Thanks for all the love on this story :)
"Okay, get a picture of me with Big Ben in the background," Blair asked Elise handing her the newly purchased Canon camera she bought for her trip. Elise grabbed the camera and began snapping pictures of Blair doing her signature Instagram posing shots in front of the famous clock tower. The fake laugh, the playing with a strand of hair, and the slow walking in place moment. Snap! Snap! Snap!
"Yes my lovely!" Elise yelled behind the camera continuously snapping away, "Okay. Now flash me your tits!"
"Elise!" Blair stopped, laughing.
"What? Live a little," Elise jokingly answered giving Blair the camera.
It being Saturday there were a ton of tourists in the area looking to take the perfect photo in front of the historical clock even if the sun from the day before decided to take a break and bring in the gloomy grey clouds. The weather report predicted a slosh of rain with possible strong wind gusts and storms to enter into the area mid afternoon. The dreadful weather prediction didn't stop Elise from taking Blair to the famous tourist attractions so Blair could get those much needed stereotypical photos. Iggy rode the tube with the two girls to the area but broke off to visit a friend in the city. She was to meet up with the girls at Buckingham Palace, their final stop after lunch, to ride back home. Elise and Iggy both were on shift tonight at Oasis so Elise wanted to get out and about before the rain drenched the muggy Saturday afternoon.
Blair woke up feeling different than she had the day before. Today she awoke with a sense of excitement (and in the correct bed) and a curiosity of what the future held for her in London. Even though the magical night abruptly took a downwards turn due to Amber's compulsive need to insert herself into the situation by pouring a disgustingly sweet drink over Blair's head, it had ended under the dazzling lights with a not so innocent kiss with Chuck. And a message of mystery from a cheap fortune cookie apparently signifying the start of her journey.
LONDON IS A RIDDLE. PARIS IS AN EXPLANATION. The message had said.
Was this the universe speaking to her through a fortune telling street vendor? Was this a sign? Blair's nonexistent belief in hocus pocus led her to the idea that it was a coincidence, and if fate had plans for her, those plans wouldn't be revealed in a free fortune cookie.
After waking up and remembering the events of the night before, Blair immediately couldn't wait to see Chuck again. She wanted to know everything about Chuck Bass. And of course she wanted to taste his lips on hers again and again. Blair wondered if the allure of Chuck could last more than just a first date. She had every intention of finding out.
But today she wanted to spend the day with Elise who was currently leading Blair around the city of London acting as her tour guide and navigating them to all the spots Blair wanted to see. Blair donned her Breakfast at Tiffany's inspired ensemble for the adventure complete with black skinny jeans, a black light cashmere sweater, textured black Jimmy Choo flats, and of course the signature camel toned trench coat Audrey made famous. Elise planned to take Blair to one of her favorite restaurants in London for lunch. They arrived at Duck & Waffle and took the elevator to the 40th floor of the impressive skyscraper to make their reservation Elise had booked. The view from the restaurant stretched out across of all London, and Blair felt the rain clouds floated at a parallel level with the windows.
Elise prompted Blair to order the restaurant's signature dish which of course was duck and waffles. The two salivated over the beautifully plated meal on its arrival. Delicious and savory, Blair and Elise both finished their food and ordered a round of mimosas to complete the experience.
The oh so delicious lunch and the sparkling bubbly made the gloomy afternoon feel decadent and upscale. It reminded her of the times Elise and Blair gallivanted through the Hamptons during those memorable summers years ago. But instead of the bright sunshine days of New York, the London sky started to howl and glare a scary shade of grey that didn't seem so innocent any longer. The two decided they better head out to see the most iconic of all the tourist spots before the sky opened up and dumped the Atlantic Ocean onto them.
"It doesn't matter how long you wave Elise. No one from the palace is going to wave back," Iggy told Elise standing in front of the gates of the one and only Buckingham Palace.
"You don't know who's looking out the windows," Elise said continuing to wave, "It might make someone's day…might even be one of the princes."
