“I’m so happy to see you again, Blaire. I’m glad we can talk again. You look great. You’re doing so well. I know you don’t care what I think, but I am proud of you.”
“You’re right, I don’t care what you think, Stephen.” I look up at him exasperatedly. “But I think we’re done here, and you should leave.”
“Can we see each other again?”
“I don’t think so,” I reply quickly.
He steps towards me and I jut my chin out threateningly towards him. If he comes any closer, I’m going to call for security.
“Blaire, I really wish you would give me a chance to be your friend. I know I don’t deserve it, but I want to show how much things have changed.”
Do people really change? I find that hard to believe. I’m glaring at him with my lips pursed together.
“I know you think I used you, and it may have been true at the start, but I was falling for you.”
“You were in a relationship with someone else.”
“But I was falling for you. I’m human. We all make mistakes. We all make the wrong decisions, don’t we?”
“Goodbye, Stephen,” I declare and walk past him to the door.
It’s his cue to leave. This was supposed to be a monumental day for me. But he has ruined it now. Is this just a man-thing? To make everything all about themselves?
Stephen walks out of my office dejectedly and I turn my back to him. I don’t want him to see how conflicted I feel about everything.
Kim and Kirk have finally resolved all the obstacles in their path, and I am so happy they are together. I had a small role to play in that, and it brings me such joy to see them in love. Kim deserves a man who loves her as passionately as he does. I have known Kirk for a few years now and I’ll be the first to say that he has never been in love with anyone the way he loves Kim. And now they are on the brink of starting a family together.
“I’m so sorry, Blaire! I wish you would have told me all this was happening in your life. I’ve been so caught up with my own problems.” Kim and I are lounging on my couch. I’ve made dinner. I’m not drinking, in solidarity with her pregnancy.
It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these nights and I’m glad she’s here. I’ve finally had the chance to tell her everything.
“You’re pregnant! The most important event in your life has just transpired. I didn’t want to burden you with my teenage-angst problems,” I say with a smirk.
Kim looks at me indulgently and shakes her head.
“So you’re going to give this man control over your company?”
“Not full control. Not really. I’ll still be running the show. They’ll have some management control and they’ll be profiting from my success. My lawyers have been very careful about how much power we give them.”
Kim twists a fork around in her bowl of spaghetti.
“Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
“I want my company to succeed, and Habitat is going to get me there.”
“But things between you and Trevor Davenport are complicated, right?” Kim whispers his name like there’s a possibility he can hear us.
Realistically, he might just be sitting on the other side of this wall, which makes my stomach tighten.
“Not really. We are professional partners who also happen to be neighbors.”
“But what about that night? When he came in here and you…well…it sounds like you guys almost kissed.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know what happened that night, but it won’t happen again.”
“Blaire, you’re attracted to him!”
“I find a lot of people attractive. He’s just one of them. He also can’t stand my guts.”
“And you think he’s the right person to get into a business partnership with?”
Even though I’m supposed to be the older and wiser one, Kim makes more sense more often than not. I breathe in deeply and nod.
“Yes, I do think he is. Working with him will push me right out of this ridiculous crush I have on him.”
Is that really the word I should use for what I feel for Trevor? A crush? I’m not willing to admit more.
11
Trevor
It’s strange that Blaire is in the building now. Not just in my apartment building, but just a few floors below my office. It’s been one whole day since she moved in with her team. Calvin has assigned a few people to help her company settle