С. Гарднер - An Affair of Love

"You can't be serious?" Blayne said expressing her frustration at the old man.

"I'm very serious," he answered. Arthur Aston-Carlyle looked tired suddenly. He sat down behind his desk and waved for her to sit down on one of the chairs near her.

"Does mother know?" Blayne decided to try another argument.

"Abigail and I spoke last night," he said sadly. "She knows what I want to do."

"Arthur…how can you be sure?" Blayne had known and loved him long enough to know that there was no deterring the man from the course he had chosen to take and he also knew that when she referred to him as Arthur she was trying to think rationally rather than letting her emotions interfere.

"Be sure?" He didn't understand her question.

"That this woman is indeed your child," Blayne clarified.

"I know."

"Then why…?" She trailed off.

"Why didn't I ever recognize my own daughter?"

"Well, yes Arthur, why didn't you?" Blayne got up and paced the room trying to control her anger.

"I was young…"

"Bullshit!" Blayne walked towards the desk and hit it with her fist. "Jesus, you left them in the middle of a civil war." She never broke eye contact with the man that until that afternoon she had respected. "You just walked away leaving them to face it all."

"You never did let me get away with anything," Arthur said proudly.

She suddenly seemed deflated and sat back down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"How do you know she will want to meet you?"

"Because, I want to meet her," he said arrogantly.

Blayne looked up and smiled for a moment before becoming serious again. "Jesus Dad, you are one for surprises."

"You, Blayne, I have always counted on. That is why I need you to do this."

"What makes you think that…?" She was visibly confused and suddenly something akin to understanding covered her face. No! She couldn't believe what had just occurred to her. "She doesn't know does she?" Blayne stood up again.

"No, she doesn't." Arthur never even blinked.

Blayne ran her fingers through her hair. Then looked up at him again. "You think she would turn you away, your daughter I mean. What makes you think she won't do the same with me?"

"Because, no one has ever been able to say no to you." Arthur smiled.

"No, this is something you are going to have to do, Arthur. No." Blayne felt the anger coming up her throat. "I can't believe all this!"

"I'm dying, Blayne."

She stared at him in shock. It was just like Arthur to blurt out things like this. She should have known from the beginning that there wasn't to be a choice.

"What are you talking about?"

"I have pancreatic cancer, I'm dying. And I want to make things right. I need you to do this for me."

"Damn you, Arthur! Damn you!" Blayne yelled as she grabbed the file and stormed out of the library.

Arthur sat back on his chair and closed his eyes. He had never doubted that Blayne would do this for him. What he did regret however was having told her about his illness in that fashion. Opening his eyes, he stared at the door and again regretted how he had handled things.

Arthur Aston-Carlyle had married Abigail Anberville thirty-three years ago. Two years later they had a daughter who they named Diana. Diana was the total opposite of Blayne. Where Blayne had always been responsible, Diana was not. Blayne was a star athlete and an honors student. Diane barely scraped by. Diana seemed to have only one desire and that was to have a good time. Blayne had always been protective of her sister, and Diana had relied on that love to get her out of more than one mess.

Blayne was barely four when he had married Abigail. Her brother Charles, who they all called Chaz, had been seven at the time. Arthur had loved them as his own. But Blayne was always the one he favored because of her vitality and her desire to excel and in return she had made him proud of her. She had passion in everything, however, she had never found anyone to share her life with. She was always too busy doing and after awhile, even Abigail commented that she thought Blayne was incapable of loving anyone with her whole heart.

Chaz didn't seem to have the desire to settle down in the near future either. There were rumors here and there about his affairs but nothing ever materialized as a result of them. He was in his late thirties with no future to speak of. He was happy just spending money and flying from one hot spot to another. The truth was that Chaz was a disappointment. He had hurt and disappointed his mother too many times and as much as Arthur loved him he had decided that he had to think of the future.

Chaz showed no signs of settling down and Diana was heading in the same direction. He had hoped that Blayne would settle down and give him grandchildren but that had not happened either. Abigail had been right, Blayne just didn't seem to be interested in a personal life. She didn't seem to need anyone. And he had to admit he wanted to see his progeny before he died.

He had not thought of Elena Agramonte in years. When he was told of his illness he suddenly realized that he had another child that he had never seen and might never see. It suddenly became very important to him to find Elena.

A few months ago he had asked his attorneys to make inquiries. Three days ago he got the call. Elena had married the local playboy, Humberto Sotomayor, and had raised their daughter as her husband's child. A daughter. He had a daughter. He remembered when he got the photos that had been taken of his child. She had grown to be a beautiful woman. She had her mother's lustrous hair but there were also signs of him in her skin color and her eyes.

Gabriella Matheson, as his daughter was now called, was a beautiful woman. Her hair was the color of rich sable and with thick dark lashes framed her eyes, which were the color blue of a tumultuous sky, very much like his own. She was a very beautiful woman. There was so much of Elena in her. Something inside him grew warm. Elena had given him a child and Arthur began to feel the pangs of regret yet again.

Gabriella was married and had two children. When he saw the photograph of his grandchildren he knew that he had to meet her. He had loved Elena, but he had been too young and too arrogant to think beyond what he wanted at the time. Arthur knew his parents would never accept a girl from an island in the Caribbean. Elena did not come from money. And his family was incredibly wealthy. Elena had been both beautiful and kind. She had believed his words of love and his promises of a tomorrow. When he left her he knew that it would break her heart. Blayne was right; he had simply walked away and left her to fend for herself. He did try to make inquiries when the civil war escalated in Cuba but after awhile he didn't even try to find out anything else. He had simply turned the page and put her out of his mind. He should have stayed and married her, he told himself. How different things might have been if he had. Even in this thought he recognized his selfishness.

Arthur had to admit that he loved Abigail. She had come from a good family so it had been a good addition to his family tree. His parents had been happy at his choice of wife and in turn he was given a generous income. Abigail had been a young widow when he met her. Her husband Brian had been killed in car accident a year earlier. For a few years he played the faithful husband. When Diana was born he had been truly happy. Then as the years went by the children became such a disappointment. All had disappointed him one way or another; except for Blayne. She was so much his child but there was something about her that he could never quite understand and that disturbed him. She was brilliant and proud but there was a flaw in her. Blayne's beauty was arresting. People turned their heads when she entered a room and yet no one had ever caught her eye. Blayne loved him he knew that. But Blayne didn't need or want anyone to share her life with.

He had once tried talking to her about her private life. The only things he got out of her was to mind his own business. Arthur remembered he had laughed. Blayne should have been his child. Blayne should have been…the son he had always wanted. She was resolute and aloof. She was in control of her life and she never wavered from the course she set for herself. She was now running most of his businesses besides her own money. She was ruthless but she was also loyal. Where he would never have trusted Chaz or even his own daughter Diana with this power, he had trusted Blayne.

Blayne was his daughter as much as Abigail's, he told himself. He had raised her. She was as stubborn and arrogant as he was and for that she was close to his heart. She was too much like him, he suddenly realized, and that saddened him. Like him, she would make many mistakes. He only hoped that she would not be filled with regret at the end of her life as well.

* * *

Blayne sat behind her desk. She had been sitting there for hours now. Arthur was dying. And now she had to get a complete stranger to agree to see him.

Standing, Blayne walked towards the huge glass window. Her office was on the twenty-fifth floor of the Aston-Carlyle Building. Arthur was a sanctimonious, self-absorbed son of a bitch, and the only father she had ever known. Ever since she could remember he had been there. So many times she told herself that one-day she would be able to truly talk to him about her life. Blayne always thought that there would be a tomorrow and suddenly tomorrow was here and he would never truly know her.