Chapter 4:

They had just finished filming their interview, and after taking a few pictures with some fans, the young women walked together to their dressing rooms. They were laughing about some embarassing moment Valeria had to experience, when Alexander walked inside the room.

" Hey there Lauren, it's good to see you again." The tall brunette greeted the singer with his eyes sparkling in a fan-boy way. " You know I still can't believe you're friends with the Lauren Jauregui, Val. I mean, we both used to go crazy about Fifth Harmony." He directed his words to Valeria, who had almost the same look but was way better at hiding it.

" Alright you two, stop acting like I'm some kind of goddess. I am just a normal sexy human being" The raven haired woman spoke with all modesty making the two others burst out laughing. Although they knew she wasn't wrong.

" Okay Goddess, I'll see you around? I am quite tired and really need a night of rest." Valeria offered while standing up and giving a side hug to her friend.

" For sure, I still have a week before going back to LA. And we do have lots of things to discuss girl." Lauren added as the three of them began walking out of the building. They said one last good bye before parting ways.

The italian girl wanted to spend the night alone and get a few hours of rest, hence why Alexander only dropped her home without going inside for a few minutes. And although she was quite tired, the young woman didn't feel like sleeping at all. So instead, she thought about making herself some food to eat and decided that for once, she would try to watch her interview without cringing. But she gave up on the idea of cooking as soon as she saw that her fridge was still empty. Valeria opened the food delivery app and decided to order some sushi for the night. As she waited for the delivery person, the actress turned on the TV and brought some covers to the couch to make it more comfortable in case she fell asleep. She got out of her clothes and wore a pair of comfortable pajamas. About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang, indicating that her food was here. Jumping off the couch, the italian woman sprinted before ripping the door open. On the other side, was standing a handsome young man in a black uniforme.

" Here's your dinner miss Rossi." The blue eyed man spoke politely as he handed her the bag containing the japanese masterpiece.

" Thank you Jackson." Valeria thanked him before handing him a small generous tip. The young concierge was about to refuse, but the actress was faster and just gave him a warm smile before going back inside.

Settling back down in front of the TV, the italian woman arrived just on time as their interview went on. Watching herself on screen was never a pleasure of hers. Yet Valeria made an exception this time, since she knew that she had made a few mistakes. Watching the interview would tell her how bad she had messed up, and hopefully think of something to right things. About ten minutes through, Valeria couldn't help but notice how jittery she looked.

*𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐕*

" Alright Valeria, this next question is for you: how are you feeling right now with Lauren Jauregui sitting right next to you?" Jimmy asked the young woman with his usual smile while Lauren rolled her eyes at the question.

" Well to be honest I can't really describe how I am feeling right now. I mean I think everyone knows by now that I used to be and still am a huge fan of fifth harmony." The actress began talking and earned a few chuckles from the viewres. " If you went back, and told the eighteen year old me that she will actually become friends with Lauren and work with her, she won't believe you. I still can't believe it to be fair." Valeria explained, throwing a few glances at the green eyed woman whose smile kept widening with every word.

" Oh I totaly get the feeling. But before, I don't know how to react to what Rossi just said." The host revieled, making the italian woman's pulse quicken.

" What- what'd I say?"

" That you two worked together. I mean we didn't know you could sing too Valeria." The crowd went silent, all of them waiting for some surprising news.

" Oh no that's not what she meant by that. Val was talking about my music video that she starred in." The singer came to her friend's rescue, knowing that she was panicking internally.

" Alright, if you two say so. And talking about the music video, congratulions by the way. Your new song is a collaboration with the famous FSP, right?" It seemed as if he understood, and being the great host he is, Jimmy smoothly changed the subject.

" Yeah they are very talented and an amazing artist to work with..." The green eyed woman started rambling about how she worked with the mysterious music producer.

" How about you Valeria, did you get to meet this music genius?" The middle aged man adressed the actress who looked completely uninterrested by the conversation going on.

" Yup. They were nice I suppose." Valeria answered awkwardly earning a snort from the woman sitting beside her.

*𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐓𝐕*

Valeria snorted the same moment as the singer on screen, before she picked up the remote to turn off the television. She knew the rest would be uneventful, so instead the young star decided to send a late email to her publicist, appologizing for the small mishap she had earlier. The exhaustion was winning over, and so that night, she slept in her living room with dishes spread out all over the table.

The sound of loud knocks on the door woke the brunette from her peaceful sleep. Valeria groaned as she tried to get out of the covers. But as soon as she got up, she felt a sharp pain travel her back. Probably because I slept in a bad position, she thought before making her way towards the door. The young woman wasn't expecting anyone, at least not in the morning. Katherine was supposed to stop by after lunch so they could both go pick up Benjamin from the airport. That is why her face showed nothing else but surprise when she opened her door. A blond young boy with blue eyes stood in front of her, smiling sheepishly at her.

