After wiping away her tears, Blair realized it was very unladylike and inelegant to stay around moping all day in her huge manor. No, Blair Waldorf was indestructible and a little traitorous act would not faze her, even if it had been performed by two of the most influential and important people in her life. She would come up victorious from the ashes, like a phoenix. Yes, Blair Waldorf decided the phoenix was her totem animal from now on. She decided to write everything down first: pour down all of her heart's sentiments into her diary and forget about those whole unfortunate episodes forever. As quietly as she could, Blair took out her diary from her secret usual spot and retrieved an elaborate and thin golden pen, specially bought to be used on the diary.

Chuck Bass was quite nervous. It was something that very seldom happened, especially to Chuck Bass. He was nervous because he had a business proposal that he had been working on for months and he wanted his father's approval to launch the business. He knew that hoping Bart Bass would someday change his mind about his only son and heir and feel something other than despise towards him would be considered a very wild and almost impossible dream. Chuck Bass knew this would almost be a laughable notion. No, for Bart Bass, Chuck – his only son – was the one person whose existence meant the death of his beloved wife. For this, Bart would never forgive Chuck and would never let him forget about it either.

Actually I feel relieved, Blair wrote as a conclusion to her long and descriptive diary entry, I always sensed deep inside my gut that Mr. Archibald had never really loved me and I always did notice how he seemed to follow Serena around with his gaze… so much like a darkened gaze, a lusty gaze following my every move. I dare admit, now I'm not talking about Nathaniel and Serena at all any longer. I'm talking about this devilishly handsome man (a friend of a friend if you may), whom I recently met; with strong features and whose roguish expression won't leave me alone for a second…

Chuck's palms were sweaty for the first time in his life as he walked towards his father's office and was summoned in by his personal secretary. Bart Bass raised an eyebrow and trained his incredulous cold ice blue eyes on Chuck's face, surprised at seeing his son in his office so early and apparently without the effect of any drugs or alcohol. From the frown that followed his surprised face, it was obvious that Bart didn't expect anything good from his son. Chuck's throat was very dry as he sat down in front of his father and extended the folder he had been carrying the whole time towards him. Bart gazed at the documents in front of him severely and silently opened the folder his son was handing him. His pale blue eyes rapidly scanned through the figures and conclusions presented as he read the documents at top speed. After some clicks of his tongue and the ever present impatient noise of his expensive Italian shoes tapping the wooden floor tiles, Chuck understood that his father would never approve of his business proposal and cast his eyes downwards in defeat.

Blair reread her diary entry and blushed towards the end. She knew she shouldn't have been having those improper thoughts about that scandalous and infuriating man. For a second she felt tempted to rip the whole page of and destroy the evidence, but decided against it because there was no chance of anyone other than her reading her diary anyway… Except maybe for Dorota, she had always been nosy indeed. But even if that moment came, and Dorota indeed violated her privacy, she wouldn't know who she was writing about since no man's name – apart from Nathaniel Archibald's – was mentioned. Blair decidedly closed her diary, put it on the wooden drawer near her bed, closed it safely away and placed the little golden key attached to a necklace that opened said drawer safely around her neck.

Everyone could see the young Bass heir was in the middle of one of the infamous Bass rages when he left the iconic Bass Industries building, slamming doors and screaming at the employees. Chuck Bass was like a hurricane that destroyed everything and everyone that crossed his path that morning. He was seen storming out of Bass Industries and violently hopping into his black carriage. Charles Bass, only heir to the infamous Bart Bass, was last seen entering one of the most luxurious bars in town at a very early hour. No one paid attention to him; it was a very widely known fact that he was an alcoholic womanizer. Bart Bass wasn't even surprised when he found out about his son's latest escapade.

After enjoying a relaxing bubble and aromatic bath, Blair decided to wear her best corset and a scandalous scarlet dress. She was definitely in the mood to be in the spotlight tonight. Blair found herself thinking about how Serena would possibly never accompany her to any party… at least not anytime soon, and felt relief. She was tired of always feeling like she was being eclipsed by the bubbly blonde and was glad that tonight would finally be the first time she would be able to enjoy the spotlight on her own. Blair called Dorota and she was immediately met with the worried dark eyes of her Polish maid.

