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Blair
The distant sound of a door closing woke me up. As my eyes fluttered open, my body registered the sweet ache and soreness left behind from last night.
“Dean?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I got up from my bed.
When I walked into the kitchen, my stomach growled as the smell of Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs, and bacon hit my senses.
Instead of finding Dean, I found a note next to the breakfast he had made me.
Blair, my Sleeping Beauty,
Last night was incredible. I’m already craving for our next coffee break together. I hope it’s soon, and I hope it’s even stronger. ;)
In the meantime, I thought you’d like some breakfast to give you some energy in preparation for our next meeting. Eat up so you’re ready for whatever I throw your way. Don’t underestimate me.
I had to leave for an early meeting, but I’ll call you later.
Hugs,
Your Coffee Extraordinaire
I beamed at the note and reread it several times as I slowly savored the delicious breakfast Dean had made for me. A part of me was afraid to believe that this could actually work between Dean and I, but there was something about him that I couldn’t resist. There was something about him that excited me, and I knew I wanted more of whatever I was feeling—no matter the cost.
***
When I walk into the office, I felt a rare glee and excitement that I hadn’t felt in as long as I could remember. The air felt more crisp and fresh than I remembered. The sun seemed to shine brighter than I remembered. Everything seemed to be a bit rosier than I remembered.
I grinned as I thought about Dean as I rode the elevator up to the floor of my office.
“Mr. Parker is ready to see you,” I heard the receptionist say as the elevator door opened.
“Thank you.”
I froze when I heard his voice in the hallway. Why is Dean here? Why does he have a meeting with Trent? My heart raced as I thought of all the possible reasons he’d be here, and every possibility that came to mind was not a good one. Could it be possible that he set me up? Is he about to tell Trent something?
Somehow I snapped out of my temporary paralysis and decided to follow Dean. I waited a minute to make sure he was already near Trent’s office before I proceeded out of the elevator and toward Trent’s office. I walked quickly past Trent’s office and snuck into the small conference room on the other side of his office. With the door closed behind me, I grabbed a glass cup and placed it against the wall of Trent’s office.
“I can’t do this,” I heard Dean’s muffled voice say.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I can’t set up Blair.”
I covered my mouth as a gasp escaped my lips when I heard Dean’s words. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was clear that my brother and my most recent lover had been colluding together, and somehow, I was the target. My jaw clenched as I realized how stupid and gullible I’d been, and how easy I’d allowed Dean to weasel himself into my life.
“Have you fucked her yet?” I heard Trent ask.
Why does he want to know this? What’s going on?
There was a silence and I held my breath, waiting for Dean to betray me.
“I’m only here to tell you that I’m not going to take you up on your offer. I’m not here to tell you anything else.”
“You’re making a big fucking mistake here, Dean.”
“Well, that’s a big fucking mistake that I get to make, and not you.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I couldn’t believe that Dean wasn’t going to tell Trent anything.
“Does she mean that much to you that you’re actually thinking about giving up this opportunity for you and your firm? Do I need to remind you of how much is at stake here?”
What’s at stake here? I wondered. What is Trent trying to do here?
“No. Don’t waste your breath trying to remind me.” There was a short pause. “And to answer your question. Yes. She’s really that important to me. If you really must know, I didn’t know how I felt about your sister before. But when you made me the offer that day, you forced me to confront my deepest feelings, the ones I’ve buried and locked away inside me for almost ten years. I didn’t know how much I actually cared for her until you forced my hand. But because of you, I now know the truth. She could possibly become one of the most important people in my life. She makes me feel more alive and happy than I’d remember ever feeling. I would never do anything to hurt her. So thank you for making me face this reality.”
Tears streamed down my face as I digested Dean’s words. I had wanted to believe that he had genuine feelings toward me, but a part of me wouldn’t let myself believe it. But now, hearing his words, his real feelings were confirmed, and I felt a surge of happiness grow inside me.
“You’ve really disappointed me, Dean. I thought you had the potential for greatness. But you’re just another pussy-whipped fool. Now get the fuck out of my office! Tell your partners at the firm that after this acquisition deal is said and done, don’t ever expect another piece of business from us.”
I heard Dean storm out of the office.
“Fuck!” Trent screamed as a pile of papers flew across the room. Then he picked up his phone. “Jane, cancel all my meetings today. I’m taking the rest of the day off and heading to the golf course. I need to get away. You can take the rest of the day off too after you’ve cleared my calendar.”
