Life changes

The lights were dimmed. The place was filled with the navy blue fan lights that looked like the waves of sea. The excitement had been exploded making the fans scream like lion's roar. Their gaze was solely focused on her magnificent performance that kept them dazzled.

Even though Blair has become used to such a sight, she was still impressed. She was impressed by her own accomplishments. How far has she come during the twenty seven-years of her life! How had she managed to get away from that rundown place! She was building her rightful empire! She was finally... getting what she deserved!

'But this is not your life!'

'No... It is!'

'Stop lying to yourself! It is not yours... You stole it! You have stolen it from-'

'Shut up! You don't know anything...'

'Oh dear, I know everything! We are one!'

Her breaths came out as desperate gasps. She was yet again losing another battle against her inner self; the only one that is capable of reminding her of her deepest secret. The secret that should be kept in the depth of her heart, never seeing the light or else... she will get crashed! The ones that are impatiently waiting for her downfall will have their dream fulfilled!

Her heart race quickened as she thought of these terrible consequences and before it could've exploded, her assistant's voice rang in her ears making her remember her surroundings. And so she plastered on a smile.

''That was one hell of a concert! One that speaks volumes about our STAR! In one word; you were awesome!''

She was used to hear similar compliments but the words coming from this woman's mouth seemed genuine and... They were able of spreading warmth in her cold heart.

"Thanks Jasmine! It was all thanks to the work crew and my dear assistants... Especially you!" Blair whispered the last part in her ear making Jasmine giggle.

'No need to worry! My life will continue the same way as it was before! Nothing will change!'

But as we say ''Not everything goes as planned'' and so the future had something else planned for her this time.

''Oh by the way, someone has called you earlier. He didn't tell me his purpose, he just said that his name is William Roberts and that you need to call him as soon as you get free'' said Jasmine in a hurried tone.

And just when his name rolled off her tongue, the young singer came to a halt.

'What business am I supposed to have with his lawyer? Hopefully nothing bad happened.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night

*achoo* *achoo*

Although it wasn't a cold night, the young lady was sneezing repeatedly.

'Someone must've been badmouthing me! One can't be at peace no matter how far he gets away from them'

'Look what I'm thinking at such a time! Living in Korea surely has its impacts'

Blair was staring blankly at her Gucci bag. She was lost in her thoughts when the driver decided to break the deadly silence and speak his mind.

''My lady, aren't you going to step out?''

Coming back to her senses, she eyed the standing man and said:

''Yes of course... Thank you''

'I haven't been getting enough sleep lately hopefully that won't effect today's meeting... Why in the world did William arrange such a meeting with Elijah here; in his hotel? I am getting goosebumps from this.'

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down before heading towards the entrance.

Blair was wearing her usual mask to cover her identity but looks like it was useless this time or rather... it was bringing her bad luck. Her lucky star wasn't shining properly that night and so it made her stumbled upon a familiar unwanted person.

She was about to turn around when she caught his sight but.. his voice was quick to stop her in her place.

''Wait! Blair!? It's you, right? What a coincidence! I.. I was just thinking about you earlier!''

Cursing her fate, she turned around and was met with a smile on his face; a genuine one that is! Only then was she able to notice his different behavior towards her. He seemed cheerful and... happy to see her; something she wasn't acquaintances with during the time they knew each other.

'Weird' she thought 'It must be my imagination!'

The annoyed woman brushed this thought aside and replied in a fake happy voice:

"Oh my! What a surprise to see you Mister Albert! Indeed such a beautiful coincidence!''

Hearing her tone, his face fell and he was quick to remember their current situation.

''Blair, you're acting as if we are strangers!? Then... should I start calling you Miss Grace!''

Came out his voice in a mocking manner that was able to mask his... disappointment!

"Miss Grace? Well, it doesn't sound that bad. Right, my dear brother-in-law? '' After saying so she glanced at her golden watch and was horrified that she was running late so she added: ''I have an important appointment with a.. friend. I gotta go now, bye. Maybe i'll see you.. another time.'' 'Hopefully not'

As she was entering the lobby his hand took hers in a strong grip making her throw at him a deadly glare.

"Listen... I've been thinking about calling you since last week. There are lots of things that I need to tell you about! This is not the right place to do so. How about we go to somewhere else; somewhere more private.''

