Chapter 10-The Green Eyed Monster

He knew the minute that he saw the black town car pull up that it was Carter. "It's a wonder he impresses anyone with that. Nothing compares to a limo". He rolled his eyes at the fact he was talking to himself again. She really was going to be the death of him.

He watched as the figure exited the car and entered Blair's building. There was no way to follow him without being seen, so he resigned himself to sitting and waiting until they returned. It was early, so he was fairly certain he wouldn't be missing anything of consequence.

How long had it been? Damn, he forgot to look at his watch when he saw Carter go in. It surely hadn't been more than 5 minutes, had it? He was nervously tapping his fingers on the arm rest and beads of sweat were starting to form on his fore head. Just when he thought he couldn't sit still anymore and started to open the door he spotted them coming out of the building.

Blair was a vision of beauty in a beautiful satin burgundy dress that crossed in the front and when she turned he noticed that the back was low, very low; too low for a date with Carter. "Shit". That was out loud again. His anger soon subsided when he noticed that her dress matched his scarf. They had a knack for doing that even though they weren't trying. "Proof once again that she belongs only with me.'

Chuck hits the intercom button and asks his driver to follow their car just as they had discussed. The ride is silent except for Chuck's breathing.

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Blair is beaming from head to toe. So far her date has started out wonderfully. Carter had shown up on time, and he had a small rose for her. It was a simple gesture really, but Blair thought it was wonderful and kind of him to think of her. She took Carter's arm and he guided her to the waiting town car. She stopped a little when she felt the breeze tickle her arms slightly, and she wondered if her reaction could be more than just the cool breeze. She shook it off, smiled at Carter, and settled against the leather seats for her first date out in a while.

They chatted about the weather and how clear it was out this evening, before finally pulling up at one of the trendier restaurant slash bars in town. Blair remembered coming here before with someone, but couldn't remember who. Soon the door was being opened and he was helping her out of the car. Again, she got that odd feeling. Really, what was wrong with her tonight? "Are you alright Blair?" Carter said as he noticed a slight frown on her face. She reacted quickly and smiled at him with the most lady like enthusiasm she could find. "Of course".

Chuck saw Carter hold the door open and stretch his arm out to help Blair from the car. He looked happy, and that was not a good sign. Chuck wanted to wipe that smile right off of his face. Blair emerged and turned quickly in his direction. She rubbed her arms with her hands, something that she did when she was nervous or worried. Surely she hadn't spotted him because it wasn't possible. There were many limos out tonight so this one shouldn't be suspicious in any way. Had Carter said something to upset her already, or worse yet touched her?

Once the couple had entered the restaurant Chuck got his nerves together and told the driver to wait for him there. He stepped out of the limo and walked slowly toward the front of the restaurant. He silently prayed that it would be dark and busy inside, so he could hide himself easily and not be spotted.

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Blair was thrilled with his choice of establishments. Everything around her in that restaurant breathed elegance. She barely remembered the waiter greeting them and then taking them to a table for two in the corner. She couldn't imagine that it was easy to make reservations here, much less with only a day's notice, so she was impressed. "Good start Baizen", she said as she acknowledged Carter as he was already pouring them both a glass of Champaign that had also magically appeared on their table.

That was when she saw him. Carter had just passed her a flute of Champaign and as she raised it to her lips she gasped and almost spilled some down her dress. "Are you sure you are alright Blair?" Carter had a look of concern on his face and felt like something was wrong. "Yes, I'm fine. Will you excuse me? I need to go to the powder room?" Blair stood up and Carter nodded and sat in silence and she went toward the restroom. That wasn't her real destination though. She took a short detour to the bar and came up behind him yanking on his arm.

Chuck spun around on his chair and came face to face with the object of his secret mission. Her eyes were on fire and her chestnut hair wisped around her face as she stared at him. She didn't want to cause a scene, so she grabbed his arm and started pulling him in the direction of the stairwell at the back of the restaurant.

He quickly decided that it would be best to go with her at this point and plea innocent. She couldn't really know he was following her; after all, this could be a chance meeting right?

Once they were out of sight and ear shot of the customers, she turned on him with the force of a thousand tornadoes. "Chuck! What in the hell are you doing here?" He knew he would only have a few seconds to respond and save himself from humiliation, but she didn't give him time to respond. "How dare you follow me here? You have some nerve. You need to leave now before Carter sees you". He was fine until she said Carter's name and then all sanity left him. "Please….as if I would be following you and Carter. I could really care less about your play date. Me being here is purely coincidental and I don't appreciate being pulled away from the scotch I was enjoying." There was a very uncomfortable silence and then. "Liar". That was all she said as she stared him down.