"That's true," Iggy said with a laugh, "You're waving so hard your tits are bouncing. They'd make any man's day."
Iggy had met up with the girls in front of the fountain sticking out like a sore emo thumb in the crowd of many tourists when they arrived. Iggy had put on her "dressy" clothes which included the Ramones t-shirt she had offered Blair to wear the night before, a pair of dark wash jeans, John Lennon style sunglasses, and some neon green converses. She deemed it her "dressy" outfit because the jeans didn't have permanent marker drawings or holes in them. Blair appreciated the look and Iggy's attitude towards fashion. She had her own style and was sticking to it. And hell she had a great sense of humor. Iggy was right indeed about Elise's boobs. They seemed to bounce around in the white halter floral dress she wore the harder she waved. So much so that the sixty year old pervy man standing near them with the too small short shorts was getting an eye full. I could definitely spot his London Bridge making an appearance. Gross.
"Okay Blair, stand in front of the gates so I can take the photo everyone who has ever visited London has," Iggy stated with a boring expression taking the camera from Elise. Blair posed and smiled as Iggy snapped the popular photo and gave Blair a thumbs up. Did that mean the picture turned out good or did it mean Iggy had successfully took the picture and had no clue whether Blair's eyes were open or closed? Guess she'd find out later when she skimmed through the memory card. Blair waved Elise and Iggy over to stand next to her so they could take a picture all together. With Blair in the middle holding the camera in front, Elise wrapped her arm around Blair's shoulder and gave her grandest bright smile while Iggy stood close to Blair and projected a simple grin with a classic peace sign gesture towards the camera.
BUZZ BUZZ!
Iggy's phone vibrated loudly in her pocket. "Dang Iggy," Elise laughed, "that thing is vibrating so hard you could sell it in a naughty shop! I can hear it over all these people!"
"Takes care of two purposes," Iggy said with a wink pulling the phone out and taking a few steps away to answer it.
"So Ms. Waldorf," Elise said turning to face Blair, "Have you heard from the mysterious Chuck Bass today?"
"I have," Blair responded with a blush, "He texted me this morning. I told him I had a date with the best tour guide in London but hoped to see him soon and would text him when we got back to Islington this afternoon."
Thank God Blair remembered to get Chuck's number in the car last night before he dropped her off. This morning she had went through the whole should I text him first or wait for him to text debacle. Luckily he had decided that for her and texted her around 9 a.m. asking her plans for the day. Blair figured, scratch that hoped, he would want to see her again soon especially since Elise and Iggy were scheduled to work tonight. She didn't want to spend a Saturday night in freaking London of all places on the sofa watching Netflix alone. If the sofa and Netflix was the option, she wanted Chuck to be pressed up next to her taking thirty minutes to choose a movie and then never actually watching it. She wanted a replay of that luscious kiss over and over again.
"Is he going to be in London for much longer?" Elise asked breaking Blair's daydream of kissing Chuck.
"Uh…I'm not sure," Blair answered with uncertainty, "Honestly we didn't really talk about it. I know he said 90 Proof was playing at Lollapalooza in Paris soon but other than that he didn't mention a time line."
Come to think of it, Chuck and the band leaving never crossed Blair's mind even though she was sitting at the table when they toasted to another successful tour this summer at the bar. This weekend could be the last she would see of Chuck. She didn't want her time with him to abruptly come to a halt before it even had a chance to start.
"Well!" Elise exclaimed smacking Blair on the butt, "You better ride that horse before it leaves town!"
"Okay Marilyn," Blair replied pulling herself out of the sadness that grew in her chest and pointing to Elise's white dress billowing in the wind. With Elise's white hair, red lips, and that cleavage revealing dress, she really did look reminiscent of the legendary Ms. Monroe.
"Oh…maybe I should find a steam grate on the sidewalk and act her famous scene out," Elise laughed grabbing the fabric and twirling about, "Might make me feel all the right tingly sensations since I don't wear underwear! It has been awhile!"
