Special thanks to Lila for the review on Chapter 1 :)
Chapter 2
"Chuck, what are you doing?" Nate questioned as he watched Blair rushing past him with a disgruntled look on her face.
"Just making inquiries about potential donations to the charity. Isn't that the whole purpose of this evening?" Chuck replied, waving a hand at the barman to request another drink.
"You said you weren't bothered about Blair so why are you playing games with her?" Nate lowered himself onto the seat Blair had just vacated.
"I'm not playing at anything Nathaniel." Chuck raised his voice. "You seem particularly concerned about Blair at the moment, are you sure you're not still in love with her?"
"She's my friend, Chuck. Not that you know what that means. You keep saying you don't care about her and yet, here you are, seeking her out when there's hundreds of other people you could be talking to. She's happy with Steve and that clearly bothers you, but you've got to leave her alone now, man." Nate responded.
Chuck gulped down his glass of scotch in one mouthful, leaned across the bar and helped himself to the bottle. He could see Blair over Nate's shoulder. She had joined the rest of the group at the end of the bar, positioning herself between Serena and Steve. Steve pulled her in close to his side and kissed her on the cheek.
"Any relationship between myself and Blair is strictly professional. Unfortunately, we operate in the same social circles and therefore we are going to run into each other from time to time. I have no feelings for Blair." Chuck stated firmly.
"Fine." Nate replied and rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure if Chuck was just lying or trying to convince himself that he didn't care about Blair. "Let's go join the others." Chuck nodded and followed Nate to the end of the bar.
"Nice speech, Chuck. Who knew you could be so captivating?" Vanessa said.
"Anything for the children." Chuck replied sarcastically. "Steve, I assume?" Chuck turned to Steve, who nodded.
"Chuck, right? Nice you to meet you." Steve extended his hand out to Chuck. Chuck stared at it for a moment before filling up an empty glass with scotch and stuffing it in Steve's hand. He'd agreed to be civil but shaking hands with the middle-class was a step too far. Chuck caught Blair glaring at him and smirked. Steve returned the smile, but Blair knew the smirk was directed at her. Chuck stepped around Steve and handed another glass of champagne to Blair.
"You're looking lovely tonight, Blair." Chuck let his hand linger against Blair's as he handed her the glass. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek and whispered, "shame about the accessory." Blair tried to hide the involuntary reaction to his breath on her neck again.
"What do you want Chuck?" Blair pulled her hand away.
"Have you had any more thoughts on what you'll be donating tonight?" Chuck replied, allowing his gaze to wander downwards, grateful for her choice of outfit allowing him a glimpse of her exposed chest. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Blair.
"Waldorf Designs will, of course, be contributing to the charity. I've already had a meeting with the charity's chairman. You'll be able to see the details of our generous contribution in the papers tomorrow." Blair shot back.
Chuck laughed. He should have predicted that Blair would make sure her contribution to the charity made her the centre of attention. "Well, it seems my work here is done. Although you know regular donations make much better impressions than a one-off payment, Waldorf." Blair rolled her eyes as Chuck walked away into the crowd.
Steve frowned slightly at the interaction. Blair often chatted about her friends, retelling stories from their school days and regular updates on the latest dramas, but Chuck was rarely mentioned. The few times she had discussed him she gave the impression that they were far from friends and only spoke to each other when it involved their businesses. The conversation he had just witnessed did not feel like two business owners discussing work.
"What was that?" Steve asked.
"What was what?" Blair replied, nonchalantly, sipping at her champagne.
"You and Chuck. Is there something you're not telling me?" Steve questioned, pulling Blair away from the rest of the group so they could continue their conversation without everyone overhearing.
"He organised this event, Steve. I told you I had to make the right impression and donating to charity tends to go down well with the buyers." Blair retorted.
"I'm not blind, Blair. I saw the two of you and that was more than just business." Steve was getting annoyed and raised his voice slightly at her.
"Well, you need your eyes testing. I'm going to get another drink, are you going to apologise, or should I call you a car?" Blair crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"You're being awfully defensive for someone who claims nothing is going on. Don't mess me around Blair, if I find out there's more to this than you're letting on, we're done." Steve spat out before walking over to the bar and ordering them another round of drinks.
Blair paused, rooted to the spot for a moment as she processed Steve's words. Blair looked out into the crowd and spotted Chuck talking to a group of associates, had she not been so annoyed with Steve she would almost be impressed with how quickly Chuck had managed to get under his skin. She replayed the conversation with Steve in her mind. He'd always been so polite, so caring, she'd never seen this angry and jealous side and she wasn't sure she liked it.
