From: Maya P.
Subject: re: re: interview today
Mackenzie I am so sorry to spring this on you but I can't keep it in I should have told you today. My last name is Peron, not Porter. I know this is crazy but I think you're my sister.
"Mackenzie, are you okay?"
Mackenzie kept reading the email again and again and again. Her breath picked up and her chest started to tighten as she sat there. She did her best to take slow breaths but it felt like her lungs were shrinking.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stand up on the small fire escape.
"Mackenzie?" She heard Carter repeat her name. She felt him stand as she stood.
"Sorry. Uhm. I have an anxiety disorder and I think you're about to witness me having a panic attack…" she said quietly, clutching her chest.
You're not going to die. You're not going to die. It's okay. It's okay. Call Nate! Please call Nate. He can help. This is not the end of the world.
"Oh." She could hear Carter's confused response. She shuffled past him and climbed back into Viv's tiny second bedroom. Her chest was heaving up and down as she stood.
It was funny to her, in a way. Panic attacks used to feel so familiar and now the waves of fear rolling through her body were so foreign. Her hands were shaking and her knees started to buckle.
She didn't hear Carter follow her inside but she felt his arms grab her as she started to collapse.
"Mackenzie, what can I do to help?" His voice sounded far away even if he was right behind her. He helped her sit down on a small desk chair in the corner.
She slumped forward in the chair and tried to take slow breaths. Carter stood beside her. He was still talking but she couldn't hear a thing he said.
"Carter," she sat up slowly, eyes squeezed shut. She was trying not to cry but it was useless at that point. "Can you… I need you to press down on my shoulders."
"What?"
She shifted in the chair slightly so her back was towards him. "Just…" She grabbed at her shoulder. "Pressure."
"Sure, whatever you need," he replied, taking a step towards her. After a pause she felt his hands grip her shoulders near the base of her neck. He pushed down gently as she inhaled and exhaled.
You're going to be okay. You are alive. You are alive. Just breathe Mackenzie. Just breathe.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there trying to regain her composure and stop crying but Carter didn't say anything else or walk away from her. In those moments, she was surprisingly grateful she didn't have to go through this attack alone.
Her breathing eventually returned to normal and she opened her eyes.
"Thank you," she mumbled out, wiping away the leftover tears on her face. "There's just a strange pressure point there and…" She trailed off. Why did she always feel embarrassed after this happened?
"No problem," Carter replied to her. His hand stayed on her shoulders, releasing the pressure he was applying and starting to rub her shoulders instead. "Does this happen a lot?"
She was going to shake Carter off, but admittedly his touch was helpful, in a way. She shook her head. "Not anymore. I can manage my anxiety a lot better nowadays. Yet extreme moments of stress can really set me off still. Maybe it was the alcohol and weed and-
"Potential life changing news?"
Mackenzie sighed. "Yeah. That. Fuck."
Carter moved his hands off her shoulders and took a few steps, leaning against the desk across from her. "Forgive me if I'm wrong here but didn't your family already do this? Some brother that came out of nowhere?"
She nodded. "Yes. But this is a whole different complicated thing." She stopped herself. "Because if Rufus isn't my dad, Scott isn't even my brother anymore. I just… this is too much. I've gotta go." She stood up off the chair and paused to gain her footing. Between the intoxication from the wine and the leftover feelings from her high, mixed in with the overwhelming exhaustion from her panic attack, her head was a mess.
"Listen, I feel like you shouldn't be alone right now," Carter said as he stood up, following her out of the room.
"I'm fine," Mackenzie replied as she started to gather her things in the living room. Faint laughter was coming from the other end of the hall in Viv's bedroom. Post-sex contentment or something.
"I'm fine." Mackenzie repeated, using the wall to brace herself as she tried to get her boots on.
"You're gonna pass out on the subway to Brooklyn," Carter replied to her knowingly, rolling his eyes. "Or fall down the stairs." She watched as he put his own coat on. "You're taking a cab."
She was annoyed at his demanding voice, even if he was just trying to be kind. In the past a panic attack would sober her up, but she was still feeling the effects of the night. She longed for her bed and Nate's comforting arms around her.
They were standing outside a few minutes later.
Mackenzie tried to call Nate but it rang and rang and eventually went to his voicemail. She sent him a text that she was going home and that she would really like his company. She didn't want to scare him. But she really needed him.
Carter waved down a cab as they stood at the curb and opened the door as he motioned for Mackenzie to climb in.
"Carter, this whole night, this news and that email, it's not gossip. Please don't tell Drew or Viv or anyone. Please."
