"Ok, so what did you guys want to tell me?" She asked. "Must be something serious since you had me come back home for it."
"Blair," her Father started, but paused immediately, looking back at her mother, who nodded and placed a supporting hand on his shoulder. He faced his daughter again. "You know how my business was facing a major setback about two years ago?" Blair nodded. "I had to loan money from The Lancaster-"
"Wait." Blair sat up, surprised by what her Father just said. "The Lancaster? Like the-"
"Yes," her mother said. "The Lancaster. Your Father needed to do something fast and when he approached Mr. Lancaster, he was able to loan your Dad a great sum of money which brought your Dad's business back."
"Yes. Except according to the contract I signed, I would pay back in a year and a half time."
"Ok," Blair said slowly.
"Your Father doesn't yet have the money to pay Mr. Lancaster Blair. He does have the money, but if he takes that money out and pays, his business would go back to the way it was two years ago and..."
"Can't he give you more time? I mean, Dad you could ask for more time right?"
"I had agreed that I wouldn't provide excuses to him once the time reaches, he has already given me a grace of three months and I've only been able to gather up seventy percent of what I owe Blair. But...Oh, I can't say this." He rubbed his hair, it was then that Blair noticed the bags under her Father's eyes. He looked really tired and worn out.
"Blair, Mr. Lancaster wants you to marry his son." She didn't stop to wait for Blair's reaction, not looking at her daughter she continued. "He...that's the only way he would let your Father off if you marry his son, Dylan Lancaster."
Blair was quiet for a while, she finally managed to open her mouth "What?" She questioned quietly, she had heard the words well and understood everything her mother had just said as she saw the words come out of her lips. But she had to ask again, just so her mother would prove her wrong. "Why? Why would he say something like that? Just because we owe him money? Dad, what did you tell him?"
"I'm sorry Blair." Was all her Father had to say for Blair to finally understand the guilty looks on her parent's faces. "I tried, but he-"
"You agreed." It wasn't a question. "You guys want to sell me off?"
"No, Blair honey, please don't say it like that," her mother said quickly rushing to her side. "Listen, your father and I aren't selling you, we tried our best Blair, for months, for a way out of this, but Mr. Lancaster stuck with his words. Blair, you have to understand there is nothing we can do about this."
"N-nothing you can..." She gave a small laugh. "I'm dreaming, right? Right? That's all this is, a dream."
Jane turned to her husband. "Don't just sit there Martins. Please say something to her."
"What's there to say?" Blair pushed her mother's hand away. "You two know what I've been through in the last month. It's barely been two months since Richard left, the man I wanted to marry, yet here you are with talks about marriage to another man, a stranger?"
"I'm sorry Darling," her Father told her. "But with time y-you will get to know Dylan more. He is smart, successful, and very handsome. I know things will be hard at first, but you..." He turned to his wife for help with words.
"It's not going to be forever Blair, after a year you can file for a divorce if you want-" her mother tried to speak.
"I don't want a divorce!" Blair shouted to them jumping up. "I don't want to get married, I don't want a divorce. Oh, I feel like such a fool, I can't believe I came here for this."
"Blair-" Her mother tried to speak.
"Goodnight." She said instead and ran up the stairs, heading to her room.
~~~
"No, you don't understand Samantha, I've been married off, and to some man, I do not know."
"Wait, are your parents really serious about this? I thought you were joking. Why would your parents do something like this?" She gave a dry laugh. "They are not serious right, this is some sick prank?"
"I wish Samantha, I wish, but they are really serious about this. They want me to marry someone I do not know...I can't, I won't, but..."
"But what? What's wrong? If they are pressuring you, just leave. You are already a grown woman and they can't control you."
