Title: Two Beautiful Strangers
Chapter 2
Author: Ellibells
Summary: Chuck Bass is a womanizer, Blair Waldorf is a powerful women. When two complete strangers meet in a bar, it can surely only be the buzz of alcohol that causes the tingling sensation when they touch? AU. Chuck and Blair have never met. T rated initially but will turn into an M in future chapters. Happy Ending.
A/N: Firstly. Ahem. Wow! I am in total shock! When I posted the first chapter I never imagined such a response! I am so overwhelmed with amazing reviews that I am dying from happiness! (I'll try not to because apparently you all want more?) I'm gunna now and try to put into words how much I appreciate you all… AMAZING BEAUTIFUL LOVELY GORGEOUS AMAZING people! I can't thank you enough! I have never had more than thirty reviews! for a single chapter so thank you for making my New Year perfect already! :')
I know most of you are probably dying for the second Chair encounter but I need to put the groundwork in place first! Patience is a virtue right?…but maybe at the end of this chapter! ;) enjoy.
(Oh and ignore my lazy spelling mistake if there is any? I was in a rush to post because I love you that much!)
Disclaimer: I don't own GG unfortunately for me :)
It had been days since she had almost ran out of the bar leaving a handsome stranger behind.
She plodded through work trying to forget his touch and the conversation they had had but it was like trying to forget her name.
It was Tuesdays and she was yet to feel motivated about anything she was involved in. The worst part was, laziness was not a characteristic of a Waldorf. It was a word that shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as a Waldorf but yet Blair found herself moping and thinking about their meeting and what could have been.
She ran a successful fashion house, normally bringing new ideas and sketches to her team daily but the slack was starting to show.
"B? B!" Serena almost yelled, snapping her best friend out of her daydream as she absently let her pencil swirl round her sketch pad.
"Sorry. What?" Blair looked up, Serena stood in front of her desk with a handful of paperwork.
"Where is your head? We have the meeting in five minutes and I still need you to sign for these invoices." Serena moaned, banging the handful of paper down on Blair's desk.
"My head is on my shoulders where it should be. Shush. The invoices can wait until after the meeting and tell Laurel to get me a skinny caramel latte." Blair gestured to her assistant who was currently sat on the other side of the glass window connecting Blair's office with her teams.
"Am I called Laurel? No." Serena shot. Walking to her adjoining office which was connected to Blair's with an open plan archway.
When there was merely a grunt of displeasure from Blair, Serena stopped in the archway to her section of the office and turned to look at her best friend.
"You're still thinking about that guy!" she accused, grinning widely.
"I have no idea who you are referring to." the brunette played dumb as she started signing invoices on her desk.
"Yes you do. The mystery man you met the night you dumped Marcus." she reminded, enjoying pushing her best friend's buttons.
"I thought we agreed not to mention that. And I didn't dump him, you make it sound intentional. We went our separate ways...maturely."
"Fine. You're thinking about the mystery guy you met at the bar the other night!" Serena corrected, laughing lightly as she watched Blair style a face of denial.
"No. I just didn't get much sleep last night. That is all."
"Ohhhh! Because you were thinking about mystery man?" S laughed again as Blair bit her tongue before turning to her friend.
"You have three seconds to stop talking or I will fire your ass." Blair warned, raising her eyebrows in threat.
"You can try but since we co-own this business, I'm gonna say good luck with that!" Serena chirped as she disappeared behind her desk with a victorious smirk on her face.
Snapping her head back to her desk, Blair picked up her phone, pressing her speed dial.
"Laurel, get me a skinny caramel latte and a quote for an interior wall divide." Blair demanded slamming the phone down as she saw Serena giggling in the corner of her eye.
xoxo
"Hey, Man!" Nate greeted as he bounced into his best friends office.
"Nathaniel." Chuck offered, putting his paperwork aside for the moment.
"What's up with you? Haven't seen you in days and I live with you!" Nate asked, seating himself on the leather sofa next to the large window overlooking the city.
"Well since we lost the Shanghai deal, I've been working my balls of to secure the London deal. Yourself?" Chuck explained, standing from his desk and going to pour himself a drink.
"The usual. I took the afternoon off to do nothing! I thought we could go out tonight, let off some steam?"