Carter reached out and put a hand on her shoulder before she got into the car. "I won't say a word, Mackenzie. Just be careful, okay? Shit like this can really tear people apart."
Mackenzie sighed. "Thank you."
"Text me when you get home, Humphrey," Carter said as he closed the door behind her.
Mackenzie started to cry again as they drove away. She saw a text come in from Nate saying he'd come by the loft when his night wrapped up.
She wasn't sure how she was about to deal with everything, but at least she had Nate to help her through it. And she had been surprised by how Carter had helped her as she broke down earlier. If anything, his kindness just made everything even more of a mess.
"You know, I still can't believe I left the office for twenty goddamn minutes and that story broke while my chiropractor was adjusting my back," Leo lamented to Nate as they drank their beer. The late night office staff had all gathered at a bar down from The Spectator office for a nightcap after their busy evening. The two were sitting at a tall table near the bar while most of their younger staff played pool or foosball across the bar.
"Hey, we managed," Nate replied to him, putting his hand on Leo's shoulder. "I can't believe how much of a blur this night has been."
Nate was feeling an immense swell of pride for how hard his team has worked over the last six hours. Scandal in politics wasn't uncommon - but secrets spilling about a high profile candidate like this were traffic fuel for their website and they stayed on top of every new headline all night long.
"Remember: it's just gonna get worse this week, man," Leo responded, a cheeky grin on his face.
Nate laughed and rolled his eyes, reaching to loosen his tie. "Yeah, yeah. We do this because we like it, right?"
"Something like that," Leo said with a chuckle, clinking his beer bottle with Nate's. "Is Mackenzie coming by?"
Nate shook his head. "She went home to Brooklyn."
"How are things going with you two anyway? Enough shop talk."
"So you want to discuss my love life instead?"
Leo shrugged. "Better than talking about mine. Or lack thereof. You have it easy, Nate. You and Mackenzie started this so long ago - it's not like you had to date around to find her either. I'm sick of apps and awkward first dates."
"You're also a workaholic," Nate pointed out. "I've seen you bail on dates because of breaking news."
"You're my boss, don't you want that? Also, you've been working over 60 hours a week, too." Leo ran a hand through his hair, tilting his head. "Plus, Mr. Mayor. Your life this time next year is going to be wild."
The conversation steered towards Nate's campaign instead of work and their love lives. Nate tried not to talk about his candidacy at work, especially to make sure he remained focused on one thing at a time. Nate Archibald, a citizen of New York was planning to run for mayor, not Nate Archibald, editor in chief for The Spectator. He had to keep the line drawn so there wouldn't be any issues during his campaign.
By the end of their night, just Leo, Nate and a handful of their staff remained. Nate made a point of telling them they were to take it easy and not come into the office on Saturday and he covered the tab for the night.
"Wanna share a cab?" Leo asked Nate as they stood outside.
"I'm going to Brooklyn, actually," Nate replied to him, raising his hand to wave down a nearby car.
"Hey, do you mind if I jump in with you?" Nate turned his head to see Taylor Wheeler beside him. The other remaining staff were heading down the street to carry on their night. "I'm just in Clifton Hill. If that's not too weird or anything."
Nate shrugged and motioned to the cab. "Sure." He waved to Leo as he climbed in after her.
"So what's in Brooklyn?" Taylor turned to Nate, a polite smile on her face. Nate had gotten to know the research staff a lot better this week and Taylor in particular had proved to be a huge asset to their team. She had a great attention to detail and was always one of the last to leave the office. She got along well with the staff, too. She was young, raucous and a team player.
"My girlfriend lives in the DUMBO area," Nate replied to her, typing out a message to Mack on his phone.
"Ahhh, gotcha, booty call," Taylor replied to him with a laugh. Her face dropped. "Sorry. That was inappropriate. That was the vodka talking." She ran a hand through her messy blonde hair, flushing with embarrassment.
Nate let out a laugh. "It's okay. I may be your boss but I'm still a regular guy who can take a joke."
Taylor smiled and continued. "Your girlfriend went to Columbia too, you said?"
"Yeah, she did her Masters there a few years ago."
"So that's where you met?"
Nate tilted his head, smirking. "No. She's one of my best friend's sisters, actually."
Taylor's mouth opened wide. "Doesn't that cross some sort of line? Bro code?"
Nate shrugged. "It was a line worth crossing."
Their conversation transformed into Taylor's move to New York instead of continuing on about Nate's romantic life and he was grateful for it.
