Chapter 30 _ Cordialmente Invitada
Juliana’s first semester ended in a flash. Her second semester was off to a great start as well. She was two weeks into her classes when she received an invitation through the mail. It was an invitation to attend New York Fashion Week specifying that she was 1 of 25 candidates to go on this trip, all expenses paid.
The first person she told about the news was her father. He was one of her biggest cheerleaders and he knew going to New York was one of her childhood dreams. He told her to meet him and her mother for dinner to celebrate the opportunity she had earned.
Her second call was to Valentina. It was an exciting call for the both of them because Valentina had just received her own Fashion Week invitation. Renata and the institute had officially hired Valentina as their Fashion Photographer and her first assignment would be to accompany the group to New York and photograph the shows and the students in attendance.
That evening Juliana had a celebration dinner with her parents and toasted to her grandmother who instilled her love for fashion without knowing it. Lupe told Juliana how proud she was of her for not letting anyone, including her mother, get in the way of her dreams. Their night ended with a slice of banana bread and a cup of milk.
The following day the 25 students along with the 5 staff members met up during lunch to plan their sleeping arrangements and their assignments. Valentina was introduced as the new photographer. Juliana was put in a room with Valentina, Josie, Penelope, and Renata. The rest of the group was also split into teams of 5. They would be leaving that Thursdays and return the following Friday.
When Thursday rolled around they all met at the airport and were all seated near each other on the plane. The flight took five hours and throughout those five hours Valentina edited some images while Juliana leaned on Valentina’s shoulder, watching her work and eventually falling asleep. They arrived in the city around 11am. They got a shuttle bus and were taken to their hotel.
They would get Thursday to explore a bit and settle in. Given Valentina’s easy going nature she instantly made friends with some of Juliana’s classmates. Once in their room, Renata told the girls to decide between the two beds and she’d sleep on the pullout couch. Josie and Penelope couldn’t believe they were going to spend the entire week with the face of RIC. The Saltzman family was well acquainted with the Carvajal family but Josie had never actually gotten one on one time with Renata and she was a big fan of her work. Penelope on the other hand didn’t know them much, aside from Valentina these past few months. She hid it well but she too was very excited to be around one of her favorite designers. When she found out that Renata was opening her own fashion school she knew that was her opportunity to learn from one of the best so applying was a no brainer to her.
Renata being the bright spirit she is insisted the girls called her by her first name, no Mrs. Carvajal just Renata. She even joked that that title belonged to Juliana which caused everyone to laugh and a huge blush to spread across Juliana’s face. Renata and Juliana had become great friends and Valentina was very happy that they had the friendship they did. Renata was not only a mentor to Juliana she was almost like an older sister.
The girls were getting ready to head downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group while Renata explained the plan for the day. “We’re going to lunch as a group but then you have 5 hours to do whatever you want. The rest of the professors and I will be doing our own thing as well. Just meet up back at the restaurant by 6pm so we can have dinner and then head to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow.” Renata said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.
“Do you want to come with us Natty? We’re all sticking together anyway. We have our own itinerary for today. I’m sure Josie and Pen would love to spend some time with you.” Valentina offered her sister in law.
Renata agreed under the condition that she get to add one location to their itinerary but wouldn’t say what it was because it was surprise for Valentina.
After dinner they took off to their sightseeing adventure. Since it was near the restaurant, their first stop was the Empire State Building. Then they went to the Macy’s because seeing that Macy’s was on Juliana’s NY bucket list. After Macy’s they grabbed an Uber to Renata’s stop. Valentina was skeptical at first because they were dropped off outside of a Chipotle yet she knew that her sister in law couldn’t stand that restaurant so this stop didn’t make sense.
Seeing Valentina’s confused face Renata giggled as she began to speak. “No. We’re not here to get you a burrito. We’re actually going across the street.” She said making all 4 of the girls turn around and see what could be across the street for Renata to insist they add this stop.
They began to cross the street and when Renata made a left turn which they followed. The girls crossed 26th street and Renata began to fidget, something only Juliana noticed. As they approached the store, it all made sense to Juliana and she gasped. Valentina on the other hand couldn’t put two and two together.
“What are we doing here?” Valentina asked completely clueless.
“Val. Are you serious?” Renata and Juliana said simultaneously.
“Yeah why are we in buybuy BABY?” Once she said the name of the store it finally clicked. “No! Are you serious!?” She said covering her mouth trying not to burst before getting confirmation.
Renata nodded and Valentina pulled her in for a hug and she squealed. “Oh my god! I’m gonna be a tia!”
Juliana and the other couple had huge smiles on their faces waiting for their turn to congratulate Renata on her pregnancy. They were all invited into a hug once Valentina was done squeezing her sister in law. Valentina had happy tears streaming down her face as did Renata and Juliana.
Once they settled down, they walked outside to find a place to sit.
