Chapter Nine
The next morning, just as Blaine had promised himself and to distract from the constant dreams of his perfect man and the reality of last night at the theatre, he stood before his uncle's wardrobe ready to go through whatever was inside. He held a black bin bag ready to place things inside to take to a charity shop. He doubted he would want anything that was inside. It probably wouldn't fit anyhow.
Opening the doors with a flourish Blaine saw a whole mish mash of colourful yet tasteful shirts, waistcoats and trousers, surprised to see that they were all very well made. Things he wouldn't actually mind wearing, if they fit him that was. He looked on the label inside one of the shirts, which read 'Hummels'. It wasn't a designer that Blaine was familiar with but then he had lived in the sticks of Alabama his whole life. What did he know about fashion? Very little was the answer. He skimmed through the rack and noticed that a lot of the clothes had this label inside before it dawned on him. His uncle had owned a whole load of clothes shops. Perhaps 'Hummels' was the chain. They looked surprisingly good. Blaine was itching to try them on. He heaped a few bits and pieces that he knew he definitely wouldn't wear even if his life depended on it and decided to look through the other side of the wardrobe first before trying anything on.
When he opened it however he was shocked to say the least. It was not what he had been expecting at all. It was full of beautifully made dresses of varying colours and trends. He had suspected his uncle had been gay from the letter he had given him but this... This was more than Blaine had foreseen. Not that he was uncomfortable with it. Why should he be? It was just surprising was all. His uncle had been a transvestite. He fingered the gowns and wondered whether he should ask his mother whether she wanted any. But then they weren't really her style. It seemed such a shame to give them all to charity though. He looked inside and was not in the least surprised when all of them had the 'Hummels' label inside. Whoever this 'Hummel' was he had made all of his uncle's female outfits for him.
Blaine, now extremely curious about this chain of clothing stores, decided he needed to speak to his new lawyer about what exactly he owned and whereabouts they were in New York itself. He went downstairs and found the phone number of Mr Levenstein to get in contact with him. Once he had gotten through to the secretary and explained to her what he wanted he was put on hold waiting for his new lawyer. He hummed along to the music that was playing when suddenly he heard Mr Levenstein calling out over the phone.
"Hello? Mr Anderson? What can I do for you today?" He called out nervously, concern lacing his voice. He was clearly feeling that his services to Blaine were not quite safe yet. The fact the Blaine didn't know the first thing about law didn't seem to cross this man's mind and that Blaine might need him in order to deal with this new change in his life.
"Hey, um, I was just wondering if I could get the address of one of these clothing stores that my uncle owned. I'm just curious about the business is all."
"Oh, well, um, yes of course. I can do that. Just wait for a moment whilst I find the main store's address." Blaine heard rustling in the background of a whole load of papers and he smiled. It sounded like his lawyer would never change.
"Ah, here it is. Have you got a pen handy?" Blaine confirmed that he did indeed have a pen at hand and took down the address as he was given it, thanking Mr Levenstein after and making his goodbyes.
He looked down at the address. "Well, no time like the present." He said to himself, placing the address in his pocket and getting his coat.
Getting out of the cab Blaine glanced up at the three story building with baited breath. It looked amazing from the outside. Just the right amount of the old meets the new with its historical brickwork alongside the full length modern windows and the clothes dummies sporting what looked like incredibly fashionable merchandise. This was it. 'Hummels' clothes shop and the head store no less. Taking a deep breath in he pushed the door open and entered the minimalist, very vogue shop with small amounts of clothing on the racks but probably at very high prices. There was one shop assistant at the counter, her raven coloured hair scraped back into a high pony and looking at him questioningly as though they didn't get many people like him inside the shop. Well, they probably didn't.
Blaine was a big believer in not beating around the bush and so went directly to the sales lady, who arched her brow expectantly at him as she carried on flicking through the magazine in front of her. "Can I help you?" She inquired pointedly, looking him up and down, a slight look of disgust on her face.
"Um yes, Is the manager around at all, I'd like to speak to them if that's not too much trouble?" Blaine politely smiled at the girl who sighed as though it were so much hassle to move from the spot she was standing in. Sashaying in what looked like very tall heels coupled with a very tight fitting dress that left nothing to the imagination, she pushed open the staff door and went through. Blaine glanced around as he waited for whoever it was that ran this place. The clothing looked expertly handmade quality items and now that Blaine was a millionaire maybe, just maybe, he might look into buying a few items from this store. After all he did own it. He tapped his fingers on the counter to the tune he had heard earlier that day, humming along under his breath with his back to the staff door when he was interrupted out of his reverie.
"You wanted to see me?" A melodic voice rang out and Blaine turned, his jaw almost hitting the floor as a pair of ocean coloured eyes looked back into his own...