CHAPTER FOUR
Natalie smiled at 'little Blair'. The young girl was a spitting image of her roommate, an ode to Blair's youth as she liked to say. Even when she opened her mouth it wasn't hard to gather this kid had Blair's genes. The girl had already discovered her favorite subject and it looked her in the mirror every morning.
Blair had been catering to Bailey ever since she arrived, which was about the same time Natalie did. Both sisters were self absorbed, but there was no denying how much they enjoyed being around each other. She hadn't realized until that evening how much of a bonding experience whipping hair from shoulder to shoulder was.
Spooning her cereal out of her bowl, she looked over her notes for her breakaway article that would put her in the big leagues. All this number news was giving her a headache, and her heart wasn't in it. She saw the job as a stepping stool. It put her one step closer to the award winning writer she was destined to be.
Until that day she had her notes and the duty to introduce Bailey to the joy of eating cereal during dinner time.
Blair swept into the kitchen carrying a bag of groceries. She stopped short when she noticed her little sister and Natalie and their one course meal. "Care explaining this?"
In mid chew Natalie paused, "dinner," she started back again. Bailey continued eating happily never noticing the distraught look on Blair's face. It was never an issue that Natalie never cooked before. Blair was never around and almost always eating out.
Her mother would never forgive her if Bailey returned with bad habits, she would have to keep an eye on her little sister a little more, and perhaps for a while pay a nanny to come by help out when she wouldn't be around.
"So….what would you like to do tomorrow sweetheart?"
Bailey looked up from her bowl. No one asked her that often so she looked dumbly at her big sister who awaited her answer. She was always followed someone else's agenda. It didn't surprise Blair when she gave her a wide eyed look. She pondered the thought and then resigned to saying what she said whenever she knew her mother was only asking for convenience.
"I don't know… what do you want to do?"
Blair eyed Bailey, but didn't press it. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could head to the movies, or the zoo." Bailey's eyes brightened and Blair continued, "I know this great ice cream parlor I know you'll love."
Bailey anticipated being spoiled for her visit. It wasn't like her mother where she felt like a life sized doll for her mother. Blair and her friends actually asked her questions and expected an answer. She liked the freedom of that. Her sister was everything she wanted to be when she got older. She was beautiful and she smelled like a princess.
When Bailey was tucked in she made her way back into the kitchen where Natalie sat working. She went into the fridge pouring a glass of wine. Natalie didn't look up from her notepad when she started talking about how much Blair looked like a mom.
Natalie missed the blush when she accepted the comment with a thank you.
"Working on something new?"
Natalie just nodded inching in front of her notes so Blair couldn't read it. "So was Randy feeling randy when he found out about the imperfect side of Blair Warner?"
Ribbing Blair good naturedly was like a sport Tootie and she enjoyed. Being younger they were apprehensive. Blair Warner's reputation as school didn't dare be sullied by things she wasn't good at much less those things being spoken aloud.
Blair drawled evenly, "no such side exists." Natalie answered with a snort, "don't stay up too late," Blair warned heading to her room.
She closed the door behind her. She took her time changing into her evening clothes. Donning her dark rimmed reading glasses and her Danielle Steele book from her side desk she began chapter twelve. Books helped her get in touch with the idealistic side of her still in love with love. When she was done reading for the night and the residual weightlessness subsided she would settle into her seats and think about her love life. A picture sat in the first drawer beside her bed. She knew it was there because every night for the past couple months, since she'd banished it to the drawer, it begged to be turned over. Out of sight and out of mind she thought stubbornly.
The practical side of her knew differently. Her unconscious would remind her of how wrong her conscious musings were. She could say all day how she was over Jo. Yet, when the sun goes down left to her thoughts like clockwork her thoughts were no longer in her control.
"Blair," a small voice interrupted her thoughts.
Blair looked up from her book and smiled at her little sister standing just inside her door holding her princess doll. The jewelry she had been playing with was replaced by night clothes Bailey took great care to cloth her in.
"Hey sweetheart," Blair could only describe the feeling as something warm filling her up when she first saw her baby sister. The feeling increased watching her grow and holding her. It made sense that they wouldn't be close with the drastic age difference, but the reality was that she loved spending time with Bailey. The little girl reminded her so much of herself. Her mother had shortcomings that hadn't changed, and Blair wanted to spare her sister some of the growing pains of being her mother's daughter.
Bailey was suddenly shy when she started toward the bed, "what are you doing?"
Blair looked down at her book and pulled her glasses off, "I'm reading," she answered simply.
"Oh," the young girl paused before continuing, "What are you reading?"
"A romance novel," Blair placed the book down when it didn't look like she'd be getting back to it anytime soon.
Small eyebrows furrowed, "what's romance?"
Blair smiled watching her inch to the bed with every question. She patted the spot beside her and Bailey eagerly sank into a plush pillow placing Princess beside her. She maneuvered the doll to make sure she was just as comfortable and looked at Blair with a curious gape. Blair's face was starting to hurt from smiling so much, but it was a response that only Bailey of late could provoke. Suddenly she felt bad for ever thinking that having her around was a bad idea.
"It's a story about love between two grownups," the response was simple enough, but the little girl still had a confused expression prompting Blair to question it.
"Like mommy and Maxwell?"
Blair stopped her brows from rising. Her mother had introduced Maxwell in Bailey's life, but she still wasn't sure if he would be a stable companion or just another notch. "Um…something like that sweetie," she kept her answer intentionally vague.
"You know Romeo and Juliet?" she asked Bailey as she made herself even more comfortable at Blair's side.
"No," the girl shook her head. She pressed against Blair's stomach, but it wasn't uncomfortable so she didn't discourage the girl from laying there. She talked about the spark of love between the two. She left out the unhappy ending. Bailey wasn't like her in this instance. She felt the girl would have a cool head on her shoulders when it came to love. Blair wasn't displeased with the thought. Both sisters lay quietly until Bailey's curiosity resurfaced.