"I'm the one that hands out ultimatums, Steve. I think it's best if you leave now." Blair shouted as she joined him at the bar. "I'm sure there's plenty of cabs outside, have a nice life."
"You're being ridiculous. Call me when you've calmed down." Steve downed his drink and handed the glass of champagne over to Blair. Blair watched as he grabbed his jacket off the chair and hurried through the crowd. No-one spoke to Blair Waldorf like that, especially someone who was supposed to be her boyfriend. No, things were definitely over between them, Blair concluded, and gulped back her champagne.
...
It was approaching the end of the night and Chuck finally excused himself from his latest conversation with a board member from Bass Industries. He couldn't take anymore small talk. He'd spoken to enough guests and persuaded them to donate a large quantity of money, his work for the night was done. He walked back over to the bar to re-join the only group he wanted to spend time with.
"Chuck tonight has been great. You should arrange these events more often!" Serena exclaimed, clearly under the influence as she swayed slightly, holding onto the edge of the bar to steady herself.
"Thanks, Sis. You've clearly been enjoying yourself." Chuck stated.
"Where's the after-party?" Nate asked.
"Drinks back at The Empire, but no extras invited. Some of us are actually important and have meetings to attend tomorrow." Chuck replied.
"Ouch. Who pissed you off tonight, Chuck?" Nate questioned, guiding Serena to a near-by bar stool before she swayed a little too far and toppled over.
"Upper West Siders who try too hard and their peroxide blonde partners."
"Are you sure it's not a certain brunette from the Upper East Side?" Serena laughed, launching herself up from the chair and stumbling up to Chuck. Nate sniggered at the interaction and turned back to the bar.
"This wannabe Starsky and Hutch act is getting very tiring." Chuck tried to move away from Serena but quickly realised she was unlikely to be able to stand unaided.
"Your little plan worked, Chuck." Serena prodded his chest. "Blair and Steve had an argument, he walked out and left her here."
"There was no plan, Sis. And if what you're saying about Blair and Steve is true, then why isn't Blair with you now?" Chuck was pleased Serena was drunk, it meant she didn't register the smile that flashed across his face when he realised his interference in Blair's relationship had had the desired effect.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. She got pretty drunk after Steve walked off. She must have gone home early." Serena replied.
Chuck frowned at Serena's remark and helped her back onto the bar stool. Blair never left a party early, unless there was a better offer on the cards, and Chuck knew that wasn't the case tonight. He looked around the room, the crowd had thinned as people slowly made their way home for the evening and Chuck couldn't see Blair anywhere.
"Did she tell you she was leaving?" Chuck asked.
"Erm, no." Serena replied.
"Blair doesn't sneak out of a party without telling someone." Chuck thought aloud as Serena raised an eyebrow at him. "Sex with me doesn't count." He added, acknowledging what Serena was trying to communicate with her facial expressions. "She's even left her jacket in the cloakroom. Tell me exactly what happened between Blair and Steve."
"Steve picked up on the tension between the two of you earlier. Blair tried to tell him there's nothing going on, but he got angry and stormed off."
"You said Blair was drunk?" Chuck pushed Serena for more information. He was pleased Steve had taken the bait and stormed out, but it still didn't explain why Blair had left early.
"Yea, she was a bit tipsy when they were talking but after Steve left she returned to the bar and stayed there. She was pretty annoyed about the whole thing, I guess she was drinking away her problems."
"Serena, when has Blair ever got drunk at a formal party, especially since she's been CEO of Waldorf Designs. She cares too much about her own reputation to risk ruining that with one too many glasses of Dom. Sometimes I wonder why she keeps you as a best friend." Chuck sighed in frustration. Serena really was oblivious sometimes, something about the whole situation felt wrong. "Nathaniel, have you seen Blair?" Chuck turned towards the bar and grabbed Nate by the shoulder.
"Err, no, not for a couple of hours actually. Why, is there a problem?" Nate replied.
"I'm not sure." Chuck mumbled, more to himself than in response to Nate's question. His relationship with Blair may have been ancient history but he still cared about her and leaving a party early because of an argument with a man was not something Blair Waldorf did. "After party is cancelled."
"What? Chuck? Where the hell are you going?" Nate shouted after Chuck as he hurried away from the bar, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket.
To Be Continued...
I would love to hear what you think so far!