Valentin stared up into the sky until the helicopter faded away from his sight. He wondered what that was all about... perhaps it's a patrol force doing their task? Strange, the view was quite rare to be found here. Probably there was a fugitive running around town, still it didn't matter. He had already had a few problems to take care of himself. If he must, he would leave this place, the small village on the west side of France where people knew so much about others -- their latest affairs, including him getting into the prison a few weeks before. Until then, others who knew him had not believed of Mrs. Ivy's accusation about him, others like Monsieur Dutiel - his boss, Mrs. Girard , and Mr. and Mrs. Fouchier who were nice and friendly neighbors.
“Thank you, Valentin.” Mr. Fouchier once said to him after he had just finished fixing the leaky roof and was climbing down on the ladder.
“No problem, Monsieur.” Valentin replied, wiping off the drops on his forehead, readying off to say goodbye and go home.
“Wait!” Mr. Fouchier said. “You can take this home with you, lad.“
“What about Eveline and Henry?" Valentin glanced away, fully aware of Mrs. Fouchier's glare at him.
“Don't worry. We have plenty, we're even worrying if they would go be wasted rather than be eaten. Right, honey?"
"Eh... yes." Mrs. Fouchier cleared her throat. She spun around and leave them alone on the threshold of her house.
"Your sister would love them."
Mr. Fouchier excused himself after he had given the basket full of sandwiches.
“Who gave us these?” Rosaline asked him when they were sitting on a picnic blanket in their backyard. One hand held a burger, the other tried to contain the crumbs.
“Mr. Fouchier did.” Valentin answered, fiddling with his pen trying to figure out the mathematical problem.
“Really? Wow! There's plenty of them. I'm going to come over there tomorrow and maybe I will bring tomatoes with me."
"Sure." Valentin said -- still being focused on the equation.
“D' you want some?”
“No, I’ve already had at Mr. Fouchier’s house.”
Soon, his stomach made a growl that he could almost yell at it. Stupid! Stupid stomach! Of course, he didn't yell like that… or else Rosaline would have had known... yet, she had already known.
"Come on, I know you're hungry." She chuckled. Valentin smiled sheepishly and then put aside his notepad.
Remembering the past often made his face turned into a smile.
Though, most of their neighbors had faith that he didn't do such a horrible thing for breaking in into Mrs. Ivy’s villa, he knew he must do something about it. The chain of unfortunate must be broken immediately. “Things will be far better than now, Rose.” He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Maybe somewhere else, he would do better? Mr. Chang's offer to work in Egypt was a good offer and maybe he could get that fifty thousand simoleons in there? Still, his reason to stay was thousand times stronger. She --and only she- -was his only reason. Even if he has to leave her, he would not leave without a farewell.
Valentin took a deep breath and exhaled. The cold wind brushed violently against his skin, rustling between the leaves and whispered into his ear. That night, he was going to tell her that he would love her no matter what. He's not going to give up on her, even though she had asked him to. His feeling had been kept inside his heart for almost his lifetime -- though, he had only realized it and had the courage to admit it... one year before.
“My pretty bunny-” He whispered to her when she was fallen asleep on his shoulder. Back then, he didn't quite understand why he said that, he only smiled as those words had come out of his mouth.
Resting peacefully and calm, her face was soft like an innocent baby. He wrapped her body tighter to make sure she'd get enough of his body heat to fight against the cold night. That night felt so right. Every other night should always be like this.
Her head moved slightly, but soon clung back onto his shoulder. Caressing her hair, he could smell the fragrance of red grapes, soothing and relaxing his soul. So, she had finally made it. Even at a time when they didn't have extra money to buy a shampoo, she took what she could get from her garden and mixed it with water and soap. This girl is so smart that she could live in the woods if she was forced to.
She was close -- close enough that he could feel his breaths pushing her dangling hair on her forehead. It'd only take a slight move to kiss her on her forehead. He didn't know on what hour they were because he didn't have a watch round his wrist. Still, it didn't matters. Time froze as he held her close.
“Val…” She whispered.
What? O.o. 