At this rate, Blair was losing control over her anger. She snatched her hand forcefully from him and snapped at his bold attitude:

''Have you become deaf or what? Didn't I tell you that I have an important matter to attend to? And keep your distance! The paparazzi might pop out from anywhere. We don't want any fake news spreading out this time, your in-laws have done enough already''

The last part was said in a low whisper but he was able to hear it. Unfortunately, he didn't understand her meaning as he was clueless about their doings and so he decided to let it slide thinking that it was something trivial. Instead he declared:

''Fake news? Like what? Perhaps... The return of old lovers? If so then I don't have any problem with that. On the contrary, I would be glad to see it with my own eyes''

His words held a hidden emotion; one that she was trying to discover. She felt very uncomfortable so she took a few steps behind to create a distance between them that would serve as a barrier.

She was contemplating what to say when suddenly someone came beside them. If it was any other time Blair would've been very annoyed to see this person but today she felt like hugging her. And the intruder's voice was heard:

"Gabriel darling, what are you still doing here? I thought that you have already left. And Blair... Please don't tell me you're doing it again? Why do you keep on following us? You should give up! You can never separate us. Our love is strong and unshakable! Your story is over! It was never meant to be. It was a mistake! Just move on! Don't worry you will find someone else. Someone who truly cherishes you! You are still young!''

Blair was trying her hardest to not burst in laughter at this dramatic entrance. Composing herself she replied:

"Oh, Laura my dear cousin! You have brought tears to my eyes! Look at you! Such a marvelous actress have you become! Finally, all those years of hardworking have paid off! I'm so proud of you my darling... Well, now that you're here you can take your.. sweet fiance with you because.. I have some work to finish and I can't obviously keep on babysitting him, right? Anyway, have fun beautiful couple!''

And with that said, she went ahead leaving behind her two fuming people; both feeling humiliated... but for quite different reasons!

"Baby.. I-"

"Keep quiet, Laura! Just.. Keep quiet!" Gabriel's voice was quick to interrupt her. He was doing his best to soothe the pain he was feeling in his chest; it was his aching heart demanding him to fix his past mistakes that led him... them to this situation. 'But is that even possible?' He wondered knowing very well that only time is able of answering his question.

And without further ado, he stormed outside with Laura trailing behind him.

Meanwhile a confused Blair was on her way to the top floor in one of the private elevators. Her mind was in a chaos.

'Was that the same person who used to turn away his face whenever our eyes met! The person who felt suffocated if he sat next to me!'

'No Blair, stop thinking! This is but a silly performance of theirs. Focus on the task in front of you!'

Just on clue, the doors opened indicating her arrival and so she stepped inside.

"Thirty minutes, that's how long it took you from the reception to here. You're usually on time but... Looks like your ex-fiance is affecting you badly."

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she heard him speak in a calm tone; a calm that held a warning.

She chose to ignore his last sentence as she replied: "Thirty minutes! And you call that being late? You should have seen me in one of our family gatherings; always getting there after at least an hour of its beginning! Anyway.. Why did you call me? Oh, wait.. Excuse me! It's more like; why did your lawyer call me to arrange such a meeting? Don't you know that the papparazi have been lately following me everywhere I go?"

As she finished talking, Elijah was sitting on a grey couch. He brought his left hand to his head and massaged his temples. Then with a sigh his voice boomed: "YOU... don't you ever get tired of talking! Have mercy on your tongue!"

"Others would kill themselves to hear a bit of my melodic voice! Unfortunately ,you don't even realise my true value!"

With that said, she took a seat beside him and replaced his hand with hers. They stayed in that position for a while before he signaled her to stop. She kept her gaze on him as he stood up and made his way to his desk then pressed a silver button.

The doors opened revealing an older grey-haired man that was holding a few documents in his hand.

"Good evening Miss Grace. How do you do?" Greeted her the polite man and so she did the same. And after a while he turned to face Elijah and said:

"Mister King I have completed the process."

"Good! Hand them to her William"

The cluless woman between them didn't understand a thing and her confusion only grew more as she was a handed the documents that William was carrying. Wanting very badly to kill this sudden curiosity, she opened the files and started checking them. It felt like she was reading a foreign language although it was obviously written in English. She couldn't gasp the meaning of the words or more like... It couldn't register in her mind. After a few minutes that felt like years she came a conclusion; a weird one, and declared:

"I've been overworking myself these past weeks and one of my assistants told me that this will have a very bad impact on my health. I didn't give it much thought at that time but now I realise that she was right. I HAVE STARTED SEEING DELUSIONS. The problem is either in my eyes or my mind. Don't worry I'll go to see a doctor as soon as possible but for now.. can you please tell me what's written here Mister Roberts"

Both men were surprised to hear her words. It was far from what they have imagined. Mister William stayed still for a while before he turned his head to the other man as if he was asking for permission to talk.

As his lips were about to move another voice explained:

"I'm asking you to marry me."