"Hey man. Look, I can't leave you another message and call myself a man so how about you give you me a call after you listen to this message ok?" Nate spoke as he paced up and down his corridor. It had been almost 3 weeks since Blair dumped Chuck, and since then he had made himself scarce. Nate had texted him a few days ago with the message, 'Where are you?' to which he replied, 'Out. Don't know when I'll be back' leaving much to Nate's interpretation. 'Out' could be in a bar, drinking himself into a stupor or taking a walk in Central Park. Or – the more reasonable interpretation in Chuck's case – 'out' could mean on the other side of the world; high on drugs in foreign countries. Unfortunately, Nate didn't have a personal investigator or a detective on speed dial that he could just pay a wad of cash to, to go find Chuck – though if it came to that where he would need to pay a large sum of money to find him, he undoubtedly would. But at the moment, Chuck was in a very fragile state and he needed time to cool off. Nate would be persistent in his voice messages and texts; praying that one day, perhaps, Chuck will disclose a little more information.
Suddenly he felt a vibration in his pocket. It startled him mostly because it was so unexpected, "Chuck!" He cried as he answered it.
"Nathaniel." Chuck replied in his usual cultivated tone.
"I guess you got my messages, finally."
"All 30 of them, yes." Chuck replied and Nate chuckled, embarrassed.
"So, uh, are you going to tell me where you are or am I going to have to hire a whole team of detectives to find you?"
"Chill out, I'm just over in the O.C basking in some sunshine. Why don't you come join me?" Chuck proposed. Nate thought about it. He had a uni assignment due tomorrow but then again, Chuck had only just replied to his desperate calls. Could he reject him? If he was all the way across the country because he couldn't stand to be in the same city as the girl who dumped him, then he must be pretty bad. Nate figured Chuck needed a friend; and he wanted to be there for him; so he decided he'd call in sick and spend the weekend with Chuck in California.
"Alright, I'll be there."
"I'm sending my jet over. Be on it. I'll see you soon."
*
The scene looked very familiar. She'd definitely been here before – in fact, it was her second home. There were many people in the room, mingling and chatting. But only one of them mattered to her. She caught sight of him peering at her from the corner, and her heart skipped a beat. She loved him, but she also hated him. She turned around so he could not read the emotions on her face. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands around her waist, and she began to panic. No, not in public! She thought, but didn't have the courage to say it out loud. When she looked around, she saw it wasn't him, but someone else. They smiled down at her, but they didn't ignite the same feeling that sent her heart racing from fear and excitement at the same time. They were beautiful and kind but not the right person. Unfortunately only he that she hated could fill the void in her heart. His name was Chuck.
Blair awoke, dazed and confused. The dream she had just had had felt so incredibly real that it was a bit overwhelming for her. She pressed her hand to her head and felt beads of sweat forming.
"I need some water." She said to herself quietly as she wandered over to her bathroom and filled a glass with tap water. As she drank it, she caught sight of a red dress hanging off a coat hanger on her closet door. Where had she got that dress again? It wasn't an Eleanor Waldorf original; and it wasn't a dress she would purchase for herself – especially one that was so revealing in all the right places. Of course she wouldn't know where she got that dress, because it was a gift for her from someone else. A male someone else. She gulped down the rest of the glass and then went back into bed. The dream lingered in her mind – still as vivid in her memory as it was in her dream. Serena had gotten arrested for stealing a bracelet – and Lily was behind the arrest. She chuckled to herself; she'd have to call Serena in the morning and tell her all about her crazy dream. In the dream she was with Nate, but she wasn't very happy. She wondered why. And Chuck was always in the background, scrutinizing her every move. He seemed so sad; and in the dream she felt a pull towards him to go comfort him, but at the same time, she was aggravated by him. Not because of the way he always watched her, but because he couldn't be honest with her. Blair shrugged it off. It was probably everyone going on about her and Chuck that was leading to her having these crazy dreams that maybe they're meant to be together. She closed her eyes and then let sleep find her.
This time when she woke up a few hours later, it wasn't due to a crazy dream; it was due to the voice she heard call out her name.
"Blair," he called. It sounded like it came from her bedroom door; so she immediately sat up in bed and looked over; but again she proved to be delusional as there was no one there. It was beginning to freak her out. Maybe it was guilt over breaking Chuck's heart that was acting up on her. He was haunting her dreams because she was a bitch? She'd rather not think about it.