" Oh my god Chris! What are you doing here?" Valeria exclaimed in surprise before she embraced the young boy in front of her.

" You're so famous now that you don't even have time for your brother?" Chris asked her with a choked voice since she was holding him so tightly.

" Stronzate!" The italian woman cursed as she pulled away from him. " I always have time for you. But understand that it is a bit weird to see my fourteen year old baby brother here in New York, when he is supposed to be thousands of miles away from me." She stated, mentioning for him to get inside. The young woman was so excited to see her younger sibling, that she totaly forgot to lock her door and instead just closed it. " So tell me, what brings you here. I actually was thinking about coming to visit you next week."

" My team is playing here in two days and thought why not come earlier and spend your birthday with you." The young boy explained. He burst out laughing when he saw the look of realisation on her face. It appeared that Valeria had forgotten about her own birthday, and just noticed the hundreds of notifications on her phone. " You really forgot about it, didn't you Val?" Chris managed to speak while catching his breath.

" Smettila Christopher, you know that I don't care about it. Now do you wanna stay home or have something special in mind?" ( Shut up Christopher) Valeria asked her brother, as she began making a coffee for herself and served some juice for him.

" Actually I still need to check in the hotel, but I'll come back right after and we can go out then. That will also give you time to get ready and handle whatever work stuff you've got." The young boy stood up not really waiting for an answer from his older sister.

" Alright piccolo, you sure you'll be fine by your own?" Throwing him an apple, which he swiftly caught, the older sibling questionned somewhat worried about her sibling.

" Don't worry, I am not alone." Christopher stated before the elevator's doors closed, leaving a completely confused sister behind. Not wanting to give herself a headache, Valeria went back into the kitchen and grabbed her coffee mug. Slowely making her way towards the terrace, she let the sun's sweet rays hit her face while she enjoyed the beautiful view in front of her. She stayed in that position with a relaxed expression for a while, sipping her hot beverage until there was nothing left in th cup. And as she turned around to go back inside, the person waiting for her inside caught her completely off guard. She tried to speak but no words came out, so instead, the young woman just stood there dumbfounded.

" Hello sweetie. How have you been?" The old man asked stepping forward to stand by her side.

" Father." Was all Valeria could manage to get out. She hasn't seen her father in over three years.

" Do you mind going back inside? I am getting older, I need to sit down." The young woman's father requested to Valeria who just shook her head, gesturing for him to go first. " I see that the cat got your tongue kid, might as well just get straight to the point already." He spoke, making his daughter sigh in relief. She mumbled a small prayer, knowing that her father never brought her any good news. " You're a twenty seven year old woman who lives alone, with no real job." Valeria was about to protest against that last part but he quickly stopped her. " Impersonating characters is not a job kid. And so I found the perfect solution for you, or rather the perfect husband."

" What do you mean by perfect husband?" The young woman exclaimed in surprise, seeming that the statement made her gain back her senses.

" You heared me right, you're getting married. And he's from our hometown, maybe you even know him." He spoke with such pride that made you believe he was telling the story of an amazing achievement, when reality was quite the opposite.

" My hometown is back in Italy, not here. And you can't force me to get married!" Valeria defended louder this time. She was used to her father's crazy behavior, but this was too much for her to handle.

" Oh for sure I can." A document was held up in front of her face, while he just kept a smug look. The birthday girl snatched the paper out of his hand to get a better look at it. Once she was sure her eyes weren't failing her, Valeria looked up at her father with a deafeated look full of rage. " I'll be seeing you again in a few days, so you can meet your futur husband and get to know his family. I have got to go right now." The old man said before standing up and heading towards the door. " And don't forget to clean this mess." He gestured to the living room where she spent the night, giving her one last look, before turning around and leaving her with this "mess".

Valeria stood in the middle of her house, not really believing what had just happened. Suddenly, the italian woman felt light headed while her knees failed her, her breathing speeding up. And as she was crumbling down, she felt the same happen to her world. She felt like crying but couldn't. She felt like dying but wouldn't. All she could do was hold her legs against her chest, and try to get this panic attack over with before any more damage was done. She was going to spend the afternoon with her little brother, and didn't want him worrying about her. That is when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Taking it out, Valeria noticed that it was a text message from Chris:

𝙈𝙞𝙤 𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤:

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲... 𝗗𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗶, 𝘁𝗶 𝗮𝗺𝗼<𝟯

Il perfetto compleanno ( the perfect birthday), Valeria thought sarcastically.