"Thanks Nate," Taylor said to him as the taxi pulled up at her apartment. "For the drive and for letting me be part of this team. I have to admit I was pretty nervous diving into the New York team."
"Well, you're doing great, Taylor. I'll see you at the office."
She gave him another smile and hesitated, as if she had something else to say. Then she just turned and opened her door, waving as she headed into her building.
Nate headed up to the loft and grew concerned when he realized the door was unlocked. Mackenzie had been home for a few hours now and it was out of character for her to forget to lock the door behind her. He pushed the door open and started to worry when he looked around the room. There were stacks of paper strewn around the island and a stack of boxes spilled in front of the couch.
"Mackenzie?" He called out her name as he hurried into the loft, pushing open the door to her room. Her bed was unoccupied and there were things scattered around the floor. He grabbed his phone from his pocket in case he needed to call the police about another break in. He rushed over to Dan's old room next and found Mackenzie crashed on the bed, piles of papers around her.
"Mack!" He crouched in front of her on the bed and shook her awake. She groaned as she stirred, slowly opening her eyes.
"Hi," she croaked out, her mouth turning into a yawn. "What time is it?"
"Past two," Nate replied. "What's going on? Was there another break in? Are you okay?"
Mackenzie shook her head as she sat up. She moved the pile of papers and Nate took a seat beside her.
"Mack, what's going on?"
She let out a breath. "I really don't want to add any stress to your life with my issues, Nate."
"How many times do we need to go over this? Anything you're going through we can handle together. Don't worry about my stress."
Mackenzie hesitated then sighed. "There was no break in. This was all me."
"Why? What happened?"
"I had that interview today, with the student from NYU?"
Nate nodded. "Yeah I remember. You said it went well, right?"
"Well, she emailed me tonight. Late. And I was wine drunk and kind of high and-
"High?" Nate raised an eyebrow at her. That was out of character, too. Not that they didn't partake in it before, but he knew she didn't smoke often.
"Yeah. Drew and Carter showed up at Viv's and -
"What? Carter - why?"
"Because Viv and Drew are sleeping together, even though Drew has a girlfriend and -
Nate shook his head as he tried to follow her story.
"Carter and I were talking and he had some weed so -
"You got high with Carter Baizen?"
"Well, Viv and Drew were having sex so…" She closed her eyes. "Anyway, long story short," Mackenzie paused. Nate let out a long breath. "This girl, this student, Maya Porter or whatever. She sends me this email that says…" Mack trailed off, trying to catch her breath. "Nate, she said she thinks she's my sister."
Nate's eyes shot open. "Wait, what? Are you serious?"
Mackenzie closed her eyes and nodded, grabbing her phone to show Nate the email. He shook his head as he looked up at her. "Peron?"
"My mom's old studio manager. Luc Peron." Mackenzie replied quietly. "Rufus always thought my mom had an affair and maybe she did, I don't know. I just can't wrap my head around this."
"Mack, I don't know what to say." He put down her phone and grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?"
"No. I just feel crazy. Which is why I came home and tore this whole place apart looking for…" She trailed off, letting out a yawn.
"For what?"
"That stupid paternity test my dad took. Even though it's burned in my brain."
Nate just nodded. He had no clue what to think. And if he was that lost for words and feelings, he couldn't even imagine what Mackenzie was going through.
"Hey," Nate squeezed her hand and stood up, encouraging her to stand too. "Let's go lay in bed, okay? I think maybe your mind needs a break."
Mackenzie wanted to protest. She wanted to just make coffee and keep digging for more information. But she knew Nate wouldn't let her and she knew she needed sleep. At least he would be at her side.
Soon enough, Mackenzie was cuddling up beside Nate in her bed. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beats. She held onto him tightly as his arms wrapped around her.
Nate leaned over and kissed the top of her head. His mind was racing with questions and concerns, but at least for the time being, they had this peaceful moment together.
Mackenzie woke up in the morning to Nate climbing out of the bed to answer his phone. He slipped out of her room to talk and closed the doors. She could still make out most of what he was saying.
"Hey, thanks for getting back to me, Leo. Listen, I know we had a late night but do you think you could go to that sustainability summit thing or whatever on my behalf today? I just don't think I'll be able to make it." He paused. "Yeah, everything is fine. I just need the day...I really appreciate it."
As Nate came back into the room, Mackenzie propped herself up on one arm and opened her eyes. "Hey, please don't tell me you just cancelled something because of me."
Nate's mouth turned into a small smile as he climbed back into the bed beside her. "I didn't cancel anything. I'm allowed to move my schedule around if I think something else deserves my attention and care. Or someone else, rather."
