Chapter 1 TEXT

Valerie Will

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As I sat in the lobby, tapping my legs impatiently on the floor, my eyes darted to my watch. I had waited for my husband in the lobby for over an hour.

He instructed the receptionist to keep me there until he was ready to see me. I didn't have any choice but to wait since it was the only chance I could get to see him these days.

I couldn't even walk up to his office anymore because he asked the security guards not to let me in under any circumstances.

The wait felt like an eternity.

While I waited for him, I couldn't help but think about how we got to this point. Patrick and I were such a perfect couple.

Everything went well between us and I was envied by most of the other women in the city. People always talked about how lucky I was whenever we went out for events.

They didn't fail to shower us with praise whenever we posted on social media. I liked the fame and the attention. But I didn't feel the same way when Patrick started acting differently.

Our lives were being scrutinized by the public, so somehow, they managed to know that we were having troubles in our marriage.

Patrick didn't show up with flowers to my trailer anymore. Even before we got married, he always brought gifts and flowers to my movie sets.

He continued that tradition but everything stopped abruptly.

I always wondered what went wrong.

Whenever I tried to talk to Patrick about it, he would act uninterested and give me a lame excuse for rescheduling the conversation.

It was clear that we were drifting away from each other, but I couldn't think of any reasonable explanation for why it was happening.

The uncertainty was killing me. I wanted to know how we would move past this awkward stage in our relationship. Patrick was making it difficult for me as he wasn't giving me the chance to talk.

Letting out a deep sigh, I stood up from the chair.

I was getting impatient and didn't have much time to waste. My assistant was already blowing up my phone because I was meant to be on set about an hour ago.

"Can you call him again? Are you sure that he knows I'm here?" The frustration in my voice was palpable as I asked the receptionist.

She nodded, giving me the same response as she did earlier. "Yes, Mr. Banks is aware that you are around. He will see you whenever he is free."

I held back a scoff.

I couldn't do anything to the receptionist because she was just doing her job. I rolled my eyes and let out a defeated sigh before turning around and making my way out of the office.

Patrick clearly didn't want to speak to me.

If he wanted to, he wouldn't have kept me unattended in the lobby for over an hour. I should've gotten the hint as soon as I got there. But I didn't. I had a glimmer of hope that he would want to speak to me.

As I made my way back to the car, I pulled out my phone from my bag and texted him. [ So you intentionally ignored me and made me waste my time in the lobby. We need to talk, we are married. You can't ignore me forever.]

I exhaled sharply after I sent the text.

His silence was making me lose my mind.

The drive to the location where we were shooting lasted about twenty minutes. As I parked in the driveway, I let out a deep sigh to calm my nerves down.

Even if I was having personal issues, I didn't want anyone to notice or even allow it to affect my career. I managed a fake smile as I stepped out of the car.

"Where have you been?" My assistant asked softly as she saw me. "Everyone has been waiting for you. We couldn't even shoot the next scene with Jamal because you weren't here."

"I'm sorry, I got caught up with something important." I lied as I walked to my trailer.

"Do you need a few minutes before we start?"

I nodded. "Sure."

Just as I was about to step into the trailer, I heard a familiar voice call my name. "Hey, Jamal." I smiled as I saw him walking towards me.

"Valerie, where have you been?" Jamal asked, his eyes locked on mine. "I tried reaching you several times but all the calls went straight to voicemail. Are you okay?"

I brushed off his concerns with a dismissive wave. "Yes, I'm okay. I just had to take care of some things." I assured him, trying to sound convincing.

Jamal gave me a knowing look. "You're not okay, Valerie."

I sighed heavily. "I'm not okay." I rolled my eyes at him when I realized that he saw right through me. "But I'll be fine."

Jamal had been my co-star for about five years now. We always worked together every year because we were both main characters in a show that was produced every year.

I could say that Jamal was my best friend. He was like family to me. But I didn't say it out loud because my actual best friend - Celeste- would kill me if she heard me calling someone else my best friend.

But anyway, Jamal was a good friend who always looked out for me. I trusted him with most of my problems but I didn't want to open up about the troubles in my marriage.

"You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?" He asked, raising a brow at me. "You don't have to go through whatever it is alone."

I smiled. "Yes, I know. But we can't talk now." I replied, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "We have a scene to shoot and I'm late."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Yes, right! We will talk about it later." Jamal replied before turning around to leave.

Just as he left, I felt my phone buzz with a text notification. I was hoping that it was Patrick who finally responded to my text.

I pulled it out and clicked on the text.

[ I didn't ask you to come to my office. I'm not in the mood to speak to you. You know what you did, so stop bothering me.]

My eyes grew wide in shock. What did I do?