by Ruby Forrest
There was always the chance that Sienna was lying of course, but somehow that didn’t fit in with what he knew of her, despite what he said.
He felt awful for saying what he said, but he had blurted it out without even thinking. The past 5 years, all the women he’d slept with had only been interested in his fame, his money, or his sexual prowess. He supposed that had somehow affected how he viewed women, and their interest in him.
He dragged a hand through his hair and patted his pockets looking for the lighter. He finally found it in his back pocket, and he lit up the cigarette. He took a big puff and exhaled deeply as he dropped down onto the couch and stared at a blank spot on the wall.
He continued to puff on the cigarette, dreading picking up the picture and learning the truth because he had a feeling that he’d know. Once he looked at that picture, if he saw even an inch of familiarity in that little girl, he would crack.
And he didn’t want to.
He sighed deeply before he stubbed out the cigarette and walked towards the table with his heart pounding in his chest. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and with trembling fingers he picked up the picture.
He gingerly picked it up as if he was afraid it would burn him, and he turned it over. A smile made its way to his face as he took in the sight of a beautiful little brunette with stunning blue eyes. She was wearing a cute little pink shirt with Dora the Explorer on it, and she had on a cute tutu.
He studied the picture carefully before his eyes travelled back to her face. There was no mistaking the pair of blue eyes that gazed back at him. The same pair of eyes that glanced back at him from the mirror every day.
He also noticed that she had his defined cheekbones, and a mischievous glint in her eye that she got from both her parents.
He shook his head and began to trace the picture as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. He hung his head in shame as he placed his hands on either side of the table. He took a deep breath, picked up the phone and began to scroll through his contact list hoping that Mark had the same number.
He dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. After the fifth ring, he was getting ready to hang up when he heard a click, and a voice came on.
“Hello?” The voice that wafted in through the speakers, and suddenly Blaire felt awash with shame and guilt wondering if he really had maltreated his best friend because his jealousy got the better of him.
“Mark?” he questioned hesitantly.
“Yes?” The voice sounded confused.
“It’s Blaire,” He responded as he began to pace towards the windows and the patio outside. He swung the door open, and he welcomed the feeling of the cool wind blowing past him as he shut the door behind him. He rested his arms on the railing and looked out at the night sky.
“Blaire? Blaire Hamilton? Man, no way.”
“Yeah, it’s me, man.”
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Mark’s voice sounded happy and relieved, and Blaire felt even worse for what he did to Mark, just cutting him off like that without even giving him a chance to explain.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“I know, man, I know,” Mark’s voice managed to come out sounding soothing and sympathetic when it was Blaire who was supposed to be doing just that.
“No man, don’t be so nice to me. I deserve to be treated like crap after what I did to you,” Blaire argued. “Yell at me, argue with me, punch me or something.”
Mark’s laugh echoed throughout the speakers, and Blaire pulled back the phone to stare at it with a confused smile. “Why would I want to do that? It’s in the past, really, don’t worry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Mark? About the cancer? About Clarissa?”
Mark’s deep sigh came on the other end of the phone. “Honestly, I couldn’t talk about it just yet. I was on my way to tell you when I ran into Sienna, and she could tell that I looked distraught, so when she asked me what happened, I broke down and told her everything, but I swear, man, that hug meant nothing, I know what Sienna meant to you, I would never have done that to my best friend.”
“I know that. I just let my jealousy and irrationality get the better of me, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“So what happened?”
“I convinced Clarissa that I didn’t love her by telling her horrible things that I knew would drive her away, and I went through it alone. Well, I wasn’t alone actually, my family was there, and Sienna too. She was a really great friend, Blaire. She didn’t deserve you just taking off like that without giving her a chance to explain, without even a goodbye.”
“Believe me, I’ve been beating myself up about this ever since I found out yesterday. I honestly misunderstood the whole thing.”
“What happened yesterday?” Mark’s voice was laced with curiosity.
“I saw Sienna.”
Mark whistled, “And?”
Blaire let out a breath, “Well, it was fine at first, we were catching up, but then she started to explain what happened, and I didn’t want to hear it. I honestly thought she would tell me that she found out she was in love with you, and that she never meant to hurt me, but that she just had to be with you, or some other crap, and I just didn’t want to hear it.”
Mark snorted. “So you lashed out and accused her of things.”
Blaire gazed down at the garden below his patio. “Yeah.”
“Look you guys will work it out, you always do. I mean Clarissa and I did.”
“You did?” Blaire sounded surprised. Sienna hadn’t told him that part.
“Yeah after a year of chemotherapy, I decided to stop the treatments because I didn’t want to spend whatever time I had left in pain and agony, a shell of a person, so I asked them to stop.”
“Then what happened?”
