"Come on, Val," I called out to my sister, who was still in the bathroom getting ready, or maybe even stalling. "I don't want to be late, considering this is a surprise birthday party for Raven."
I'd met Raven, who was one of my closest friends in the city, through my waitressing job at The Back Door in Manhattan.
A few minutes later, Valerie finally emerged. While she looked beautiful in a modest black dress, and her makeup and blonde bobbed hair were on point for the occasion, her face showed the emotional toll the past weeks had taken.
The depression she'd fallen into after leaving her abusive ex wasn't hard for me to miss, and I hated that my sister's normal vibrant personality had been dimmed by Mark Branson, aka the entitled asshole.
My sister was all I had in the world and I wasn't about to lose her the same way we'd lost our mother when our father had choked her to death during one of his drunken rages. Which was why, when Mark had been out
golfing the Saturday after I'd seen a bruise on Val's cheek, I'd packed up her things and had moved her into my place.
It didn't matter that I lived in a very miniscule one-bedroom apartment in Elmhurst, Queens, which was all I could afford on my earnings as a waitress and intern at Dare PR two days a week.
There was no denying it was cramped having Valerie live here with me, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered to me was knowing she was safe and out of Mark's
clutches.
Not that Mark hadn't continued harassing Valerie after the breakup.
He'd basically stalked her, physically and through texts, and even though I'd convinced Valerie to get a restraining order against him, the whole situation had caused my sister to become more withdrawn and she'd isolate herself in my apartment. Which was the main reason why I'd insisted Valerie accompany me to tonight's party.
To give her some normalcy and get her out in public again so she didn't become a complete shut-in. I wanted to see that spark back in her eyes, along with the confidence she'd had before Mark had systematically broken her down.
"You look amazing," I told her, trying to boost her morale. "And you're going to have a great time tonight. Knowing Remy, he went all out with the food, and the entertainment will be top-notch. The guy doesn't do things halfway, not when it comes to Raven."
Valerie didn't look convinced about joining me. "I'm sure you'd have a much better time at the party without me tagging along."
"Not true," I argued with a smile as I slipped into a pair of heels. "I need a dance partner, and you'll do just fine."
She scoffed. "I'm so not in the mood to dance and party."
"Too bad. I've already told Remy that you're my plus-one," I said, not allowing her any excuses to try and get out of tonight's festivities.
"And I want to introduce you to Samantha Dare, my boss at Dare PR, who you haven't met yet." With any luck, I'd be able to help Valerie land herself a job at the marketing firm I worked at.
"Why would she be there?" Valerie asked curiously.
"She's engaged to Remy's brother, Dex." With over fifty invited guests, I was certain the entire Sterling family was going to be there, along with close friends and coworkers from the bar.
"I hate that you're going to be essentially babysitting me," she said,
then a glimmer of a smile touched her lips. "What you should be doing is putting the moves on Caleb," she said of Raven's brother, who Valerie had met in passing at The Back Door.
"You look gorgeous in that sexy little pink dress."
"What, this old thing?" I spun around playfully, causing the ruffled skirt to flare out around my knees. But truthfully, the dress really was a few years old and bought at a secondhand store, where I did most of my
shopping to save money.
"You make old look very new and chic," Valerie complimented, then tipped her head inquisitively. "I'm assuming Caleb is going to be there tonight?"
I shrugged as if I didn't care one way or another, which was a lie. The thought of seeing Caleb outside of him stopping into the bar to see Raven, or being at a get-together because of our mutual connection to Raven, did make butterflies flutter in my stomach.
"Probably, since I doubt he'd miss his sister's surprise birthday party."
"Well, he's going to take one look at you and his jaw is going to drop."
That familiar humor of Valerie's was apparent in her tone. "He might even
drool."
I grinned at the image she'd created as I pulled up my rideshare app and summoned a car for the drive into the city. Since I didn't live in the greatest neighborhood, and I still didn't trust that Mark wasn't lurking about, Valerie and I would wait until the car arrived before heading downstairs to the curb.
"Yeah, well, I'm not going to the party to see Caleb," I said, glancing back at Valerie with a smile. "It's all about Raven tonight, and you and I having a good time together."
"It could be all about you and Caleb having a good time together, and he would be far better company than me." Valerie picked up her own purse.
"I've been in the bar and I've seen the way he looks at you when you're working. Like he's hungry…and not for the food."
I shivered, because I'd seen that look, too—not that Caleb had ever acted on the attraction between us. Then again, according to Raven he'd been through the wringer with his ex-wife who was still trying to gain full custody of their six-year-old son, Owen, and hooking up with me was undoubtedly the lowest priority on his list.