"I would love to but I have too much work on." Chuck shrugged, walking to Nate and handing him a drink.
"Chuck. You own this company-"
"Which means I have priorities." Chuck cut off mid sentence.
"…that can wait til tomorrow. We haven't been out in ages and I know you want to go out just as much as I do!" Nate convinced, wiggling his eyebrows in suggestion.
After a couple moments of silence, he contemplated his best friend's suggestion. They truly hadn't been out in ages and even after the Shanghai deal fell through, Chuck had surprised himself by throwing himself into the London project rather than drowning his worries in the bottom of a scotch bottle and quite frankly, he couldn't remember the last time he had been out with Nate.
"Fine. But only if you stop with the animated eyebrows." Chuck grunted, finishing his drink in a quick gulp.
"See you at 7. And you never know...you might bump into that brunette you met the other night..." Nate grinned before he playfully punched Chuck in the arm and walked out of his office, leaving Bass cursing his best friend for putting such thoughts into his head.
Needless to say, the second she had been mentioned, he knew full well that he wasn't about to get much work done the rest of the afternoon. Instead, pondering the circumstances under which they had met and how unlikely it would be that they'd meet again.
Out of the near eight million people that inhabited New York and not to mention the thousands of tourists, the odds would be pretty high if he ever had the slightest chance of seeing her again. But thinking about his train of thought; what was the original chance of them meeting in the first place?
He had a name, a name of which was engraved in his mind. He had denied himself multiple times from calling his PI and finding this woman but know he couldn't stop himself from reaching for his blackberry and clicking a number.
"Mike. I have a job for you…"
xoxo
"Great work guys. The summer collection will be finalised by the end of this week if we get our heads in gear. Penny, get those suggestions written up and Laurel, please fetch my coat and bag and meet at the elevator in five." Blair summed up, giving her orders before directing a sarcastic smile at Serena who was stood next to her looking skeptical.
"I think what Blair said sums it up but if you have any other queries or suggestions email us or see us tomorrow. Thanks peeps!" Serena sung happily as their team started to shift out of the room.
"Would you like me to get our things as well, Serena?" Laurel smiled enthusiastically.
"No, but thank you. I have arms unlike Queen B over here!" Serena laughed as Blair glare her way before fleeing for the office.
"You seriously can't get your own bag?" S asked, following Blair into their office.
"Oh I can but then I thought, oh! We pay Laurel to 'personally assist' as in, 'Personal assistant!'"
"I don't like your attitude."
"I don't like your sweater but I'm not complaining." Blair shot back sarcastically.
"That's it. I am taking you out tonight and you can take your frustrations out through drunken tears and hysterical screaming. Not through me." The blonde ordered with a stern look.
"We have work in the morning. And I wouldn't lower myself to that sort of embarrassment." Blair snapped back, turning to leave, thinking she had won.
"It wasn't optional. Penny can hold the fort until late morning and even if I have to drag you out kicking and screaming, I will."
Blair wasn't about to protest and she had to smile at her best friend. Even through everything, S always knew what was best for her and truly, although she argued in the beginning, she knew how her evening would inevitably turn out.
If she didn't go out they would have got their high from '95 Dom and a classic Audrey, reducing the pair to tears. But on the other hand, she would be spending her evening dancing on tables and letting her hair loose. However they spent it, they would be together, eventually dragging one another home at the end of the night with multiple blurred but embarrassing memories of laughter and madness.
xoxo
"Wow. You're home on time for once!" Nate almost gasped in sarcasm as his best friend stepped off the elevator to their penthouse at exactly 7pm.
"Yes, wife." Chuck drawled, rolling his eyes as he walked straight past Nate, dumping his briefcase and heading for his bedroom, loosening his purple tie as he went.
He couldn't wait to get in the shower, was off any distraction today may have brought him in the hopes that this evening would let the image of a certain brunette blur or even fade from his mind with the help of a lot of alcohol.
"We are out of here in half an hour, Dude! Reservation at Daniel in an hour. Look sharp!" Nate called after him before finding his way to his room to get ready.
xoxo
"I have nothing to wear." Blair moaned, draping herself across her bed on her stomach as she files her nails with precision.
