Another Paradise | T Shelby

EIGHT - THE STREAM

Blair hadn't spoken to Thomas properly since she attended the event with him two weeks prior. After leaving him alone on the dance floor, Blair stood outside by herself for half an hour, her eyes looking up at the sky so her tears wouldn't make her makeup run, composing herself before heading back inside.

Luckily, it wasn't much longer before Thomas came and found Blair mingling with other guests at the event, and soon enough they were on their way home, a silent journey to say the least.

It was unclear to Blair as to why Tommy decided to use that moment to apologise to her for the pain he'd caused in the past, but what she did know was that it was totally the wrong time to start being sincere.

She had moved on, or at least convinced herself that she had, working painstakingly hard to haul herself back onto her feet after he left her. Blair had made peace with the fact that she'd never get an apology or an explanation to why Tommy decided to wreck her life the way he had done, and she was happy to go to her grave feeling like that.

Even since he became her employer, the thought that Tommy could bring up old memories and potentially hold conversations about what their life had been like once upon a time was an idea that Blair hadn't had time to toy with.

She wanted it to stay that way, too. It was professional to keep business and pleasure separate, or in their case, business and pain. Blair didn't want an apology or an explanation anymore, she wanted to earn her money and help give a child an education, and that was it.

There was a small stream that ran through the grounds of the Shelby manor, a gentle trickle of water with a rock and sand bottom, a tiny slope of a bank at either side. It was a Wednesday evening and once again, Blair had told Charlie they would do something fun together if he did a good job with his school work. That day, he asked to play in the stream if the weather stayed nice all day, which it had done.

The air was warm, warmer than it had been the past few weeks and there was no breeze, all the trees remained eerily still, but the singing from the birds was a natural reminder of the world's vibrancy and life.

"Shoes and socks off, Charlie."

Charles sat down on the ground by the stream and pulled off his shoes and socks, sticking out his legs so that Blair could roll up the ends of his shorts.

"Will you come in, Blair? Just dip your toes in with me?"

Blair was a soft touch, making it easy for Charlie to get his own way most of the time. Blair unbuckled her small heels and placed them beside his shoes before taking his hand and helping him down the grassy bank towards the water.

"You first, tell me if it's too cold!"

Charlie climbed over a rock, his hands still grasping hold of Blair's for support against the slippery surface, a huge smile gracing his face as he felt the cool water rushing against his feet.

"It's very cold! Come on!"

Blair braced herself before tenderly dipping her toes in the water, squeezing Charlie's hands as he laughed at her, shivering at the temperature of the water.

The two of them splashed around for a while before Blair sat down against the bank, her feet still submerged with the water up to her ankles, cooling her body as the sun beat down hard on their skin.

Frances reminded Blair everyday that after finishing his schooling, Blair was free to do whatever she liked for the rest of the evening. She wasn't technically getting paid much more for spending her time in the evenings with Charles, but she enjoyed being with him, and it wasn't like she had anything else to do, either.