I felt sick to my stomach as I walked quickly to my car. The brisk evening air hit my face, sending chills down my body. It wasn’t until I got inside my car that I registered the ache in my hands from clenching my fists for too long. I forced myself to draw in a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I started the engine and sped off down the street, away from both the woman who was the past I thought I could forget and the woman who was the future I thought I had just started a life with.
I drove in silent for what seemed like an eternity as I let the shock of what had just happened wash over me. “How is this even possible?” I asked aloud. “How could she be her sister?” In frustration, I smacked my hands on the steering wheel, causing my car horn to come alive as it zoomed down the quiet residential block of Victorian houses.
After driving aimlessly for another ten minutes, I pulled along side a curb and killed the engine. I rubbed my face with my hands. I was irritated by how tonight—the night I was going to tell Blair that I loved her—had been so easily ruined by the one person I thought I’d never see again, the one person I hated the most in life.
I also felt ashamed. I was ashamed at how much of a coward I was to not be able to face up to the Blonde Bitch in front of Blair. I was ashamed that even after all these years, I still somehow allowed Katherine to call the shots and to somehow weave me into her web of lies. She always had a way of taking control of situations and making people her pawns in her twisted games.
“Why did I lie to Blair?” My body felt paralyzed with regret. “She deserves better than that. She deserves better than me…” My chest ached as the words came out of my mouth. But I also knew that as much as I wanted to tell Blair tonight about Katherine and our history, something had held me back. I knew how difficult it was for Blair to find Katherine. I had heard the way Blair’s voice came alive when she told me over the phone yesterday that she had finally found her long lost sister. I had seen the sparkle in her eyes when I first saw her tonight—she’d looked so beautiful and happy. As much as I wanted to tell her the truth about Katherine the very moment I saw the Blonde Bitch, I just couldn’t bring myself to be the one to take that beauty and joy out of Blair’s face. Not tonight.
But I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth would come out.
Just not tonight,
I had convinced myself.
Not when she had just reunited with her long lost sister just hours ago.
Not when she is at the happiest I have ever seen her.
No, I just couldn’t bear to break her heart like that.
I was also ashamed for yet another reason. I knew I was being selfish, and I hated every fiber of my being for behaving this way. I was selfish because I wasn’t ready to tell Blair. I needed to figure out what was going to happen next between us before I could tell her about Katherine. I needed to know that I wouldn’t lose Blair because of my history of her sister.
Just then my phone buzzed, pulling me back to the present. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello? This is Dean.”
“Well hello, Mr. Dean Chase,” came a low, sultry voice on the other end.
My body stiffened at the sound of her voice, and all the anger and resentment I had felt in the last decade came rushing back. “How did you get this number, Katherine?”
“Well that’s not a nice way to greet your best friend and high school sweetheart,” she pouted.
“We’re
not
best friends. We’re probably the exact opposite of best friends.”
“Well I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree then.”
I ignored her comment. “You haven’t told me how you got my number.”
I heard her laugh. “From your sweet and naive girlfriend, Dean,” she responded sweetly, her words sugar-coated with mockery. “I just asked her if I could borrow her phone to check my email real quick. I found your number in her contacts and emailed it to myself. In fact, I’m still at your place. I asked if she could run to the neighborhood liquor store to get us another bottle of wine.” She laughed. “My baby sister is quite the gullible one, don’t you think?”
I gritted my teeth at her disrespectful words. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Katherine?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me, Dean. I just needed to get a hold of you so we can finish our conversation from earlier.”
“That conversation was over before it even began. We have nothing to talk about.”
“So are you saying I should tell Blair everything I know?”
“Are you threatening me, Katherine?” My blood boiled at her conniving ways.
She laughed. “No, silly. Why on earth would I threaten you? I just mean that if you want me to break the bad news to Blair, I will. You were always the soft-hearted one between the two of us.”
I ignored her condescending comment. “I was about to tell her the truth, but you cut me off and told her we had just met tonight. I—”
“Oh relax, Dean. No need to make up an excuse for me. I’m not going to tell Blair
our
little secret.”
“Don’t worry, Katherine. I will tell her when the time is right.”
“Uh huh.” She didn’t sound convinced.
Annoyed beyond belief, I just wanted to end this call with her. “What exactly do you want, Katherine?”
“You know exactly what I want. I told you right before Blair interrupted us tonight.”
“I’m not interested, Katherine.”
“That remains to be seen.”
Her over-confidence grated against my patience. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m with Blair. She’s your
sister
! I
love
your sister!” I screamed into the receiver.
To my surprise, there was a moment of silence on her end. It was then that I realized what I had just said. I had just told Katherine that I loved Blair. I felt a sense of triumphant that Katherine heard this from me, but also annoyed that she now knew before I had a chance to tell Blair.
“Hey, I gotta go. I have another call on the other line. Let’s chat again soon,” she quickly said before immediately clicking off.
“Yeah right,” I said back to the dead line. “Once a liar, always a liar.”
I stared at my phone, reeling in shock at how ruthless Katherine was. It was bad enough that she had cheated on me years ago with my close fraternity brother, but this was a new low. This was a new level of heartlessness that I didn’t think she had.
Why had I loved someone like this? How was I so blind back then?
As I started my engine back up, I knew that I had to figure out a way to tell Blair the truth before Katherine ruined everything.
CHAPTER THREE
Blair
“Blair? You got a minute?”
I looked up from my computer to see Trent at the door of my office. “Yeah, I suppose so.” I flashed him a small smile.
Trent walked in and closed the door behind him before walking over to the empty chair facing my desk.
My body tensed as I was still unsure about his intentions and how much I could trust him. “What is it?”
