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Name: Valerie Fisher (originally Valerie Green, formerly Valerie Murphy)

Age: 51

Gender: female

Type: Select One

Appearance:

Valerie is always well presented, and considers herself to be well preserved (when she admits that she's older than she used to be, that is!) - her hair is always dyed to her preferred colour and she never leaves the house without make-up. She has a hard and fast beauty regime and considers it a point of pride to always look her best. She is very definitely not a woman who believes in growing old gracefully (or growing old at all), and whilst she's made amendments in the way she presents herself as she's gotten older, she still tries to make out she is much younger than she is.

Personality:

Valerie has a love of life - and she has a love of being the center of attention. A naturally friendly woman, she is also an inveterate gossip - whether it's what's going on at work, or whether it's gossiping on her own doorstep, she always has her finger on the pulse of what's going down. It doesn't matter whether it's big or small, Valerie just needs to know.

She also loves her family - it wouldn't be quite right to say that Valerie always saw herself as a mother. It took her a little time to get there, but her second husband was really gung ho for children and now they have them, she couldn't imagine not being a mother. She loves her children dearly.

That said, she does have a temper on her. She's happiest being the center of things, and when she perceives that she's not, then she loses patience very quickly, until she gets that attention back again. She's fairly easily mollified, but this tendency does mean that she can be hard work for the people around her at times!

Sexuality:

heterosexual

City History:

Valerie married her highschool sweetheart, Hal Murphy straight out of high school when they were both eighteen. It seemed the romantic thing to do, a bit of a whirlwind and honestly Valerie had never had the best home life and she was desperate to move out of her mother's place. She'd never known her father, and her mother had had a long line of boyfriends, none of which had lasted more than six months, leaving Valerie with a long line of not-quite-fatherfigures and the ingrained belief that you had to look good and have a man to get anywhere in life. Well, she'd always had the 'looking good' part down, and now she had her man.

Except it didn't turn out to be the escape or fairytale that she thought. Her three year marriage to Hal wasn't the worst experience of her life or anything, it just hadn't been quite what she'd expected. And Hal never made her feel as special as she'd always wanted to feel. It seemed to settle down early into 'comfortable' and Valerie didn't want that - she didn't want to be eighteen and thinking 'is that all there is?' about the rest of her life. So, at 21, she left him. There were no huge fights, there was no other guy - for the first time in her life, Valerie was prepared to face a future alone. The divorce was amicable, and she still keeps in touch with her ex to this day - if fact, she feels she knows him better now than she ever did when they were married, though sometimes they go for long stretches without talking. She just feels she's more important to his life now that she has another, separate, life of her own.

It didn't last for long. Valerie got herself a job working as a receptionist at a local beauty parlour. She loved the job, and she still works there to this day. It was there that she met her boss' brother, Steven Fisher, a man who, a year later, she married - and this time, she got her whirlwind romance, and she got her excitement. Excitement that, somehow, didn't seem to wane at all as they newly wed couple settled down to have kids, something Steven really wanted. Not that it's always been plain sailing - but deep down, Valerie appreciates the drama, and has been known to pick fights in the past.

Their kids are all grown up now, and have left home and, for the first time in years, the couple have been left on their own.

Special Skills and Abilities:

First and foremost, Valerie has the ability to talk. And talk. And talk. She also tends to remember the little bits of information. She's a real lover of gossip and intrigue. She's also a very good cook.

Weaknesses:

Valerie just cannot keep her mouth shut - she doesn't really know the meaning of the word 'confidential'. Never tell Valerie anythig you aren't happy for the world to know, the woman just cannot keep a secret!

She cannot stand not being the center of attention in one way or another. Valerie has a driving need to feel special and important and has a tendency to take offence if she feels ignored or neglected, even if that is only perceived. Her reactions to this are varied - sometimes she'll go off and sulk until someone asks her what's wrong - other times she'll lash out verbally and let people know exactly where they've gone wrong.

Linked to this, Valerie has a deep seated need to be needed and wanted. Whether this stemmed from her mother's tendency to put the men in her life before her daughter, or whether it is just one of those things, Valerie can be a very high maintenance friend and partner.

Valerie has a tendency towards vanity. She is very conscious of her appearance and always wants to look her best. It is a source of anxiety bordering on obsession for her if she feels she doesn't and whilst she has never developed any kind of eating disorder, she strictly controls her weight and is almost always on a diet. She also spends a small fortune on clothes and cosmetics - generally rather more than the family budget can strictly afford.

Strengths:

Valerie is the foundation of her family - a matriarch in waiting. She loves to be the center of things and, as a result, she strives to be the center of things. She is always there for her family and loves nothing better than the thought that whenever there is trouble, she is the one they will always run to. She has set herself up to be the center of everything and she has the ability to stick to that.

Family or Connections:

Husband: Steven Fisher; their children: Cassandra (27), Roberta (25), Frederick (21)

Ex-husband: Hal Murphy

Residence:

Valerie and Steven live in a small, three bedroom townhouse in midtown. It's not as mice a location as Valerie would have liked, but they had to trade location for a house big enough to suit the entire family. And now the children have left home, Valerie's too attached to the house to move.

PB: TBC

Other Information:

Beauty parlour receptionist