Well, it had worked.
“If I have a child,” Vincent slowly said, “it is brand new information to me. And I haven’t been with Cassandra in a very long time. She wasn’t even the last woman I was with before you.”
Nala didn’t bother covering herself when she sat up, legs criss-cross on the bed. “But she is someone you were with. And according to my verified source, she has a kid who may be old enough to be yours.”
“We’ll deal with that if she brings it up.” Vincent wasn’t sure where the fuck this conversation was going, and honestly, Nala didn’t either. What was she supposed to do? Sylvia was a bitch for dumping that, but she didn’t have a history of being a liar. “But you have my word that I know nothing about that. Even if I did, you would’ve known about it a long time ago. The Welshes can’t be hungry for child support, I imagine, since they’re cumulatively wealthier than I am, but shit.” Vincent laid back down. “Now, come on, what was the real reason for bringing this up? It wouldn’t come out of the blue without a damn good reason.”
Nala sighed. “The gala we’re going to… it’s being thrown by the Welshes, whoever they are. I guess your ex is going to be there and it’s a huge fucking deal. Apparently there are a lot of potential baby-daddies and you’re on the hot list of people she’s going to confront.”
“What the fuck? Come on, Nala, I don’t know who you were talking to, but you’re not the type to talk gossip like that.”
“I will if I somehow think it’ll make our day shitty.”
“Great. The best kind.” Vincent rolled his eyes. “So we’re flying three thousand miles to some gala that I might get Maury’d at. Great! Ask me more about how I feel.”
He was mostly being facetious. Mostly.
“Sorry?” Nala covered herself up with the comforter. So much for feeling good so high up in the air.
“Shit.” Vincent rolled away from her again. “I barely even remember her.”
“Who? Cassandra?”
“Yeah. See? I barely remember her name right now. We hooked up once when I was on the east coast for a conference. Once. I was at the convention as a distraction after Desiree died. This woman comes on strong to me and I decide to have some mindless sex as escapist therapy. What did it matter, right? The woman I was beholden to was dead.”
“You don’t have to do this to yourself.” Nala was usually quicker at this when it came to stopping her boyfriend’s destructive trains of thoughts. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” Vincent’s unhealthy habit of feeling guilty over “cheating” on his dead ex-fiancee had a tendency to rear its ugly head during these moments. It took him forever to get over moving on with a new serious girlfriend. To feel guilt that he might have a child out there, when his ex died without having given birth to two children she thought she was going to have? It was probably like a house fell on top of him. “I’m sure you were careful.”
“Was I? I was pretty self-destructive during that time. It’s entirely possible that I had unprotected sex with her, and I don’t even remember. For fuck’s sake, I barely remember her at all.” He didn’t, either. Those first few women after his fiancee’s death were a blur of hedonistic guilt and shame plaguing every corner of his body. When the man couldn’t get a hard-on without feeling guilty… “Guess we’ll find out, huh?”
Nala should have anticipated that things would go in this direction. But all she could do was curl up next to him and soothe the sudden rush of insecurities overcoming them both.
Nala didn’t know who this Cassandra was, but she was liable to punch her out when she ran into her. And probably Sylvia too. For good measure.
Another Intrusion From Your Narrator
Dear reader,
By now you are surely puzzling out the mystery that is Cassandra Welsh and whether or not she had the child of one of our wonderful heroes. With so much misinformation and rumor mongering making its way across the country, it is forgivable if you are confused or prefer to remain in disbelief until the truth comes out.
Because it will.
Let us assume (as so many have already) that Cassandra is the mother of a young child that has remained in hiding since it was born. Presented with the men in question, here are the likeliest candidates for surprise fatherhood.
Henry Warren: Had an affair with Cassandra shortly before meeting his future wife. Out of all the men she was with in such a short timeframe, he would be the least scandalous, given his wealth, position in society, and the fact that he was publicly single while they dated. Unfortunately, she would surely be in for a custody battle whether Henry liked it or not. The Warrens are not the type of people to let their progeny run be raised by other families.
Ken Andrews: Once the man got over his shock of being announced the father, he would be secretly relieved; after all, there is the matter of needing an heir to take over his company one day, and he is not the type to be bothered by choosing his bastard child. This is assuming the Welshes would even allow such a thing to happen. Ken, for all his wealth and prestige, has been married for over a decade. Not that he was cheating when he would have impregnated Cassandra, mind. Actually, that makes it worse. What family is going to admit that their beautiful little bastard was conceived in a kinky threesome?
Seth Christens: The former doctor had an ongoing affair with a woman who was a tenuous friend before she was a lover. Unattached at the time of said affair, and carrying the prestige of the title of doctor, Seth is one of the safer candidates for Cassandra to approach. However, there is the matter of him openly being in a ménage relationship with a sex worker and a man hardly anyone has ever heard of. But not everyone is perfect, now are they?
Vincent Lane: Vincent may not recall much about his encounter with Cassandra, but the fact that it happened is undisputed. The other fact that it may have been unprotected is regrettable, but also undisputed. Vincent has proven to be more than capable at fathering children, whether he likes it or not. He may be new money, but Cassandra could do worse for the father of her child when it comes to social standing. But would Vincent be able to handle it? Probably not.
Damon Monroe: A longshot on the surface, Damon has admitted that he doesn’t take birth control much into consideration. In truth, the Welshes would be thrilled to have him as the father of their youngest heir, as he is a public figure with power, prestige, and incredible wealth. The new wife and baby on the way, however, throws more than a few wrenches into the void.
Deducing who is truly the father would include consulting the poor woman’s fertility charts and cross-referencing them with one of the most promiscuous months of her life. We have chosen to not invade that far into her personal life for, as we have seen and heard, Cassandra does not handle such criticism well. Can it be unexpected? As the primary heiress to a vast and old fortune, Cassandra was raised to be nothing less than a perfect lady. Unfortunately for Cassandra Welsh, being a “perfect lady” is not her forte when it comes to matters of the heart and loins. Her search for a boyfriend was often thwarted by hormones and youthful vigor – for as much as we love our heroes, few of them had truly romantic intentions with any women until they met the perfect ones for them.
Don’t worry, dear readers. Drama will occur at the gala. Drama concerning Cassandra and the fate of her child will certainly commence. Everyone who shows up hoping to see such drama will have their fill of more than the delightful desserts offered.
This means great entertainment for everyone… save one. The man who has to face what has happened now that Cassandra is willing to go against her family’s wishes and publicly come out, dragging the man behind her.
It could very well be one of the five named men above. It could also be some other man. A man most of you have met alongside with our favorite heroes. A man many of you wish to know better. A man who is in absolutely no position to have such a thing come out.
But the author wouldn’t do that…
…Right?
Scene 11
The Gala
Managing a dozen characters is a lot like herding cats. Since we do not have the hundreds of thousands of words to spare as if this were an epic fantasy novel, we will instead take a birds-eye approach to following the more interesting events of the Christmas Gala everyone is attending. This will mostly be accomplished by finally meeting the woman of the year.
In fact, let us assume that we are there right now, with a simple tense shift.
***
The Welshes have retained most of their fortune thanks to their wonderful habit of hanging on to every penny they can keep in their wallets. Lest it be said that they are Scrooges, however, know that they always splurged on their annual holiday gala. After all, they had to keep their favorite friends and business associates happy enough to return every year.
Thanks to the rumor mill set in motion, 2016 is the highest turnout in recent years. People who debated coming cleared their calendars once they heard the rumblings of Cassandra’s reappearance. Some people were still in love with her – or at least the idea of her – or appreciated a damn good enigma.