He drew in a deep breath before meeting my gaze. I immediately saw the change in his face. Dark circles and bags surrounded his blood-shot eyes. He looked tired and aged, and my heart broke at the sight.
“What’s wrong, Trent?”
“Me,” he responded.
“What do you mean?” I immediately slipped into the concerned sister role.
“I’m sorry, Blair.” He voice cracked as he looked away so I couldn’t see the pain in his eyes. “I know that I’ve lost your trust. I know that I don’t deserve any sort of forgiveness from you. But I wanted to apologize for how I’ve treated you since my mom passed away—since I found out…the truth about myself. I think I held on to a lot of anger and resentment for the cards life had dealt me and had taken it out on you. I always knew deep down that you were innocent in all this. I knew deep down that you were probably the one person that would stick by me through all this…”
“So why didn’t you tell me?” I cut him off, “Why did you treat me the way you did? Do you really think I’d treat you differently just because you weren’t my biological brother?” My words spilled out quickly, and I knew these were questions that I’d desperately wanted answers to for the last year.
He bowed his head in shame. “I needed someone to blame,” he whispered. “I couldn’t let go of the anger…”
I studied the man sitting in the chair before me and wonder if the older, protective brother who had always loved and cared for me was there. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, of course.” He looked eagerly up at me.
“Do you really hate me that much?”
Tears filled his eyes and he shook his head. “I never hated you. You’re one of the most important people in my life. But when my mom died, and when I found out I lost more than just her. When I found out that I’d lost myself and the life I’d worked so hard for, a part of me wanted to hate you. A part of me couldn’t accept the possibility that you’d become the future CEO of the company when I had sacrificed so much to prove myself to our father. But I never hated you…I hated only myself.”
He then pulled out a sealed envelope from inside the breast pocket of his suit and handed it to me.
“What is it?” I opened the envelope to reveal a letter.
Blair Parker
Acting Vice President
Parker, Inc.
857 Montgomery Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94133
May 10, 2014
Ms. Parker,
This letter is to inform you that I will be resigning from my current position as Acting Chief Executive Officer of Parker, Inc., effective immediately.
My time at Parker, Inc. has been an incredible learning experience, but I believe it is the best interest of the company that I step down at this time.
Best regards,
Trent Fox
“You’re the only person that has a right to be the CEO of Parker, Inc.,” he finally said as I stared at the letter in shock. “You’ve proved very early on that you’re more than capable of managing your father’s company.”
Surprised and touched by Trent’s words, I stared at the envelope in my hands. “Do you really want to leave Parker, Inc.?”
He didn’t respond.
“No.” Suddenly I ripped up the letter. “I can’t accept this.”
He stared at me with wide eyes. “What are you doing?”
I sighed. “Trent, I can’t let you do this. I’m not saying I’ve forgiven you for how you’ve treated me in the last year or two, but I know Parker, Inc. can’t lose you.
I
can’t lose you.”
Our eyes met and at that moment I saw the face of the older brother who, up until recently, had always been there for me. I couldn’t imagine a life without him in it.
“But you found Katherine,” he began.
“That doesn’t mean you’re less of a brother to me, Trent.”
He looked up with pained eyes. “How can you still see me as a brother after all the shit I’ve put you through?”
I smiled. “Because I remember all the times you’ve been there for me as a brother, and I want to believe that he’s still in there somewhere.”
“I’m sorry for everything, Blair. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll stay as Acting CEO. With dad still unable to move or speak properly, I need your help managing this place.”
He finally smiled and nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Blair. Not just for letting me stay at Parker, Inc., but for letting me stay in your life.” His voice cracked as he continued, “I know it will take time for you to trust me again, but I’m still the same brother that was always there to protect you.”
“I know. I believe you.” I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I could trust Trent. Some of the tension that’d taken hold of my body in the last few months disappeared.
“So,” he cleared his throat, “how is everything?”
I frowned as I was reminded of the other things that had been bothering me lately.
“I’m not sure,” I said honestly.
“What do you mean?” He looked at me in concern.
“I don’t know. I just get this feeling that something’s wrong with me and Dean.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. So I met Katherine for the first time a week ago,” I said cautiously as I watched Trent’s reaction.
“Right.” He tried to hide his discomfort on his face, but I could see the pain in his eyes.
“Well Dean and I were supposed to hang out later in the evening, and Katherine thought it’d be fun to surprise him, so I invited her over. Well Dean had this romantic night planned for us, and I think he wasn’t expecting me to bring a third wheel. I could tell there was some tension between the two of them, and neither of them seemed to really like the other. Anyway, things seemed to be a little off since then.”
“Hmm.” Trent frowned as he took in my story. “Have you talked to him about it?”
I shook my head. “Well I’m not sure if I’m just overreacting. I know I wanted their first meeting to be perfect, and it didn’t turn out that way. I think Dean was disappointed that his plans of a romantic night for just the two of us was ruined, and then he had to get back to the office for an urgent project.”
“Have the two of them hung out since then?”
“No.”
“Well, it might just have been an awkward first meeting. I know you, Blair. I know how you are when you want things to go perfectly. And I know they’re going to be two important people in your life and you want them to get along, so you’re putting a lot of pressure on it.”
I sighed. “You’re probably right.”
“Why don’t you plan another get together for them to meet. I’m sure things will go better if they know what to expect.”
I beamed at Trent. “Thanks for wise advice, big brother. You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
He smiled back. “Thank you for giving me a second chance at being a big brother to you.
***
I woke up just a little past dawn. My lips spread into a smile as I registered Dean’s warm, protective arm curled around my body. I’d never met a man who made me feel as safe and wanted as he had. I slowly pried Dean’s hand off my waist and quietly slipped out of the bed.