Title: The Driver's Tale
Author: Melanyholland
Summary: Missing moments with Chuck and Blair told by a special point of view.
Rating: T
Pairing: Chuck/Blair
Disclaimer: Gossip Girl is not mine. I play with its characters.
Author's Note: Hi! This is a story I wrote and published two years ago on an Italian site. If it sounds familiar to some of you, it's because JoCB4e translated and published it on this site a year ago. I thought it was right to post it with my name this time, since I'm the actual author. The translation is still JoCB4e's.
Hope you enjoy! :)
The Driver's tale
"Why should I do it for you?".
He knew very well that asking himself that question wasn't very professional, but sometimes he couldn't help it.
When he agreed to work for the Bass family, one of the wealthiest in New York (if not the wealthiest, like his wife Beth reminded him), he expected to work for the business tycoon Bart Bass: bring him to work, to meetings with others magnates, to the airport for business trips and, of course, to dates with uninhibited and attractive girls; he was neither naïve nor at his first job, he knew how things worked up there.
What he certainly didn't expect on his first day was to find in front of him a kid, probably of 15-16, in an extravagant yellow suit, with one girl on each side, looking at him like they wanted to eat him alive, right there.
"So you're my new driver", said the kid – sorry, his boss – barely looking at him, while he was opening the limo door attentively for him, like he was supposed to do.
"Arthur, Mr. Ba-"
"Call me sir", he said, mockingly.
Sorry… what? Was he joking?
"Arthur, sir", he said, with much effort; he had to call sir a kid about 30 years younger than him. It was ridiculous. But, he reminded himself, it was work.
Maybe I should bow, he thought within himself.
"I'm Chuck Bass".
There was a bit of arrogance in his tone, as well as cockiness, and the girls seemed to melt right here and there. It sounded like the kid said it more to show off than to actually present himself. And it was probably like that.
"Well, let's go have some fun tonight, Arthur", uttered his new boss, throwing a meaningful glance at the girls, who giggled and blushed.
"But we have to make a stop first".
"Of course, sir".
The stop, Arthur found out later, was to buy the drugs. Not that the young Bass did it himself.
"This are for the coke and this are for you", said his boss putting two envelops in his hand. "I'm sure you'll know how to keep this within us", ended the kid with a small smile, before returning groping the girls who where practically spreading like butter over him.
Of course he would. Even if is family didn't depend on that amount of money, he would never dare denouncing a Bass.
So he went without protests, eating back what he wanted to say: 'why can't you do this dirty work yourself?'. He could use some cash, especially now that his little girl needed braces.
He mostly drove the young Bass alone or with some girls, always different, but all the same when it came to satisfy his boss's needs. Some where old enough to have him as a child, but that didn't seem to bother them.
Usually in the morning, when he went to the Palace to bring him to school, he saw the same girls that the night before were assaulting the kid leaving, angry and disappointed, some actually crying.
Arthur sometimes asked himself how it was possible for a 16 year old boy to live like that. It looked like he lived by himself in a Palace suite, and his sexual adventures weren't the only strange thing for a 16-year-old boy.
Arthur often saw him drinking bottles and bottles of scotch, but he was hardly ever giddy and happy like teens are usually after drinking. The young Bass reacted to the alcohol like someone who had a long relationship with it.
And he was 16. Sixteen. That was what he couldn't take in. He considered him a spoiled and arrogant boy, but having himself three kids, he couldn't help but ask himself how much time he could carry on with that kind of lifestyle, but especially where the hell was his father. Maybe people were right when they said money doesn't buy happiness.
Anyway, he stayed quiet and watched the road. It was what he was paid for.
There were only two people Arthur saw getting in the limo more than once.
One was a boy with bangs, blonde hair and blue eyes, who the young Bass called 'Nathanial'. Arthur gathered he was the Bass boy's best friend, as there were never other boys in the limo (except one time with 3 strippers he wanted to forget).
The boys argued manly about sports and girls, but there was a recurring matter.
