Hello! Thank you, thank you, thank you all, for being so patient with me! I am back with my own computer and good to go. I am going to TRY to keep to my two chapters a month plan, but with six courses this fall… I may get delayed. I would ask if anyone would volunteer to do my readings and write my papers for me… I know a little bird named Maryam that could probably tackle my Politics of the Middle East and Arab World… But that would be unethical. Here we go…
Blair checked her watch as she stepped out of the back of her town car, and glanced up at the driver who had held the door for her.
"Be back in 26 minutes, leave the engine running, and honk if you have to. I don't want this to last any longer than necessary."
Slipping her bag onto her elbow, Blair offered a tense smile of thanks to the doorman who held the door open for her to the upscale men's shop. Walking in she was immediately shown to the back where she found Adam standing on a fitting box in a half done suit, and with about a million fabric pins jutting into him.
Looking up he spotted her and smiled. "When I said meet for dinner, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."
Sitting on the formal sofa, she took the champagne that was offered to her and held it up to Adam. "We're having drinks. You want dinner with me, you have to earn it."
"Fair enough." Adam said confidently. "So? What do you think? Am I fit to offer Blair Waldorf my arm? Minus the pins, of course."
He held out his arms, and Blair hid her smile. "You'll do for tomorrow night, but you're on probation."
"That's all I ask." He teased. "Can we talk or are you just killing time until your alibi shows up and gives you an excuse to leave?"
Blair sat up a little straighter having been busted on her plan to make a quick escape, but she ignored the calling out and focused on the first part. "Is this the part where you ask me about myself?"
"I know plenty of things about you." Adam smiled and leaned in with a conspirator's grin. "I googled you."
Blair's face stayed blank. "Don't believe everything you read."
"Don't worry, I avoided the Page Six crap… But what's with that whole Gossip Girl thing?"
Blair got up and moved towards him. As he continued to babble about a few public facts of her life, she began to straighten the line of his jacket and adjust the collar. When he fell silent, she looked up at him and found his face closer than she had realized. Oh, god, she thought, he's going to kiss me.
Just then there was a long honk followed by a few quick successions of honking, startling them both and allowing Blair to take a much-needed step back. Adam's brow creased and he craned his head to get a look out the window.
"Who is that?"
"My driver. It must be important." She said quickly gathering her things from the couch and striding quickly towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
The next night at the Gala, Blair was truly laughing as Adam swirled her around and around the dance floor. She had to give him that; he was an excellent dancer. As the music faded away, Blair pulled out of his arms breathlessly. He was about to speak when his phone went off in his pocket.
"Do you mind? I should take this."
"Not at all. Would you mind getting me a drink when you're done?"
Adam nodded, already answering his phone, and Blair turned to look about the ballroom.
With Adam gone, Blair could circulate a little more freely, and she ordained to say hello to a few randoms from just bellow her social circle, but bee lined for Serena and Lars only to find them lip locked through most of the conversation. Moving on, she settled in a raised alcove with an ornate high backed chair, where she could see everyone, and more importantly everyone could see her. From there, person after person came by to greet her and pay their respects, and none were of even remote interest to her until Nate came up and was the first person she greeted with genuine welcome since she got there. He kissed her cheek, as was habit, before coming to perch on the armrest by her side and look out over the multitude of gowns and tuxes that twirled by them around the dance floor.
"Sooo…" She began, not looking at him, but at the crowd. "What do you think of Adam?"
"He's not your type."
"Not my type?"
"With a guy like that you'll have to spend all your time pretending to be normal."
"Well, since I think your definition of normal pertains to mental health, I'll say I am normal."
"Blair, you are many things, but normal is not one of them. Chuck, Jack, Carter… your type is men who accept that you lean towards the dark side. You like Vader over Skywalker."
"If I had any idea what you were talking about, I just might be insulted."
Before he could respond, they were interrupted by her own personal Darth Vader.
"Blair…" Chuck greeted, joining them in the alcove without an invite.
Suddenly there was a commotion from the sweeping staircase, and Blair, Chuck, Nate, and the rest of the room turned towards it, as a laughing Serena was dragged halfway up the stairs by an exuberant Lars. Blair's eyes widened as she watched Lars drop to one knee.
"Serena Van der Woodsen… Will you marry me?"
Serena squealed, her hands covering her mouth as she giggled out a 'yes!'.
Looking at the engagement scene, Blair couldn't help the image of her own coming flooding back.
Flashback.
Arriving home she had stalked through the foyer of their apartment, immediately heading upstairs, and ignoring the rattled doorman who jumped as her purse hit the wall, slammed off the table and onto the floor, but not before taking a chunk of the plaster with it.
Chuck smiled indulgently as he tipped the man, and offered a smooth "It's been a long flight…" in explanation of his girlfriend's behaviour.
Upstairs in their bedroom she'd practically ripped the earring from her ears and then stripped to shower and wash the grime from their first class, transcontinental, commercial flight from her skin. The indignity of not having access to any of the Bass jets, due to a workers strike, had been even more unbearable given her mood.