"You should have borrowed Iggy's turbo charged vibrating cell phone for that then!"
"Blair Waldorf you naughty girl!" Elise yelled putting her arm around Blair and spinning them around, "Well we know you won't be needing to borrow it any time soon. You'll have Chuck to take care of that."
"Elise!" Blair laughed pinching Elise on the arm.
Raindrops started to fall from the heavy clouds just as Iggy strode past the fountain back towards the girls. As soon as Blair and Elise stopped spinning around laughing at the crude jokes that kept telling to each other, they immediately knew something was wrong by the look on Iggy's face.
"What's wrong?" Elise asked frowning.
"That was Joe," Iggy responded looking at the cobblestoned ground, "Oasis caught on fire an hour ago. The fire department told him it was most likely from old wiring."
"Oh my God!" Elise spoke frantically grabbing Iggy's arms, "Is everyone alright? Was anyone hurt?"
"No. Thankfully Melissa skipped out on Saturday inventory to take her son to her mum's for the rest of the weekend."
"Oh thank sweet baby Jesus for that!" Elise said putting her hand to her chest. "How long did the fire department say we had to stay out? This weekend I'm sure."
"That's the thing Elise. Joe said it could be a month or two."
"What!?" Elise blared. At that exact moment, the sky opened up and began pelting everyone with raindrops the size of quarters. Elise grabbed Blair's hand and Iggy's and raced toward the tube station hoping to beat the tourists who would surely start a stampede to dry ground. They made it easily with a lot of time to spare since the tourists needed to pull out their travel apps to figure out which way to go or which station to take. There were umbrellas and clear ponchos flying everywhere in the wind as they had made their way through the crowds. Blair and Iggy hadn't realized until they were seated on the tube that Elise's dress soaked up water like a cactus and was completely opaque in the chest region. The rain mixed with the cool and dampness of the air caused quite the nipple show. "Free the nip!" she exclaimed to a group of older women giving her the side eye.
On the ride back to Islington, Elise and Iggy discussed their newly found unemployment, and Blair couldn't help but feel anxious for the two of them. She wasn't certain if they had an emergency fund to help with expenses over the next month or so. She knew Elise would never accept a hand out from Blair, but she felt necessary to bring up the issue. Blair was staying in their home for the next eight weeks. She had zero issues contributing to the expenses. Elise predictably turned her down and told Blair her and Iggy would figure something out. Elise was just happy no one was hurt in the fire. Iggy spoke highly of Joe, the owner of Oasis, and told Blair he would do anything he could to help out the girls since he was a friend of Iggy's mum. That made Blair feel somewhat better but a worried feeling still lingered.
By the time the girls made it back to the flat, the weather turned from heavy downpour to monsoon accompanied with lightning bolts from Zeus himself. The three of them totally drenched scrambled into the house and slammed the door as a roar of thunder echoed through the windows shaking the panes.
Iggy immediately went to her room probably to attempt to peel the soaked jeans from her body. Blair dropped her camera bag onto the floor and began to remove her designer flats from her feet. Elise strode past her into the living room dripping all over the floor bow legged with a pained expression on her face. "My thighs are chaffed to hell and back!" she yelled falling onto the sofa with her legs open.
"Hey! Paris Hilton! No one wants to see your chaffed cooch!" Blair said ringing her trench coat out. Puddles sat on top of the floor from the water the girls had just brought in. A little more wasn't going to hurt the linoleum. She would help mop up the mess once her body temperature returned to human and not reptile.
"Blair…please bring me my deodorant stick from the bathroom," Elise said ignoring Blair's request with a simple wave of her hand, "It helps with the chaffing, and the fire crotch I'm experiencing is real af."
Just then a deodorant stick flew from the hallway into the living room landing with a thud on the floor. "I'm calling dibs on the shower!" yelled Iggy shutting the bathroom door.