"So, have you and Blair sealed the deal yet?"
A snort and a reluctant tone: "No".
"Why the hell not?"
"Chuck, it's kind of complicated, you know…"
"There's nothing complicated about sex! You spread her legs and put it in! What's complicated?"
Giggle and sigh: "You'll never change, man…".
That day, after the blonde guy exited the limo, the young Bass leaned in and lowered the dark window between them to give him instructions and he noticed the satisfied smile (maybe unconscious) that graced the kid's face.
The other was a pretty girl with curly brown hair, always well-behaved and classy.
Arthur was struck with her since the first time he opened the limo door for two reasons: one, she didn't jump on the young Bass like one of the usual sluts, and two, she wasn't afraid of arguing with him, saying things Arthur often wanted to say.
In particular, one day he was driving them to a Brunch, the girl said something Arthur wished he could say:
"Why should I do it for you, Bass?"
She said it mockingly, but that didn't bother the young Bass.
"Come on, Waldorf! You owe me! Did you forget my Serena's photo shoot the other say?"
Arthur didn't know if she remembered it, but he certainly did. The young Bass assumed following people around was one of his tasks.
"I never said I was going to pay you back"
"You know well Chuck Bass doesn't do anything for free" he replied, then his tone became low and seductive "But if you want we could find some other way… Nice stockings…"
"You're heinous, Chuck! Don't touch me!" then answered, sighing "Fine, I'll tell Hazel to leave you alone…"
"Good. You fuck her once and she follows you around like a puppy", he complained "But be sure she obeys. She doesn't look really clever…"
"She will" answered the girl with a cold tone Arthur would never assign her "She has to, if she wants to be one of us"
The young Bass laughed, and Arthur sensed there was something between them. They could certainly make a good twosome, if Arthur didn't understand that that was the Blair that Chuck wanted his best friend to seal the deal with.
So, every day was the same: school, girls, drugs… Until one day, when everything changed.
That day the boy entered the limo with a typical teen hung-over. He kept giggling and making questions about his father. Arthur had never seen him like that.
That same night, the usual prim and proper girl left the Bass boy's new burlesque club, Victrola, a bit tipsy and wearing only a negligee and a mischievous smile.
Arthur always thought she was a beautiful girl, but that night she was gorgeous, she looked free.
Even his boss looked different: the arrogant playboy was gone, and was replaced with a boy who caressed the girl with is eyes and worn a soft smile.
He didn't hear a dual purpose in the boy's voice when he asked the girl if she wanted a lift home, and the moment he took her hand to lead her inside, he didn't touch her elsewhere.
Arthur heard and saw many things since he worked for the Bart Bass's son, and the young boy never cared if he was a witness of his adventures.
The moans whispers he heard that night were unmistakable, but without the usual vulgarity and excessive noises.
The girl got off in front of the Waldorf penthouse, without looking back. When the window lowered, Arthur didn't find on the boy's face the look he expected (the one of satisfaction and pleasure he usually wore after sex): when he told him where to go, he was happy but confused, like he couldn't quite catch what just happened.
After that night everything changed.
As a change there where no more escorts, strippers and giggling (and undressed) girls; by that time the only people that he saw where his best friend and – a lot more often than before and than the blonde guy – the girl with the dark hair. When she climbed in the limo she was always composed and well dressed; but by the time she got down she had rosy cheeks and a small smile graced her lips. The same his boss's wore every time he told him they were going to pick up Miss Waldorf.
For the first time since he worked for the young Bass he seemed… happy.
The only purchase he made was in a jewerly. He still smoke some joints sometimes, but he didn't do drugs.
As well, the conversations he heard were completely different:
"I think I should try again… With Blair, I mean"
"Everybody would think she made you whipped".
"I don't care. I… I want to be with her. I want her to be my girlfriend again and make love with her"
"Listen to you ol' pal, Archibald: forget her. Things are too messed up for you two to get back together".
"Can't you… talk to her? You know… Change her mind?"
"Why me? Can't you do it yourself, at this point?"