“Wait so how long have you known?” Valentina asked sitting on Juliana’s lap as she looked at Renata.
Renata smiled knowing what Valentina’s response would be. “Last Monday.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve known for over a week but I’m only finding out now?” Valentina said with a look on her face that made her sister in law laugh.
“Yep. I told your brother that night and then we told your dad and Lucia on Wednesday but I asked them not to tell you anything because I wanted to tell you on this trip.” Renata said clasping her hands together.
Meanwhile, Josie, Penelope and Juliana laughed at Valentina’s reaction to knowing she found out after her father. Juliana tightened her hold around Valentina as she nuzzled into her right side.
After talking a bit more about the pregnancy they took another Uber but this time towards Time Square. They enjoyed the rest of their free time and eventually met up with the rest of the group for dinner.
The rest of the week consisted of attending select shows. Valentina was having a blast taking pictures of the runway and sneaking in a picture of her girlfriend’s reaction every now and then. She also took many pictures of the rest of the group. By the time the following Friday came along Valentina had more than enough content to keep her busy editing nonstop for an entire week. Renata promised to give her a bonus if she finished the images by the following Sunday.
Juliana and the rest of the girls on the trip were convinced by Valentina to do a last minute photoshoot in their room. Everyone had gotten to know each other pretty well and by now they could consider each other friends. Juliana felt content knowing when they got back things would be easier on campus because she’d have people to talk with throughout the day and she wouldn’t just third-wheel Josie and Penelope.
Valentina took Juliana to dinner that same night. They hadn’t gotten much time to hang out during the shows because Valentina was busy working. Valentina had spoken to Renata and convinced her to switch the couple’s return date for that Sunday. She wanted to spend the weekend with Juliana in New York. She had an apartment in the city and she wanted Juliana to be able to see more of the city since they didn’t have too much time for exploring.
“Baby, how did you enjoy New York?” Valentina asked Juliana as they waited for their meals to arrive.
Juliana put her phone away as she gave Valentina her full attention. “It’s beautiful, I just I’d had more time to explore it. There’s still so much to see.” She said taking a sip of her water.
Valentina smiled knowing that would be Juliana’s answer. “How do you feel about spending a few more days here, just the two of us?”
Giving her a questioning look Juliana turned her head sideways and said, “I’d love that but we leave tonight with the rest of the group, babe.”
“I might have gotten Renata to change our return date.” Valentina said biting her lip nervously.
“Of course you did. Well I just gotta tell my parents to not pick us up tonight then. Why didn’t you consult me though?” Juliana said, not angry just curious. “Did you expect me to say no?”
Shaking her head Valentina responded rapidly, “No, I just wanted to surprise you, I didn’t think it’d be a big deal.”
Nodding her head unconsciously Juliana bit her lip before responding, “It’s not, I’d just like to have some input when it comes to situation where we should both agree on something.”
Valentina instantly knew what Juliana meant and she internally agreed to slow down a bit and take her into consideration more often, “Okay, I promise next time we’ll discuss and plan things out properly, together.”
“Thank you, that’s all I ask. I wanna feel like I have a say in some of these decisions.” Taking a hold of Valentina’s hand and giving it a gentile squeeze Juliana continued, “I know we’re both very independent but if we’re an ‘us’ then that means it’s you & me so we gotta make decisions together when it’s something for the both of us.”
Just as Juliana was ending her sentence the waiter came back with their food and drinks. The girls ate their food silently enjoying every bite. Halfway through their meal Juliana began to laugh realizing tomorrow’s date. “Val., why don’t we start celebrating the 14th of September as our Valentine’s Day instead of the 14th of February? I just remembered our talk from last year.”
As a blush grew across Valentina’s face she joined Juliana in her laughter, “I’d completely forgotten about that mix up. I’m on board though, it can be our own little inside joke.”
“Okay, so now that we’ve agreed on making decisions together, what’s the plan for tomorrow then? What would you like to do.” Juliana said with a big smile on her face.
Valentina liked the idea of making it this date a tradition and agreeing on what to do on that day. “Well, I’ve been here multiple times so what else in on your New York bucket list?” She said content to do whatever Juliana wanted.
Juliana pulled out her phone opening her notes and passed it over to Valentina so she could see her travel list along with the places she wanted to visit within those destinations. After deciding how they would distribute their time the following days they headed back to the hotel to grab their belonging and say their goodbyes to the group.
Penelope jokingly told Juliana “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” causing a laugh to erupt from Josie because their were very few things Penelope wouldn’t do.
Valentina asked Josie to keep an eye on Renata and told Renata to let her know as soon as they landed and she got home safely so Valentina didn’t worry. Knowing how much of a worrier Valentina was, Renata happily agreed.
Once everyone was on the bus and heading to the airport Juliana and Valentina got into the Uber they ordered and went to Valentina’s apartment to rest for the night.