by Jessica Wood
I, Dean Chase, was in love.
***
“And this is sashimi grade fish?” I held up the container of sliced fish pieces to show the fishmonger at Nijiya Supermarket, the Japanese market in Japantown.
He nodded.
“Thanks.” I put the fish in my basket and looked at my list of ingredients that I still needed. I was going to make sushi tomorrow. Other than the sushi class I took last week to prepare for tonight, this was going to be the first time I was making sushi. I wanted to make sure I did it right because tomorrow’s dinner was going to be a special one.
Tomorrow night, I planned on telling Blair that I was in love with her. I had planned a special evening for me and Blair tomorrow. I knew she loved sushi, so I wanted to surprise her by making her sushi for dinner. I didn’t think she had realized this, but tomorrow would be our six month anniversary from the date of our first date at Prubechu.
After I dropped off the groceries I bought at Nijiya Supermarket at my place, I drove over to Blair’s.
“Hey, babe!” She threw her arms around my neck the moment she opened the door.
“Hi baby. Well aren’t we in a happy mood?” I caressed her face and kissed her—I could never get tired of tasting her sweet lips.
She giggled. “What’s not to be happy about? I’m about to spent a perfect Thursday evening with my perfect boyfriend.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her as we sat down on her couch. “I know I’m pretty fucking amazing, but you’ve never been this happy to see me before. What gives? Have you been holding back on me this entire time?”
She laughed. “No, I haven’t been holding back on you! I’m really happy today because I have great news!”
“Oh? Spill it then,” I demanded playfully. Her excitement was infectious and I wanted to know why.
“I found her!” She shrieked as she moved up and down on the couch in excitement.
“You did! That’s fucking awesome, babe!” I didn’t have to ask Blair to elaborate on whom she was talking about. It’d been almost four months since she got her half-sister’s last known contact information from Trent, and since then, Blair had been anxiously waiting for the private investigator she hired to give her some good news.
“And guess what? We talked for over two hours this afternoon! It was such a surreal conversation—to talk to your sister whom you’d never met or had any knowledge of.”
“I’m so happy for you, honey. You look so happy right now.”
“I am. And it gets even better! She actually lives only an hour away in San Jose! How crazy is that? She’s been this close to me and I didn’t even know it!”
I beamed at her as I watched her eyes light up in excitement. “Shit, what a small world! How come it took the P.I. this long to find her?”
Suddenly her expression became somber. “It’s actually really sad. Her parents—well Trent’s biological parents—both died in a car accident about five years ago. Because her parents had refinanced their house a few years prior to pay off some credit cards, there was no equity in the house. So she had to use up all her savings to pay for the funeral. So since then, she’s been trying to get by with odd end jobs while she was crashing with friends. So all the address and number that Trent found for her no longer worked.”
“Wow, that sounds awful. I wonder if Trent knows.”
She frowned. “I don’t know.”
“Well, that’s not important right now. I’m so happy that you finally found her. That’s really great news!”
“Yeah, I know. A part of me is still in shock that she’s real.”
“I’ll bet.” I caressed her glowing face and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ears. I desperately wanted to tell her that I loved her, but I held my tongue. This moment was hers and her sister’s. I have tomorrow, I reminded myself. “So what are you guys going to do next?”
She beamed at me, unable to hold back the intensity of her excitement. “I’m going to drive to San Jose tomorrow morning to see her!” She let out a squeal.
“That’s so amazing! I can’t believe it! What a small world, babe!”
“I know. Oh, Dean. I can’t wait to meet her! God, I can’t wait for you to meet her too! I really think you’ll love it!”
“I’m sure I will.” I kissed her tenderly on her lips. “I’m really happy for you, Blair. I really am.”
“Thanks, Dean. I don’t know how I could’ve gone through the last several months without you by my side, keeping me sane and keeping my hope alive.”
I held both of her hands between mine and squeezed them. “I’m glad that I could be there for you, and I’m so happy to see that all your persistence panned out.”
“Me too.”
Then I realized something. “So will you be back in SF tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, I will. I’m going to San Jose at 10 am. I’ll probably be back by the afternoon. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I just wanted to see if we’re still hanging out tomorrow night.”
“Yup, of course! I’m all yours! What did you want to do tomorrow?”
“Oh, nothing special. I just want to see you. Why don’t you stop by around 7 pm and we can go somewhere for dinner and maybe catch a movie?” I lied.
“Sure! Works for me.”
“Awesome. Then it’s a date!” I smiled as I imagined the look on her face tomorrow night when she sees what I had planned for her. I smiled as I imagined how wonderful it was going to feel to finally tell her that I loved her. I smiled as I imagined how amazing my future was going to be with her by my side. I could not wait for tomorrow to come.
CHAPTE
R FIVE
Blair
My whole body shook as I pulled the door open to the cafe. I was about to meet the sister I never knew I had. A bag of emotions inundated me as endless questions ran through my head. Will I like her? Will she like me? Has she had a hard life? Will she resent me like Trent did?
