CHAPTER 80

MELANIE.

BLAINE’S NUMBER WAS STILL UNAVAILABLE.

I’d lost count of how many times I tried to reach him and how many voicemails I’d left, still he didn’t answer. I was getting pretty worried because his aunt said he wasn’t home and there was no record of him clocking in to work (I’d checked with his office).

If something happened to him because of me, I don’t know how I’d live with myself. Blaine was the first person to show me kindness around here, not out of pity, but out of genuinely wanting to get to know me. I didn’t take that for granted.

The morning of the next day, I was pacing around the outer office when Jordan’s door opened. I turned to him expectantly but he shook his head, indicating that he still hadn’t heard anything.

Blaine had been missing for almost 24 hours now, and fear was slowly crawling its way up my throat.

“Can’t we go and look for him?”, I asked desperately.

“No”, Jordan replied. My mouth fell open. “Excuse me? This is your best friend we’re talking about here, and it’s our fault we’re in this situation in the first place”, I snapped at him.

Jordan narrowed his eyes at me, “I don’t care much for your tone. If Blaine decides he wants to act like a kid, I believe we should let him be.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was this really his attitude towards his best friend? Had Blaine been right about what he’d said before he left?

“Jordan”, I put all the desperation I could muster into the single word and gave him a pleading look. He sighed. “Fine. If he doesn’t turn up in the next four hours, we’ll go look for him”, he said and went back into his office before I could object.

Four hours. Blaine could be dead or worse in four hours. Still, it was better than nothing. I would go myself, but I didn’t know these streets like Jordan did and would probably end up causing more harm than good.

I resigned myself to waiting for him and busied myself arranging the final interviews for kitchen staff for the factory that I’d put on hold because of the impromptu trip to France. The attached canteen was completed, all the new equipment for production had been installed, and the factory was cleaned to within an inch of its life. All that was left to do was hire the staff and find a competent manager.

Midway through my itinerary, my phone buzzed. I grabbed at it thinking it was Blaine finally calling me back and dealt with the mix of disappointment and delight when Bennett’s name came up on my screen instead. I answered it. “Hey, you”, I smiled.

“Melanie. You forgot to let me know when your plane landed. I was worried”. Bennett said, concern evident in his voice.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and swore silently.

“I’m so sorry Ben. Things have been… hectic since I got back”, I apologized.

“It’s okay, as long as you’re safe. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving Paris soon. I’m almost done with what I came here for.”

My eyes lit up. “That’s great. Maybe you can come over here; we’ll have enough time to talk and catch up. It’ll be amazing”, I enthused.

Bennett chuckled, “As tempting as that sounds, I’ll have to decline. I love my job in Washington, I can’t just leave it.”

I pouted though he couldn’t see me. “We can double whatever it is they’re paying you over there. You’ll love working with us”, I urged.

“Nice way to pitch your company to me, but I prefer to just keep my current one. Besides, I’ve read up on your boss, and I really don’t know how you can stand to work for him”, Bennett answered.

Right. Yet another person who doesn’t know the circumstances surrounding my employment here. Well, I couldn’t tell him that his recently discovered twin sister was a professional thief, so instead I said… “The pay’s good.”

“Well, I’ll let you know when I leave”, he said in response.

“Are you certain you don’t want to come here? Going once, going twice”, I teased. My humor was rewarded with Bennett’s laugh, “I’ll pass.”

Alright then.

After a moment of hesitation, I asked. “So, how’s Taylor?”

His tone immediately shifted, sounding way too upbeat.

“Oh my God, Mel, she’s everything I ever imagined and more”, he said enthusiastically. My eyebrows shot up so high I was certain they’d disappeared into my hairline.

“Really”, I dragged the word out.

“I still can’t believe the Taylor Anderson is here, seems to enjoy my company, and wants to go out for drinks tonight. Man, she’s even more beautiful in person”, he continued to rant and I interrupted.

“Bennett, I’m not trying to ruin whatever you think you have going, but Taylor is a user and a manipulator. She’s probably giving you the time of day because you’re still star-struck and all over her, but she’ll leave when she gets bored. I just don’t want you to get hurt over someone who isn’t worth it”, I warned. Before Bennett could reply, I got a text from Blaine’s secretary saying Blaine had shown up and my heart picked up its pace.

“Um.. Ben? We’ll continue this conversation later. Something urgent just came up”, I said then hung up after he said goodbye.

I hurried out as fast as I could and caught him just as he opened the trunk of his car and tossed his briefcase in it.

I took a sharp breath as I noticed the other boxes there.

“Blaine”, I said and he turned. I’d never seen him looking like this, even when he’d just woken up in the hospital.

His eyes were bloodshot and there were bags under them. His complexion was sallow and between yesterday and today frown lines seemed to have etched themselves into his skin. He shook his head, “Not now, Melanie.”

I took a step forward. “If not now, when? You didn’t return any of my calls or texts, and you seem to be going somewhere in a hurry”, I gestured towards his trunk.

He slammed the hood down, making me jump.

“Can you blame me for wanting to get away? Don’t you think you’ve done enough already?”, he snapped.

I sighed and stepped forward, “Blaine, please don’t go. No matter our issues, you’re still very important to me. You’re still my first real friend, the one who’d sing Taylor Swift songs with me and take me home after work. Nothing is going to change that.”

The more I talked, the more the fight seeped out of him. Still, he shook his head again. “I can’t stay. I need to go. I need a timeout to clear my head, and maybe by the time I get back I would have been able to come to terms with all of this.”

I saw the weariness in him, and I decided the best thing to do was to respect his decision and let him leave.

“Okay. Where are you going, and when will you be back?”, I asked.

“I’ll let you know when I get there, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. I will definitely come back though, the dipshit needs me too much”. He tried a joke, but it fell flat.

I stepped into his arms and hugged him tight. “Come back to me soon, okay?”, I repeated his words from months ago.

He nodded and opened the driver’s door, then paused. “I might have been pissed off yesterday, but I meant what I said. If you want Jordan, you should go after him. Lord knows he deserves a shot at happiness”, with those final words he got into the car and drove away in a cloud of dust.