***
I waited an extra thirty minutes after I heard Trent leave before opening the conference room. I walked past Jane’s cubicle, which was in front of Trent’s office, and found that she had also left for the day.
Against my better judgment, I opened Trent’s office door and snuck inside. After that conversation I had just overheard between Trent and Dean, I knew there was something Trent wasn’t telling me, and I was going to find out what it was. I needed to know why he had tried to recruit Dean to sleep with me.
I began to rummage through every drawer and cabinet, looking for something—anything—that’d tell me what Trent had against me.
Just as I was about to give up, my hand hit a large envelope in the back of the bottom cabinet of his credenza. I immediately pulled the envelope out. It was a letter-size interoffice manila envelope that was closed with a red string. The only thing written on the envelope in bold was “Trent Parker.” I knew that I was invading Trent’s privacy, but after everything I’d overheard just moments ago, I knew I needed to get to the bottom of things. I needed to find out the truth. That was the most important thing to me at that moment.
Before I could change my mind, I opened the envelope and took out its contents. There were only a few documents, but the two that caught my eye was a letter and a birth certificate.
I looked at the birth certificate first.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
My father’s and Beth’s names were listed under “Parents’ Names” and March 12, 1983 was listed as the “Date of Birth.” This document looked like it was Trent’s birth certificate, except there was one problem.
Under “Sex” on the birth certificate, it didn’t say male. It said female.
What does this mean?
Confusion and shock whirled inside as I flipped to the other document that caught my eye—the letter. It was a handwritten letter from Trent’s mother.
My dearest Trent,
By the time you read this letter, I will have already left this world. Please do not be sad for me. Know that I will always love you. Know that ever since you were put in my arms that day you were born, everything I’ve done have been for you. There’s no one else in this world that I love more than you. Please do not ever forget that. Please try to remember that as you read through this letter.
So there is a secret I’ve been hiding from you.
I hope you can understand how difficult the situation was for me, and I really hope you do not hate me for keeping this from you. It is a secret that I’ve kept since you were seven. It was the last thing a mother wanted to hear and I had to make a choice, and I choose you. It is a secret that a part of me wanted to take with me to my grave. But after a lot of thought, I realized that you deserve to know. You have the right to know the truth.
Your father doesn’t know the secret. We were already divorced and living apart by that point and he was too busy with Parker, Inc. and his new daughter Blair to care. I am telling you now through this letter because I want you to know. I am also leaving it up to you to decide what you want to do with this information. Whatever you decide to do, know that I’m behind you 100%.
Trent, when I was in labor the day you were born, there were complications and I had lost a lot of blood. I had to be rushed into surgery immediately after I gave birth. They were also short staffed that night at the hospital and my nurse was delivering two babies at the same time. In all the chaos, she made a huge mistake. It was a mistake that changed our lives forever. When you were born, she put the wrong tag on you. She told us you were my baby. But it wasn’t until you feel off your bike when you were seven and needed surgery that they discovered an inconsistency in your files. After some digging, the hospital told me that you were not my son. They told me that you were switched at birth and belonged to another family. I was in shock and was beyond devastated by the news. They gave me the number to the other family. I waited several weeks before calling that family and after many long discussions over the phone, we made a choice. It was a very hard choice, but I believe it was the right one. We each decided to keep the child we’d been given, the child we’d loved for the seven years, the only child we knew of. We decided to keep it a secret and keep it from you and the other child. The hospital sent us the corrected birth certificate as well as documents with the other baby’s information. I’ve included both documents with this letter in case you ever wanted to reveal this secret.
Trent, I love you very much. Please believe that. No matter where you came from, I will always be your mother, and you will always be my child.
Love always,
Your mother
Beth Preston
I reread the letter three times before the words finally sunk in.
Trent wasn’t my half brother. We weren’t related at all. Now everything seemed to make sense. That day at the funeral—that day when Trent and my relationship changed, that day when he became a complete stranger to me—that was the day when he found out the truth about this secret about his life. Was this why he’d been so cold to me since her death? Was this why he’d been trying so hard to get rid of me?
“He was switched at birth,” I whispered.
My body tightened as I flipped through the remaining papers and found the document I was looking for: the document containing the other baby’s information. An audible gasp escaped my lips as I read the document.
I didn’t have a half-brother after all. I had a half-sister.
“I have a sister.” My voice came out in a soft whisper, and it sounded foreign to me.
I felt a mixture of shock, excitement, and happiness as the idea of having a big sister sunk in. A wistful smile spread across my face as my eyes focused on the birth name listed on the document. This was my sister’s name.
Katherine Fox.