“Hi!” came a bright and sweet voice from the corner table of the cafe. “Blair?”
I turned to the voice and a gorgeous, slender blonde flash me a high voltage smile.
“Katherine?”
“God, little sister, it’s so good to finally see you!”
We walked toward each other and greeted with a warm hug.
“Hi.” My word came our breathy and soft as we sat down at the table across from one another. I stared at her, shaking my head in awe. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.” I had imagined this moments for months now. But no matter how many different scenarios I had played out in my head, it felt nothing like how amazing I felt at this moment to actually see her in front of me.
“I know. This is pretty fucking crazy.”
She reached for my hands and squeezed them. “I can’t believe I have a little sister!”
I giggled, feeling an instant connection with her. “You know what? I thought you’d think I was some crazy person when I called you yesterday morning to tell you I was your long lost sister!”
She laughed. “Well I should be frank with you. The reason I wasn’t as surprised as you’d expected is because I already knew about the secret.”
“You knew?” Her words caught me by surprise.
“Yeah. When my parents passed away five years ago, I had to go through and clean up all their things. I found some papers and a letter from the hospital that said I was switched at birth.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way.” I paused. There was a question that I really wanted to know, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer.
“What is it?” Katherine looked at me, sensing my hesitation.
“If you knew all this time…”
“How come I didn’t come looking for you?” she finished my question.
I nodded.
“Honestly, I didn’t have the money.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as her cold, matter-of-fact words sent a wave of unease down my body.
; Then she smiled. “Sorry, I can be a bit blunt sometimes. But that’s the truth. When my parents died, they were underwater with their mortgage with little savings in their bank account and no other assets. I ended up spending all my savings on their funeral expenses. So when I discovered those papers and found out the truth about who I was—or who I wasn’t, looking for my estranged family wasn’t exactly on the top of my to-do list. And also, I didn’t have the money or resources to figure out who I was. I knew my name should have been Parker, but I had no idea it would be the Parker family of Parker, Inc.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your parents. I can’t imagine what you had to go through.” I felt riddled with guilt as I imagined Katherine’s family life with the one I had. While I never thought I took anything for granted, I also knew that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend how hard life must have been for Katherine. “How are you doing now…financially?” I asked tentatively.
“Not great, but I’m getting by.”
I took out my checkbook, but before I could pull out my pen, she stopped me.
“Stop. I’m not here for a hand out. I’m just happy that I finally get to know who I really am.”
“I know that. And this isn’t a hand out. You’re my sister, Katherine. This money is half yours.”
“I…”
“Please. I insist.” I scribbled out a check for $5,000 and handed it to her. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the next coming months, but I want to make sure you’re doing ok.”
She looked at the check, and there was an expression on her face that I couldn’t seem to read. She then looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
Her response seemed odd, but I couldn’t pin point why I thought that way, which left me feeling a sense of unease. But I quickly pushed that feeling aside and smiled back at her.
“So like I mentioned over the phone, our father is still recovery from his stroke. He’s still having issues with his memory and his ability to speak.” I looked down at the table. “I haven’t told him about you yet. I hope you don’t take it the wrong way, but I wanted to meet you first. I wanted to make sure you…were okay, and actually wanted this. I didn’t want to take the chance of breaking our father’s heart if you didn’t want to be a part of the family.”
“I understand. No worries, little sister. We have all but time.” She beamed at me, her warm smile making me forget all the worry I had been carrying around with me about how I was going to tell my father about this secret. “Now, can we stop talking about such serious things. Can we actually act like sisters?” She giggled. “We have over twenty years of that to catch up on.”
“I know!” I laughed. “We have so much to talk about. So tell me what’s going on with you! Are you married? Dating anyone?” For someone as gorgeous as Katherine, I couldn’t imagine her love life being anything short of perfect. Since we’d been at this cafe, I noticed the way the pair of guys at the table next to us had eyed her longingly every time she laughed. If she wasn’t my sister, I wondered if I’d feel threatened by her when it came to men.
“I’m actually single.” She winked and took a sip from her cocktail.
“Oh really? I have to admit, that’s really surprising. You’re such a catch.”
She laughed. “Yeah, life’s dealt me some shitty cards.”
“Oh?” I shifted uncomfortably as I waited for her to elaborate.
“Yeah. I fucked up my life in college when I broke up with my high school sweetheart and best friend. He was the love my life, and I took him for granted.”
“Why did you break it off then?” I saw the regret in her eyes and wondered if she still loved this guy.
“I was young and stupid, and fell for another guy. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this guy was by far my worst mistake.”
“What happened?” I furrowed my brows in concern as I waited for her to elaborate.
“I feel for this guy because he was exciting, aggressive, and a lady’s man. After about two years of dating, I married him when we both graduated from college. I wasn’t sure why we decided to get married. Our relationship had been rocky and we fought a lot. But I guess we thought getting married would somehow fix things. We were wrong. Well shortly after we got married, I found him in our bed with two women. After that I found out that he’d been sleeping with countless women behind my back since the beginning of our relationship.”
