Blaine was awoken late the next morning by a knock on his door. With a yawn, he dragged himself out of bed. When he opened the door he was surprised to see who was standing on the other side. "Oh, hi . . .uh, I'm sorry. I don't remember your name."
"I'm not sure I told you. It's Cassandra," she replied. "I hope you don't mind that I just dropped by. I found your address in the campus directory."
"No problem," Blaine replied as he brushed back his tousled hair with his fingers. "Just give me a minute and I'll get dressed."
"It's ok. Don't bother," Cassie grinned. "This won't take a minute. I just wanted to tell you that we heard from Vanessa."
"Oh yeah?" Blaine was so excited that he forgot all about his appearance. "What did she say?"
"Not much. She asked Zara for your friend's phone number. So expect her to call sometime, we're not sure when."
"Thanks for telling me. Did she say she's ok? Do you think she'll be safe with your dad?" At Cassie's look of shock, Blaine quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean . . ."
"No, you have every right to think that after what he did to you," Cassie spoke up. "But I don't think he would do anything like that to Vanessa. She's his wife. He loves her."
"Yeah," Blaine said, but doubtfully. "Listen, I'd like to talk to you. Are you in a hurry?"
"No," Cassandra said eagerly. "I've got all the time in the world."
"Great. Then let me get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs in the cafeteria."
"Nice cafeteria," Cassandra remarked as she and Blaine took a seat at one of the tables. "I've been staying with my sister in Windsor and their dorm isn't nearly as nice."
"It's one of the perks of being an upperclassman," Blaine replied. He looked at the plate in front of him, but didn't eat. He knew Cassandra needed to know the truth, but he didn't know where to start. "How much do you know about your father?"
"He's my dad," Cassie shrugged. "He wasn't around much when we were little, but since my mom got sent away, he's been the only parent we've had."
"I went to see your mother yesterday," Blaine said slowly.
Cassandra's face lit up. "You did? I miss her so much. How is she?"
"She's ok. She misses you too," Blaine replied. "But she told me some things about your dad that you might not want to hear."
"Tell me," Cassandra said firmly.
Blaine hesitated, not sure how to tell her the truth, so he just blurted it out, "He's been living under a false name to hide from his debts. Your mom caught on to him and when she threatened to leave, he had her committed. I checked it out. It's all true."
Cassandra looked relieved. "Then my mom's not crazy? She didn't lose her mind?"
When Blaine nodded, Cassie started to cry. He reached over to comfort her. He expected the news to be a shock for her, but he expected the reaction to come from the news about her father, not her mother.
"I'm sorry," Cassandra sobbed. "I've just been so afraid. My mom and I, we're both. . .alike. And my dad always said I was going to end up like her. But if she's ok, really ok, then I will be too."
Blaine wasn't sure what she meant, but said, "Sure, you will be."
Cassie dried her eyes and looked up at Blaine with a grateful smile. When she thought about her father and how he had lied to her about her mother and about everything else, she grew angry. "Who is my father, really?"
"His name is Silas Rochester. I found out that I know his nephew. I'm going to tell him the news today."
"Can I come with you?" Cassie asked. "I want to meet him."
"Sure, I guess. He's a guy I work with."
"Lawrence Arrendale," the both said at once.
"How'd you know that?" Blaine asked, confused, but she ignored the question.
"I knew it. I knew he was familiar," Cassie smiled. "He's my cousin."
At the office, Hector and R.J. were gossiping during their morning coffee break.
"So Andrew got fired because a bunch of money was missing from the company, but now he's back because it wasn't really him that took it?" R.J. asked, making sure he had the story straight.
"Yeah, that's the story," Hector scoffed. "Can you believe it?"
"Then who took it?"
"Beats me," Hector shrugged. "I'm just bugged that Andrew's back. You don't know how glad I was to see him go."
"Don't like him?" R.J. asked with a laugh.
"Never did. He was such a suck up. The old V.P.'s pet," Hector frowned. "I wish Chad had shown up for his interview. This company would be much better off with him in and Andrew out."
"Who's this Chad guy anyway?" R.J. asked slyly.
"He's an old buddy of mine from college. He majored in business then got into modeling," Hector laughed. "If you can believe that."
"You don't mean Chad Vanderburg, do you?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"No, I've just heard of him. Why didn't he show up for the interview?"
"I don't know. I tried to call him, but he'd checked out of his hotel room without saying a word to me. He's supposed to be the best man in my wedding and I can't find him anywhere."
Andrew caught the end of the conversation as he walked into the room. He smiled to himself, glad to hear that things weren't working out for Hector.
Hector didn't know what Andrew was smiling about, but he wanted to knock that stupid smirk off his face. "Hey, R.J. What do you think about filling in for him if he doesn't show?"
A sideway glance at Andrew showed Hector that his remark had done the trick. Andrew didn't look so smug anymore.
"Seriously? You want me to be your best man?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Wow. I'd be honored."
Cassie followed Blaine into the office building and towards Lawrence's desk. When she saw Lawrence, she felt that same sense of familiarity she had felt when she saw him at the party, but this time she understood the feeling and wasn't overwhelmed by it.
"Lawrence, have you got a minute?" Blaine asked.
"Just a second," Lawrence replied.
Cassie watched him as he finished what he was writing. It was hard to believe that he was her cousin, but she knew without uncertainty that it was true.
Lawrence put his work aside, "What is it?"
"Do you have an uncle named Silas Rochester?" Blaine asked.
"I did," Lawrence replied, "But he died years ago."
"No, he didn't," Cassie exclaimed, unable to remain silent. "He's my father."
Lawrence frowned, "That can't be. My uncle didn't have a family."
"Not that you knew about anyway," Blaine corrected and then started to fill Lawrence in on the story.
"Stuart-Townsend Corporation. Amanda Martin speaking," Amanda answered the phone.
"Hi Amanda. This is Reese Burroughs. Is Blaine around?"
"Yes, he's here. I'll go get him."
"No, wait. You should hear this too. I have news on your half-sister. She just called me."
"Oh my gosh," Amanda gasped. "You actually spoke with her?"
"Yes, but she couldn't talk long. If you could, just pass this message on to Blaine for me . . ."
Amanda rushed over to Lawrence's desk, where Blaine had just finished retelling the story and Lawrence was speechless with shock.
"Blaine," she called out. "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Reese called. She just heard from Dorothy."
"Vanessa," Blaine explained to Cassandra as an aside.
"Isn't anyone who they say they are?" Cassie muttered.
"What did she say?" Blaine asked Amanda.
"She wants to meet with you both, but she's not sure how she'll get away. She gave her location, but she said she'll call back when she can."
"We'll go get her," Blaine remarked. "I want to get Sebastian."
"When you do, I'll go with you," Lawrence added firmly.
No comments:
Post a Comment