Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the CI characters
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. I'll probably send out the next chapter this week. Vacation! Thank God.
Tough Love
Chapter 8- The Moment of Truth In Her Lies
Summary: Kathryn tells Sebastian about Annette and it doesn't go as planned. Annette tells Kathryn what she wants to know, and what she doesn't expect.
Kathryn's POV
"Do we have an understanding Kathryn?" Annette looked over at me with a gloating grin.
I nodded in agreement and sighed. "Yes, I'll stay away from Sebastian from now on."
She smiled as I answered. "Good. Now I have a charming young man waiting for me. Good day Kathryn." She walked to the door and turned to look at me again before leaving.
I walked over to a chair and sat down. I covered my face with my hands, and for the first time in a year and a half. I cried.
~Flashback~
Kathryn and Sebastian looked at each other in disbelief. After a moment of silence, Kathryn was the first one to speak.
"Congratulations mother." She said simply. Her mother gave her a sly grin in return. Kathryn looked at Sebastian to follow her lead.
"Yes, congrats dad." Sebastian said sullenly.
He leaned over to Kathryn and whispered. "And I thought this was going to be a nice dinner. Now they've gone and ruined it." Kathryn chuckled watching their parents kiss.
"Cheers to that." She said looking back at him.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, Kathryn and Sebastian had their own conversations and were starting to open up to each other. After dessert was eaten, they both stood up to excuse themselves.
"Mother, Sebastian and I have a lot to catch up on, and we are going for a walk." Kathryn said as her mother nodded in agreement looking at Kathryn suspiciously then went back to her conversation.
As they walked down the crowded boulevard, they started to discuss the end of their relationship.
"Why did you do it Kathryn?" Sebastian asked looking her in the eye.
"Because I was angry. I really was in love with you Sebastian and you hurt me. I wanted to pay Aaliyah back for doing that to us." Kathryn said truthfully.
"I'm sorry it all ended that way. I would've loved to have stayed at Manchester for my last year. But things don't always go as planned." He looked back at Kathryn and watched her as she walked beside him.
"I still love you Sebastian, but I was trying to make you jealous. My pride got in the way when I heard that you had returned. I'm sorry." She stopped to look at him as she spoke.
"I love you too Kathryn, but things have always been too complicated for us to be together. I just don't think it would work. We're both seeing other people."
"Don't think Sebastian. They don't need to know. It's just us here and now." Kathryn said as she pulled him to her. "That's all you need to know."
They stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes embraced in a passionate kiss. As they pulled apart, Kathryn smiled up at Sebastian.
"I have a penthouse a few blocks from here. Want to go?" She asked as they started walking again.
"When did you get that?" He looked at her in question.
" A couple months ago when I got my inheritance. Your father was always over and my mother and I were getting in each other's way. So she just suggested that I move out." She said shrugging.
"Let's go."
**
Kathryn woke up smiling. She turned over and kissed Sebastian on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled back at her.
They had been sleeping together for the past few months. Kathryn was still with Court, and Sebastian was still with Annette. Sebastian decided not to go to college, and Kathryn had been accepted to Yale. She decided to wait a year before she started. Their parents had since moved in together and were planning their wedding. Sebastian had gotten his own penthouse when their parents moved in together. Aaliyah had returned and got her own apartment when she learned of the engagement. Strangely, she hadn't contacted Sebastian at all since she returned. Annette and Sebastian were getting closer and Kathryn was planning on blackmailing her into leaving Sebastian.
"I have to meet Annette tonight for dinner. So I guess we can't go out tonight." Sebastian said looking down. He looked over at Kathryn, who rolled her eyes and looked away. "Don't start Kathryn, I really like Annette. She's different and sweet and"
"And everything I'm not. Right? You're just with her because I'm with Court. I don't understand what you see in her." Kathryn said sitting up. She glanced back down at Sebastian.
He got up and yelled in frustration. "Why do we always have this conversation? I'm with Annette, not you Kathryn. I like her and that's it. I think I'm just gonna go home. I'm sick of arguing with you."
"You love her, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Don't lie to me." She said as she stood up to look him in the face.
Sebastian sat back down on the bed and grabbed her arm. She fell down on his lap and he kissed her. "I love you, not her. Okay? Just you. She will never take your place Kathryn."
