Dance with the Devil: Chapter 39

Blair stood in the den and picked up a picture off the desk.  It was of Victor and Tea on their wedding day when it was believed that Tea was dying of a brain tumor.  They were both smiling at each other like they were the only two people in the world.  In some ways, it reminder her of her own picture with Todd from their second wedding as golden balloons rained down on them.  She knew then how to begin.  “I hated the idea of losing Todd to you.  I thought we’d always work our way back to each other,” she said softly.

“Well, congratulations, you finally won.  You have Todd  You have Todd and I have nothing.  Not Daniella, not my son and not even Victor, who I did love,” she responded.  “You know, Todd’s really not that much of a prize.  I can see that now.”

“Then why did you pursue him so much, Tea?  Why did you go after him in the first place? Blair asked, her voice getting a little louder.  When Tea had no answer, Blair smiled viper-like.  “Was it because of his family name, not that he ever considered changing it?  Was it because he had money and you were still back in the super’s apartment in New York?  Was it because he came with a ready-made family and you really couldn’t be bothered with kids?”
             

Tea’s hand shot out for Blair, but, amazingly, her target saw it and grabbed it before contact.  “I loved Starr like she was my very own,” Tea shouted.

“Yes, so much you tried to take her away from me when she was still a baby.  You talked Todd into getting sole custody even when he already had it and Dorian was not real threat to him.  But you assured him that him being married would play better into his favor,” Blair sneered.  “He paid you five million dollars for a name only marriage and you had everything you wanted, social status, money and a child.”

“You should talk!  You wanted the same things from him.  You even faked a pregnancy to get it.  How did he react to that, huh Blair?” Tea shot back

Blair released Tea’s wrist and shoved her back.  “I know just the depth of Todd’s cruelty and what he’s capable of.  But I also know he knows when to stop.  Do you?”  Blair walked around the room, looking at her long-time rival.  “He told you to stay out of our business while you two were married.  You never did.  You kept pushing and pushing…until you got yourself pushed out a window.  Pushing and pushing…until he threw you naked out of the penthouse.”

“He did come to get me back,” she stated, as if to prove a point.

“And yet you left him.  Why was that Tea?  Because after all these years, I’ve never heard your side of the story.  Todd said you were the one who left,” Blair questioned.  No answer was forthcoming again.  “Did you realize something about him?”

Tea turned to face her.  “Why don’t you just come out and say it, Blair.  Just stop toying with me.”

“No, I think this is the best way to deal with this,” she replied.  “It’s either this, or we take this back to the Palace Hotel’s ballroom.”  Blair looked out the windows onto the patio.  “Did you know, that the first time Todd made love after the rape was with me? And did you know how scared he was of it.  Afterwards, he damn near ran out on me.”

“Are you just rubbing it in my face?” Tea asked, her eyes burning with fire.

“Why not, you rubbed in Todd’s face how willing Victor was with you,” Blair retorted.  “Todd has never been anything other than the gentlest lover with me.  Victor, well, you know Victor’s style.  That should have been a dead giveaway for me.”

“And it wasn’t?” came the question.

“The truth of the matter is, I wanted Todd back so much, I was willing to believe the lie.  It’s something I’ll have to live with.  Because I was selfish, the man I loved was tortured mercilessly, for eight years.  My children didn’t have their father for eight years,” Blair murmured, a tear slipping down her cheek.  “And all that time, you had his daughter stashed away somewhere, hoping to, what, get Todd that way?”

Tea’s stony expression was all the answer that was needed. 

“I have so much to be pissed at you over.  You and Victor, really, because when you and your daughter showed up, he pretty much forgot about me and my kids.  And that’s including his own biological child.  And that’s one of the saddest things about this whole crazy situation.  Todd loves Sam like he was his own son.  He’s always been great with kids, but I think he really thinks of Sam as his,” Blair said.

“Well, now that Victor’s dead, when you two get married, as I see the rock on your finger, Todd can adopt him.  Because, of course, all of Blair’s children should be Todd Manning’s,” Tea retorted smugly.

When that comment dropped, Blair found herself at a crossroads.  She had information that could actually alleviate some of Tea’s loss, but she wasn’t sure she wanted impart it right now.  “Oh, this? Well, it’s a little too ostentatious for my taste, but it was Tina who picked it out, at least with Todd’s final approval.”  Blair could see how much that rankled the lawyer, especially since she and Tina had gotten along somewhat last year.  “And for your information, Todd would never usurp a father’s place in his son’s life, no matter the circumstances.”

