Chapter Three

Blair waved down a taxi, settling into the back as quickly as she could, intent on getting out of here as fast as possible. She felt like getting drunk. But if she went to a bar alone during the day, that would be inviting trouble. She could feel the tears as they slid unchecked down her face. She had held herself together while she had confronted Dan and Laura.

“Where to?” Asked the driver.

Where to? That was a good question. Both her sisters Sutton and Keira would be working. For now, she needed to get away from here so she could think about her next move. She gave the taxi driver the address of her office. She would go there, clean up her face and then work out what to do. Maybe ring Sutton or Keira. The taxi pulled away from the kerb. The driver looked at her in the rearview mirror.

“There are tissues in the center compartment if you need them, hon,” was all he said before turning his attention back to the road.

Blair opened the compartment, pulling out the tissues. “Thank you.” She said before cleaning her face as best she could. It wasn’t like she wore a lot of makeup. So she might as well clean her face.

As her phone began to ring, Blair instantly knew who the caller was before glancing at the screen. It would be Dan. Despite her certainty, she still retrieved her phone from her bag to confirm. Once she saw that it was indeed Dan, Blair promptly switched her phone to silent mode. Then continued to clean her face.

But by the time the taxi pulled up outside the office, Blair didn’t believe there would be any makeup left.

“Do I look ok?” she asked the Taxi driver as she handed him some money.

He looked around at her. “Your eyes are a little red, honey, but it’s hardly noticeable. Will you be Ok?”

Blair looked at him silently for a moment before saying. “I will be. This has just been a little bump on the road. Better to find out now before I married him.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince the taxi driver or herself. Blair opened the door and slid out. “Thank you.” She said before shutting the back door. The driver waved at her, then checked traffic before merging onto the road. Blair checked her phone screen to see Dan had called her six times and left six messages on her voicemail. Uninterested in what he had to say for himself, she slid the phone away in her handbag.

Blair turned to look up at the glass and metal office building of Kingston industries. Roman had bought the building five years before. Kingston used the top eight levels, with the bottom three levels were being rented out to smaller businesses in the area. Blair wouldn’t be surprised with the way Kingston had been growing, that they would one day take over the entire building. Taking a deep breath, Blair picked up her things and headed inside.

“Miss Warner, Can I help you?” Blair looked around. One of the staff, Maggie, stationed behind the reception desk on ground level, came around the desk. Taking the case from her. In the same hand, she was still holding the bat. Maggie took that from her as well. Not asking why she was carrying a baseball bat.

Blair had completely forgotten that she was even holding it in her hand. She was relieved. It was something she wouldn’t need to retrieve. Blair planned to ask Sutton and Keira to assist her in organizing getting her stuff from the apartment. Although she didn’t want to put too much pressure on her older sister, Sutton. She was six months pregnant, and it hadn’t been an easy pregnancy.

Men. Why were they assholes? First, her boss for being so arrogant and intimidating and sometimes rude. Then Dan, who had been cheating on her with her cousin… for months. How low was that? Then there was the father of Sutton’s baby. Who had left her high and dry and pregnant?

“Thanks Maggie. Can I leave everything with reception? While I go freshen up.” Blair asked, surprised her voice sounded so… normal.

“Sure, Miss Warner.” Maggie said, looking at the baseball bat again.

“Blair please. How many times to I have to tell you?” Roman preferred first names, but some of the staff struggled with that, mostly with Roman more than with her.

Maggie smiled. Taking the suitcase and briefcase and bat. Blair kept her handbag as she headed across the foyer.

Blair quickly made her way to the bathroom. Once inside, she went straight to the mirrors. The cab driver wasn’t just being kind, she didn’t look so bad. Taking her makeup case out of her handbag, she got out a wipe and cleaned off what little makeup was left.

Before applying some powder and lip gloss and a little eyeliner. Blair pinched her cheeks because she didn’t have any blush in this bag. She wasn’t sure why people pinched their cheeks to add color, because she couldn’t see any difference.

