Secrets of a misunderstanding
Prologue -
Blair Bass - soon to be Blair Waldorf again - sat at the foot of her childhood bed, staring at the digital reading on the plastic stick in her hand. She blinked, feeling her heart pound, her stomach roll and her vision go fuzzy around the edges.
As bad luck went, this ranked right up there with being hit by a bus right after wining the lotto.
A hash laugh escaped her lungs, taking with it a puff of air she'd been holding onto for the past several minutes.
She was newly divorced from a husband she'd thought was the Prince Charming of her fairy tale story, staying in her mothers penthouse because she didn't know quite what to do with her life now that the rug had been yanked out from under her. And if that wasn't enough to make her wonder where things had gone so wrong, now she was pregnant.
Pregnant. With her ex-husband's child, when she hadn't managed to conceive in the three years they'd been married, even though they'd tried...or at least hadn't worked to prevent it.
What the hell was she going to do?
Pushing to her feet on less then steady legs, she crossed to the dark wooden desk against the far wall and dropped onto the cushioned chair. Her hands shook as she laid the test on the flat surface and and dragged her cell phone closer.
Taking deep, shuddering breathes, she fought the urge to cry, scream, throw a tantrum as her younger self would have. She told herself she could do this. Told herself to be a grown up, it was the right thing to do, and however he reacted, she would handle it.
This was not a bid to get back together. Blair wasn't sure she would ever want to, even with his baby on the way. But he deserved to know he was going to be a father, regardless of the current state of their relationship.
With cold fingers, she dialled the familiar number for Bass Industries, knowing his assistant would answer. She'd never cared for Frank Green; he was a weaselly little brownnoser, hired by Chucks uncle Jack, he treated her more as an annoyance than as the wife of the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company and his boss.
After only one ring, Frank's squeaky, singsong voice came over the line. "Bass industries, Charles Bass' office. How may I help you?"
"It's Blair'" she said bluntly - he knew full well who she was. He was probably privy to more details about her marriage and subsequent devoice than he deserved to be. "I need to speak with Chuck."
"I'm sorry, Miss Waldorf, Mr. Bass isn't available."
His use of her maiden name - not to mention calling her Miss - struck Blair's heart like the tip of a knife. No doubt he'd done it deliberately.
"It's important," she said, not bothering to correct or argue with him. She'd done that enough in the past, she didn't have to care anymore.
"I'm sorry," he told her again, "but Mr. Bass has instructed me to tell you that there's nothing you could possible have to say to him that he wants to hear. Good day."
And with that the line went dead, leaving Blair steaming. If hearing herself called Miss Waldorf rather then Mrs Bass felt like a knife tip being inserted into her heart, then hearing that Chuck wouldn't even speak with her thrust the blade the rest of the way in and twisted it sharply.
She'd known Chuck was angry with her, knew they'd parted on less then friendly terms. But never in a million years would she have expected him to cut her off so callously.
He'd loved her once, hand't he? She'd certainly loved him. And yet they'd come to this - virtual strangers who couldn't even speak a civil word to one another.
But that answered the question of what she was going to be; a single mother, and without Chuck's support she would need to find a way to take care of herself and her baby - and she'd better do it fast.