tea. I hear it can be great for those who experience a lot of stress."

She chuckled a little. "They say exactly the same thing about wine, but tea...would be great, thank you. As long as you're the one that's making it."

Before the night was over, I had been successful in calming Vala down, returning her to her usual pleasant (or unpleasant, depending on the person) self, managing to crack a few jokes as we sat in her room, drinking tea and watching the clock tick on. It was nearing 11 o' clock, a time I was usually already in bed. However, tonight, I didn't mind staying up later than usual. For once, I wasn't tired at all.

It must have been the adrenaline rush I had while pretending to be a spy in the club.

"Your dad was horrible for doing what he did, but, in the end, I think he was trying to find excitement while he still could. It was incredibly selfish, but in a way, I can understand where he was coming from. All in all, forget about him and his faults. Life is just too short to worry about such matters for too long."

She nodded from where she sat on the bed. "I agree."

And then, something changed within her. Something that I should have expected, but didn't.

"What are you doing?" I questioned her as I saw her pulling her top over her shoulders.

"Something we should have done a long time ago," she smiled, moving closer to me, her hands hovering over the zip of my pants.

"Don't do that," catching her hands just before they could do anything, I held them up in front of my chest, looking her straight in the eyes, searching for some kind of sign that she had gone mad.

"Why not?" she questioned, blinking rapidly. The right answer didn't come to me. I couldn't explain to her what had gone through my head. So instead, I pushed her away.

"We've been here for a week, Daniel, and in that short time I got to know you better than anyone... You do like girls, don't you?"

"YES!"

"Well, I don't see many other options around here, do you?" she paused, taking a step backwards. "Unless...you really...don't find me attractive."

"You want an honest answer for that question?"

"No..." She grabbed at the top she had abandoned on the bed, pulling it back over her shoulders and straightening out the creases before taking a seat on the bed.

"No, seriously, do you want an honest answer to that question?"

"No, forget about it!"

Some sort of anger was bursting inside me, and poor Vala seemed to have to carry the burden of it. "Do you believe I can have any kind of serious feelings for you?"

Her head snapped in my direction. "I wasn't suggesting you had any kind of serious feelings, Daniel..."

"Oh, oh, what, we slept together once, then what? We work together, Vala. I'm the closest thing you have to a friend. And you know what, even saying that part out loud sounds unbelievable. Come on! I can't even imagine what a relationship with you would be like! Yes, you've proved yourself to be trustworthy on a professional level, and for that I'm very proud of you... But on a personal level? Vala, come on, give me a break! I mean, at best you're an emotional, unstable wreck. I'm not saying I'm much better, no. There was a time I thought I'd never get over Sarah. The idea of ever getting hurt that way again... But I've finally, for the first time in a really long time, gotten to a place where I could get close to someone again. But not in a million years, a million years would I ever consider that person being you. I mean we are so...opposite and wrong for each other it's not even funny, and the worst part of it is, you know that!"

All through my speech, I felt like I was stomping on the ground, and I wouldn't have been surprised if someone came knocking at our door to keep it down. At that moment, I didn't really care.

"And this whole flirty, sexual thing is just your way of having a laugh at my expense, like I've told you so many times before. So I'm so sorry I'm not more appreciative of that, I'm sorry that you're bored. But don't you pretend it's anything else!"

The brunt of my attack had had a huge effect on Vala, and she slowly kept turning her back on me the whole time I was shouting. When I looked at her again through calmer eyes, I could see her shoulders were slumped.

"Don't act like you're hurt," I told her, fed up with her acting. All I could hear from her was a humored intake of breath, but something sounded off. As she sniffed and rubbed her eyes, I knew what had happened. She was crying.

Never would I have figured that Vala could be as sincere as that, that she did have true feelings hidden behind that pretty face. As I took a seat next to her, she turned away, and I tugged gently at her sleeve. "Look at me."

"Just give me a minute...," she sniffed, burying her head in her hands.

"Look at me," I asked her again, brushing away the hair that had been covering her eyes. She did as I asked, and in the two seconds that she looked at me with her saddened blue eyes, she told an entire story.

It was as my mother had suspected. Both of us had been oblivious to it, but deep down, we were attracted to each other, and even though we were wrong for each other, in some way, we were also right for each other. I had made Vala see the better part of life, where you didn't have to steal to survive in life, where she had taught me how life wasn't as serious as I made it to be, and that I was entitled to have fun. The guilt of Sarah's passing had always kept me back, but now, I was ready to let that go.

With a caring maneuver, I continually brushed away the hair that was sneaking its way out of her bun, and my right hand came to rest on her neck, the other hand bringing her face closer to mine, my lips greeting hers.

As I pulled back, we both couldn't suppress a smile. "You better not be messing with me," I smirked, kissing her yet again.

It was both a memorable and important night in my mind. My viewpoint of Vala would never be the same again, and I wouldn't be as quick to judge people as I usually did.

In general, my life would never be the same again.

I had gained a crazy friend, yet also a genuine, caring lover.