Mackenzie fell back down onto the bed and pulled the blanket up over her face. "Well, you may as well just uncancel because I'm just planning on hiding under here for the rest of my life."
Nate shuffled down on the bed and pulled the blanket over his own head, too. He leaned in close to her. "Then, this is where we live now. I hope Max can move in, too."
Mackenzie couldn't help but smile at his gesture. She pulled the blanket away from their faces, throwing it down the bed. "Nate. I don't even know where to start with this whole mess."
Nate sighed. "Honestly Mack, I don't know either." He reached his hand down to grab hers, gripping it tightly. "So, we'll try to work through it together." He released her hand then leaned over and kissed her. "I'll make us breakfast."
Mackenzie had a long hot shower while Nate worked in the kitchen. Truthfully, she felt like shit. Her body was aching and her head throbbed. The shower did help her feel refreshed but every time her brain flashed back to her interview with Maya the day before, things felt worse again.
It was hard for her not to lean into the idea. Maybe this girl was her sister. Her mom never would admit whether or not she actually slept with Luc. It was hard enough to Mackenzie to bring up with her mom and now, she may never know the honest truth.
Alison used to go on and on about how her relationship with Luc had been so complicated. That he helped her in a way she couldn't explain. That Luc had been a support system while Alison raised her son alone - while her rockstar husband toured the country and she changed diapers, hardly slept and let her art and passion fall to the side.
Mackenzie never understood it. And maybe that was just the way it was supposed to be. But growing up, she remembered her parents always coming back to the same argument about those early years with the kids.
Dan, Mackenzie and Jenny weren't immune to feeling the effects.
On one side was their mom's argument that Rufus wasn't present and didn't help her when she needed it. He chose music over his family.
But of course, their dad just fought back, claiming she didn't try hard enough. That she wasn't honest or didn't speak her feelings. That she chose to run to the arms of another man for emotional support instead of telling him the truth.
Most of the time, they made it through. But the cracks began to show and when they finally divorced, there wasn't much surprise. Mackenzie choosing Hudson and her mother was surprising.
In retrospect, maybe putting more space between herself and her dad never helped the situation.
After her shower and changing into some comfortable clothes, Mackenzie joined Nate at the table where he had put together plates of fruit and scrambled eggs and toast.
"You know, you could have just put some Eggos in the toaster," Mackenzie joked as she took a seat across from him, reaching for her cup of coffee.
"I'm perfectly capable of cooking eggs," Nate replied, a fake offended look on his face. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
Nate hesitated, as if he was trying to find the correct words. "Do you think this is possible? That your mom did actually sleep with this guy?"
Mackenzie hated this part of the whole mess - reminding herself that both her parents were flawed, both were humans who made mistakes.
After spending nearly a year in Australia, Mackenzie was still struggling with the heat and humidity of New York summers. It was the middle of August and their house in Hudson didn't have air conditioning. It was the biggest downside of the cute little brownstone Alison had invested in years ago. Even though Alex said they could get central air installed, it never happened.
In her year away, Mackenzie's room hadn't changed much. Alison kept some art supplies in there and considered it a guest room. Jenny's room, on the other hand, had transformed into an office.
On that particular hot summer day, Mackenzie was searching for a copy of her high school transcript.
She scanned over the paperwork from Northeastern about preparing for her orientation and first year, she sighed. She walked into the kitchen where Alison was sitting sipping on her morning coffee.
Mackenzie leaned against the counter, grabbing a few grapes from her mom's plate. "So where on earth do you think you filed away all my paperwork from school?"
"Probably the desk drawers in Jen's room," Alison replied to her daughter. "I kind of use that as a catch all for old paperwork and documents."
"Got it." Mackenzie zipped out of the kitchen and headed upstairs. The yellow hues of the walls in Jenny's old room always lifted her spirits. She was proud of her sister for bounding off to London for school but she missed her.
Mackenzie sat down at the desk and went through the drawers slowly, sifting through old bank statements and set lists. In the bottom drawer she finally found all her graduation paperwork from high school.
For some reason, she kept digging through the drawer. Tucked in the back, she found a large brown envelope, tied closing with some twine. Her curiosity got the best of her - even if she would soon regret it.
That's when she found it. A handwritten letter from Rufus, dated nearly nine years ago. Mackenzie's heart started to race as she dumped out of the rest of the paperwork in the oversized envelope.
Documentation from a paternity test - with her name on it. And her father's. Her chest started to heave as she processed it. Why on Earth would her father have requested a paternity test after all that time? And how did it happen without her consent?
