Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Did you really quit your job working with Eleanor?" Serena inquired as she met up with her best friend that next morning. Blair wanted to look for workspaces, and she wanted someone else's opinion. Since Chuck wasn't available as he was hard at work trying to defuse Jack's latest character bomb, she had to settle for Serena's opinion.
"Stormed right out," Blair nodded as they walked arm and arm to meet with the realtor that Chuck had connected her with first thing that morning.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I knew that was going to happen," Serena replied, "You and your mother are too similar."
"Thanks for that vote of confidence," Blair shot her a look.
"I think starting your own fashion line is exciting," Serena stated, "I don't know why you didn't do it to begin with. Working for your mother, you were working in her shadow. That isn't what you wanted anyways."
"I didn't think of this as an option," Blair replied, "Starting a new line is a gigantic risk. The odds of this actually working are so slim. This gamble goes against my very nature, but with Chuck's backing…"
"It seems like the safest bet in the world," Serena finished for her, "So is Chuck bank rolling the entire thing?"
"No," Blair shook her head, "I'm intending to take out loans for as much as I can. I want Chuck to have as little involvement as possible."
"Why?" Serena gasped, "Chuck would be the perfect financer. You could work out a payment plan that involves things other than money."
"I'm not going to prostitute myself to start my line," Blair scoffed, "Even to Chuck. Any money that I do borrow from him will come with a contract attached, and I'm going to insist on paying him interest."
"You always do things the proper way," Serena shook her head, "My way sounds more fun."
Blair shook her head in reply. Only her best friend would have such a thought. Maybe there was more of the old reckless party girl left in Serena than either of them wanted to admit.
"This might be an easier fight than you originally thought," Chuck's private investigator told him as he handed his boss a thick folder.
"Am I looking at this right?" Chuck flipped through the pages, "Is he…"
"Embezzling from Bass Industries, yes," his PI nodded.
"That son of a bitch," Chuck growled.
"What are you going to do?" the PI asked curiously.
"What I'm legally obligated to do," Chuck replied, "Turn this over to the authorities. If Jack Bass returns to the U.S., he'll be greeted with a pair of matching silver bracelets."
"You sure that's going to work?" the PI asked.
"It's the way I'm going to play it," Chuck stated, "I'm not going to play Jack's game."
"Good luck, Mister Bass," the PI stated as he left Chuck to study the evidence he'd uncovered.
"Eugenia, get me an appointment with someone from the White Collar division of the FBI," Chuck called out to his assistant, "I need to report a crime."
Eugenia darted into the office with an eager grin, "Jack?"
"Jack," he nodded, "My PI found evidence that he's been embezzling from the company."
"How much did he take?" Eugenia inquired.
"Several small amounts over a dozen or so years," Chuck replied, "Not enough to be seen during a simple audit of the accounts, but if someone is really looking for it, it adds up to about five million dollars."
"He could make more than that in incentives and bonuses," Eugenia stated, "Why would he risk it?"
"Because he's Jack Bass," Chuck replied, "He probably thinks its money due him. Plus it was another way to screw over my father for banishing him to Australia and then leaving the company to me."
"There are worse places to live than Australia," Eugenia stated, "When Cedric and I took the boys to Australia on vacation several years ago, we all loved it. It is a beautiful country."
"Jack doesn't see it that way," Chuck stated, "Australia was my father's way of punishing Jack. That's all Australia is to Jack."
"It will seem like a vacation next to the jail cell he'll soon be frequenting," Eugenia replied.
Chuck looked up at her with a startled expression. "Jack's going to jail for this."
"That is what they do with criminals," Eugenia nodded, "And if all the rumors are true about all his escapades over the years, it's certainly something he deserves."
"He serves his time and then is free as a bird, free to come after me, my company, and my family," Chuck stated, referring what he felt was the inevitable and inviting future he saw ahead with Blair.
"What's that look?" Eugenia inquired.
"Change of plans," Chuck replied as an idea came to him, "We're inviting Jack to New York. He's done such great things in Australia, he deserves a spot at the head table at the annual meeting with all the other top division performers."
"You've lost your mind," she gasped, "Australia is dragging the company down."
"That's not how I heard it," he winked at her.
"You have a plan," she realized.
"I don't just make these things up as I go along," he began to grin, his devilish, Cheshire grin. He felt the pulse of his youthful misdeeds begin coursing through his veins.
"You and Blair must have been a nightmare to deal with in high school. I'm glad that I have a decade of years on you and went to a school far, far away," she stated, "And stop grinning like that. You're scaring me."
He chuckled darkly as he waved her away.
"I found the perfect place today, Chuck!" Blair announced as she greeted him when he returned from his day at the office. He'd spent all afternoon cooking up his latest scheme, "I know you're busy tomorrow with Bass business, but I'm hoping you'll take an early lunch to look at it with me before I sign the lease."
"Lease," he repeated in surprise, "Isn't it a little early for that? You just started looking, and you haven't even had time to put together a business proposal to send to any lenders."
"I know it's way too soon," she responded with an anxious smile, "But I cannot let this place slip through my fingers. It's too perfect to pass up. It was where Vogue magazine got its start. That's a sign if ever there was one. Please, Chuck, come with me tomorrow. This is very important to me."