Then the sound of her ringtone nearly gave her a heart attack. She glanced at the caller ID: Anonymous; it flashed. Who the hell would be calling her at 6 in the morning? She thought to herself as she looked over at the clock. She figured she might as well answer it, since she was already awake.
"Hello?" She asked, making sure she sounded as peeved as she felt.
"Oh, my GOODNESS BLAIR! I'm so glad you picked up. No one's been answering my calls!" Serena's desperate voice called over the phone.
"Serena? What's going on? Of course no one's answering; it's 6 in the morning and you haven't got your caller ID switched on!"
"Uh, that's because I'm not calling from my phone."
"Whose phone are you calling from then?"
"....a public one..."
"Ok then...Haha I have something I need to tell you."
"Oh...me too..." Serena stuttered, sounding very confused.
"Ok then, you go first," Blair replied, but Serena then hesitated, "No, you go."
"I had a dream you were in jail!" Blair giggled, and Serena went silent.
"It was just a dream." Blair replied, noticing Serena's silence, "Ok fine, you tell me your news."
"That is my news."
"What; my dream?"
"Uh no...I'm in jail..." Serena replied, defeated.
"What?! What for?" Blair cried, utterly at a loss for words. Perhaps her dreams were prophetic? She shuddered away at that thought.
"My father got me arrested." Serena snarled at the word. Blair thought it ironic that in her dream, Lily had been the one that put Serena behind bars. Decidedly, her dreams were prophetic – to an extent.
"Oh, my goodness. Are you ok? Have you arranged for a way to get yourself out of there?"
"Carter's lawyer is coming. He had to call because I can't have mom finding out about me being in Saint Lucia; let alone jail. I just wanted to tell you so that I could shift the burden a bit. Sorry." Serena said remorsefully.
"That's absolutely fine, S, in fact, I'm going to fly out there first thing in the morn-....today." Blair said, reminding herself that it was in fact morning already.
"Oh no B, you don't have to!"
"No, I do. I'll see you soon."
*
Later on that day, once Blair had packed for her trip to retrieve Serena; she immediately headed downstairs to catch the first taxi to the airport.
"Miss Blair, are you sure you want to do this?" Dorota questioned as she assisted in putting Blair's luggage into the boot of the car.
"Yes, Dorota. I have to be there for Serena at a time like this."
"But what will school say? Miss Blair, you have already missed out on so much!" Dorota pleaded in her heavy Polish accent.
"I called them up already. They can't do anything about it." And with that, Blair stepped into the taxi and waved goodbye to Dorota as it drove off.
Blair silently cursed to herself for not thinking of going at a time when there was less traffic. They had barely driven out of the city in 45 minutes. It was absolutely ridiculous. She'd booked a 2:30pm flight and it was already 1:00pm. They always warned you to check in at least an hour before your flight; and at this rate, Blair would have a lot less time to check in.
"Sorry sir, could you perhaps speed up the driving a bit? I'm sort of in a hurry." She pleaded. The taxi driver muttered something in his native language and then waved her off with a hand gesture. Ok...Blair thought to herself and stared out the window at the passing buildings. It seemed the message had gotten to the taxi driver, as he picked up some speed and began weaving in between cars and other vehicles.
"Wow, ok, hold up!" She cried as she was being thrashed around from side to side in the backseat; but he didn't stop, instead, he went faster. She hit her head on the window; the place where she had had stiches; and then screamed as she heard the blaring horn of a truck that was fast approaching them from the side as the taxi entered the intersection while there was a red light. She closed her eyes as the painful realisation that this was awfully familiar to her settled in. She didn't remember it; but Serena and the doctors had told her this over and over again. This was the reason for her amnesia – a car accident; in which the taxi she was travelling in ran a red light and was hit by oncoming traffic. When she opened her eyes again and felt her face; she realised then she'd been crying hysterically. The taxi driver slowed down considerably and was apologising to her for driving so recklessly.
"I am so sorry Miss!" He cried over and over again as Blair began hyperventilating. It nearly happened all over again. Had they reached the intersection half a second later, the truck would have undoubtedly crashed into them. She would have been sent to hospital again, with brain damage again, only this time; it would have been a lot more severe. The very thought of it made her heart race at an incredible rate and she began thanking God she was still alive. To think, she was so close to death and yet she came out unscathed. She made a mental note to herself that she would be grateful for her existence everyday; also that this was the last time she would catch a taxi again.