She screamed for her mother as she started to hyperventilate. This couldn't be real. How was this happening?
Mackenzie would always remember the look on her mother's face when she realized what was happening.
"Honey, you don't understand."
"Then help me understand, mom! Did you actually cheat on dad?"
"That's a complicated question, Mackenzie. My friendship with Luc is special. He really supported me during a time when -
"Did you sleep with him?! Please. Why would dad think this was necessary? Why?!"
Mackenzie swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't want to admit it. But yes…
"It's possible. I mean, considering she could never tell me a certain no…
Nate nodded. "I guess the first thing you need to do is see where this is coming from? Like where did this girl get this idea? How did she find you?"
Mackenzie nodded along with him. "I've been trying to figure that out too." She paused. "Is it strange that there's a tiny part of me that wants to just ignore her email forever and ever?"
"No, that's not strange at all." Nate reached out and grabbed her hand across the table. "But you and I both know you won't be able to do that."
Her lips turned into a small smile. "You're right. I guess I should just talk to her before I spiral."
"Before?" Nate smirked at her, motioning around the apartment.
"Rude," Mackenzie rolled her eyes at him with a smile. "I was not in sound mind last night."
"Speaking of last night - are we going to talk about that?"
Mackenzie took a few bites of her breakfast and sighed. She wanted to avoid this inevitable conversation. "As long as we both agree to be civil."
Nate sighed. "I just didn't realize Carter Baizen was still a part of your life."
"Well, you make it sound like he's my best friend or something," Mackenzie responded, taking a drink from her mug. "He's good friends with Drew and they seem to come as a pair."
Nate opened his mouth to respond but stopped himself.
"Nate, you can speak freely to me," Mackenzie said, watching him think.
"Okay. If I'm allowed to be honest here, there are two things I don't like about this."
Mackenzie motioned for him to continue.
"I don't like you hanging out with Carter, especially doing drugs with him. And I don't like you spending time with people who are actively cheating on their partners."
Right. You definitely spilled that out about Viv and Drew, idiot.
Mackenzie sighed. "Listen, I don't like what Viv and Drew are doing either. But they're my friends so I feel like I'm in an uncomfortable position."
"Yeah well, how do you think Drew's girlfriend feels."
"Hey," Mackenzie crossed her arms. "I'm not the bad guy here, Nate."
"Well, I'm sorry but to me this is a recipe for disaster. The four of you end up hanging out, Viv and Drew go off so it's just you alone with Baizen. I don't like it."
Mackenzie wanted to argue back with him but she knew it wasn't worth it. "Okay, that's fair. But I'm not seeking the guy out. And truthfully, he's perfectly nice. I can be his friend."
"Yeah well, that's the issue. He's not perfectly nice. There's no way he wants to be just friends."
"Nate, please." Mackenzie let out a frustrated groan. "This doesn't matter to me right now especially. I don't want to sit here and fight about the shit choices my friends are making. Or about Carter Baizen. My brain can't handle fighting with you."
"We're not fighting," Nate defended himself, grabbing their plates and heading towards the sink. "I'm just expressing my concern. Aren't we supposed to be honest?"
Mackenzie stood up and followed him to the kitchen. She snuck her arms around his back as he rinsed off the plates. "Yes. And I understand your concern but if this is because you don't trust me for some reason, I want you to tell me."
Nate turned around and sighed, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I'm sorry, I don't want you to think I don't trust you. Of course I trust you. I guess I just still have some outstanding issues with Carter Baizen that have resurfaced." He took a deep breath then pouted dramatically. "I wanna be the guy who gets high with you, okay?"
"God, you're cute."
Nate leaned down and kissed her.
"That was a very rational adult discussion we just had, you know." Mackenzie continued, smirking. She pulled away from him and sighed as she looked around the apartment. Her reality came crashing back when she remembered what was happening. Somewhere in the loft there had to be Rufus' copy of the paternity test and she wasn't sure if it would help, but she wanted to find it. "Will you help me look for that paperwork?"
"Of course." Nate leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Just remember you aren't alone in this, okay? I'm here however you need me."
"Thank you," she replied, smiling at him. They headed back into the spare room and started shuffling through papers. Mackenzie had pulled a ton of old bankers boxes out of the closet the night before.
"Hey, are you going to tell your dad about this? Or Dan and Jenny?"
Mackenzie sighed. "I don't even know how I would start. I don't think I can even say the words out loud until I talk to Maya. Then I can cross that bridge."