She had been so sure, so sure he was going to propose on this trip. They'd gone to France to visit her father and Ramon for a couple of weeks, and her mother and Cyrus had joined them at Daddy's chateau for the last few days. It was a wonderful trip. It would have been the perfect time for Chuck to propose. She knew it, and she'd made damn sure that he knew it as well. And yet she'd returned to Manhattan with no ring on her finger.
What was he waiting for? They'd been dating forever, living together for over a year, she had her own money, and she'd been doing exceptionally well in her advanced yoga classes. Oh, and then there was the little fact that she had no doubt that they were in love. He had no reason not to propose.
As she finished dressing for the dinner he'd ordered in from the car, her mood got darker and her temperament got worse. By the time he walked out of his own closet, showered and changed, she was in a full-blown Blair-nado, and when he moved to kiss the side of her neck, she pulled angrily away and struck him in the arm.
"Something wrong, lover?" Chuck asked with a hint of a smile as he sprawled across their bed to watch her rapidly pace the length of the room.
"I hope you know that I am not the girl who is going to sit around and wait for you till the bloom is off this rose! I'm not a Carrie!" She said quickly, pausing momentarily to stomp her heeled foot, before pacing on.
"I'm 26 and I am getting to the end of my starter husband years, and if you don't want to man up and marry this…" She pointed to the youthful perfection of her body. "I need to get back into the game and find a class act that will. If I don't get to it I'm going to end up with a twice divorced venture capitalist with a Corona belly!"
"I take it that this tirade stems from my noncompliance with your not so subtle demands for me to offer my hand in marriage?" He drawled.
"We both know where this relationship is heading, I've already said that I'll agree to all your stipulations, so STOP PLAYING HARD TO GET!" She screeched.
Chuck only mildly flinched at the pitch of her voice as he got up and moved towards her. He ran his hands down her arms as she caught her breath. "That you have… and maybe I will, but for tonight… dinner…"
Still mad, Blair let him take her arm and lead her downstairs to their formal dinning room. Her mind was already working on her next step at coercion and so she didn't notice the room for a moment. It was flooded with flowers and candlelight, but what was most interesting was that there were only one chair set at the table and for once it was completely bare… with the exception of a small, square, jeweler's box. Blair didn't even feel her feet move as Chuck guided her to sit down in front of the box. He picked it up off the table and knelt at her feet, and Blair looked at him with wide brown eyes that swam with a sheen of tears that she fought back. It would be tacky to cry at a moment like this.
"You had to know I would want to do this on my own terms… Blair Waldorf, you are the love of my life. Would you please do me the honour of marrying me? Marry me." He'd half commanded.
The answer was simple. It was the answer she wanted to give him. Yes.
End of flashback.
"Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected…" Chuck drawled from beside her as their eyes stayed on the current couple that were now making out on the handrail.
Not looking at him, Blair rushed forward to congratulate her best friend. Several minutes later, with that done, Blair felt the pressing need for some fresh air. Stepping out of the heated ballroom, Blair breathed a sigh of relief as she moved to the end of the deserted balcony. From this point she could see across the darkened park that was framed like a picture by the lights of the buildings that surrounded it. The wind ruffled a strand of her hair loose and it blew across her cheek. She was just about to lift her hand to brush it back into place, when another beat her to it. She didn't have to turn her head. The way her skin tingled and sent a bold of heat down her body, told her who it was.
"I know what you were thinking… I know, because I was remembering it too… You were beautiful that night."
"I was an idiot who thought that you loved me." She said in an empty voice and kept her gaze trained on the park.
"You weren't an idiot…" He said, his eyes burrowing into her profile.
"I married for love the first time. I won't be fool enough to do that again."
"You will… when we re-marry." He said confidently moving close enough to feel the heat coming off her body. "And don't pretend like you don't know it will happen."
"I will never marry you again." Blair vowed in a hiss turning to him. "But I will marry again. I won't allow losing yo— what happened between us, to be the defying moment in my life. I will move on."
Even as she finished the words, she knew she didn't want to, but had to. They looked at each other with torment in their eyes. War was a messy business.
"Blair?" Adam's voice called from the French doors. "Are you out there?"
Blair shut her eyes for a heartbeat before putting on her brightest voice. "Yes! I'm coming!"
She left Chuck alone on the balcony. She didn't look back.
TahDAH!! Okay, this chapter was a bit tough for me to finish because I've been on a One Tree Hill kick and had Naley in my head. I didn't want Chair to come out sounding like my other favourite couple. Luckily I have both seasons on DVD and was able to channel my GG love. Hopefully, you heard the right people in my writing.
There was something else I wanted to tell you… but my mind is a blank. Oops. I'll give you this warning instead. Watch out for rain showers. I'm not talking about the act of nature, I'm talking about the shower heads. They are awful. First they lack any kind of water pressure, second, you can drown when you put your head back to rinse your hair, and third, you can't not wash your hair… unless you're bent over with your butt under the water and your head craned away. Rain showers suck. End of rant.
PS- Okay, so in my further defense I had this finished like yesterday or so, but fanfiction wouldn't let me upload it. Sooooo… It's more their fault than mine. Kind of.