“That’s horrible. I’m so sorry, Katherine.”
She shrugged. “It’s over now. I’m just glad he didn’t get me pregnant.”
“Yeah.” My heart went out to her as I imagined myself in her shoes. At that moment, I swore to myself that I would try to be a good sister to Katherine—I was going to make sure she was happy from now on.
“So what about you?” She quickly flashed me a smile and changed the subject. “Anyone special in your life?”
Just then, my phone started to ring from inside my bag.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought I had it on silent.” I reached for my phone and saw that it was Dean.
“Don’t worry about it. If you need to get it, I really don’t mind.”
“Are you sure?” I looked down on my phone and then back at her.
“Yeah, go ahead.” She gestured for me to answer my phone.
“Thanks.” I picked up the phone. “Hi, babe.”
“Hey, baby. Are you with your sister?”
I looked up at Katherine and smiled. She watched me intently.
“Yup.”
“And everything going ok? I just wanted to check in and call. I thought in the unlikely event that things weren’t going well, you’d need an out to get out of there.”
I laughed. “Thanks for looking out, but no need for that.”
He chuckled. “Good to hear. I know you can’t talk and I don’t want to keep you. Just wanted to see if we’re still on for tonight.”
“Yup. I’ll let you decide on the movie this time if you let me decide on where we’re going for dinner.” I had a craving for sushi.
“Sure thing. See you at 7?”
“Okay. See you then.”
I looked up at Katherine, who was still watching me. “Sorry about that.”
“No, not a problem. Boyfriend, I gather?” She cocked a brow in interest.
“Yeah. Was it that obvious?” I smiled sheepishly.
“Yup.” She leaned in toward me, her eyes twinkled with interest. “So now that we’ve established that I’m your big sister, I think you should tell me everything about him! What’s he like? How did you guys meet? I want every dirty little detail.”
“Well...” I giggled and realized how unconventional my relationship with Dean had started out. “We actually had a bumpy start.”
Her eyes lit up, intrigued to know more. “I love a juicy story.”
For the next hour, I told Katherine in detail about how I’d met Dean and what’s happened between us since then.
“Sounds like he’s pretty amazing in bed.” Her eyes light up in delight.
I blushed. “It’s pretty incredible. I’ve never been with anyone who was so aggressive and confident in and outside of the bedroom.”
“Sounds like a keeper, little sister.” She bit her lower lip. “So you’ve been telling me so much about him, you haven’t even told me this Mr. Perfect’s name yet.”
“Oh, you’re right!” I laughed. “I’m the worst!”
Her lips twisted into an amused smirk. “No, you just seem to be seriously falling for this guy, and too giddy to even realize it.”
My cheeks turned a crimson red. “Am I that transparent?”
“I can smell the stench of love on you from a mile away.”
I giggled and leaned in closer to her. “I’ll only admit this to you because you’re my sister, but normally I’m too stubborn to say anything. You’re right. I’m totally in love with him. Don’t tell him this, and I know this might sound so crazy becaus
e we’ve only been dating for seven months, but…I think he might be the one.”
“What a lucky bastard to have bagged my amazing little sister,” she teased. “So what’s the lucky bastard’s name?”
I giggle. “His name is Dean.”
“Dean?” I noticed something flashed across her eyes as she repeated the name.
“Yeah, Dean Chase.”
Katherine took a long sip from her cocktail. She then looked back at me and smiled. “He sounds hot.”
“Yeah, he’s amazing.”
“So when do I get to meet this perfect boyfriend of yours? As the older sister, I feel like it’s my job to make sure he’s good enough for my baby sister.”
I grinned, still trying to get used to having an older sister looking after me. “I’m dying for you to meet him, and I know that he’d really want to meet you. So just let me know when you’re free and we can plan something.”
“I’m free tonight?”
“Oh. Tonight? Mmm.”
“Oh, that’s right. He just called, and it sounded like you guys had some fun plans for tonight.”
“Well we didn’t really have any set plans actually. Just a low key night. Dinner and a movie.”
“Oh. That sounds like a lot of fun.”
There was an awkward pause, and I had half expected her to ask if she could join us. But she didn’t. I looked at my sister and feelings of guilt washed over me. I’d already lost so much time with Katherine and I wanted to spend more time with her. And besides, I did want them to meet each other. They were going to be two of the most important people in my life.
“You’re welcome to join us,” I finally offered tentatively. “I’d love for you two to meet.”
“I’d love that,” she said sweetly.
“Ok, let me just give him a call and let him know you’re joining us.” I got out my phone from my bag, but Katherine stopped me.
“I have a better idea.” A devious smile curled her lips. “Why don’t we surprise him? That’d be fun.”
“Surprise him?” That thought hadn’t crossed my mind.
“Yeah, I want to meet Dean in his element. I don’t want him to have a chance to prepare and be on his best behavior to impress me because I’m your sister.” She let out an almost-evil laugh. “I think it’d be fun to see how he handles surprises.”