“A month later, I went in for a checkup, and the cancer was gone, so life went back to normal. Anyway, I ran into Clarissa a few days ago, and when she saw my bald head and sunken cheekbones, somehow she knew. She yelled at me for thinking I had the right to make the decision for her, then when she was done, she kissed me, and we went out to eat.”
“That’s great, man, really. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks. You and Sienna will work it out,” he reiterated again. “Look, Sienna and I stayed in touch over the years, I know about Gracie, I helped out a lot when she was growing up, she’s the most amazing kid. She has your eyes, Blaire. It was hard for Sienna to do this on her own without you, but every time she’d get the urge to call you, she’d see a segment about you on TV, or read a magazine article. At first it was because she knew you had a good thing, and she didn’t want you to lose that dream. She didn’t want to jeopardize it in any way, but then she began to pay attention to the kind of lifestyle you led, and she realized she didn’t want her kid around that.”
“She’s my kid too, Mark.”
“I know,” he agreed, “but you have a lot to make up for.”
“I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Listen, I know you and Sienna have a lot of history, and things ended on a sour note, but the best thing you can do right now is meet your little girl, be her dad, and the rest will sort itself out.”
“You always did give great advice, man.”
“Wise, I am young padawan,” Mark said trying to sound sage and wise.
“Modest you are, master Yoda,” Blaire teased right back.
They both laughed together. Before they hung up, they agreed to go out, get some beer and shoot some hoops the next day.
Blaire hung up feeling the ball in his belly become less tight, but as he stared at his phone, he knew what he had to do.
He brought the phone up to his ear and let it ring, once, twice, before his mother picked up. “Hello, dear.”
“Mum, hey.”
“Well, you don’t usually call often, so what’s wrong?”
Blaire felt bad that he hadn’t kept i
n touch, but he honestly had very little in common with his mother although he loved her dearly, and he knew she loved him right back. He just didn’t want to be stuck in that little town forever, only known as Della’s boy.
“Did you know mum? About Gracie?”
He heard the sound of a TV being lowered in the background, and he heard the sound of the old wicker chair she loved to sit on rocking back and forth before she finally let out a breath she’d been holding.
“Yes,” she said finally, in a simple tone.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.
“Would you have believed me?”
“Well, no, probably not, but mum, she grew up without a father. Didn’t anyone think I had the right to know?”
“You weren’t talking to her, son. You barely spoke to me. Whenever I tried to bring up the subject of babies, you’d crinkle your nose in disgust, and I know the kind of women you associate with, the kind of lifestyle you lead, do you think I want my precious granddaughter around that? No, all of us agreed together that you needed to get your life in order before you were integrated into Gracie’s life.”
“So you all made that decision for me?” His voice came out sounding hoarse because of the barely restrained anger.
“I know it seems cruel to you, and I apologize. But we did what we thought was best. Would you have wanted her to grow up in that kind of world? Around those kinds of people?”
Blaire let her words register before he responded, “No, I would’ve done everything I could to keep her away from that part of my life, but I suppose it might have been hard.”
“Exactly, perhaps our decision was too hasty, and we should’ve included you, but when it comes to your kids, and your kids’ kids’, it isn’t always rational thought that takes control.”
Blaire cocked his head to the side as he toyed with a piece of lint on the railing. He chipped it off, and it broke away. He watched it fly off into the wind. “I want to get to know her mum, but I think I screwed up.”
“What did you tell Sienna?”
“Hey,” Blaire said defensively. “How do you know it wasn’t Sienna who said something horrible?”
“Because Sienna hasn’t called me sounding very guilty,”
“Right, okay well, let’s just say it’s bad.”
“You need to go to her, apologize and get to know your little girl. She really is a wonderful girl.”
Sienna
Sienna squinted as she pursed her lips and put one hand on her hip, the other twirled a loose piece of fabric around.
“How are those pictures looking, Sienna?”
“Fine,” she called out as she bit her bottom lip. She didn’t like the lighting on the second one, so she’d have to wait till she could recapture the picture, but she was sure she could do it. It would just take longer than she had expected.
Her phone began to vibrate in her pocket, and she smiled as she pressed the phone to her ear.
“Hi, mummy,” her daughter’s sweet voice came wafting in through the speakers.
“Hey, baby girl, what are you up to?”
“Guess what mummy? Grandma and I made chocolate chip cookies,” she could practically hear the sugar rush from her end, and she shook her head knowing that she had a long night ahead of her.
“Really? I used to make those with grandma when I was little too,” she smiled wistfully, remembering how she’d sneak bits of the cookie dough into her mouth and grin unapologetically when her grandma caught her doing it.
“Grandma has the best recipe ever,” Gracie announced, and Sienna could hear her happily munching on a cookie.
“I know, sweetie, listen I’m going to be home in an hour, what do you want to do tonight?”
Gracie said, “Hmmm,” really loudly and Sienna could picture her getting that far off look on her face while she thought of things to do. “Can we watch home alone and make two different types of popcorn and mix them together?”
