Chapter 11
I can’t believe my luck. I spent all night writing a list for Valarie of everything that I noticed needed doing around the place, but it was a little challenging, considering I didn’t know what half the place looked like. I also spent a good chunk of time listing ways to advertise the place once it was up and running. I didn’t even know this place existed until I drove past it in the taxi on my way back to my car. I’ve lived in this city my entire life, and I never realized there was a hotel on this side of the city and on the main street. Valarie would not need this information until the place was ready to open, which was a long way off. And that is if it passed the health and safety inspections first because this place is literally falling apart at
the seams.
I manage to get a hold of Macey and Zoe; they were keen to find work. Both of them are floored with the amount Valarie was willing to pay them, making me realize it wasn’t just me that was underpaid and overworked when I was working, but rogues in general. Macey said her mother would watch her daughter, and Zoe said she would have to bring hers but had a baby carrier and stroller she could use.
Zoe is just sixteen years old. Even younger than me, making my heart really go out for her. Her mother was a rogue but died when she was a child, and she has spent her entire life in and out of child orphanages and refuges. How lonely it would feel to be entirely on your own all your life, she probably didn‘ t know any different. I spent over an hour on the phone with her. She sounds miserable where she is. So, I ended up going
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down and speaking to Valarie and asking if it was alright if Zoe shared the room with me. It had a fold–out bed if Zoe feels weird about sharing the double with me. Valarie nicely agreed and seemed genuinely excited about someone else coming here.
The following day, I woke up to Valarie calling out to me, her voice faint as she calls out from downstairs. Sitting up, I see Valarian is still asleep, and my mouth falls open when I realize it is nearly 10 am. We slept in. Usually, I am up as soon as the sky lightens when sleeping in my car, around 6 am.
“Everly wakey, wakey,” comes Valarie’s voice from the other side of the door as she knocks. I quickly rushed to the door, embarrassed that I slept so late. Opening it, Valarie is standing there with smoke between her lips, wearing jeans and a tank top, with a vest that was open, and she had steel cap boots on. She looked ready to kick ass, hopefully not mine. She really is one tough lady with a heart of gold.
“Finally, you are up. Did you have a good sleep? I didn’t want to wake you,” she says.
“I am so sorry-” I go to tell her, but she waves me off.
“Don’t worry about that; I turned your alarm off and came in with the master key, come, come. I need your help unloading my truck,” she says, walking off toward the stairs. I look back in the room. Valarian sleeps peacefully, and I leave the door open before following her down the stairs in my pajamas.
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“I have been shopping, couldn’t have Valarian sleeping on that. dirty mattress, and now Zoe is coming with her baby. I thought I would grab some things. It turns out, I have al shopping problem. Everything was so cute and reminded me of when I went shopping for my son when I had him,” Valarie gushes, her sparkle bright with her excitement. Pointing to the tray of her truck. I blink, shocked. She had indeed been shopping.
My hands go to my mouth “Valarie,” I am gobsmacked. I don’t know what to say; I can’t believe she had done all this for two rogue girls she barely knows and one she hadn’t even met yet. There are two cots, two of everything. And everything you could possibly think of, including baby toys, both babies would be a little too young to play with, even baby mobiles and cot sheets and blankets.
“Oh, check this out; this even has a camera so you can watch them while they sleep,” Valarie says, holding up a baby monitor. “Didn’t have these when mine was a youngin.“”
“I don’t know what to say, this is seriously the nicest thing someone has done for me, and you have already done enough, and I just met you,” I croak out, becoming emotional. Big fat tears roll down my face. How could one woman be so kind? She has shown more kindness in the last 24 hours than I received in the year I have been rogue.
“It takes a village to raise a child; we are going to build our own village,” Valarie says before clapping her hands.
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“Now, let’s get this stuff up to the room before the delivery truck comes. We also need to get that bed out; two new ones arrive around twelve; what time will the girls get here?”
“They said ten this morning.”
“Well, we better hop to it, then I need a coffee and about ten more of these to build up the motivation,” she says, holding up her smoke. I chuckle, and we start undoing the straps holding everything in place.
I feel exhausted when I run the last of it up, the room looking more like a baby store. I shook my head, trying to figure out where the heck Zoe and I were going to put it all. Valarie was having a rest and feeding Valarian a bottle. She was very fond of my son and commented about four or five times already about his eyes. Her fascination with them confused me. Hearing a truck reversing, Valarie hops up, looking out the door and over the balcony.
“Now, please tell me that is your car. Otherwise, I have just stolen someone else’s from the train station” she giggles.
“What?” I ask, getting up and walking over to see a tow truck with my car on the back.
“Yes, that is my beast; I would have walked back and got it,” I tell her, feeling bad she wasted money getting it towed.
“Nonsense, Phil owed me a favor anyway, picked him up one
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time when his truck broke down, said he owed me one, and I simply collected,” she says.
The truck door opens, and a big burly trucker gets out with a beard and balding head.
“Val, where do you want it?” he calls out to her.
“Anywhere, Phil, we have the keys to move it,” she calls back to him. Looking at the time, I see it is nearly ten in the morning. I told the girls I would meet them out front near the curb so they could find the place easier; they were also unaware there was a hotel here and seemed confused when I mentioned the address.
“Girls should be nearly here,” I tell Valarie. She waves me off, going back to feeding Valarian and fussing over him. I smile at her. Valarie’s whole attitude seems different since yesterday. She appears almost happy. It was almost like she had found a new lease on life.
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