My Forever Valentine

by Melody Heck Gatto

  “I thought you weren’t getting involved.” This is why he would’ve stayed in his room had he known Lily was still here. He didn’t need her getting involved.

  Maybe this was the problem with dating your friends. When it was over, they were still in your life. The thought made his stomach hurt. He wanted Harley to stay in his life. But how? How could he look at her, knowing she had left him to go back to Mr. Lame?

  That guy was more of a jerk than she ever knew.

  “Why would you lie for him?” Lily folded her arms and asked Zane.

  Harley may not want to be with him, but he wasn’t going to do anything to make the situation worse. “Lily, I’m not the one with a problem.”

  “Are you insinuating that Harley has a problem?” Lily retorted nastily.

  “If that’s what you want to call him, then yes,” Spencer said calmly.

  “Him who?” Lily snapped, her brows pinched in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Spencer grabbed a beer and shut the refrigerator door. Popping it open he took a long sip.

  “Do you still care about her?” Lily persisted.

  “Lil, please understand that I am not trying to be rude, but it’s not my place anymore.”

  “Why not? Spencer, she’s—”

  “She’s better off with Isaac.” Spencer brushed by Lily on his way towards his bedroom.

  “Why would you even say that? Harley doesn’t care about Isaac!”

  “If that’s what she told you, then she’s been about as honest with you as she has been with me.”

  Lily’s eyes widened with shock. “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “Lil, I know you love Harley like a sister, and that’s why I can’t talk about this anymore. You kids have fun, I’m out.”

  Shutting his bedroom door, he climbed back in bed and turned on the television.

  He missed Harley.

  SPENCER WAS LATE THIS morning for the meeting with the security firm. They were heading into the next phase of the project, and this was a mandatory step. Not one he was looking forward to.

  Maybe that was why he hadn’t wanted to get out of bed this morning. Or why he’d taken his time on his earlier conference call, or maybe it was why he’d taken a little longer at the morning meeting with his boss. But, even with good reasoning, he was, in fact, late.

  Rushing into the conference room, he stiffened his body, preparing for some stupid comment from Isaac.

  Or, maybe, with any luck, Isaac would have skipped the meeting. Was it too much to hope for that Isaac was maybe unexpectedly called out of town?

  Nope. When he entered the room, the first person to look up at him was Mr. Lame himself.

  “There he is, ladies and gentlemen.” Isaac obnoxiously clapped alone as Spencer entered the room. “So glad you could join us this morning, Spencer, albeit late.” He then mumbled out of the side of his mouth, as if he was hiding it from Spencer, “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not a good quality in a leader.”

  “Oh, is it still morning?” Spencer asked sarcastically, ignoring Isaac’s comment, and looked at his watch, then back at Isaac. “I’ve had so many conference calls already today that I figured it was at least two in the afternoon by now.”

  He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his composure. Isaac was not going to get the best of him today. Spencer refused to let him.

  “Yes, it is still morning, and I hope you don’t mind, but we started without you. We do have a schedule to keep.” Isaac turned to the screen and began talking about what they expected in the next phase of the project.

  Everything Isaac pointed out, Spencer’s team had already planned and prepared for. This guy was so smug that he thought he was going to come in here and rule the place.

  “Excuse me,” Ricky interrupted Isaac. “I believe that everything you’re going over is in the documents we all received last week.”

  Spencer’s cell phone buzzed. Pulling it from his pocket, he glanced at the screen. It was a text message reminding him of an afternoon conference call, but he acted like it was an important notification. Looking back at his team gathered around the table and the few folks from Isaac’s team, he said with a grin, “Well, folks, I have another meeting that needs my attention. Since my team has already been prepped on the next phase, I am going to leave you in the capable hands of my associate, Ricky.”

  Spencer needed this for his own mental health. There was no good reason to subject himself to Isaac any longer, when Ricky was more than qualified to finish this project.

  Panic hit Ricky’s face, and all the color drained from his cheeks.

  “Ricky has been the lead on this project since the beginning; he can answer any question that I can. You’ll be reporting to him for the rest of the meeting.”

  Isaac glared at him, unamused. “You’re just leaving?”

  Feigning an apologetic look, Spencer replied, “Like I said, I’m a busy person.” He shrugged.

  Before excusing himself from the conference room, he pulled Ricky off to the side.

  Spencer was done with Isaac today. The man had no power over him anymore. This was his office, and he didn’t have to stand here and take that kind of abuse from a client.

  “Ricky, you know this project inside and out. I need you to run point for the meeting—actually for the rest of the project. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

  “Are you sure, boss?” Ricky asked, the shock of his suggestion showing on his face.

  “Absolutely. I have complete faith in you. You were one of the leads on this project when it was in the infant stages. You got this!” Spencer patted him on the shoulder.

  Unconvinced, Ricky nodded with a nervous smile. “Okay. And you’ll be at your desk?”

  “No, I’m actually going to work the rest of the day from home. You can get me by text, email, or phone.”

  “If you’re sure?” Ricky asked again.

  “Ricky, you’re my right-hand man. You know this job as well as I do. I trust you, now you need to trust you.”

