Valentine’s day was simultaneously the best and worst day of the year. With the holiday also acting as her namesake, Valentina had a certain fondness for it. She’d always been a complete romantic, wiling away hours dreaming up the faceless somebody that might come and whisk her away to her own happily ever after. For a time, she’d wholeheartedly believed that person to be Ariadne. It was a fool’s dream, and she’d been humbled more than once on that front. Then along came Teddy, a man who’d managed to piss her off and charm her in the same breath. He was lovely and gorgeous and wholly good. There were no limitations to his kindness or affection for Valentina, nor was the love he had to offer transactional. He seemed to want to be lovely just for the sake of being lovely.
Unfortunately for Valentina, she was a colossal idiot who was, apparently, incapable of telling the difference between platonic and romantic feelings. Whatever attraction she’d felt for her best friend had been mostly surface level to begin with. She’d understood it was in no way reciprocated – though Teddy never shied from reminding her that she was beautiful, as he did with all of his friends – but she wasn’t blind. He was a handsome man and she’d been lucky enough to parade around New York with him on her arm for the past year and a half.
But in all of the madness surrounding his breakup with Olly and her own heartbreak over Ariadne, the lines had blurred and she’d allowed herself to become too attached. She’d started seeking him out on her down days, missing the warmth of his cuddles as she enjoyed a rainy day in with a movie. Warm smiles, words of comfort and fleeting touches were no longer Just Teddy, but instead she found herself interpreting them as something more romantic, more intentional. She’d been the one to encourage him to put himself back out there, only to find that it felt agonising watching him blush under the attention of a woman who, quite frankly, was nothing like her at all. It was one thing for Teddy to be sleeping around and flirting with pretty women, but it was another to realise that a woman like Val wasn’t even remotely on his radar.
After their talk about her recent behaviour, she’d tried to push those feelings down. Teddy was her best friend and she’d be a fool to ruin what they had over some petty, childish feelings. She’d already made that mistake once with Ariadne, and countless others before her, so she couldn’t keep stumbling down the same, beaten track. So, when Teddy had insisted the two of them spend Valentine’s Day together, she’d tried heartily not to read into it, despite the rapid increase of her heartrate. She’d wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he hadn’t even realised what day the 14th was, only for him to proclaim it Palentine’s Day, to which Henry had stared on with obvious disgust. She’d awarded her brother with a cushion to the face, immediately followed by an eyeroll as she’d watched him – with absolutely no shame or guilt – load up his text chain with Diego.
Still, she was adamant to simply enjoy the afternoon out with her best friend. Her best friend who’d taken her out for a gorgeous dinner at her favourite restaurant, immediately followed by a trip to the movies to watch a rerun of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. She knew it largely meant nothing on his end – even if he had pulled her chair out for her before and after dinner, as well as meticulously planned food around her favourite movie. These were all details that one might find charming and romantic, but that was just who Teddy was. She was sure he’d do it for just about anybody. Perhaps even Callie, she thought as her stomach twisted uncomfortably.
“So, what have you got planned for me next, darling?” Valentina mused, twisting in her seat as the credits rolled.
She pushed to her feet, pausing only to smooth down her skirt where it had creased ever so slightly around her thighs. Had this been a date, she might have caught Teddy’s eyes trailing down to the exposed skin, enjoying the view. Alas, it was unlikely he even noticed. She shoved that feeling of disappointment deep down before turning to him with an extended hand, ready to help him up out of his seat so they could vacate the now emptying cinema.
“Let me see... Moonlit walk along the Hudson? Maybe a horse-driven carriage through Harlem?” she laughed, knowing all too well how dire the city would be looking tonight. There’d be loved up couples in every neighbourhood, trying to make the best of a largely unromantic backdrop.