“Sure, bud. Like salt and caramel?”
“Nooo!” She dragged her out O’s when she was trying to make a point.
“Nope, I want salt and cheese,” she declared.
Sienna wrinkled her nose then shrugged. “Okay, Gracie bear, I’ll see you soon then.”
She pressed end and checked her watch, realizing that she had time for a quick bite before she had to hit the road.
She was walking towards her dressing room and texting someone when she walked right into another person. She looked up at the person, an apology already formed on her lips, “Oh.”
Blaire looked as handsome as ever, with his black hair flipped to the side, a form fitting sweatshirt and baggy jeans. He had his thumbs hooked on his pockets, and his blue eyes shone apologetically.
“What do you want?” Sienna crossed her arms over her chest and starred at him in mild annoyance as she tapped one foot impatiently.
“Okay, I deserve that, but just hear me out, I called Mark, and I apologized, and I called my mum, and she told me about the decision you all made to keep me out of Gracie’s life until she was older, a decision by the way, that you should have consulted me about.”
Sienna opened her mouth to protest, but Blaire cut her off by bringing his finger to her lips, “Let me finish, please.”
Sienna nodded and he removed his finger. “But I understand why you did it. I’m not crazy about the idea, but I know why.”
Sienna stared at him for a beat. “So you want to get to know Gracie?” She let the question hang in the air between them, knowing that his answer could make or break a lot of things.
“Very much so,” he said quietly.
Sienna smiled at him gratefully. “This means a lot to her, really.”
“I hope it does, but Sienna there’s one more thing,” Blaire shoved his hands in his pockets and fidgeted for a minute before his blue eyes met her hazel ones. They were shining with hope and fear.
“I want a second chance with you. My desire to have a relationship with Gracie has nothing to do with it, I’ll be her father no matter what, but I really want to try again with you, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
Sienna studied him carefully, “We’ll see,” she said finally.
She uncrossed her arms and took out her keys, “I’m going to go pick up some things to make some dinner at home, would you like to join us?”
Blaire looked surprised but delighted, “I’d love to.”
They made their way to the grocery store and picked up a few things, then drove home. Sienna almost laughed at how nervous he looked. She knew Gracie would love him the second she saw him, bless her.
They stood outside the door for a moment while Sienna fished out her keys.
“Are you ready to meet our little girl?”
“More than ever.”
Sienna swung the door open, and a little voice immediately yelled out ‘mummy’ before a tiny little body came barreling into her from the living room.
“Mummy you’re back, you’re back!”
“Yes, my darling!” She hoisted her up and gave her a big sloppy kiss.
“I missed you,” she threw her arms around her mum, and they both stood there, mother and daughter locked in a beautiful embrace.
“Mummy,” she pulled back, her bright blue eyes gazed at Blaire with curiosity. “Who’s that?”
“Well, Santa told me all about your wish, and look who I found outside the door.”
Gracie looked confused for a second before her face broke out into a huge grin. “Daddy?”
“Hi, Gracie,” Blaire said almost shyly. Gracie had no such qualms; she squealed and reached out for him. She held onto both her parents and gazed from one to the next adoringly.
“Look, we’re standing under a mistletoe,” Gracie gestured upwards. “Merry Christmas,” she yelled as she hugged them both tighter and gave them each a big wet kiss on their cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye Sienna cou
ld see the look of pure adoration written all over Blaire’s face, and she was glad she had decided to seek him out. After all, there was something magical about Christmas, and it was a time for miracles.
The sound of their laughter echoed inside the house as they went in to make the first of many family dinners together.
THE END
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BILLIONAIRE BOSS
By Angela Blake
Chapter One
Selena looked at herself one more time in the mirror. She wasn’t particularly happy with her white mini skirt. It just made her feel so exposed but she liked how it showed off her long legs. It also paired well with the large looped earrings May bought for her birthday. The only problem was that her skin was already quite pale and her crimson hair seemed to blend in with what she wore.
“This isn’t going to work,” she told herself and went back to her closet. In the end she traded her clothes for a black laced mini skirt and a backless black sleeveless top. All the black further accented her red lipstick, pale skin and red hair. She never really liked wearing black but this was better than looking like a pastel painting.
Her phone buzzed and she checked to find several messages from her friends. They were already at the party. She didn’t bother replying as she left, grabbing her purse and car keys on the way out of her apartment.
Getting from her place to the venue took longer than she expected. It was a private party, in some rich guy’s house, but her friends knew a guy that knew the guy so they were able to get invitations. She didn’t really care. All she wanted was a chance to drink, dance and forget about work for a while.
As she drove, Selena tried to clear her thoughts. She had been working as an interior designer for the past six years but the company recently got into financial issues and she was one of the many that were laid off. She needed a job, any job.