Tea tried to mask her emotions, but the façade was slipping.  “Fine, to answer your question, Todd never wanted me.  I left him because he was still hung up on you.  And yes, maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but I did think that we may have had a chance after the shipwreck.  But after he made love to me, he did take off,” she bit back.  Then softly, almost to herself, “because he still loved you.”

“So, what was Danie?  Was she just some ploy?” Blair asked, her voice getting louder again.  “Tea, you’ve played ‘whose the daddy’ so often, you may just lose your child!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” came the cried reply.  Tea’s chest was heaving and her face was flushed.  “But I didn’t think Todd would accept her if she wasn’t his.  So when the DNA test was run, I had them alter the results.  I saw my opening.  He was done with you and I had the first clear shot since I met him.  AND I WANTED HIM!”

Blair bit her lip.  When she responded her voice was low and rational.  “Todd knows the truth, Tea.  He overheard Danie and Viki and Clint telling me.  And do you know what he did?  He didn’t yell, he didn’t call for your head.  He talked to Danie and he told her Victor would have been proud to be her father, biology notwithstanding.  And he and Viki still see her as that, as Victor’s daughter.  And you know what, I do think Victor would have accepted her because he did love you and she is yours.”

Tea collapsed to the floor, the tears coming in waves.  “And I’ve lost them all,” was all she could say.

Blair bit her lip again and looked skywards, as if pleading for an answer.  She made her decision.  “Tea, when you left town, John McBain found out some shocking news,” she began as she sunk onto the floor next to the other woman.  She lifted Tea up by the shoulders so they were looking directly at each other.  “We don’t know how, or where, but Victor is alive.”

Tea stared at her open-mouthed.  “What did you say?”

“A friend of Jack’s saw a man in the park in a wheelchair.  She had remembered seeing something about Victor and when they checked the security cameras in the park, John was able to positively identify Victor.  Allison Perkins was with him,” Blair explained.

Tea looked off to the side in a daze.  “No, it not possible,” she said in a shaky voice.  “No, he died right here, Todd shot him in cold blood and he died right here,” she said as she pointed to a spot next to her.

“I know, we all saw him die, but we have visual proof he’s alive,” Blair tried to say.

Tea shook her head furiously.  “No, you’re lying, you want me in more pain.  Get out!” she shout.  “GET OUT AND LEAVE ME TO GRIEVE IN PEACE!” She pushed Blair onto her back, got up and marched to the front door.  “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

Blair could see there was no reasoning with her.  She got up and walked out the door.  It nearly slammed her in the behind as it closed.  For a minute, she regretted telling Tea about Victor, but what was done was done.  Now, she worried for the other woman’s mental state.  She was half-tempter to call a doctor for help when her phone rang.  She smiled when she saw the number.  “Hey, have you burned down the new place yet?” she tried to joke. 

“It went that well, huh?” came Todd’s response.

“Surprisingly, I remained calm for the most part.  She was the one who lost her temper.  And I may have made the situation worse,” Blair informed him.  “I told her about Victor.”

“At least she has that knowledge,” Todd replied. 

“She didn’t believe me,” Blair said.

Todd sighed.  “Maybe we should send Danie back to Llanview.  Delgado’s going to need her and Danie does need her mother, even if she can’t admit it.”  

“That may be an idea.  I’ll call Viki and have her talk to Danie once I’m off the phone, try to convince her to return home.  We will have to tell her about Victor, since I‘ve told Tea about the security footage.”  Blair walked back to the car.  “So, seriously, is the house still in one piece?”

Todd looked around the study.  Empty food containers were all over the place, a bottle of soda was half-spilled on the new carpet and Jack and Sam were dead to the world.  “Well, define in ‘one piece’.  Babe, we may need to look into hiring help.”

Blair rolled her eyes and made her way back to the car.  When she got in, she called Viki who promised to talk with Danie in the morning.  She also expressed concern about Tea but Blair said she felt Tea was spent emotionally and would more than likely just go to sleep.  At least, that was Blair’s hope.  With the call made, Blair drove back to La Boulaie in peace.

Back at Tea’s, the woman had crumpled to the ground as soon as the door had closed.  She kept being hit with wave and wave of pain, emotional and even physical.  How cruel could that woman be?  How could she say that Victor was alive.  Finally, Tea went back into the den and took wedding picture off the desk as she fixed herself a drink.  She sat on the couch and curled up with it to her chest.

“It not possible, is it?” she asked the picture downing the glass in one shot.  Then she remembered a dream she had, when he was back in her arms.  But that was just a dream.  A wonderful dream, but just that.  She hoped she would return there as she felt herself slipping off to sleep.

She never heard nor felt the presence of anyone else inside the house.       

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