Still with you

Chapter2

“Mr Frair?, what are you doing here?” she asks, her voice almost a whisper.

“I just wanted to check up on you”. His voice deep and commanding, his hands in his pants pocket as he walks up to Blaire's bed.

A confused look washes over her face, a bit taken aback at his presence, knowing that he wasn't exactly fond of her.

“Oh … erm, thank you, I guess”. Her voice wavering, unsure of how to react to her fiance's father sudden concern.

“I also wanted to update you about the wedding situation, the woman in question claims th…..”

“Mr Friar!, please, with all due respect, I really do not want to hear anything about it right now”. She exclaims quickly, cutting him off, her eyes widening afterwards upon realization of how she just spoke to the man.

Mr Friar’s face morphs into that of disbelief at the fact that she just raised her voice at him, that she disrespected him but it quickly dissolves to a stoic expression as he clears his throat before speaking again.

“I understand that today was… a lot for you, so I'll let your little outburst slide, We will be formally meeting with the lady in two days time, I’d suggest you come so you can be part of it cos any decision we make is final” he says, giving no room for objection as he straightens his posture and turns to leave.

“Mr Frair, Wait!”

The man stops in his tracks, exhaling loudly in an attempt to keep his irritation at bay, turning only his face to look at her.

“What?”.

His cold sharp voice piercing through her, shaking her resolve, his dark eyes making her second guess the reason she called out to him.

“P… please apologize to my dad, you almost pushed him to the ground”. Blaire says with all the bravery she could muster, her voice slightly above a whisper.

Mr Friar's jaw visibly twitches in irritation, the tension in the room thick.

He turns to face Blaire’s father who has been standing in the room beside the door, watching.

“I’m sorry”. He says with his jaw locked, only his lips moving and gives a tight lipped smile afterwards.

“It's fine, I'm sure it was an accident” he quickly responds not wanting it to drag on.

Without uttering another word, Mr Frair walks out the door, his footsteps sturdy and loud.

The suffocating atmosphere dissipated immediately much to their delight.

“Blaire, that was unexpected, are your conversations with him usually this tense?” Her father asks genuinely surprised at her dynamics with her almost in law, walking to her bedside.

“unfortunately yes it is, I don't like to think that way but it genuinely feels like he has a personal vendetta against me”. She shrugs as she answers her father, trying to convince him that she is unfazed by it.

“Ok just please be careful, but you’ll go for the meeting right?”. He asks as he brings out the food he was about to give her before they were interrupted.

“Oh yeah I will, I deserve an explanation”. Her face was determined.

Mark takes his seat beside Blaire in the conference room of his office as they wait for the lady to make an appearance. It seems like they weren't joking, calling it a formal meeting.

Plus, this is the first time since the wedding she is seeing Mark after denying him access to her hospital room for the past two days.

She can feel his eyes on her, not that he is discreet with the staring. She glanced over to him to see him already looking at her.

She feels her heart flutter at his gaze, this is the reason she didn't want to see him. She knew she wouldn't be able to resist him, she loved him after all. He then gives her a small smile which she reciprocates.

Suddenly the door swings open to reveal the lady, Lisa, and she is not alone. She comes in holding tightly, the little hands of a one-year-old.

Blaire tries to pull herself together. She frankly can't remember seeing a child on the aisle that day but all she can do is see how this meeting will play out.

“You're Late”. Mr Friar speaks immediately. Lisa is seated.

“Oh I'm sorry, Archie took forever to eat, you know how toddlers can be” her high-pitched voice is heard, her apology clearly ingenuine.

Blaire and Mark collectively roll their eyes at her statement.

“Let's get this over with, Lisa, what the heck do you want”. Mark said with an impatient tone, leaning forward and relaxing his weight on the table before him.

“It's simple, I want you”. She crosses her legs, reclining in her seat.

“Hell no, you lost that when you walked away”. Mark exclaims as he hits the table with both hands, standing up in disapproval.

“Son please just sit down”. Mrs Friar interjects.

“Mom I can't ‘just sit down’, she left me and now she is asking for marriage? I already have a wife”.

“She's not your wife”

“She could have been if you didn't ruin it like you ruin everything”. His response venomous as he hits the table again, his jaw tightening and vein almost popping off his head.

“Son, sit down, we are here to sort this out”. Mr Friar's commanding voice booms in the room making Mark release an angry huff and reluctantly sitting down.

Blaire just sits still, witnessing the heavy banter, a bit comforted at the way Mark is standing up for their relationship but not finding the energy to interject.

Lisa suddenly turns to Mark’s parents “Mr and Mrs Friar, don't you want to be in your grandchild's life?, don't you want to take care of him, teach him, build a relationship with him?” She says, slowly, obviously trying to guilt trip them in her favour.

Mark once again rolls his eyes, seeing through Lisa's facade.

“Of course we want to be in our grandchild's life but you can't demand you marry our son in return, we don't even know you, plus there are other ways to go about this outside marriage” Mr Friar responds not feeling comfortable with the marriage arrangement.

“Ok then, let me move in with Mark, so Archie can be closer to you and you can also get to know how kind and perfect I am for your son” she suggests, masking her excitement at the idea she just cooked up.

“No way, I ca…”

“Well that's not a bad idea”. Mark is cut off by his father's voice.

Blaire's eyes widen at Mr Friar's approval, she feels everything around her freeze as a single drop of tear rolls down her cheek, thoughts jumbled up in her head, wondering where it all went wrong.

She can't even blame them, they have a grandchild now, an heir to their son’s dynasty, of course they would want the child to be easily accessible to them.

“But dad I …”. Mark jumps back up to his feet, his voice cracking, passionate to stop his parents from agreeing to the request.

“I don't want to hear it” his father says, his voice authoritative, not leaving room for objections.

“I’ll send a driver to help you pack in by the weekend” he says to Lisa. “She’ll stay in the house for the meantime and my decision is final”. He booms to everyone in the room before taking his leave, his wife following soon after

Blaire is lost in a daze at the verdict, she feels a hand shake her, she looks to see Mark, squatting before her, with a sympathetic look in his face, at that moment another tear rolls down her face.

Mark immediately pulls her in a hug, and she breaks down, letting the tears flow as she fists his shirt, her whole body vibrating as she weeps on her fiance's shoulder

He rubs gentle circles on her back, whispering reassuring words on her ears.

Lisa noisily pushes her chair back, causing Mark to turn slightly towards the noise.

“See you next week”. She says almost in a whisper, a sinister smirk on her lips as she drags Archie off the chair and walks off with him.

Mark shakes his head and continues to console Blaire, making the decision not to let this affect his relationship.