"Well then it's a good job I had Dorota pick us both something up this after!" Serena informed giddily as she skipped into Blair's bedroom, bags in hand.
"Chanel?" Blair lit up at the sight of the bag gracing her sights.
"Hmm... It may possibly be..." S teased, swinging the bag in front of Blair before she suddenly jumped up and grabbed the bag like a child in a sweet shop.
Unwrapping the bag carefully, Blair's eyes grew big when her sight landed on what was inside.
"Omg...S! How did you know?" she gasped, pulling the black dress from the tissue paper covered box and hugging it to her body in appreciation.
It was shorter than something Blair would ever wear but it suited her perfectly. The dress hugged every inch of her curves but modestly so, with its deep plum purple material finishing mid thigh and leaving a little to the imagination.
"I saw you looking at it last weekend and I knew you wouldn't have the guts to buy it so I did it for you! You'll look amazing! Trust me." Serena explained, approaching the brunette and tucking one of her stray curls back before her ear.
"Thank you..." she replied honestly, wanting nothing more than to put it on this very second.
Winking at Blair in understanding, she picked up a second bag and smiled gleefully.
"And for me...Versace darling!" she over exaggerated as she pulled the dress from its box, holding it up for further inspection from Queen B.
It was a typical Serena van der Woodsen dress. Indecent on most people but on a frame like Serena's was the perfect LBD.
"Gorgeous!"
"Et la pièce de resistance..." Serena started as she presented Blair with yet another box.
"Louboutin!" Blair announced in a French accent, pouting playfully as she did so.
"And I have booked us a reservation at Daniel so we better get ready. It's booked for 8!"
"You may be the best friend a girl could ask for!..." Blair grinned, hugging her best friend before rushing to the bathroom, leaving Serena with a satisfied smirk in place as she went to get ready too.
As the pair rushed to get ready, little did they know that this was the start of a very interesting evening.
xoxo
"Good evening, Mr Bass. Table for two is it?" The maitre d stated as he waited for Bass's nod before he picked up two menus and walked them to their table.
"I can't actually remember the last time I ate out…" Chuck mumbled as Nate listened on, eventually arriving at their table.
"I can't even remember the last time I saw you eating a full meal. You're really taking this deal seriously." Nate offered, taking his seat and glancing down at his freshly given menu.
"The board has been skeptical ever since we lost the Shanghai deal and I can't afford to make myself look bad again. We need this investment. It will not only put us at the top of our game but it could open up a lot of doors for future expansion and development of Bass." Chuck told seriously.
"If anyone can achieve that, it's you Chuck. You're father left his company in capable hands; I don't know why you ever thought any differently."
"You know why, Nathaniel. Anyway, I'm actually starved for once." Chuck silenced, scanning the menu for something appetizing.
xoxo
"Ms Van der Woodsen. Lovely to see you again. May I show you to your table?" The maitre d offered, smiling at the two women who had just presented themselves.
"Of course." Serena smiled politely as Blair rolled her eyes, following the blonde as she strutted off to their table.
"Can I get you two ladies some drinks?" the waiter offered once they were comfortably sat.
"Two Martinis would be great, thank you." Serena ordered, not taking notice of Blair who just watched on as her best friend did her thing.
As they watched the waiter walk away, Blair raised an eyebrow and waited for Serena to realise she was wanting to say something.
"What if I didn't want a Martini?" she asked, just to be simply awkward.
"Hush. You always want a Martini." S corrected, giggling at their banter before Blair cut in again.
"I may have wanted Dom."
"You're not in the 'Dom' mood. I can tell!"
At that the pair laughed because they knew full well that Serena was right.
xoxo
"And I'll have the Striped Bass En Paupiette-" Chuck finished just with a nod of the waiter before Nate's eyes snapped up.
"Wow!." Nate blurted; his mouth slightly agape as he stared, as if looking to Chuck at the opposite side of the table.
Just about to defend his meal choice, Chuck realised that Nate was not referring to him but something else.
"Nathaniel, I don't wish to lose my appetite just yet. Close your mouth, you're catching flies." Chuck shot, frowning at his behaviour.
"She is hot." Nate shook his head in appreciation.
"Is that all you think about?" Chuck rolled his eyes, quickly glancing back to see the blonde sat behind them facing their way.
"Not bad…probably whipped..."
