Prologue

When the soft knock at the door finally came, Chuck was relieved. He was becoming impatient. This would be like ripping off a band-aid. Just get it over with quickly and it wouldn't hurt as bad. But this was like voluntarily ripping off a huge band-aid, which made him insane.

"Come in." He set his tumbler filled with a small bit of scotch on his desk. He stood from his large chair and walked toward the door to greet the visitor.

The great wooden door opened, "Chuck." Dan Humphrey said in a strange way…like he was hesitating. He was most definitely different. They hadn't seen each other in thirty years. Of course Dan had seen Chuck. On the news, in the newspaper, he was everywhere.

He was one of the worlds most successful businessmen. So he wasn't at all surprised by his look. But Chuck almost expected to see that twenty something judgmental guy walk in. His hair was starting to loose its dark brown, almost blackish color and the wrinkles mostly surrounded his eyes and mouth. The type of wrinkles you got from smiling your whole life. Chuck's wrinkles were different. More of them were on his forehead, from stress. His hair was also speckled with gray. His voice still retained it's smoothness, though. The voice girls never could resist. But he was hardly chasing girls these days. He had retired from that hobby long ago.

Dan held out his hand for a shake. "It's good to see you." He smiled.

"Yeah, you too." Chuck genuinely replied. "Here, have a seat." He motioned to one of the chairs set in front of his desk, then he took a seat in his chair.

"I still can't believe it. You requested me for this?" Dan questioned.

Yes, he had requested Dan to write his life story. Once the publishers approached Chuck about their idea, to write this book, he told them Dan Humphrey had to do it. "Who?" They had asked. Dan hadn't ever made a name for himself, not like Chuck did. He only wrote in his free time now, for fun. He gave it up as a profession in college. He realized he would never get very far in life if he went down that path. He still loved it, though, and it made him happy. But it was only a dream.

"Yes, I did, Humphrey. You're the only one who can do it the correct way. The only one who will get it right." He explained in a serious tone and picked up his bottle of scotch and poured himself some more, "Would you like a drink?"

"Oh, no thanks." He pulled a notebook and pen out of his pocket, "I can't believe you ever agreed to this. Not something the Chuck Bass I remember would do. Letting a book about his life be published. And I heard it's going to be a movie, too?"

"The Chuck Bass you knew was twenty-three years old. Now, I'm fifty-two. That gives someone a lot of time to change."

"But you're still drinking your scotch. That tells me you're not completely different."

"I guess not." He swirled the drink around in the glass.

"I'm happy about this. That you picked me. And we got to see each other again."

Chuck forced a smile, "Yeah…how's the family?"

"Oh, they're good…yeah." He answered awkwardly. "What about yours?"

"You're funny." He pointed and chuckled, then took a gulp of the alcohol.

"I didn't mean to say that. I wasn't thinking."

"I know." He didn't blame him, it must be somewhat of a strange situation for him.

"Chuck, if you changed your mind about me writing this, it's okay. I'll understand."

"Why would I change my mind?"

"Because…I'm kind of biased. I know you already."

"That's right, you know me. That's why I want you to do this."

"Okay if you're sure…"

"Yes, I'm sure. Plus you should be grateful. I'm giving you your big break. This could make you famous."

He laughed out loud, "Yeah right."

"Hey, they say this book is gonna be big. They've already made a movie deal. Which I think is totally crazy. The fucking book hasn't even been written yet"

"I read somewhere they already found the guy to play you."

"Well they said several guys are going to play me, you know different stages of my life."

"Have they thought of a title for all this yet? The book or the movie?"

"They're expecting you to think of a title."

Dan usually used dates for his titles, but that wouldn't work this time. The title would be a tough part, but he would take care of that at the end. "It still just baffles me that you're doing this. You're really doing this. Letting the whole world know your deep dark secrets."

"I have nothing left to loose." He drank the rest of his scotch that was in the glass.

Dan hung his head, he felt bad for Chuck. He didn't want to, and he knew he shouldn't, but he did. And they were being civilized, they had never been exactly friends. But chatting with him, now, made him feel like he was talking to an old buddy. Chuck had changed with age. For one thing he knew that he no longer went by Chuck very much anymore. People referred to him as Charles, now. He had seen an interview with him once, and the woman talked about how he used to go by Chuck and asked why he no longer did. He answered, "Chuck Bass was the kid I used to be, I'm not the same person anymore. I grew up, I matured, and Chuck went away." Dan could blindly see that. Part of him missed the old Chuck. He knew him. Charles was a strange, graying man that looked as if he had seen too many bad days.

"I don't know how to start this." He tapped his pen on the notebook.

"Oh the book right…start from the beginning, finish at the end, maybe?" He suggested sarcastically.

"And what will we begin with?" Dan got his pen ready to write.

"When I was born. But you already know that story, so I don't think I need to tell you over again."

"I think the whole point of this is for you to tell me over again. You're telling me your life story."

"Okay then, I'll start with that…"