She hadn't even considered how she would be able to bring this up with anyone expect Nate.
God, what could I say to my dad? You were right all along? Our issues that stemmed from nothing actually came from something?
Nate broke her train of thought as he pulled out some paperwork. "Oh my god. Is this one of your old report cards? A+ in math? You little nerd."
Mackenzie rolled her eyes and reached to grab what Nate had pulled out of an old box from the closet. She smiled as she read over the words. "I'm surprised he held onto this."
Sometimes Rufus Humphrey surprised her. And that made the pain she was feeling so much worse.
Nate was sitting at his desk Wednesday evening trying to concentrate on work. Trying but failing.
Mackenzie was going for coffee with Maya Peron that evening and he was waiting to hear back from her about how it was going. He knew she was nervous about it - considering he had talked her through two near panic attacks since the weekend. He wasn't sure what kind of news he wanted through this whole situation but he just wanted peace of mind for her.
He broke from his thoughts when he heard someone knocking at his door. Before he could say anything, the door opened and Chuck and Henry were standing there.
Nate was actually incredibly happy for the visit. He remembered Chuck mentioning he was going to stop by but Henry was a welcome surprise.
"Uncle Nate!" Henry bounded into the office and ran towards Nate, who stood up to scoop him into a hug.
"What's up, little man?" Nate squeezed him and reached to ruffle his hair.
"Daddy took me to his office," Henry said, throwing his hands up in the air. "And let me sit in his chair."
"Wow, lucky," Nate replied, smiling. "Here, you can test mine out, too." Nate let Henry down and spun him around in the chair.
"So, are we prepared for tomorrow?" Chuck asked Nate as they sat down on the couch in Nate's office, letting Henry play at the desk.
"Tomorrow?"
"The election?" Chuck raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Your entire office is buzzing unless you've forgotten there will be a slew of new senators by this time tomorrow night?"
Nate sighed. Between the election and helping Mackenzie, the last few days had really been a blur.
"Right, yeah. Sorry. I'm just pretty wiped after these last few weeks."
"What's going on?" Chuck pressed. "I was at a donation event for the foundation today and Mackenzie was just as distracted as you."
"It's just work stress," Nate shrugged. He didn't want to get into it.
"Listen, Miss Humphrey said the same thing. But as Blair has always pointed out, you're a terrible liar, Nathaniel."
Nate hesitated. Talking about Mackenzie's personal life was not something he wanted to do. But he knew Chuck had dealt with similar family drama before. Maybe he had insight or advice.
"Okay, you can't tell Blair about this. Seriously."
"You think I can't keep a secret?"
Nate lowered his voice. "This girl came out of nowhere and reached out to Mackenzie last week - claiming to be her sister."
Chick narrowed his eyes. "Another Rufus Humphrey love child?"
"No, more complicated than that." Nate explained it all briefly to Chuck.
"I see why she's out of sorts. You know, i still have a P.I. on retainer if this gets messy."
Nate sighed. "I've been thinking about that too. Mack's meeting this girl again tonight so we'll see how it goes."
"No one else knows about this?" Chuck asked. He turned his attention away to watch Henry sitting at the desk, grabbing for a baseball sitting near Nate's computer. "Henry, you should ask before you touch."
"Here," Nate stood up and grabbed some blank paper from his drawer. "Can you draw a picture for Kenzie? I think she'd appreciate it." He took a few markers out of his desk and left Henry to happily scribble.
"No," Nate continued as he sat on the couch again. "No one else knows."
Chuck just nodded. "Well, if you need any of my help, say the word."
"Thanks, man."
"Oh and Blair wants to have dinner with everyone next week. For her birthday."
"We'll be there," Nate nodded.
"I had the pleasure of seeing Carter Baizen today," Chuck continued, glancing down at his phone then back to Henry.
"Oh, how lucky for you."
"The foundation made a contribution to a charity his sister Caroline works with. Which admittedly is a wonderful cause and goes to show that entire family isn't lacking kindness." Chuck paused. "Is Mackenzie friends with the guy?"
"Something like that," Nate replied. He didn't like how their conversation had ended about Carter.
"I witnessed them talking today, nothing out of the ordinary but it was awfully friendly."
Nate sighed and leaned back on the couch. "I get these horrible flashbacks whenever she mentions him. I know he was helping Serena find her dad but I never liked their relationship. Yet, Mackenzie claims he is perfectly nice." He paused. "My gut just still gives me a bad feeling about him."
"People do change." Chuck hesitated. "Although I've always found Baizen to be a snake."