"My... This guy my parents are talking about...his father, my Dad owes him, something like that I wasn't listening to them. They concluded that if I marry their son...This is not happening, Samantha. My mother said I can file for divorce after a year, but-"
"But nothing, are you considering this? Pack your bags and come back home. For crying out Blair, we both know you are...as much as I hate you to say this, you are not well Blair, not in the right state and l know you are not ready to talk about it, but this isn't something you need on your head now. How about..." Blair was distracted by her door opening and her mother walking in.
"Hey, Samantha, I'll call you later."
"Later? Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry that I brought that up, but-"
"No, you didn't do anything. My mum is here." She ended the call, not giving Samantha the chance to say another word. "What do you want mother?"
"Mother? Seriously that's what you call me now? I know you're angry with me, but you have to understand-
"No, you stop. Ok, you guys never understand anything, nothing at all and now you expect me to? You do things the way you want to do them, you don't care who you hurt along the way."
"Don't speak like that Blair. You know your Father and I would never purposely do anything to hurt you, we love you and want the best for you."
Blair scoffed. "No, you don't. Just leave."
"Blair listens to me," her mother insisted, not moving. "We don't want this, your Father and I were not looking at this. That's why we've been trying to raise enough money to pay off, paying with what we currently have spelled doom for your Father's business. It would collapse and why that is not more important than your happiness, we have-"
"So, I am now the solution? Mom, I do not want to get married to a stranger, not to anyone. You know how Richard's betrayal affected me, you know I still haven't healed from that, and now this?"
"I know darling, I know. But please just do this, for us, please." Blair looked away from her mother. "Blair please."
"I don't want to get married," she cried.
Blair had sworn she wasn't going to get married to any man, yet, she found herself putting on a fake smile as she smiled at a face she was only seeing for the first time on their wedding day.Blair had heard a lot about the man, from her mother, her father, and even a few of her friends who had heard for him. She had seen a picture, but she had never met him physically. He never came along with his parents and wasn't around for the wedding preparations or even the engagement ceremony where his father had to be the one to present the ring to her. This was the one time she wished he would have kept with his absence. She had prepared for this with the hope that he wasn't going to show up and she wouldn't have to be married to him after all, but he did, and she hated him for that.Dylan Lancaster was a handsome man, he had this cool, gentlemanly look that had raised Blair's hope for a minute, but then the cold look he had sent her way when no one was looking had her rethinking. His icy blu
Blair woke up to the awful sound of clatters around her. She grabbed her pillow placing it over her head. "Get away Samantha! I don't have the time for your rubbish today.""Who is Samantha?" A deep voice asked.Blair's eyes flew open, as she jumped up, hitting her head with something as equally strong. "Fuck!" She cursed, falling back on the bed as she grabbed hold of her forehead. "What the..." The rest were words in a strange language even she didn't know. She looked up to find a groaning Dylan also holding to his forehead as he sent her an ugly look. "What's your problem!" She fired. "Where are you watching me sleep?""What's my problem? You're the one with the Iron man head and I wasn't watching you sleep..." He eyed her. "Why are your eyes red and puffed up?"Blair frowned looking away from him. "None of your business," she muttered. "What are you doing in my room?"He took a step back. "This is not your room Blair. I suggest you pack your things out before Donna comes back and f
Dylan wasn't joking when he talked about no other room for Blair to go to. Any other door that Blair came across thinking it was a room where she could lay her head, she would find out it was locked. She was angry as she hadn't had her bath yet, she wished she had done that before leaving Donna's room, but then Donna would have caught her. She cringed at the scenario of Donna walking into her bathroom only to find a naked Blair still lying in her bathtub.After walking around for hours, not finding a place. She finally came back to Dylan's room. Though she wasn't ready, she could already imagine him laughing in victory, she had just placed his things on the bed when her phone began to ring."Hello?""Hey girl, I'm outside." It was Jessica, a close friend from her previous workplace, though after Blair had retreated to her whole after she and Richard separated, they've both been a little distant. "I hope you got the text I sent you, I was calling, but you weren't answering your phone."