"Good." She pushed him down on the bed and they continued kissing. He turned them over and got up. "I have to go home. My father's expecting me to be home soon. He wants to have a 'talk'." He said as he got dressed.
"Fine. I'm going shopping. I'll see you later Sebastian." She said as she kissed him on the cheek and walked into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
**
Kathryn walked out of Gucci and put on her sunglasses. She watched as the employees put her bags in the trunk of the limo. She looked up and thought about going to get something to eat. As she checked out the restaurant across the street, she spotted Annette. She was sitting with a brunette outside who had her back to Kathryn. The brunette passed Annette an envelope, and she put it in her bag. They exchanged a few more words, and Annette got up and hailed a taxi. As the taxi drove away, Kathryn began to understand what she saw. As she got in the limo, Kathryn put the petition down between her and her chauffeur.
"Change of plans. Take me to Sebastian's penthouse."
**
Kathryn arrived at Sebastian's penthouse and walked in to find Sebastian sitting at his desk in his bedroom. She cleared her throat and he turned around.
"What's wrong Kathryn?"
"Annette isn't who you think she is Sebastian." She said looking at him as he got up and walked over to her.
"What are you talking about Kathryn?"
"I was shopping and I saw her at the restaurant across the street with some woman who was passing her information. And at the gala when you first arrived in New York, she told me that she was just with you for sex. I know that she's up to something. I just"
"God! When do you give up? I told you that I like her and you just don't want me to have anything to do with her. You're jealous, admit it." He said looking at her shaking his head.
"Fine, I was jealous. But I know she's here for a reason Sebastian. Blaine sent me information on her, and she's not Headmaster Hardgrove's daughter. His daughter drown last year! If you don't believe me, I'll show you." She said pleading with him to believe her.
"Why have you been sneaking around asking Blaine for information? I told you who she was and you didn't believe me."
"I didn't believe her Sebastian. And I was right, she's probably here to keep me away from you." She reached for his hand and he backed away from her.
"I don't believe you. Why do you have to make everything about you? She likes me. This isn't about you Kathryn. I'm sick of your lies." He said as her looked at her in disgust.
"I thought you said she could never take my place?" Kathryn said quietly as she blinked back tears.
"Maybe I lied. Just get out Kathryn. I'm done with the mind games." He said as he walked back to the desk and sat down.
"Fine don't believe me. But don't come crawling back to me when you realize the truth." She said angrily as she walked out the door.
She ran down the stairs and turned the corner to leave, when she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Annette looking back at her.
"I'm onto you Annette. And I promise that you'll get yours in the end." Kathryn said as she walked out the front door.
"I was just about to say the same thing to you, my dear Kathryn." Annette said as she turned to walk up to Sebastian's room.
**
Kathryn was standing at the bar in her room mixing a drink when the buzzer from the front door went off. She walked over to the monitor and pressed the button "Yes?"
"Ms. Merteuil, there's an Annette Hargrove here to see you." The voice answered.
She smiled to herself. "Send her up, I'll be out in a moment."
Annette walked into the front room and Kathryn walked out to meet her. Kathryn sat down on a chaise and looked at her watch. "You have ten minutes imposter. Say what you have to say."
Annette smiled and sat down next to her. She tossed some pictures on Kathryn's lap. "I think I have a little longer Kathryn."
Kathryn's eyes went wide as she looked through them. She looked back up at Annette in shock. Annette stood up and leaned against the wall.
"You know what's terrible Kathryn? When your own mother hates you so much that she doesn't want you to be happy. You see she paid me three quarters of a million dollars to make sure that you don't get back with Sebastian. She said that she was planning on marrying his father and didn't need you to make a mess of things. She didn't want to be involved in anymore scandal. I had to wait until she could get those." She said pointing to the pictures on Kathryn's lap.
"I do hope you got an A in those classes. And seducing and blackmailing the president of Yale, just so you could get accepted. Priceless. But to be honest, I do admire you. You are the best at what you do." She said as she walked behind the chaise and put both her hands on Kathryn's shoulders.
Kathryn got up and walked to the window. "I am not going to leave Sebastian alone just because she says so."
Annette chuckled and sat down next to the pictures on the chaise. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. I don't think you'd want those pictures on the cover of the New York Times, do you? How scandalous that would be. I don't think Sebastian would want you after that. I don't think he even wants you now."
Kathryn looked up at her from the window.