She was pale. Her blue eyes were still a little red. Pulling out a brush, she pulled her long wavy blonde hair out of its confining bun and redid it. Once it was neat and pinned back in to place, she was ready.

She was going to go up to her office and work out what she was going to do next. Blair left the bathroom, picked up her stuff after thanking Maggie for her help, and headed to the lifts. She pushed the button.

As she waited for the lift, Blair wondered what she was going to tell Roman about her returning to the office. She tried to remember his schedule for this afternoon. Did he have any meetings? For the life of her, she couldn’t remember. Not surprising really that her brain was a little fried. “Walking in on your fiance shagging your cousin would do that to anyone,” Blair said in a whisper.

The thought made her frown. How often had they been doing this during office hours? Dan had been at home during a workday. Blair was away with her boss from time to time, but not all that often. That meant if their affair had been going on for months, then they had been meeting up in office hours.

The lift arrived and a woman she didn’t know joined her on the lift. She forced one of the little smiles most people gave to strangers and was glad to see the other woman was going to level two. Blair leaned back against the back wall and looked up. Not really paying any attention as the door slid open at level two and the woman got off. It wasn’t long before the carriage was on the move up.

Did she tell Roman about Dan? It seemed a little like sour grapes, because he was cheating. But he was also ripping the company off. There was no way he could get home, have sex with Laura, and get back to work in his lunch hour.

The doors of the lift opened on her floor. Taking a deep breath in case Roman was about, she walked off the lift and into the office area that held another reception desk for the executive floor.

Kara looked up as the lift doors opened. Seeing Blair, she smiled. “Hi Blair, I didn’t think you would be coming in today.”

Blair smiled. “No, I hadn’t planned on it, but I thought I’d get a jump on the meeting notes for Roman. Is he in, do you know?” Roman had a private lift in his office that only he used. It took him up to his penthouse apartment on the top floor or down to the garage, where he kept his luxury cars. There was no need for Roman to walk through the office if he didn’t want to.

Kara shook her head. “No, he left a little while ago. Called through to let me know to hold his calls.”

Blair almost sagged with relief. She wouldn’t have to face him just yet. “Thanks Kara.”

Blair headed to her office, shutting the door behind her. Then put her things behind her desk and dropped into her chair.

Blair rested her head on the desk for a moment. Shit, she felt like a wrecking ball had just split her world in two. How could he? But even worse than that, how could Laura?

The childish problems they had all had as kids, Blair had thought, they had grown out of that. Laura had always been a spoiled brat. Taking what wasn’t hers.

The problem was her parents, Blair’s aunt and uncle, doted on her and gave her everything she wanted. But when they had moved to the city two years ago, Laura hadn’t been that bad or by now Blair would have moved in with her sisters. She hadn’t when Sutton had come back from Europe because her sister Keira had just finished university. Keira had moved in with Sutton. She would have felt guilty leaving Laura on her own to move in with her sisters. What was the point, anyway? She and Dan had planned on getting a place of their own once they were married.

Lifting her head, Blair looked down at the ring on her finger. The engagement ring Dan had given her. It wasn’t big. She hadn’t wanted big. She would make sure he got it back. He could sell it. Because she was sure Laura would want a big flashy ring. She had made fun of Blair’s ring.

Taking it off, Blair was about to throw it across the room. No, just in case it went missing. Opening the top drawer of her desk, Blair dropped it in, slamming it shut. She needed a drink. Standing, Blair went into Roman’s office, where she knew he kept a bottle of scotch. She wasn’t much of a spirit drinker, but anything would do.

Roman office was a statement of the man himself. Everything was big, strong, and masculine. “Don’t forget intimidating.” Blair said to the empty room. Going to his desk, she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the bottle of scotch that Roman kept there. Taking it, she sat down on his Chestfield lounge near the window. She opened the bottle and took a drink. Almost coughing it back up. “Holy shit, this shit burns.” Blair knew it was an expensive bottle Roman only liked the best.