"I know," he nodded as he touched her chin lightly, "I'll be there. Just tell me when and where."
"Thank you," she exclaimed as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, "And I have more good news. My NYU friend Riley quit her job too. I offered her a job with me, and she accepted. I have my very first staff member."
"Are you sure working with a friend like Riley is a good idea?" he asked nervously, "Blair, I love you, but one whiff of power and it goes straight to your head."
"This is completely different than those power trips I used to go on at Constance," she insisted.
"I hope you're right," he chuckled, "Any other excitement about your day that you'd like to share?"
"Well, Serena has agreed to be the face of my new line," her grin widened, "I already have an A-List socialite spokesperson. Serena is always making the papers and other media publications. Now she'll be doing it in one of my designs."
"Slow down, Blair," he laughed, "You don't have any designs. You don't even have a name yet, and Serena is leaving for Africa soon."
"Well, until Serena leaves, she'll be wearing only my designs, and I do have a name," she swayed gently from side to side, "It's a little cheesy, but I like it."
"Blair Waldorf Designs?" he guessed.
"No," she shook her head.
"Waldorf Designs?" he guessed again.
"No," she replied as she covered his mouth with her hand, "Stop guessing. I want to tell you."
He kept silent as he waiting for her to make her announcement.
"CB Fashions," she told him.
Chuck remained silent as her announcement rolled around for a few moments. He was confused. "CB Fashions, as in Chuck Bass Fashions?"
"No, silly," she laughed, "Though I never even thought about that. No, it stands for Chuck and Blair, though if anyone asked I have an alternate answer I'm going to give them. I don't want to get too personal with my professional life."
"What is this alternate answer?" he inquired.
"It's the initials of Blair Cornelia in reverse," she explained.
"Why don't you just go with BC Fashions?" he offered, "If that is the route you're going. You'll get less questions, and you'll be putting yourself first."
"I want it to be CB Fashions," she replied, "It rolls off the tongue better, and BC fashions gets too biblical. That's not what I want for my label. I even drew up a logo today." She quickly pulled out a folded up piece of paper she'd tucked into her skirt that she'd done while having lunch with Serena.
Chuck studied it for a moment before his lips curled into a smile. "It's very memorable."
She did a little leap of excitement as she tossed her arms around him again, "Next to any day that I've spent with you, this is the best day I've had in so long."
Blair's enthusiasm was contagious. She was glowing with excitement. He hadn't seen her like that is so long. It reminded him of how she would glow when one of her carefully planned schemes fell into place the way she had hoped. So much about this day felt like old times.
"Blair, I need your help," he stated as he held her close.
"If it's with that hardness I feel against my hip, I'm in," she teased as she began nibbling at his lobe.
"Yes, that too," he chuckled as he pulled her in a little tighter, "I know I said that I didn't want to get you involved in my tangle with Jack, and I stand by that…"
"But," she prompted him.
"I'm bringing him to New York for the annual shareholder's meeting," he explained.
"You have a plan," she read his face like a book.
"I found out that he's been embezzling from Bass Industries," he continued with his explanation, "My first thought was to go straight to the authorities with my information, but with what he's guilty of, he'd probably go away for five years at most and then he'll be out and ready to get revenge. By that time, we'll likely have more targets for him to take out, which I find unacceptable."
"Children," she caught his drift.
"It's very likely," he nodded, "And as much as I don't want to get you involved, if our children got sucked into my sick family dealings, I don't know what I'd do, but I foresee my hands around Jack's throat and him turning blue."
"Agreed," she nodded, "So what do you need from me?"
"Jack's going to bait you," he replied, "I want you to set the trap."
"How do you know he's going to do that?" Blair asked.
"Because you're the best way to get to me," he explained.
"So I set the trap, and then what happens?" she pressed for details.
"Then I handle everything from there," he replied, "That's the extent of your involvement."
"I set the trap," she pouted, "That's all I get. That's such a letdown. It's like if you blew your load before I could…"
"I don't want you involved any further than that," he pressed his fingers to her lips, "I don't know what Jack is truly capable of, and if he lays a hand on you, I'll kill him. Conjugal visits in prison wouldn't to be enough for me, Blair."
"Me either," she sighed.
"We can bask in the glow of the takedown when Jack is on a plane back to Australia," he offered.
"Australia, you're going to let him go back there!" she gasped.
"That is the safest place for him," Chuck explained, "In Australia, I can keep an eye on him. Obviously he won't have the access to Bass accounts to embezzle more money, but I'll offer up some concessions. We are blood after all."
"It's hard to believe that you and Jack share anything, especially DNA," she sighed, "He's pure evil."
"That used to describe me as well," he reminded her.
"That feels like forever ago," she gave him a tiny smile.
"Now about that hardness poking at your hip," he grinned as he thrust himself against her lightly.
Blair's smile returned to the one he'd been greeted with at the elevator when he'd first arrived home. He swept her into his arms and carried her off to their bedroom. Dinner would have to wait.
TBC…
Kudos to Lori for betaing for me.
So how was it? Review-worthy? I hope so.