"I know that you've been fucking him all this time, I'm not stupid. You know you both are too fucked up to actually make something like this work. That's what Aaliyah said to Sebastian when she broke up with him in London. You know, it's actually a very beautiful city." She said as she laughed to herself.
"You blackmailed Aaliyah too." Kathryn said in realization.
"Very good. You catch on really quickly. Your mother said that you exposed them in front of all Manchester Prep and she didn't want them together anymore. Aaliyah and Sebastian were actually planning on getting married. What a shame." She looked at Kathryn who was just starting to understand what her mother did.
"Aaliyah's here in New York somewhere. Poor thing, she actually did love Sebastian. Boo fucking hoo."
"You fucking bitch, you'll suffer for this. It's not over." Kathryn said through gritted teeth.
"Well, allow me to object to that. Anyways, your mother said that you're to stay with Court because he's an 'upstanding gentleman', but stay away from Sebastian. Do we have an understanding Kathryn?"
"Yes, I'll stay away from Sebastian from now on."
~End of Flashback~
I was sitting down crying as I heard the buzzer go off on the monitor again. Has she come back for another round? I walked up and pressed the button. "Yes?"
"Ms. Merteuil, there's an Aaliyah Valmont to see you." I sighed. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and took a deep breath. This is going to be a long night.
"Send her up."
Aaliyah Valmont walked into the front room where I was downing the drink that I had just made. She looked down at the pictures on the chaise and sat down on a chair.
"I see Annette has finally gotten to you too. Huh?" Aaliyah looked up at me, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Why are you here? As I can recall, we were once enemies." I said sitting down next to her, sipping on another drink.
"Look beyond that Kathryn, we were both fucked over by your mother." She said as she stood up and looked down at me with a wide smile. I looked up at her suddenly interested.
"Are you proposing an alliance?" I asked with a sly grin.
"Maybe." Aaliyah said smiling back.
"Well, I am the best at what I do." I said repeating Annette's statement. "I might as well use my talents in a productive way." I stood up with a evil grin and we shook hands.
"Revenge is a bitch ain't it?" Aaliyah said laughing, and I laughed as well. And so it begins.
To Be Continued
Please review!
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. I'll probably send out the next chapter this week. Vacation! Thank God.
Tough Love
Chapter 8- The Moment of Truth In Her Lies
Summary: Kathryn tells Sebastian about Annette and it doesn't go as planned. Annette tells Kathryn what she wants to know, and what she doesn't expect.
Kathryn's POV
"Do we have an understanding Kathryn?" Annette looked over at me with a gloating grin.
I nodded in agreement and sighed. "Yes, I'll stay away from Sebastian from now on."
She smiled as I answered. "Good. Now I have a charming young man waiting for me. Good day Kathryn." She walked to the door and turned to look at me again before leaving.
I walked over to a chair and sat down. I covered my face with my hands, and for the first time in a year and a half. I cried.
~Flashback~
Kathryn and Sebastian looked at each other in disbelief. After a moment of silence, Kathryn was the first one to speak.
"Congratulations mother." She said simply. Her mother gave her a sly grin in return. Kathryn looked at Sebastian to follow her lead.
"Yes, congrats dad." Sebastian said sullenly.
He leaned over to Kathryn and whispered. "And I thought this was going to be a nice dinner. Now they've gone and ruined it." Kathryn chuckled watching their parents kiss.
"Cheers to that." She said looking back at him.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, Kathryn and Sebastian had their own conversations and were starting to open up to each other. After dessert was eaten, they both stood up to excuse themselves.
"Mother, Sebastian and I have a lot to catch up on, and we are going for a walk." Kathryn said as her mother nodded in agreement looking at Kathryn suspiciously then went back to her conversation.
As they walked down the crowded boulevard, they started to discuss the end of their relationship.
"Why did you do it Kathryn?" Sebastian asked looking her in the eye.
"Because I was angry. I really was in love with you Sebastian and you hurt me. I wanted to pay Aaliyah back for doing that to us." Kathryn said truthfully.
"I'm sorry it all ended that way. I would've loved to have stayed at Manchester for my last year. But things don't always go as planned." He looked back at Kathryn and watched her as she walked beside him.
"I still love you Sebastian, but I was trying to make you jealous. My pride got in the way when I heard that you had returned. I'm sorry." She stopped to look at him as she spoke.
