On a crisp, Saturday morning in spring Blair Waldorf was walking down 5th Avenue, striding towards her haven, Tiffany's. With a croissant and coffee in hand, she admired the sparkling jewelry on display display. She took a sip of her hot coffee to stop herself from shivering. Her stocking clad legs were feeling colder by the minute. She pulled her coat closer to her.
She had figured, the cold morning walk would give her clarity. Lately she felt stuck in a rut. She had goals and ambitions but they seemed to be getting further away, not closer to achievement. Blair Waldorf's dream was to become editor-in-chief at a fashion magazine such as Vogue, Elle, or Harper's Bazaar. Considering she was only 25 though, she would settle for fashion editor, for now at least.
After graduating from Yale University, Blair had gone on to intern at InStyle. After a year of interning for InStyle, she had secured an assistant position with Glamour. Her job wasn't ideal, a lot of it was still errands but she loved the rare days when she got to assist on a photoshoot or even help out with styling.
But after over two years of being at Glamour, she couldn't help but yearn for more. She wanted a promotion even if it hadn't been that long yet. She was sick of bringing in coffees and dragging around clothing racks. Calling the shots was what Blair longed to do. On this frosty morning, Blair decided she would do whatever it took to secure herself a position as an associate editor.
Finishing her coffee, Blair set off for home.
The sound of the intercom buzzing awoke Blair the next morning. Pushing her sleep mask up on her forehead, she climbed out of bed and through on a crisp white button down shirt. Determined to see who the offender was, she strode out to her living room. She pressed through to let whoever it was in and opened her door a crack to see.
Walking up the stairs, was a man perhaps around the same age as her with curly hair and high cheekbones. He looked her way and rounded the corner, heading straight for her door.
"Hi, I'm so sorry about that. I am moving in today and wasn't sure how to get through the main door so I buzzed through and you were the one to pick up." He looked at her shirt and the sleeping mask on her forehead. "I hope I didn't wake you."
He had warm brown eyes that made it impossible to be mad at him for waking her. She had to admit he was really cute, even with the mop of unruly curls atop his head.
"You did, but that's alright." She said nodding at him.
"I'm Dan Humphrey, I'll be living one floor up." He said, extending his hand to shake hers.
"Blair Waldorf." She smiled at him, sleepily. "I'm sure I will see you around." She added as she started to close the door.
"Actually, could I ask another favor?" He looked sheepish at needing to bother her more.
She opened the door again, "I suppose."
"Do you have a phone charger I could borrow? Mine is dead and I have a friend who's supposed to come to help me get moved in plus I need to contact the manager about getting the key for the entry door."
"Yes, come in while I find it." Blair opened the door and let Dan in. Dan seemed to look around her apartment with curious eyes.
Blair's apartment was meticulously decorated. Adorned with vintage trinkets she found at antique shops and a large portrait of Marie Antoinette. Her apartment's theme was Parisian chic since that of course was her favorite city.
"So how long have you lived here?"
"About a year." Blair replied while opening up a drawer to her large chest of drawers which sat under the television. "Finally. Here it is." She said as she retrieved a long white cord.
"Thank you, I'll just go plug it in."
"Oh no, just borrow it. We're neighbors now so you can just return it later." She wasn't exactly in the right state to be entertaining guests. She would much prefer to be dressed and made up when in the company of an admittedly attractive male.
"You sure?" He asked with a hesitance.
"Absolutely." She was on the verge of pushing him and his plaid flannel shirt out of her apartment.
"Alright, well thank you so much. I will return it as soon as this is all charged up."
At last he left and she closed the door behind him. With a tiny flicker of something registering in her mind.