"No man, come on… Who better? You're good at talking with girls, right?"
"To seduce them, sure. Listen to me, man, forget her. I'm saying this in your best interest".
Arthur wasn't the next Einstein, but it was obvious the Archibald kid not only looked confused. He was. Even a two-year-old baby would understand that his boss had his best interests at not letting his two friends get back together.
Then there was Cotillion. Arthur had no idea what his was, but when he told his family, his twelve-year-old girl started bouncing up and down, begging him to take her with him. He couldn't, of course. However, Cotillion seemed to be the night when girls debut to society, a special night for them.
But it wasn't a special night for the young Bass, that was certain. When he climbed in after the party he looked devastated, but it was a happy surprise when he had to drive him to the airport: now he could spent all the Christmas holidays with his family, something he hadn't done for years.
It wasn't difficult to understand that what made his boss leave: Miss Waldorf dumped him, and not in a nice way. So it was a shock when Mr. Bass, back from Monaco, asked him to park in front of the Waldorf penthouse.
"What do you want? I already told you it's over between us", were the first words, full of irritation, Miss Waldorf uttered as soon as she climbed in. The divider window wasn't closed all the way, and Arthur saw that Mr. Bass returned to smile in an evil and calculating way. Neither a sign of softness nor cheerfulness in his eyes that reflected the girl's face.
"Hello to you too, sweetheart. I expected you to be more gentle with me, as you stuffed my phone with calls and messages begging me not to tell dear Nathanial about us". His voice tone was cold "But it wasn't too bad, you know I love to hear you plead."
"Ugh, you're nauseating Bass" she insulted him "And anyway, I know you haven't told him anything. He called me earlier"
"Really?"
"And I don't think you'll say anything" she went on, ignoring him, adamantly, even if her hands where clutching her bag a little to tight, something the young Bass caught.
"You're bluffing. Nate you're best friend, you don't wanna lose him"
"True. But as things are right now, I may be forced to speak"
"What do you mean?"
Mr. Bass didn't answer right away. He turned on the other side touching his bottom lip. Miss Waldorf was becoming very nervous, but she didn't want to repeat the question.
After a while, in which he figured the two where engaged in a staring fight, the girl gave in a said:
"So?"
The smile on the boy's face widened. When he spoke, he did it in a soft manner:
"I mean it depends on you, sweetheart"
The girl rolled her eyes, tightening her lips and looking furious.
"I knew you would blackmail me. But if you think I'll sleep with you you're-"
Mr. Bass laughed in her face, but the amusement didn't reach his cold eyes.
"I don't need to do that to sleep with you, you're so much easier to seduce"
The sound of the slap reverberated in the limo and Arthur jumped slightly, but the two were too busy to notice him.
"Bastard!" and she wasn't neither controller nor elegant. She was breathing heavily, with red cheeks: she looked like a force of nature.
Arthur couldn't blame her for her reaction, but seeing the angry look on his boss's face, he was scared he might hit her or something… In that case he would really find himself in a bad place.
But Chuck Bass, who Arthur saw doing some really crazy things, didn't look like he wanted to hurt her, not physically, at least.
"I won't force you to sleep with me", he stated, seriously, but then his lips changed in a mischievous smirk "In fact, I'll let you sleep with nobody"
"What?" she answered back, slightly uncertain.
"You understood, Waldorf. From this moment on, if you don't want dear Nathanial to know how many times you spread you legs for me, you'll not do it for him either. And just to be safe, to not fall into temptation, I'd say you have to avoid every kind of contact with him"
"You're kidding, I hope. You want me to dump him?"
He nodded.
"But I can't! How? What should I tell him?"
"That's not my business" he replied "But I always admired your ability of being a bitch… I'm sure you'll have no problems"
The was a moment of silence, in which the girl stared at the boy she was having a conversation with, biting her bottom lip, tense. Arthur thought she might want to hit his boss, but at the end her little shoulders relaxed, her mask cracked.