"I love you too Kathryn, but things have always been too complicated for us to be together. I just don't think it would work. We're both seeing other people."
"Don't think Sebastian. They don't need to know. It's just us here and now." Kathryn said as she pulled him to her. "That's all you need to know."
They stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes embraced in a passionate kiss. As they pulled apart, Kathryn smiled up at Sebastian.
"I have a penthouse a few blocks from here. Want to go?" She asked as they started walking again.
"When did you get that?" He looked at her in question.
" A couple months ago when I got my inheritance. Your father was always over and my mother and I were getting in each other's way. So she just suggested that I move out." She said shrugging.
"Let's go."
**
Kathryn woke up smiling. She turned over and kissed Sebastian on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled back at her.
They had been sleeping together for the past few months. Kathryn was still with Court, and Sebastian was still with Annette. Sebastian decided not to go to college, and Kathryn had been accepted to Yale. She decided to wait a year before she started. Their parents had since moved in together and were planning their wedding. Sebastian had gotten his own penthouse when their parents moved in together. Aaliyah had returned and got her own apartment when she learned of the engagement. Strangely, she hadn't contacted Sebastian at all since she returned. Annette and Sebastian were getting closer and Kathryn was planning on blackmailing her into leaving Sebastian.
"I have to meet Annette tonight for dinner. So I guess we can't go out tonight." Sebastian said looking down. He looked over at Kathryn, who rolled her eyes and looked away. "Don't start Kathryn, I really like Annette. She's different and sweet and"
"And everything I'm not. Right? You're just with her because I'm with Court. I don't understand what you see in her." Kathryn said sitting up. She glanced back down at Sebastian.
He got up and yelled in frustration. "Why do we always have this conversation? I'm with Annette, not you Kathryn. I like her and that's it. I think I'm just gonna go home. I'm sick of arguing with you."
"You love her, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Don't lie to me." She said as she stood up to look him in the face.
Sebastian sat back down on the bed and grabbed her arm. She fell down on his lap and he kissed her. "I love you, not her. Okay? Just you. She will never take your place Kathryn."
"Good." She pushed him down on the bed and they continued kissing. He turned them over and got up. "I have to go home. My father's expecting me to be home soon. He wants to have a 'talk'." He said as he got dressed.
"Fine. I'm going shopping. I'll see you later Sebastian." She said as she kissed him on the cheek and walked into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
**
Kathryn walked out of Gucci and put on her sunglasses. She watched as the employees put her bags in the trunk of the limo. She looked up and thought about going to get something to eat. As she checked out the restaurant across the street, she spotted Annette. She was sitting with a brunette outside who had her back to Kathryn. The brunette passed Annette an envelope, and she put it in her bag. They exchanged a few more words, and Annette got up and hailed a taxi. As the taxi drove away, Kathryn began to understand what she saw. As she got in the limo, Kathryn put the petition down between her and her chauffeur.
"Change of plans. Take me to Sebastian's penthouse."
**
Kathryn arrived at Sebastian's penthouse and walked in to find Sebastian sitting at his desk in his bedroom. She cleared her throat and he turned around.
"What's wrong Kathryn?"
"Annette isn't who you think she is Sebastian." She said looking at him as he got up and walked over to her.
"What are you talking about Kathryn?"
"I was shopping and I saw her at the restaurant across the street with some woman who was passing her information. And at the gala when you first arrived in New York, she told me that she was just with you for sex. I know that she's up to something. I just"
"God! When do you give up? I told you that I like her and you just don't want me to have anything to do with her. You're jealous, admit it." He said looking at her shaking his head.
"Fine, I was jealous. But I know she's here for a reason Sebastian. Blaine sent me information on her, and she's not Headmaster Hardgrove's daughter. His daughter drown last year! If you don't believe me, I'll show you." She said pleading with him to believe her.
"Why have you been sneaking around asking Blaine for information? I told you who she was and you didn't believe me."
"I didn't believe her Sebastian. And I was right, she's probably here to keep me away from you." She reached for his hand and he backed away from her.
"I don't believe you. Why do you have to make everything about you? She likes me. This isn't about you Kathryn. I'm sick of your lies." He said as her looked at her in disgust.
"I thought you said she could never take my place?" Kathryn said quietly as she blinked back tears.