"Honestly I'd rather she not talk to him at all but everytime I think about asking that I stop myself. That would just start a fight neither of us want."
"You're a smart man, Nathaniel. And of course you know her better than me, but I take Mackenzie as the type who sees the best in people. Or she's blind to her appeal."
Nate sighed. That was part of the problem.
"Well, regardless of all that. The real reason we dropped by." Chuck smiled at Nate. "I ran into David Rockefeller this morning. He mentioned you by name, Nathaniel."
"Really?" Everyone knew the Rockefeller family. The oldest royalty in New York - the influence of their family was well known in the most elite circles. "He and my grandfather haven't always seen eye to eye."
"Well, I think that's more of a William Vanderbilt problem. He was incredibly interested in speaking more about your mayoral run and said he'd be in touch soon."
Nate raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but smile. "Really? That's incredible." Both the Vanderbilt and Rockefellers had deep history in the politics of New York. Over the years, their relationships had fallen away over petty conflicts and dramatics but Nate was willing to help repair some of that history. He had grown up alongside David's granddaughters - their schooling overlapped and they had most recently attended highschool together. "You know, I haven't seen Odette in ages."
"Blair had lunch with her a few months ago. Apparently HBO has been asking her to do her own reality show."
Nate couldn't help but laugh. "And I'm sure Odette politely told them off." Chuck just smirked at him, nodding in agreement.
Nate's phone started to buzz a few moments later. It was Mackenzie.
Despite having an incredibly busy work day, Mackenzie felt like her Wednesday had dragged on. All day she could only think about one thing - she might be meeting her sister that night.
Well, sort of.
Sure, she had already sat down and had a thorough discussion with Maya Porter, the NYU student. But now after work she was meeting Maya Peron.
Mackenzie headed towards the village after work, agreeing to meet Maya at a little coffee shop. She looked around as she headed inside and was relieved to know she had arrived first. She ordered a latte and tucked into a booth at the back.
She texted Nate while she waited: 'Okay this is happening. Pray for me!'
He replied not long after. 'It's gonna be okay. Text me if you need an emergency phone call to get you out of there early'
Mackenzie took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.
She scanned through her work emails and paused when she saw a Thank You message from Caroline Baizen-Shaw, expressing her gratitude for the donation to Hope Harvest. They had made the donation and visited their warehouse for a photo earlier that afternoon. It was the best part of the job for Mackenzie - seeing how the foundation can help people on the ground level.
Carter had been in attendance for the event, too.
"Hey Humphrey, how are you holding up?" Mackenzie turned her attention to Carter as the small event was wrapping up. Chuck was across the building getting a tour from the Hope Harvest volunteers.
"I'm still standing," Mackenzie replied, sighing. She looked around for a moment then lowered her voice. "I'm meeting her after work today."
Carter tilted his head, nodding. "I'd offer you some advice but I have no idea what you're dealing with."
She smiled. "Well, thanks for nothing, Baizen."
He reached out and put his hand on her arm for a brief moment. "Good luck."
Mackenzie was trying to keep her friendship with Carter at bay, for the sake of her relationship with Nate and to stop condoning what Viv and Drew were doing. Nate's comment about considering it from Drew's girlfriends point of view made her feel worse about the whole thing and she didn't have the capacity to waste her energy on it currently.
"Mackenzie?"
She looked up to see Maya standing in front of her, hands gripped on her backpack. Suddenly, she looked so young. Mackenzie couldn't help by analyzing the girl: frizzy brown hair, anxious eyes, round face, tall long legs.
"Maya, hi," Mackenzie replied quickly, motioning for her to sit.
"Thank you for meeting me," Maya started, letting out a breath. "I've been really wrestling over this for months. I don't even know where to start."
Mackenzie opened her mouth to reply but didn't know what to say. She didn't know where to start either.
"I know this is a lot, but…" Maya launched into her story right away. Mackenzie just listened as she talked: she was just 19 years old, she grew up in the Albany area, she was an only child. Her parents were split up and she spent most of her life growing up with her mom.
"The thing is, well, my dad died a few months ago. Stage 4 pancreatic cancer." Mackenzie felt her heart drop when she heard those words. Not only was Luc Peron potentially her biological father, but she wouldn't even get the chance to speak to him if it was true?
"I'm so sorry," she sputtered out, taking a few deep breaths.
"Thanks. It's strange - we spent more time together in his last few months than we have the last few years. We weren't that close but… it's been a big change." Maya paused. "When I was cleaning out his apartment, I found these."
Maya reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of half a dozen envelopes. Letters.