"Chuck, I beg you. If you still feel something for me, please don't make me do this…"
The young Bass leaned in, his hand took a lock of curly dark hair, then he stroked her cheek softly. He moved closer and kissed her lips softly, and she let him and closed her eyes; their lip contact lasted a couple of seconds, and when he moved back, she watched him pleadingly.
"My dear" he said, stroking her cheek again "I can't. I don't like when others touch what's mine. And you are mine, Blair. This you will understand"
Arthur found incredible how such a soft tone could turn out sharp as a knife. Miss Waldorf slapped his hand away and her eyes turned cold again.
"I'm not yours. I'll never be of someone like you", she declared, aggressive, and climbed out of the limo quickly. Mr. Bass wore a mocking smile, which disappeared as soon as the door closed. He slumped in the seat and opened a scotch bottle, drinking right out of it.
"Let's go back home" he stated, and when he realised the window between them was partially opened he sighed, and closed it quickly with an annoyed grimace.
He didn't see Miss Waldorf for a while, for quite obvious reasons. The only one who frequented the limo was his boss's best friend, as clueless as ever, who went on asking him advice about the girl they secretly both wanted.
To Arthur their situation seemed like on in the Greek tragedies his wife Beth so loved and which they went to when they were engaged, but he doubted that this time there would be an happily ever after.
In fact, some time later, he saw the blonde boy again, but his eyes weren't clueless anymore, they were full of anger.
He hit the young Bass, and it was obvious because of Miss Waldorf.
That night, when he picked him up from some bar, Arthur had to carry his boss into the limo, because he was in a really pitiful situation. He surely drank more than ever, because he couldn't stand up (and walk) and because his eyes were blank.
"I destroyed her, Arthur" he leered, with a smirk "You should have seen her. Now she'll not be such a bitch, uh." He laughed, bitter "I'm no one's last resort. Yeah, I'm Chuck Bass, I forgot it, but now I know. I don't need them. I don't need her. She should have thought about it before. I'm not here to be laughed at".
So came back the countless women, the flood of alcohol and the two envelops to buy cocaine and pills.
Instead of his two friends before (obviously), now the only one who frequented the limo was a certain Eric, a boy who looked at Mr. Bass with affection and respect.
But the blonde guy was never there at night, when the boy stopped smiling and making jokes, when he try in every way to lose himself, more than to remember himself who he was.
Arthur was pleased (as well as surprised) when his boss ordered him to go to the Waldorf penthouse one morning. And he was even more when he heard the girl's voice again, that same night:
"Whoregina will pay for what she did to S" she stated, with determination in her voice "She can't hide behind Humphrey forever"
"What are you going to do?" said the young Bass, intrigued.
"I don't know yet. But I'll know tomorrow morning, even if I had to stay up all night to plot something".
Then it was quiet, and Arthur could sense the tension between them. After all, they hadn't been alone in quite some time, and the memories that the limo carried, he figured, were quite bittersweet. The first to break the silence was him boss:
"Let's study it together" he stated.
"What?"
"Serena is part of the family now. If you want to kick Georgina's ass I'm game".
"You're worried about Serena?", she asked, with a disbelieving but impressed tone.
"Don't read anything into it, Waldorf. She's just family", he replied, annoyed.
"Ok. Let's go to my house and plot" she sighed "It will be the last time before ignoring each other again"
"Well, there are some other things we could do for the last time in your room…" he said in a seductive manner.
"As heinous as ever, Bass", she insulted him, but he could hear a hint of a smile in her voice.
Even the boy looked a bit more relaxed the next morning. Obviously, the two made up, or were halfway there, which was great. He preferred driving him to the Waldorf penthouse than to wild parties with countless (and faceless) women.
He always asked himself, anxious, what he would do if Mr. Bass (or one of his friends) overdosed. It was definitely a situation he didn't want to find himself in.
So Miss Waldorf was good.
His prayers were granted.