  Ricky turned towards the board room, and then a grin filled his face. “Yeah, I got this. I’ll call if I need anything.” He puffed his chest out and marched back to the meeting.

  SPENCER PUT HIS SOCK-clad feet up on the coffee table. He used his bare hand to scoop the sugary cereal from the box and into his mouth. It was Saturday morning, well, almost afternoon, and he wasn’t planning on leaving his apartment today. He had a full day planned of eating cereal, cookies, and ice cream, washing it down with some beer, and binging on sports.

  His cousin was moving more of his boxes to Lily’s apartment today, and as of this afternoon he would be all on his own for the first time ever.

  Next weekend was the big day. Zane was moving the big furniture items and he was supposed to move in with Harley.

  “Wow, you only look like this”—Zane waved his hand at Spencer and the hot mess that he was today—“when you’re pining over Harley. Why don’t you just call her?”

  “I’m not going to call her,” he replied flatly.

  He was no stranger to this level of miserableness. This was exactly how he’d felt last Valentine’s Day, when he thought Isaac was proposing to Harley. Now, here he was, a little shy of one year later, and another tin of cookies waited for him in the kitchen.

  “Why not? Don’t you think this is all very strange? There is no good reason that Harley would go back to Isaac. I was there. I saw how happy she was with you. I never saw that smile on her face when she was with Isaac. And she is not a glutton for punishment. She would not willingly go back to that life.”

  “Z.” Spencer continued to stare at the television screen. He was tired of people telling him what to do. “No offense, but just stay out of this.”

  Spencer wasn’t going to play this game with Harley if she’d already made her choice—even if that choice was Isaac.

  “Sorry, cuz, I am part of this, whether you like it or not. I live w
ith you—”

  Spencer interrupted him. “Not anymore.”

  “Okay, that’s enough!” Zane exclaimed. He shoved Spencer’s feet from the coffee table. “Get up and get dressed. I have an hour before I’m supposed to meet Lily. First of all, you are stronger than this. Second, you’re going about this all wrong. Even if she is back with Isaac—which I do not believe for one second—you need to fight for her. I witnessed something I never thought I would. You, the ladies’ man, fell in love with Harley. You became a one-woman man because of her!”

  He had. And it was the first time he’d ever loved anyone.

  “Yes, and I still love her. I always will. But she wants things that I could never give her. She wanted a husband that could provide stability for her. She wanted a house that was a home, and a loving relationship. Does this look like stability to you?” Spencer pointed at his holey sweatpants and old t-shirt. “Maybe he is what she needs.”

  “You are really clueless.” Zane shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he threw his hands in the air. “Fine. You win. If you truly believe that, then you’ve already lost her. But I think if you would take one second to really think about what you just said, you’d see you give her every one of those things. And she knows it, too. You are very wrong about all of this. But, cuz, you do you.”

  He watched as Zane all but gave up on him. His cousin grabbed his coat and stormed out.

  Spencer didn’t like fighting with his cousin. Especially now that he was moving out for good. The only consolation was that Spencer knew from experience that Zane never stayed mad at him for long. But he was left with the raw feeling that his cousin had given up on him for the first time ever.

  Chapter Fifteen

  HARLEY

  Her phone buzzed right before her last morning class began. She sneaked a look to see it was a bank alert. Another large amount had been deposited into her checking account by her father. Not being in the mood to deal with it, and not just because her professor had begun his lecture, she tucked her phone back into her bag, this time with the volume off.

  School had her stressed out, and adding in the nonsense going on with Spencer, she had no time to deal with her parents. But she had sent them an email when she and Spencer were planning on moving in together, just to make them aware that she would soon be moving.

  She did her best to concentrate on the lecture, but her mind kept wandering to her parents. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. It wasn’t her birthday or Christmas. There was no reason for a gift. Harley made sure her recorder was on and did her best to take notes during class. So many things were changing, and on top of everything else, she had to figure out where she was going to live. Staying in the apartment with Zane and Lily was not an option.

  When class was over, she headed to the library to do some studying. But first, she checked her emails. Just like she thought, there was one from her parents. It explained that since she was going to be moving, they had sent her some money for a moving company. Because that’s what her parents would do. She, on the other hand, would pack the boxes herself, borrow someone’s car or rent a van and move everything herself.

  Mystery solved. That’s what the money was about. Just another reason to toss some cash her way and feel satisfied about their good deed, their version of love.

  Harley was used to the way they showed love, even if it was disappointing. She expected nothing less. Of course, she appreciated that they’d taken a second to send her money to help, and she would put it to good use towards moving or even the security deposit on a new place, once she found one. And she would text her mom later to say thanks. Money was nice, but what she had always craved was for them to be physically present in her life.

  There was no point dwelling on that now. She didn’t even have a plan for where she was going to live yet. Maybe she hadn’t done much apartment searching because she was holding out hope that her and Spencer would reconcile.

  But what if they didn’t?