"Maybe I lied. Just get out Kathryn. I'm done with the mind games." He said as he walked back to the desk and sat down.
"Fine don't believe me. But don't come crawling back to me when you realize the truth." She said angrily as she walked out the door.
She ran down the stairs and turned the corner to leave, when she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Annette looking back at her.
"I'm onto you Annette. And I promise that you'll get yours in the end." Kathryn said as she walked out the front door.
"I was just about to say the same thing to you, my dear Kathryn." Annette said as she turned to walk up to Sebastian's room.
**
Kathryn was standing at the bar in her room mixing a drink when the buzzer from the front door went off. She walked over to the monitor and pressed the button "Yes?"
"Ms. Merteuil, there's an Annette Hargrove here to see you." The voice answered.
She smiled to herself. "Send her up, I'll be out in a moment."
Annette walked into the front room and Kathryn walked out to meet her. Kathryn sat down on a chaise and looked at her watch. "You have ten minutes imposter. Say what you have to say."
Annette smiled and sat down next to her. She tossed some pictures on Kathryn's lap. "I think I have a little longer Kathryn."
Kathryn's eyes went wide as she looked through them. She looked back up at Annette in shock. Annette stood up and leaned against the wall.
"You know what's terrible Kathryn? When your own mother hates you so much that she doesn't want you to be happy. You see she paid me three quarters of a million dollars to make sure that you don't get back with Sebastian. She said that she was planning on marrying his father and didn't need you to make a mess of things. She didn't want to be involved in anymore scandal. I had to wait until she could get those." She said pointing to the pictures on Kathryn's lap.
"I do hope you got an A in those classes. And seducing and blackmailing the president of Yale, just so you could get accepted. Priceless. But to be honest, I do admire you. You are the best at what you do." She said as she walked behind the chaise and put both her hands on Kathryn's shoulders.
Kathryn got up and walked to the window. "I am not going to leave Sebastian alone just because she says so."
Annette chuckled and sat down next to the pictures on the chaise. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. I don't think you'd want those pictures on the cover of the New York Times, do you? How scandalous that would be. I don't think Sebastian would want you after that. I don't think he even wants you now."
Kathryn looked up at her from the window.
"I know that you've been fucking him all this time, I'm not stupid. You know you both are too fucked up to actually make something like this work. That's what Aaliyah said to Sebastian when she broke up with him in London. You know, it's actually a very beautiful city." She said as she laughed to herself.
"You blackmailed Aaliyah too." Kathryn said in realization.
"Very good. You catch on really quickly. Your mother said that you exposed them in front of all Manchester Prep and she didn't want them together anymore. Aaliyah and Sebastian were actually planning on getting married. What a shame." She looked at Kathryn who was just starting to understand what her mother did.
"Aaliyah's here in New York somewhere. Poor thing, she actually did love Sebastian. Boo fucking hoo."
"You fucking bitch, you'll suffer for this. It's not over." Kathryn said through gritted teeth.
"Well, allow me to object to that. Anyways, your mother said that you're to stay with Court because he's an 'upstanding gentleman', but stay away from Sebastian. Do we have an understanding Kathryn?"
"Yes, I'll stay away from Sebastian from now on."
~End of Flashback~
I was sitting down crying as I heard the buzzer go off on the monitor again. Has she come back for another round? I walked up and pressed the button. "Yes?"
"Ms. Merteuil, there's an Aaliyah Valmont to see you." I sighed. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and took a deep breath. This is going to be a long night.
"Send her up."
Aaliyah Valmont walked into the front room where I was downing the drink that I had just made. She looked down at the pictures on the chaise and sat down on a chair.
"I see Annette has finally gotten to you too. Huh?" Aaliyah looked up at me, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Why are you here? As I can recall, we were once enemies." I said sitting down next to her, sipping on another drink.
"Look beyond that Kathryn, we were both fucked over by your mother." She said as she stood up and looked down at me with a wide smile. I looked up at her suddenly interested.
"Are you proposing an alliance?" I asked with a sly grin.
"Maybe." Aaliyah said smiling back.
"Well, I am the best at what I do." I said repeating Annette's statement. "I might as well use my talents in a productive way." I stood up with a evil grin and we shook hands.
"Revenge is a bitch ain't it?" Aaliyah said laughing, and I laughed as well. And so it begins.
To Be Continued
Please review!