Blair picked up the deodorant and tossed it to Elise, "There you go fire crotch."
After each of the girls showered, Elise still walking rather bow legged and now wearing curlers in her hair went into the kitchen to make some much needed warm tea. Blair lounged on Elise's bed with her hair wrapped in a towel listening to the storm brewing outside. The thunderclaps and the flash of the lightening filled the room. Now that she was alone and safe in the house, she figured now was the time to call Chuck and see what he was up to. Surely there wouldn't be any outdoor events tonight as the rain didn't seem to let up at all the hour the girls had been home. Blair started to crave his presence and that adorable gap between his teeth that peeked out when he gave her that devilish grin. She even missed Ren and her prismatic blue hair and carefree demeanor. Blair felt this strong pull towards their world and wanted to dive headfirst into it. What a strange feeling it was to meet people and miss them a mere twenty four hours after seeing them. Blair dialed the number written on the napkin she had written the night before with her own lipstick. The lipstick smeared across the white bar napkin, but the phone number remained mostly in place. Chuck answered after two rings.
"Hey Blair. How was my American beauty's first day frolicking about in London?" Blair already could hear the cute smirk in his voice.
"Well," she breathed laying back onto the bed, "I frolicked in the wildflower fields waiting on Mr. Darcy to come and visit me." Blair snickered into the phone twirling a strand of hair that escaped from the towel.
"Ah I see," Chuck said, "And did he prove his affections and appear this dreary afternoon?"
"I'm afraid not. The rain must have deterred him from his journey."
"Good. I can't compete with a catch like Darcy."
"You could definitely hold your own Bass."
POP!
"Ah!" Blair shrieked into the phone sitting straight up in bed. The lights flickered off, and the hum of the window unit air conditioner came to a halt.
"You've got to be shitting me!" Blair heard Iggy yell from across the hall.
"Blair! Are you okay? What happened?" Chuck persisted on the other line.
"It's okay I'm fine the lights just went out. The storm must have knocked out a transformer on our street. I see sparks coming from the power lines on the corner."
"Damn this is a heavy storm. Our place is only five blocks from your friend's house. We still have power. If the power doesn't come back on soon why don't you head over here. You're more than welcome. Just me, Ren, and Jamie here tonight."
The thought of snuggling next to Chuck during a thunderstorm was exactly the kind of Saturday night she had in mind. Yes the concert last night and the bar had been a memorable experience that she wanted to relive again and again. But a nice night in after running around all day appealed to Blair greatly. However, she couldn't just leave Elise and Iggy here at home in the dark. Elise was the entire reason she was in London in the first place, and Iggy proved so far to be a great friend to Blair. She didn't want to ditch them.
"Actually my roommates Elise and Iggy are home tonight. The bar they work at caught fire today so they're out of work until they can get the place up and running again."
"Oh they must work at Oasis," Chuck answered solemnly, "I saw someone posted about the fire on Twitter earlier. I'm terribly sorry for them. Hopefully Joe will get all the pieces together quickly so no one is out too much salary. But Blair, they're welcome as well. Any friends of yours are friends of ours."
Blair decided she would ask Elise and Iggy if they wanted to go to Chuck's for the night. The storm continued in full wrath outside and did not appear to have the ability to let up anytime soon. Why not go over and hang out for the night? If the weather returned to somewhat normal later on in the evening, Elise and Iggy could drive back home and check the electricity if they didn't feel comfortable staying. Blair however felt very comfortable staying. She also possessed a strong feeling Elise would fall in love with Ren just as much as Blair had the night before. Iggy posed as the go with the flow type and most likely would bring her old school Walkman she seemed to carry around the house with her to entertain herself. All in all, the plan was a win win.
She told Chuck she would text him letting him know the plan. If it was a go, then he would respond with his address. She really wanted to see Chuck again and get to know him on a more personal level. He represented a mystery to Blair and those deep-set dark eyes held stories and explanations behind them she couldn't wait to uncover.
