A/N: I am officially not on hiatus anymore. You are probably wondering why I am starting a new story when I still need to finish Death By Design, but I need to get into the groove of writing again before I do. That story means way too much to me for me to screw it up. The three central characters in this story are Blair, Chuck, and Jack. I have not decided who Blair will ultimately be with nor do I plan on telling you until the final chapter. These chapters are meant to be short and sweet and expect time jumps. They are a crucial part to the structure of the story. Without further ado, here is the first chapter. Please review!
One
August 2013
"Come to see me off? How kind of you princess," he drawled, straightening his tie as he did so.
Blair rolled her eyes at him and answered, "Against my will I assure you. I was sent to do this by my boss."
It was the truth after all, albeit not the sole factor that had pushed her to show up at the airport this morning.
"Too bad," he said, a smirk upon his face. "I was hoping you were here to tell me that you had changed your mind."
She looked at him with disgust, a facial expression that she had perfected ever since she had known him.
"In your dreams," she hissed, although the tiny traitorous flicker in her eyes gave her away.
He noticed it. He had come to notice a lot of things about her. She was wavering, which meant that this was his opportunity to get what he wanted and he always got what he wanted.
"Every night darling," he answered, taking one step towards her.
He smiled when she didn't take a step back away from him in response. He was right. She was here for him. She was just too proud to admit it.
"Come on Blair," he urged her as he had for the past three months since he had landed in New York. "Have dinner with me. We could go anywhere you like and I promise to be an absolute gentleman."
He would have said and done anything to get her to say yes.
"Ha!" Blair scoffed, trying to maintain her cool gaze on him. "You? A gentleman? Delusional, are we?"
He had to be to be asking her out to dinner, he mused to himself.
"Perhaps," he agreed, taking another step towards her. "But are you not deluding yourself into thinking that you're here only because your boss told you to be?"
She held her breath at his closeness, but also because she was amazed at how well he had come to know her in those three months. He was the devil and she had always loathed him, but there was something there that genuinely intrigued her, something beneath the surface that she doubted anyone else had discovered and she wanted to know what it was.
"Dinner," she finally breathed after a moment of silence. "But it is not a date."
She almost fainted upon hearing her own words. She had just agreed to go out to dinner with him? The old her would have kicked her in the shin. Hard. But the new her? She was ready for this, had been for awhile. It had been three years since her last relationship and she was ready for this one.
"Great," he whispered, his smile victorious. "I come back in two weeks. Pick you up at eight?"
August 2023
"Excuse me sir. Can I get you anything?" a voice asked, interrupting his thoughts.
The memory of Blair vanished from his mind and he turned around slowly to face the bartender to show him exactly how pissed off he was that he had interrupted him. He did not like to be interrupted. Ever. Elizabeth had told him before that it was in the Bass blood and she was right.
"Sorry sir," the bartender apologized immediately upon seeing his angered expression.
He raised his hand to silence him, pardoning him after having calmed down.
"Forget about it," he reassured him, before finally giving him an answer. "How about a nice glass of water?"
Water. Here he was sitting at a bar asking for a glass of water. It scared him how much she affected him, how much she had changed him.
October 2013
"You need to stop drinking so much," she warned him sternly, snatching the glass from his hand. "Your body can only take so much toxic waste."
"What else am I supposed to drink when I'm stressed dear?" he challenged her, a twinkle in his eye.
"Water," she answered. "And you promised you would change for me when I agreed to be your girlfriend. No more alcohol. No more evil schemes. You promised."
She put her hands on her hips for emphasis, daring him to challenge her again. He was a smart man. He stood up, gave her kiss on the cheek before emptying his glass and filling it to the top with just plain old water.
August 2023
He smiled now at the memory. She had had an incredible power over him then as she did now. Five years after their divorce and she was still all he thought about. Well, her and Belle. He turned to look at the clock. Seven. The same time his flight had taken off all those years ago. Every year since the divorce, on the anniversary of the day she had finally said yes to dinner, he waited for her. She never showed up, but he had always hoped. He glanced at the clock on the wall once more. Five minutes past seven. He grabbed his bags and headed for the departure gate, his head hung low in final defeat. They weren't coming and he? Well, this time, he wasn't coming back.