After the 'Wedding of the Century', as the New York Times front page called it (Arthur believed it less important than the murder at page 3 and the robbery at page 10, but, after all, he wasn't a journalist), the young Bass came back to the limo with an arm around Miss Waldorf's waist, who was wearing a pink dress he thought ridiculous… But then, he thought even Mr. Bass's choices in clothes ridiculous, so maybe they were really perfect together.
As soon as Arthur closed the door they started kissing. Arthur expected to hear the usual groans and moans, but, surprisingly, all he heard was talk:
"You sure you want to take it slow? You're Chuck Bass"
"Yes, and you're Blair Waldorf. So I don't want to risk making another mistake. I want to do this right"
A break, probably filled with a kiss, and then:" However, I'm sure you're not going to be able to resist me, dear"
"You an unbearable selfish womanizer, you know that Bass?" she said, teasingly "But know you belong to me right?"
"You are mine. Say it"
"Why do I have to say I and you don't?"
"Because…" his voice lowered and Arthur didn't understand what he said, but he supposed it was a good reason, because Miss Waldorf complied, excited:
"I'm yours, Chuck"
It was a great week, and the two looked happy. Mr. Bass always wore a spontaneous smile, but now he showed it without reservation, as to let everyone know that Miss Waldorf was his.
"Wow, you look… happy"
Of course he wasn't to one to say it, even if he shared the opinion
"What can I say, Eric? Blair knows how to make me happy"
"Now, I don't want the details", the boy stopped him "I didn't think you were the one to have a serious relationship"
"Me neither" the young Bass admitted, but know his voice carried a pensive tone that wasn't there before.
"I read Tuscany is incredible this time of the year" stated Miss Waldorf some hours later. It seemed the two decided to spend a part of their summer holidays in Italy. Arthur thought about his planned vacation in Maryland, and he felt a bit down.
"Oh. I have to buy a Cavalli in the Florence boutique. Penelope, Iz and Hazel will be green!"
"Of course"
"Chuck, what's the matter? You look absent" she murmured, concerned. The window between them was open again, so he could see when Miss Waldorf leaned closer to Mr. Bass and intertwined their hands. The young Bass smiled and kissed the back of her hand softly, like a real gentleman.
"It's nothing, Blair. You don't have to worry"
Miss Waldorf didn't look convinced.
"Chuck… If this is too much for you…"
Arthur couldn't swear, but it seemed like his boss had a moment of hesitation, when his smile disappeared a bit, but maybe it was just the light.
"Don't worry, Blair. I'm fine. Really", he declared, then he took her in his arms and kissed her. When he buried his face in her curls, it looked like he was clinging at her for dear life, more than hugging her "You know me. Nothing will change" he murmured, stroking her hair.
"Of course I know you, Bass. I stand you since we were little" she teased him, and both laughed.
"Us, in Italy… It will be like Roman Holiday" she sighed, dreamily.
"But we're going to Tuscany, Waldorf"
"Always the killjoy, Bass"
Unfortunately, if there was a thing Arthur learned working for the Basses, it was that there's always a twist behind the corner. His boss knew how to be unpredicted, and he showed it by calling him to pick him up from some bar the night of the day he was supposed to leave. Arthur found him drunk off his ass and with a scowl on his face.
While he was carrying him to the limo, a girl's voice startled them both:
" Chuck! What the hell are you doing here? Where's Blair?"
The girl was a gorgeous blond with endless legs that looked familiar. And pissed.
"Sis, what a pleasure to see you" he drawled with a drunken smile.
"Don't tell me you dumped her. Please don't tell me"
"Whatever you wish, sis"
"Why, Chuck? Why did you do it?" the girl looked really concerned. "You were so good together"
And his boss surprised him again. Not because of his answer, but because of his tone:
"Because I'm Chuck Bass"
And there wasn't cockiness in his tone, but only deep regret.
End
Melany's Notes:
I want to thank Trigemini, 88Mary88, pty, anabella-chair, chaval, QueenBee10 and ellibells for their wonderful reviews to "Do You Want to Know a Secret?". Your words are precious to me. Thanks.