"Do you always have to shoot me down, man? I thought you were supposed to be my wingman?" Nate grunted, flailing his arms a little for emphasis.
"I resigned when you did such a poor job as mine." Chuck laughed lightly as he watched Nate defend himself.
"How was I supposed to know she would try and steal your wallet?" He argued honestly, only for Chuck to shake his head more at the idiocy of his best friend.
"Well a simple glance at her fake Chanel handbag and tacky extensions should have been more than enough."
"It was dark…" Nate continued to stare at the blonde, paying less and less attention to Chuck who sat feeling like a lemon.
xoxo
"Omg! You bring me here under the pretence that this is a girl's night out and then you start eye-flirting with some random guy in a restaurant! We only just got here! Seriously, S?" Blair shot, laughing at the audacity of her friend.
"What! He started it…and he's pretty cute too…" Serena smiled cutely, taking a quick swig of her Martini.
"You need to seek help. What happened to Mack? Mike?-" Blair teased before Serena gave her a cheeky warming look.
"Michel. It was just a date and I honestly nearly fell asleep. He was almost vainer than me!" The blonde laughed, with an honest nod.
"No! Is that possible?"
"I didn't think so but obviously!"
The pair laughed in unison, sipping on their drinks as their main course arrived, the smell overwhelming their taste buds.
Throughout their meal, Serena made multiple lame attempts to make Blair believe she was paying full attention to her but in actually fact she spent most of their meal smiling at her shared glances with the stranger sat a few table away.
"I'm just gonna visit the little girl's room and then we can go…" Serena announced before giving Blair chance to protest, leaving the brunette alone.
xoxo
"Where to now?" Chuck asked, straightening his tie, about to stand up.
"I'm easy. It's your call…" Nate gestured, when a blonde flurry came from his left, quickly slipping a card onto their table and continuing back to her table.
"My, my, Nathaniel, you're silent charm must have made quite an impression!" Chuck noticed with a twinge of sarcasm and shock in his voice as he smirked at the amused look on Nate's face.
"Serena."
"Van der Woodsen?" Chuck frowned in confused as Nate nodded; the name sounding familiar.
"Rings a bell…" he mumbled before standing with his best friend, ready to leave.
xoxo
"You ready, B?" Serena said almost in a rushed tone as Blair stood and smiled.
"Yes."
"Ok, casually turn when putting your coat on and tell me he isn't gorgeous. Navy jumper." Serena whispered as she 'helped' Blair up, handing her her purse.
xoxo
Standing from his seat and about to lead the way out of the large restaurant, Chuck turned in the direction of the blonde, only stopping to see a startled brunette.
Shrugging her jacket on, Blair casually turned as Serena requested and as she did so, she dropped her purse out of pure shock.
"Oh my-" Blair swallowed deeply, snatching her purse from the floor as quickly as she could, feeling like she might combust from his intense stare and how very hot he looked in his dark grey suit accompanied with a plum tie that was an almost exact match to her dress.
Turning as fast as her body would let her; Blair grabbed Serena's arms and pushed them towards the exit.
"B- what are you?-" Serena tried to argue but was cut off by Blair's panicked look.
"We need to leave. Now. I'll explain later." She gasped, Serena letting her almost run.
"Blair-" Chuck started to call but when she didn't turn he felt himself wanting to run after her.
"Who was that?" Nate asked in confusion.
"The brunette." Was all Chuck could manage as he followed the path in which the two women had fled.
After regaining his bearings and realising what his best friend meant, he followed him outside.
"Are you sure it was her?"
"Certain."
"What are you gonna do?" Nate pressed, smiling at Chuck's reaction, not able to stay still as he looked up and down the dimly lit street for any signs of the two women.
"Find her."
A/N: Tadah? Dum dum dum! I feel like this wasn't a very good second encounter but I will let you all be the judges. I know this may feel like we didn't get far but I wanted you to see their friendships and their careers separately before I put them together.
Blair's dress – White party dress but plum? Can you see it? I kinda can! And Serena's well, I left that to the imagination! That girl looks amaze in anything!
I hoped you enjoyed it :) Thoughts, feeling, threats? Let me know! And thank you so much for reading!
You all know who you are but thank you again, so much xoxo
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