The problem was, it was straight. Why did he like this shit straight? This time, when she put the bottle to her mouth, Blair made sure to sip it this time. Nope, that didn’t help. But it wasn’t as bad as the first drink. So she had another. Laying her head back against the lounge. She had come here to think. What was her next move?

Lifting her hand so she could see the dial on her watch, Blair saw it was 3:15pm. She couldn’t call Sutton or Keira. Not yet. Let them get home from work. Then she would see about crashing at their place until she could find somewhere. Their place wasn’t big enough for three adults and a baby. When it arrived. But it would be great to spend some time with her sisters. Eat ice cream and talk shit about men.

Although Sutton didn’t even talk about the man that had gotten her pregnant. It was a topic she refused to discuss. Even when their aunt Viv and uncle Peter had demanded answers. Blair lifted the bottle again to her mouth.

The phone started ringing on Roman’s desk. Blair tried to ignore it, but as soon as it stop ringing it started again. Blair shifted to the edge of the lounge, rising to her feet. The room seemed to tilt ever so slightly, prompting a quick “Oops.” to escape her lips.

After regaining her balance, she made her way over to the phone and lifted the receiver.

“Hello?” she greeted into the handset. Not very professional, she thought.

“Roman please.” Blair knew the voice. It was Claire Robertson. Roman’s little piece of fluff. It was the best way to describe Claire. She had this stupid girly voice that set Blair’s teeth on edge.

“Roman isn’t here.” Blair put a hand on Roman’s desk to help stop the swaying of the room.

“Where is he?” Claire asked.

“How the hell should I know?” Blaire was surprised by her answer. Shit, where had that come from?

“You are his secretary.” Blair could hear the anger in the other woman’s voice.

“Yes, but I’m not his keeper and I sure as hell don’t own a crystal ball. Call or message his mobile.” Blair was over this conversation.

“He isn’t answering his mobile hasn’t for days.” Claire whined.

Blair’s eyes widened. That told her that Roman was getting ready to move on. “Look Claire, Let’s be honest. He isn’t marriage material. Find yourself someone new.” Blaire didn’t wait for her reply, just hung up. Blair went back to the Chesterfield. Sat down and took another drink. The scotch wasn’t so bad now. Maybe she was getting used to it.

Once she had settled back onto the lounge, her own problems resurfaced to haunt her. How was she so blind? How did she not pick up on the signs? She wasn’t an idiot. Dan was a salesman. He had sold her the dream of happily ever after. She had just been blind to the cracks in their relationship.

Not only that, it looked like she had been missing something in her sex life. If what she had witnessed between Dan and Laura was any indication of how the act should be. She enjoyed it well enough, but it wasn’t something that made her cry out like Laura had been doing. Was that to stroke his ego? Should she have been doing that? The thing was, she didn’t know. Dan had been her only lover. It was his job to teach her.

Blair lifted her head to take another drink from the bottle to see two tall men standing in front of her. Two very out-of-focus men.

Blair waved. “Hi.” She tried to sit up, to put the bottle to her mouth. But before it reached her lips, it was taken out of her hand. “Hey, that’s mine. Iff, yo want any goo find you own.” Looking around, Blair tried to refocus her eyes.

It was then she realized that there was only one man standing in front of her. Holding the bottle. “Roman?”

“Blair. What have you done to yourself?” Roman asked.

“Well, I thought that was prettty o…obvious, As yo can seee me is getting shit… faced. Now hand me tha bottle. So I… I can finishh tha job.” Blair took a swing for the bottle, but Roman moved away to put it on his desk.

“I think you have had enough.” Roman said.

Blair frowned at him. “Yo know some.. times yo cann be an asshole… No, not sometimes, but mosst of the.. time.”

“I do believe you are going to regret this tomorrow.” Came Roman reply as he sat down beside her.