Blair felt much better after her conversation with Jessica. She had been worried thinking Jessica would be really angry with her and after finding out about everything, she wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore, and although she had been really angry with her, but she reminded Blair that there were people who would always have her bag and support her. After that Blair had cried for a really long time, soaking Jessica's fabric with her tears, while Jessica patted her till she stopped."If you need help, anytime. You know where you can find me right?""Yeah, I have your new address." After that Jessica left and Blair was back home.Blair decided to call Samantha after that, she didn't answer at first, but Blair dialled her number again, this time she did. "Hey Blair, how are you doing?""I'm fine. Jessica just left here, she said you told her to check up on me...and also quite a number of other things."~~~When Dylan arrived, Blair was still up, watching a soap opera while sippi
Blair regretted her decision later on, the room was cold and she didn't have any blanket, just the couch. She sat up in the middle of the night, with the aid of the night plan which was still on, she could see Dylan on the bed, sleeping peacefully."Dylan." She called. "Dylan!" She said again, this time tapping him gently on the shoulder. "Wake up, I know you can hear me!""Even when I leave you alone, you still look for ways to drive me nuts. Some of us have a place of work to go tomorrow morning Blair," he muttered sleepily, brushing her arm away. "What do you want?""I'm cold," she told him. "Give me a blanket or give space so I can sleep." Dylan was lying down horizontally on the bed, and Blair couldn't help but wonder if he did that on purpose just to stop her in case she decided to come back to the bed. "Are you listening to me. You like hearing me beg right? Something about me begging gives you joy, right?"Hearing that a smile came to his face with his eyes still closed. "That
It's been more than a month since the wedding. Blair found herself surviving with encouraging talks from her parents, Samantha and Jessica, they have been the shoulders that she relied on. She didn't know what she would have done without them, actually she was afraid to think on what she would have done. Sometimes, when things were really quiet and dark, she couldn't help but recoil in her shadows, the same place that Richard had found her, before he pulled her out with his love. Richard had been almost everything to her, she became a part of her, became all could think about and that's because she saw him as her saviour. Only he knows of the things she had been going through before he showed up, only he could see past the mask of the smiling face to the scarred one behind. He had shown her a light she hadn't seen for a long time, brought her a miracle. When he left, he had taken all that away.Blair hated him, for the pains he had caused her, for making her believe, when he didn't. S
Erin was much different from the last time Blair saw her, was during her mother's burial. She had sat alone on the bench, dressed all in black, not speaking to anyone who approached her to share their condolences. Blair remembered thinking Erin was really strong, if she had lost her mum, she didn't think she could hold it together just the way Erin did. Blair had later caught Erin crying after she thought that everybody had left. She had wanted to walk up to her, to console her and tell her everything would be fine. But Blair wasn't the judge of life, she couldn't predict if everything will be fine. She also wasn't sure the exact words to say to Erin, there relationship was kind of a forced friendship, so instead she had walked away and called her mother instead to check on Erin.She had on the brightest smile when she saw Blair approaching. "Blair!" She walked over to them quickly, giving her a hug. "It's been like... Well, a really long time," she said after she had pulled back."Ye
Blair had sworn that she wasn't going to answer the call, but it seemed it also wasn't going to let Blair sleep peacefully till she answered it. She bit the hem of her pillowcase in anger while finally reaching out for her phone, with the plan to switch it off, but decided against it when she saw who was calling. It was Dylan's mum. She sat up, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she answered the call. "Good morning," she greeted. "Sorry, I wasn't with my phone. Have you been calling for long?""I's fine dear, I haven't. Are you still in bed? Your voice is heavy and kind of rough.""Oh no," Blair said quickly, clearing her throat. "I'm not in bed anymore. I just finished eating that's why, I'll drink some water."Ok good. I need you to run an errand for me, that's of you're not too busy, but this is really important.""No, I'm not busy. What is it, do you need me to come over?" Blair crossed her fingers, praying that she wouldn't ask for that."No you don't have to." Blair relaxed a