"Who do you love?"
Blair was aware of what her sister was asking, but chose to avoid it. Instead she started tickling her and answered, "I love…..small little girls with blonde hair named Bailey." The fits of giggles coming from the room amused Natalie, who had resigned her personal project for a report due at ten the next morning. She bit down on her pencil in anxious habit. It was going to be a long night.
Word spread fast for a loose jawed polish community of cops and housewives. Jo was suspended, no real details other than incompetence on her part. Incompetent wasn't something Teodor would have used to describe Jo. Though he figured if she wanted to talk about it she would. Teodor wasn't one to press for details, especially if it rocked the proverbial boat. Hiring her was one of his better investments. Jo was a popular mechanic that worked on any car, truck, and bike that came in. She'd even brought in new clients, that actress off of the drama he couldn't think of came by a lot. When he finally braved speaking with her, she volunteered her autograph for his wife. It gave her bragging rights to all her envious friends for a month.
His wife had a kind heart, and was a stout believer in food being able to help the soul along for healing. That belief had him heading back to the garage after hours with a plate of his wife's Kielbasa and Cabbage. She insisted he run it over to Jo. His wife had strange views on the subject of food, but that didn't stop him from enjoying her cooking. Jo for the last few weeks had been enjoying the fruits of his wife's cooking on Wednesday s when his wife found about Jo.
"Hey Jo got somethin' for you," he yelled over her music. She turned and nodding her head before she ducked back under the hood. Very few things made sense in Jo's life anymore, so she clung to the things that did. Working under a hood was as natural to her as breathing; she enjoyed the familiarity of it.
Teodor walked over. The car was a two door sedan a luxury car. It came in with problems almost every month. Teodor considered the owner to be a lucky man. All the trouble he had a habit of getting himself into, from married women to jilted exes, he was lucky that all that got damaged was his car. Jo watched it come in without batting an eye and just went to work; it wasn't new for Jo to work late.
"You calling it quits any time soon?"
Jo straightened her back. "Probably in another hour or so I want to make sure all the sugar is out."
The older man shook his head scoffing. "You think he'd learn," he said it more to himself than to Jo. She wasn't much for idle chatter, at least not to him. The brunette went into the back room to wash her hands.
"Thank your wife for me will ya," Jo took the plate pushing the aluminum back diving in with a plastic spork.
"Will do." He walked out without a backwards glance. Jo couldn't help but like the guy. He didn't pry and he respected her silence.
Jo passed the night away with the radio and her tools as her only company. Her mind wouldn't let her sleep. It had become routine for the past few months to work until she dropped. Tonight was no different. Teodor had only missed David Warner by minutes. The corporate tycoon was becoming too comfortable on the wrong side of the tracks just to spoil Jo's day.
Jo remembered when Dave's head was flecks of gray, now the majority of his head was full of white. Distinguished would be the word to describe the look the white gave him. Jo wasn't impressed. Beyond the pressed suit, expensive hair cut, and equally expensive image was a man. As imperfect and dangerous, perhaps more dangerous with his means to buy whatever he wanted.
He strode into the garage as if he owned the place. It was a rich people habit Jo accredited to the omniscience courtesy of a gargantuan bank account. He held an envelope under his arm. There was no need for her to inquire about it since she knew he'd hand it over.
"Everything I do is for my daughter," as if that excused every cruelty he was ever guilty of. For a man that claimed to have no regrets he started to habitually justify his actions to her. It was kind of ironic especially since Jo was the one getting her hands dirty.
"You don't give her nearly enough credit."
"What kind of father would I be if I didn't protect her," he stated solemnly placing a yellow envelope beside the grease stained hip.
The details of the envelope were unfocused under her lazy gaze. They could discuss philosophy, ethics, and the infallible bond between daughter and father. Jo's employer was a man use to getting what he wanted so there was no use wasting her breath trying to reason with him. An attribute his daughter inherited with the subtle grace of an elephant waltzing on ice.
Staring at the engine not really paying attention to the hardware Jo enjoyed the effortlessness of doing nothing, for the moment at least. Only someone who kept busy appreciated being still.
"Protect her or your legacy?"
"Is there a difference?"
Jo scoffed. She knew Blair had always struggled with being enough for the only two people, who never seemed to be sated. Blair was smart, compassionate, witty, daring, and funny everything a parent could hope their child to become. In their eyes she was a trophy. Blair had once described herself as a trinket. She was to be brought out in fine dresses and jewelry to satisfy daddy's quota for public face time. Thoroughly disgusted Jo accepted the envelope.
Money corrupts, David knew that more than most people because he'd had a box seat for over thirty years. Joanne didn't work that way. She was about honor and loyalty. He didn't have to bribe her with money when his daughter was the object of her affections. When he first found out about the two he was livid. He could have gone with his first reaction and orchestrated a series of unfortunate events to Joanne's career and personal life. However, a man in his position didn't earn all that he now possessed acting rashly.
Instead he waited patiently. He allowed the affair to continue. Blair was young and privileged and he wouldn't deny his daughter her toys. He was too cynical to believe in fate or destiny. He never considered that Blair was actually in love with a woman. Joanne was under the impression the feelings were real when he confronted her with their affair. It didn't much matter what had been real or not. It was no longer relevant. Blair was dating a proper suitor. And he was grooming Joanne to be an exceptional pawn.
Fortuitous was the word that first came to mind when he'd heard about Joanne and Charles March. David only played a small role in extending her suspension. Her Captain had his priorities in order when it came to money and allegiance. Very aware of Joanne's qualms he disregarded them. In his eyes he owned her.