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Dean
Guilt consumed me as I hugged Blair goodbye and walked out of my front door. I had lied. I hadn’t gotten an email from work. There was no expedited project that had come in tonight. I wasn’t heading back into the office. I just needed to get away and clear my thoughts.
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 alongside 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’d been, unable 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’d 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 had been for Blair to find Katherine. I had heard the way Blair’s voice had come alive when she’d 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 naïve girlfriend, Dean,” she responded sweetly, her words drenched 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 triumph that Katherine heard this from me, but I was 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.