"There is one from your mom," Maya said slowly. "Then a bunch from my dad that he never sent." She offered them to Mackenzie who flipped through them quickly. She opened the one her mom sent.
Even seeing her mom's handwriting sent a wave of sadness through every inch of her body. She scanned the letter quickly.
...beautiful girl… I can't wait for you to meet her… I'll always be so grateful to have had you in my life, Luc …
A baby picture of Mackenzie was tucked into the envelope too.
"Mackenzie, I'm sorry this is a lot to take in. If you want to hold onto those, feel free. I really don't have much to say about my dad but I just wanted to at least make this connection and meet you. I've always wanted a sister and -
"Maya, I'm sorry. But this letter doesn't really mean anything. My dad did a paternity test years ago. It tore our family apart but it showed he was my dad, genetically."
"Those tests aren't always accurate."
Mackenzie shook her head.
"Mackenzie, please. My dad must have held onto these for a reason! He thought you were his all along and your mom wouldn't let him -
"Please don't mention my mom in this. Please." Mackenzie took a deep breath and shook her head again.
"Is there really something so wrong with the fact that I could be your sister?"
Mackenzie's eyes shot open and she stood up quickly. "I know you're dealing with a lot after your dad's death, but this changes my life, too, Maya. We don't know each other, okay? You couldn't have expected me to just go along with this and believe you and walk out of here arm in arm smiling." Her tone was sharp and she could tell her words were hurting the young girl. But she couldn't find it in her to care.
Maya just purses her lips and stood up, too. "Just read these, okay? Please. You know how to get a hold of me." She left the letters on the table and hurried out of the cafe.
Mackenzie sat back down at the table and tried not to cry. She wasn't sure how this was supposed to go but she felt like she could have tried to handle it better.
What did she expect? What am I supposed to do?
At least the worst of it was over. Or so she hoped. Mackenzie grabbed her phone and called Nate.
"Hey, how did it go?"
Mackenzie sighed. "Not great. It just made everything more of a mess. I'm just heading home and -
"I'm sending John to pick you up. Henry is here with Chuck and is asking about you. Then we can talk about all this, okay?"
Mackenzie paused. She didn't really want to be social but she couldn't deny seeing little Henry.
John was prompt to pick her up and soon enough she was heading into Nate's office, happily greeted by Henry holding a scribbled picture he had drawn for her. Nate and Chuck were sitting at the table in the corner.
"Thanks Hen," she said to him as she crouched down to hug him. "This is just what I needed."
"How's your thumb?" Henry asked next, grabbing for her hands.
"I have a scar now," Mackenzie said to him, showing her thumb to him.
"Cool!"
"We still have to be careful with sharp things, right son? Even if they leave interesting scars."
Mackenzie stood up and rolled her eyes at Chuck's comment as she sat down with the two. Henry joined them by climbing on Chuck's lap.
"So, how's the new sis?" Chuck asked, tilting his head.
"You told him?" Mackenzie shot a look at Nate.
"Sorry, I'm just worried about the whole thing," Nate replied, reaching out to grab her hand.
"I won't say anything." Chuck paused. "So tell us, how did it go."
Mackenzie sighed. She knew Nate had good intentions but she preferred to be in control of sensitive information that relates to her life. She briefly explained the whole meeting and pulled the letters out of her purse.
"We searched the entire loft and couldn't find the first paternity test. And since Luc passed away, maybe we'll never really have an answer."
Nate and Chuck looked over the letters for a few moments. They both seemed stumped.
"Wait. Jenny had that genetic testing done a while ago, right?" Nate asked, turning to Mackenzie.
She nodded.
"Well, wouldn't that tell us something? If you had it done? Wouldn't some of your DNA match?"
"Siblings do share a substantial amount of genetic information," Chuck added in.
Mackenzie paused. That plan actually made some sense. And it would at least give her some peace of mind until she found the paternity test.
"Okay. Well, I guess I'm making an appointment with a geneticist then."
Pushing your feelings away can only lead to eruption, you know.
A/N: Hey folks! Usually these notes are up top, but I moved them down today. Thanks for reading chapter 12! Chapter twelve, I can't even believe it. We are moving along and things are about to get even juicier.
Thank you to everyone who has read so far! Special thanks to Evenlight, Gingerandspice1 and geminibbyy.
If you're reading geminibbyy's gilded, you may have caught my little Easter egg in this chapter. If you aren't reading it, well, get on it, people!
Our next chapter is underway. Stay tuned for some romance and some drama, what else can we expect on the Upper East Side?