  If she had to rent a place on her own, she was pretty sure she could afford it easily with what she was paying towards rent with Lily now. After all, she’d probably get some cute little studio apartment close to school and work. That would eliminate the need for a car, bus pass, or spending money on a ride share. The problem was, she didn’t want to get a place by herself.

  Since she wasn’t getting any studying done, she opened her bank app and stared at her account balances. Looking at the balance in the savings account that she had been putting money aside from her paychecks, she decided she had plenty to pay the first and last month’s rent on a decent apartment. How did she know that without looking at any studio apartments yet? Because she knew what she and Spencer would need when they signed the lease together, and she had plenty with room to spare for incidentals.

  Suddenly she was overwhelmed with thoughts of Spencer. When she imagined studying for her master’s degree, she never imagined she’d be trying to jump start her single life as well.

  Shaking the depressing mood off, she had to stay positive—somewhat. She had to believe that everything would work out. But then again, maybe she needed a backup plan. She couldn’t live with Lily and Zane forever, even if the rent would be cheaper now that it would be split three ways.

  She could increase her hours at both jobs and find some fancy loft uptown. She could be comfortable and on her own. But even the thought of an expensive loft didn’t make her happy. And forget about designer labels. She hadn’t gone clothes shopping since Spencer had shut her out. Was she losing her high-end tastes? Or was she simply missing the one thing that wasn’t included in that loft— Spencer.

  Being separated from Spencer left her feeling dejected with no end in sight.

  Harley had worked so hard for years to not be labeled a trust-fund princess, and she had succeeded. She worked two jobs to earn enough to buy whatever she wanted and still live comfortably. But what was her end game? She was sitting here working her ass off to make something amazing out of herself so she would never need her parents’ money. And she was still miserable.

  She only had two choices, stay with Zane and Lily and have a very minimal rent payment, or start studio apartment hunting.

  But she missed Spencer. This was supposed to be their big moment, moving into their new apartment. Her heart was breaking, and no money or fancy loft uptown could ever fix that.

  THE REST OF HER AFTERNOON was long, her hand hurt from taking notes, and her phone was full of lecture recordings that she needed to review tonight. Her plan was to order a pizza and eat her way through her nightly lecture review. That seemed to be a new study routine for her.

  She missed sitting with Spencer while she studied. Eating pizza, with a hockey game on in the background, she’d snuggle up against him while reviewing her notes.

  Her heart sunk at those memories.

  The weather this afternoon was unusually beautiful for early February. The sun was out, breaking up the gloomy, overcast days that were typical this time of year. And even though a few flurries fell, it was nice enough to not be completely bundled up like a snowman. This mild weather wouldn’t last long; meteorologists were already predicting dropping temps by the weekend.

  As she exited her last class for the day, Harley decided to take a stroll into town. It was relaxing to be out in the brisk air, with the sun warming her face. Even the random flurries made her smile. She had some time to waste before her shift at the bookstore this afternoon.

  She strolled down Main Street, admiring the shop windows. She loved how town was so peaceful and quaint even in late afternoon. As she passed window after window decorated in red and pink hearts and baby cupids, she was harshly reminded that Valentine’s Day was approaching.

  This February fourteenth was supposed to have been magical. For once, her life had been perfect. Harley had had everything she could ask for. Life had been good, and for once, it had all come easily. She was supposed to have the love of her life to celebrate with.

  She wa
s reminded how her happiness came to be, thanks to Valentine’s Day. Last February fourteenth had started off rocky, but thanks to her friend, her rock, the man that held her heart, the day ended perfectly.

  Last year at this time she was still with Isaac. For the first time in their relationship, he had planned a romantic dinner date at a restaurant they had never been to before, unlike their typical dinner which was always at the same places. But even the romantic gesture didn’t make up for the fact that he didn’t want an equal; he wanted a woman who would dress to impress his business associates and stand quietly behind him.

  Harley was not one to silently wait to be spoken to. This was not the olden days. And most importantly, no one told her what to wear.

  She looked down at her leather jacket, leopard scarf, tight black jeans, and knee-high black boots. Isaac would’ve frowned upon this outfit. The jeans too tight, and the scarf too loud. But this was her.

  That night was the moment that she knew she wasn’t in love with Isaac; she was in love with Spencer.

  She should’ve seen all the signs leading up to Isaac’s lame Valentine’s day proposal, but he was stable and that was number one on her list, she’d been blind to the fact that their partnership lacked one important factor—love.

  Breaking things off with Isaac was easy, and the best thing she’d ever done. Well, second best. The best thing she’d ever done was run to Spencer that night, confess her feelings, and admit that Spencer had her heart all along.

  And the rest was history.

  Her heart sank. It really was history. Her stomach hurt; she missed Spencer. She missed his hugs, his kisses, and his sweet face.

  Looking across the street at the cafe where they’d finally confessed their love for one another, she considered calling him and asking him to meet her there for lunch. Maybe if they were there together they could talk things out.

  But she thought about what Zane had said about doing this face-to-face. It was possible that inviting Spencer to lunch wasn’t her best move. It gave him an opportunity to not answer her message, or not show up. She needed to just appear at his door again, not giving him a chance to turn her down.