Blair untied the towel from her hair and stepped out into the dark abyss of the hallway. "Ah!" Blair jumped after turning the corner and seeing a pink penis candle floating in mid-air. The darkness stretched across the flat so densely that her vision barely allowed her to outline Elise holding the phallic candle. Now that her eyes seemed to be adjusting, all that Blair could make out were the yellow curlers in Elise's hair.
"Don't be a scaredy cat Blair," Elise said bringing the girthy candle towards her face, "It's just me. I wanted to come check on you since you stayed in my room once the power went off. Then I heard voices and figured you were making a phone call to a certain drummer boy."
"Elise," Blair breathed putting her hands on her hips, "Why in the world do you have a penis candle?"
"I went to a divorce party a few weekends ago for Tina who's a waitress at Oasis," she replied. "Her husband of ten years cheated on her so once their divorce became finalized, she threw herself a divorce party and ordered these flaming dicks for party favors. Since legally she can't do any harm to her ex-husband's actually penis, I guess this was the next best thing."
"I use mine as a door stopper," Iggy's voice stated emerging from the living room.
Penis candles aside, Blair informed Elise and Iggy about Chuck's offer and were more than ecstatic to take him up on the offer. Well Elise appeared overly enthused about the plan while Iggy simply stated, "Be cool to hang out with two members of 90 Proof. I'm down."
Blair texted Chuck excitedly and a few seconds later his address appeared on her screen. Iggy owned the green compact car out front with band stickers and stick people ripping each other's heads off on the rear-view windshield. Blair asked if she felt comfortable driving in the weather and Iggy said no problem.
After fifteen minutes of the girls packing an overnight bag, they met in the living room prepared to make a run for the car. "I can't wait to meet this Chuck Bass Blair," Elise stated smiling with an impish grin, "I get to see the guy who's got my girl Blair all shook up!"
Blair chuckled and noticed Elise had removed the curlers from her hair and styled it in the likeness of Marilyn, "Why did you fix your hair all 1950's Hollywood style? The rain is going to ruin it." Don't get it twisted. Blair didn't appear like a rat caught in a rainstorm at the moment. A simple pair of comfy jeans, a rather tight black crop top sitting right above her waist revealing just a tiny bit of skin, and some classic white stripped Adidas was about as casual as Blair got.
"I'm not going to hang around two members of one of the most popular bands in London, one being your new summer fling, and show up looking like I stuck my finger in the light socket," Elise combated entering the kitchen scrambling through the drawers.
"The electricity is out," Iggy blurted, "They would just think you escaped from a mental asylum."
"What are you looking for Elise?" Blair questioned watching her throwing the mop and broom out of the kitchen closet.
"A plastic bag to put over my hair to keep it from getting soaked. I want it completely covered and a hat would just smash it down." Elise answered getting frustrated, "Damn I thought we had a ton of them from getting take out!"
After being convinced that nowhere in the house resided a plastic bag to use as a make shift hair bonnet, Elise resulted to using the mop bucket to put over her head. What a sight it was to have Elise standing in the doorway bags in tow with a bucket covering her head. And the best part is the mop bucket actually worked protecting her new bombshell hairdo. It was a fantastic plan…until it wasn't. Iggy first ran out the door to unlock the car and start the engine leaving Blair and Elise behind. Elise, bucket head and all, took off next quickly down the sidewalk splashing water from the puddles behind her. And that's when the plan failed. Elise practically blinded by the bucket covering her head smacked right into the side of Iggy's car and fell backwards onto the muddy grass causing the bucket to fly off exposing those luscious curls to the elements. Blair, realizing what happened, stopped mid run which caused her to slide in the multitude of puddles and tumble down on top of Elise giving the wind free reign to whip her rain jacket hoodie off her head.
The driver's side door window rolled down, "Drowned rat look it is then!" Iggy exclaimed.
PLEASE REVIEW! I REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS ON THE GIRL'S RELATIONSHIP THIS CHAPTER.