- Miss Blair you not feeling well enough. Maybe you need rest and go out on other night. – said Dorota, unable to hide the worried quality of her voice and looking at Blair with pleading eyes.

- Nonsense Dorota. I shall go out tonight and shine on my own for the very first time and feel great doing it. – answered Blair dismissively.

- But Miss Blair, if you go out with this dress and "shine in spotlight" then Miss Eleanor's friends will think bad.

Blair stopped adjusting her perfectly shaped chestnut curls for a second to consider what her maid was pointing out. Yes, it was true that if she wanted to shine and feel free in the way she intended to she should go somewhere where no one knew her – as an incognito. Without the burdens of society's expectations on her shoulders Blair would finally be able to fulfill this little fantasy of hers with complete and utter freedom. She was rather excited by this new turn of events and mentally congratulated herself for knowing the exact location of the best club in town. She was sure no one would expect little Miss Prim and Proper Blair Waldorf to indulge in a wild night there. Nevertheless she had to make sure no one would recognize her for catastrophic consequences might happen if anybody where to guess her real identity at such a scandalous and taboo place for respectable ladies like her. Blair blushed with pleasure at the thought of being able to perform unspeakable things tonight that no one will ever know. This was her first shot at liberating herself from all expectations.

Chuck Bass would have liked very much to say he was very drunk. However, all those years spent boozing weren't paying fine right now because, despite being drinking scotch during all afternoon, to his great disappointment, all he felt so far was a slight and barely noticeable buzz. Chuck groaned loudly in annoyance as he sank deeper still into the couch; the only thing he wanted as of that moment was to disappear into merciful oblivion and for everyone – even himself – to forget who he was and what his name really meant: failure, debauchery and outrageous excesses. He rubbed his temples as he ordered the young and busty blonde waitress to refill his glass of scotch yet again, the waitress threw a flirty smile at him while positioning herself in such a way that Chuck got a very good view to her "attributes". Chuck was amused as he saw the waitress's advances but he was not interested and lazily mustered a dismissive smirk for her, she pouted and left with a last longing look at him. Despite the numerous women throwing themselves at him that night, Chuck found that he didn't feel in the mood to dive into yet another of his one-night affairs. There was not a single woman in the room that was even remotely tempting to him, which was why he recurred to alcohol to drown his pains and troubles and didn't seek the warmth of any of his mistresses.

In front of her bureau's mirror, Blair adjusted the golden mask in place so that it covered most of her beautiful face and finally asked Dorota to tie it into a beautiful but imperceptible knot over her dark curls.

- I'm ready. – Blair announced hardly containing the raw excitement in her voice and her hands trembling in anticipation.

- Oh Miss Blair, what I do if Miss Eleanor come! You must promise to be back by midnight – pleaded Dorota nervously.

- Don't worry Dorota, I will return soon after I get what I want. Now fetch me a dark cloak and order a carriage to pick me up by midnight. – Blair stated with finality to her voice and a determined look on her face.

It was already late, very dark and the streets were very much desolate when the hooded figure made its appearance at the entrance of Victrola. The person approached the bar and grabbed the first glass it found and drank it in one gulp. The club was known to be an escape, a place where one could be anything and anyone, no questions asked. For this reason, no one was much interested on who the cloaked person was. The person approached the door that led to the backstage and soon disappeared. No one seemed to take any notice. Except, of course, for a dark pair of eyes that caught the slightest movement near the door and followed the actions of the slender person hidden under the cloak with mild curiosity.

Blair was here now. At Victrola. Her identity protected under the mask and the cloak. It was the very thing she had desired all along, her heart had guided her there and now she was forced to act upon the impulse she had had on the first place. Little did she know, as she ridded herself of the cloak and stepped mid-song onto the stage with elegant and secure steps and a wickedly mischievous smirk (due to the knowledge that despite her misbehave and scandalous behavior, her identity was protected), that at that very moment she was giving birth to the little spark that would latter have the power to consume everything and everyone in a passionate and fiery blazing inferno.

A/N: Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Please review!