They each stood their ground, neither willing to back down when she finally spoke again. "You will leave now Chuck, before this gets out of hand and you cause a scene. We will talk about this later." She even stomped her foot when she said "now" with a little more emphasis. Chuck smiled that little smirk that she knew so well and finally agreed. "Fine, I'm not saying your right, but I will leave you to your disaster of an evening. If I know Carter like I think I do, and I do, then I am sure he will find a way to fuck it up without my help soon enough." He turned and walked through the crowd and out the door before she could respond.

Blair made her way back to the table to a very clueless Carter. "I'm sorry, but I needed to freshen up a little". She gave him her signature smile and unfolded her napkin in to her lap. "I can't imagine why, you are always the epitome of grace and beauty Blair, I can't fathom anything that would need attending to. You are simply flawless. I took the liberty of ordering for us while you were gone. I hope you don't mind."

She was speechless. Had he just told her how she was flawless and beautiful? No one ever told her that. Those comments were always reserved for Serena. "Mind? No, that is fine. How gentlemanly of you Carter". He smiled back to her and they continued to engage in a conversation as their food began to arrive. They paid attention only to each other all through the evening, and Blair couldn't remember when she had spent a nicer time on a date. She was the center of attention for once, and maybe Carter wasn't so bad after all.

Chuck angrily returned to the limo. He was ashamed of his undercover skills. How had Blair spotted him so easily? He kept his back to her, had ordered a drink, and tried to blend in with the rest of the losers at the bar. He swore that she had some kind of Chuck radar.

He instructed the driver to go to Serena's address. He needed to talk to her about her best friend and the decisions she was making about the company she was keeping. His PI hadn't yet returned his call and frankly he was getting impatient. Blair was being totally unreasonable and she was going to make this as difficult as possible. That he was sure of. But Carter didn't fool him. He didn't just blow back into town after everything that had happened unless he had an agenda. Chuck would find out that agenda so he could use it against him. He wasn't going to give Carter any more chances to work his way in to Blair's heart, or her bed. Especially not her bed.

The town car pulled up and Carter once again held the door for Blair and settled his hand at the curve of her back as he ushered her toward the door. Things had gone extremely well at dinner and Blair seemed to be warming up to him nicely. They took the elevator to her suite and as he started to exit into the foyer she stopped him. "Thanks for a wonderful night Carter. I loved everything about it." He stood there for a minute, realizing that he wasn't going to get lucky tonight. She was politely letting him know it was time to go. "My pleasure Blair. He leaned in and when he was sure she wasn't going to pull away, or slap him, he brushed his lips against hers lightly. It was as light as a feather, but he felt her shiver slightly. The next thing he knew she was smiling at him again. "How about next Saturday evening Blair? Do I rate a second date? I have two tickets to the annual charity ball and I would love to arrive with the most beautiful girl in the Upper East Side."

Her eyes fluttered. She was still slightly reeling from the feather kiss he had placed on her lips, and then again with using the word beautiful to describe her. "Of course Carter. I would love to attend the charity ball with you." He stepped back into the elevator and bowed. "Well then……… until Saturday." The elevator doors closed and Blair was left standing there glowing in the aftermath of a perfectly wonderful evening. Actually, it had almost been picture perfect until she remembered a certain stalker. "That Chuckbastard." He manages to ruin everything, she thought. She wanted to go to bed with thoughts of Carter and her lovely date, but instead all she could think of was him and his stupid stalking. Why was he following her anyway? She decided she would confront him tomorrow and settle this once and for all.

Nate leaned up against the wall of Blair's building. He had arrived minutes earlier intent on finding out why she wasn't returning his calls. That's when he noticed the black town car and the long luscious legs that were stepping out. It wasn't until the gentlemen turned around that he saw it was Carter, and then that the legs belonged to Blair. His first instinct was to run up and punch him out. But, he knew that Blair would be furious and he didn't want to embarrass her out on the street. So he decided to step back into the shadows and watch them as the entered the building. "Carter Baizen. Now I wonder what he is up to. No good, I am sure." He turned and walked away making a mental note to ask Chuck what he knew of the situation.

Author's note: I hope you liked this Chapter as it is a lot longer than what I am used to writing. I wanted to cover everything, and also set up some situations for the next chapter. Please keep reading and be kind and review.