Hello! Sooooooo? What did you all think of the premier? I liked it. I missed Blair Waldorf. I loved her dress at the polo match. I've never had occasion to wear a dress like that, and I don't think it would look as nice with my colouring, but a girl can dream. Did you all see Ed Westwick's tattoos? Chuck will be covered from neck down for the rest of the series. And what is with guys tattooing boobs on their bodies? You never see a girl walking down the street with a penis on her arm, but guys will have a naked pinup right down their bicep. I could make a feminist comment, but I'll keep it to myself. Here we go…
Blair lay across the chaise scanning her text messages. She smiled seeing there were six from Adam. She had to admit he made her feel special. Wanted. And over the past several weeks it had been easy to be with him. Easy being the key word. Her eyes fell on her other frequent texter, and she knew that their relationship, at most points, was anything but. He had always challenged her, seen her for who she was, and pushed her in ways nobody else ever had. He'd also pushed her away, and that was a fact she reminder herself of daily.
She glanced up as she heard the ping of the elevator, and Serena came bouncing into the living room.
"B!"
"S!"
Blair got up and rushed to her friend, giddy with seeing her after she'd been gone on a month long honeymoon to Asia. After a tight hug, Blair pulled back to inspect her friend's halter dressed body.
"No tan lines?" Blair said dryly with a raised brow.
Serena rolled her eyes, and tugged a lock of Blair's hair. "Not any I want to talk about, Mom."
Laughing, Blair caught hold of her friend's hands and pulled them both down onto a lounge.
"How was it? I want to hear EVERYTHING!"
"It was wonderful… amazing! You know how much I love honeymoons."
"I'll say… third times the charm." Blair said, mocking her friend for her third trek down the aisle. "You know, some people just go on vacation. It skips the aggravation of him catching you with your yoga instructor, and the cost of a messy divorce."
Ignoring Blair's comment, no matter how true it might be, Serena decided to go with the best method of distraction with Blair. Turning the topic of conversation onto her.
"How was heading back to work and away from Young Master Bass?" Serena asked, smiling at Dorota as she brought a tray of fruit in.
"Given that I have the apartment jacked with cameras it was surprisingly easy… You'd be shocked at how many times people pick their noses when they think nobody can see them. It's disgusting. I've gone through three florists this week. What are they thinking? They touch manure!"
Serena rolled her eyes, but straightened her posture a little, realizing that she was most likely being nanny camed at that very moment.
"So work was good?"
"Yes… my assistant looked so… well rested." Blair sneered, thinking about how she'd had to crush the girl back into line in a few short hours. "I took care of that. She's back to 2 sessions a week with her therapist."
"I knew you could do it." Serena said, rolling her eyes. "Now, tell me about Adam!"
Blair sighed, and ran down a list of things they'd done over the past couple of weeks. Dinners around town. The opera. Ballet… It was like a life she dreamed about when she was a little girl. Her Prince Charming.
"Well, B, he sounds great… Is he Mr. Perfect… everywhere?" Serena asked with a sly smile. It never ceased to amaze Serena that people thought she was the wild one… okay, in many ways she was, but when it came to sex… Blair could go kinky. Serena hadn't felt comfortable in the back of Chuck's limo in over a decade. It was like their second bedroom.
"Hmmm…" Blair said noncommittally.
"Blair!"
"What?!" Blair snapped, grabbing a grape and eating it quickly.
"You haven't slept with him yet! Don't tell me you got another eunuch? B… I'm going to have to pick the next one for you."
Blair examined her nails. "Maybe it's not him who wants to wait…"
"What?"
"I am a mother! I have responsibilities to more than just my carnal urges!" Blair protested just a tad too much.
"Uh, huh." Serena sighed. "Or maybe this has less to do with Adam, and more to do with Ch—"
"Charlie!" Blair cut her off; deliberately switching out the name her friend was about to say. "Exactly. I have Charlie to think of."
Seeing Serena was about to argue, Blair snatched a strawberry off the tray and half slammed it into Serena's mouth. "Enjoy!"
Serena watched her carefully as she chewed the berry.
"Besides," Blair said taking advantage of her friend's forced silence. "He hasn't even met Charlie."
Serena held her thoughts, partly because she had a feeling a large slice of mellon would be shoved at her, and partly because she knew she had to bide her time with this. Something was off.
In another part of town, two other best friends sat across from each other. After hearing about a few of Nate's newest conquests, and catching up on some of Chuck's latest business, the two friends leaned back in their chairs, each with a glass of port.
"You seem to be in a good mood." Nate commented only half suspicious. "It couldn't be that Blair's taken you back, she has a mandatory groveling period… and after what you did? I'd say you've got at least 15 months and a few choice pieces of jewelry to go…"
"Chuck Bass doesn't grovel…" Chuck said swirling the liquid around in his glass with a grin.
"No. He plots, which is worse." Nate smiled. "Should I start building my own fallout shelter?"
"Nathaniel, you wound me." Chuck smiled.
"I know you." Nate corrected. "You want Blair back, and you've been to quiet… What are you up to?"
"Mr. Bass… Your 11 o'clock is here." Chuck's secretary interrupted from the doorway.
Chuck snickered at being off the hook from a response for the moment.
"I can go…" Nate offered, beginning to lift himself out of the chair.
"No need. This one should be left to stew a little." Chuck waved Nate back into his seat before responding to his secretary. "Show him into the small conference room. He can wait there."
Glancing up at Nate a smile crossed his face. "Now… what do we feel like for lunch…"
Over an hour later, Chuck sat back in his desk chair as his assistant cleared away the debris from his lunch with Nate. With Nate gone, he glanced at the clock again.
"You can bring him in now…" Chuck said, sliding lower in his chair, his ankle crossed at his knee, and one finger propping up his head as he kept his gaze trained on the door. He knew exactly what kind of image he projected. His clothes, his office, his building; he was the King and they were playing in his castle. Unsurprisingly his guest was a rattled mess when he stumbled into the room.
"I can't do this anymore!" He burst out, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
"This ought to be good…" Chuck said rolling his eyes.
"I love her!" He declared adamantly.
"Of course you do…" Chuck drawled, not buying it for a second. It took a certain type of man to truly love a woman like Blair… and this man, who was now letting out a sting of curses, was not it.
"A man with your lack of skill in gambling should really think twice about the tone you use with your employer…"
"You're not my employer." He growled under his breath.
Chuck inspected the rim of his liqueur glass with a smile. "I can smell desperation… I found you at the bottom of a rather unsavory barrel… I paid off your debts and buried all evidence of them, so your daddy never needs to find out… That means I own you… So when I say that you will break my wife's heart… that is exactly what you'll do."
Adam looked at the cold man sitting at the top of the world with very nearly everything he wanted within his grasp, and far too late Adam realized he'd made a deal with the devil.
TaHDAH! Surprise! Adam is on Chuck's payroll, so to speak! I was actually surprised none of you said anything. Usually when I have a plot twist coming, there's always some smarty-pants who guesses it in the reviews, and says it there. Love reviews, hate people guessing in them. Or at least, hate it when they guess right. PM me if you want to guess. If you saw it coming, good on you! If not, I hope you liked the surprise. There are more twists and turns coming. This is a Chair fic after all!
Now, I have hidden away writing this all afternoon instead of doing a tone of my readings, which is what should have been my focus. I shall go and be responsible now. Sigh.
