Chuck Bass was smarter than what people give him credit for. He figured that Alexis was already in Spain. He was now contemplating whether he should follow her there or wait for her to come back to London. He was about to step into the shower when he heard his cell phone rang.
He looked at the caller ID and was surprised to hear who the person was on the other line.
"Hello?" Her velvety voice filled his ears. He doesn't respond. His loud breathing implies that he was waiting for her to reveal the reason why she called. But before she was able to open her mouth to say something, a part of her snapped. She hung up, leaving Chuck bewildered.
He wrapped himself up with his bathrobe, picked up his phone once again and stared at it for a little longer. Call her back! It screams. Should he? But what would he say? Their last chitchat had been vague and lucid enough as it was.
It was only five in the afternoon and she couldn't resist ordering another dry martini. After her awful (but gratifying at the same time) conversation with Nate, she went back to her hotel room to change into a simple Balenciaga sun dress and headed to the bar. The place was filled with businessmen talking among themselves, 20something couples, foreigners; basically people whose faces she was not familiar with. She sat by the bar, looking impatient and bored. While browsing through her contacts, she stopped at Chuck's name and pressed the call button. She did it on impulse. By the time she heard Chuck's raspy voice, she hang up, absentmindedly spilling her drink on her lap.
"Let me help you with that," a pair of tanned muscular arms invaded her personal space. The stranger's right hand was wiping the mess on her lap.
She looked up and saw that the man was no stranger at all. It was no other than Carter. Breaking away from his touch, she retorted, "It's okay. I got it." She wonders why he always catches her off guard. "What do you want?" She asks angrily.
"I wanted to see you again, before you leave," he confessed. He couldn't erase the memory of Blair's kisses and moans, their sweet but rough lovemaking that hot Friday afternoon. He hopes there was something more than that being great sex.
She smirks and laughs, mocking him. But her laughter was brought about by the irony of the situation. He gave her a confused and amused look.
Here she was trying to cleanse her self from her wrongdoings and there he was reminding her of their sinful deed. She couldn't deal with Nate if she goes back home so she decided to stay in LA, overlooking/neglecting the major reason why she dreaded seeing Nate: Carter Baizen. Sitting next to her now was the cause of her indiscretion, the root of her sin, temptation personified. And she regrets staying now; this was a bad idea after all but where would she go? Is there any place in the world where she can be left at peace? On the other hand, she did not have any idea that he will still be coming after her.
And then there was Chuck. She didn't even know why she bothered calling him. She didn't know what to say. To seek advice from an old love? Definitely not. She felt dizzy from thinking too hard plus the copious amount of alcohol that was rushing to her head. She massaged her head in an effort to ease the pain but it grew worse.
Carter motioned the bartender not to bring in drinks anymore and asked for a glass of ice cold water instead. "Drowning yourself with martinis/vodka won't help you solve your problems, princess," he knowingly said.
She threw him a look of abhorrence. "You don't know anything about me," she spat. "So stop talking to me like you do."
"You always act like you're in control. You show the world that you're invincible; that nothing can penetrate the wall you built around yourself to protect you from the piercing eyes of others. The question is: have you let anyone destroy that wall?"
Every word that came out of his mouth was true. If she has let a person in her life, closer to her than anyone else could ever be, it was Chuck whom she thought of immediately and not Nate. She has been with Nate longer than she had been with Chuck but how deeply you have gotten to know a person cannot be measured on the amount of time you spent together. Chuck saw her for what she was and what she was not. He understood her perfectly. Nate, on the other hand, has been the center of her world. Everything revolved around him. It seemed like she's somehow loosing a part of herself in the process but it was her fault, too, that she hasn't let him in, completely. Sure, he loves her, she loves him. But is this love enough? Is it deep enough? Was it normal to second guess her feelings for a man that she was supposed to marry?
She finds it very odd to talk about this with Carter. Trying to divert the direction of the conversation, she said, "My head hurts. I just want to escape… Even if it only lasts for a while… Can't you just let me do that?" Typical Blair.
Carter smiles at her. An unfathomable smile. "Let's."
She stood up and got her clutch on the table, ignoring her vibrating phone.
Carter follows.
Chuck hangs up and left a voice message: Call me, he abruptly said.
He finally stepped into the shower, letting the cold water touch his skin and pacify his current state of mind.
Fifteen minutes later, he got dressed in his pajamas and was about to get into bed. His cellphone started ringing. He expected the caller to be Blair.
He answered the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID. "Hey, uh, Blair, why'd you hang up on me? Is there anything wrong?"
The person on the other line furiously reacted, "Blair called you? Are you having an affair with her, Chuck?" Yes, it was definitely Nate. "I don't believe this! I thought you were already dating someone else." He was about to hang up when Chuck hastily denied his allegations. "No, Nate, Blair and I are not having an affair. But yes, she did call me about twenty minutes ago and hung up so we didn't have the chance to talk so just, for the love of God, stop jumping into conclusions." He was appalled at his ex best friend's distrust and suspicions at his fiancé. He asks himself when they will ever stop referring to each other as ex-best friends.
Nate decided to push the matter aside and believe him. "I, uhm, I'm sorry. I just… You know…" He started mumbling then Chuck interrupted him, reassuring him that there was absolutely, no way in hell that something was going on between him and Blair. Nate was relieved.
"But the truth is that I'm having girl troubles on my own." He couldn't think of a better term to describe the whole dilemma he has with Alex. Maybe opening up about it would further reassure Nate that there was no affair going on between him and his ex-best friend's girl. "By now you've probably heard about it from Serena—"
"Dan, actually. Yeah, you've been dating… Alexis, is it?" Nate cuts in, vaguely saying; "Way to go, Chuck! Dating a Spanish princess. Totally an upgrade." There was really no hint of sarcasm in his voice but it wasn't congratulatory either.
Chuck refrained himself from reacting unpleasantly to Nate's comment. He regretted bringing it up now since he would have to talk about Blair. It always boils down to Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck, what used to be. As much as he didn't want to further talk about it now, he had to continue. "The thing is; I really do like her a lot. I could see myself falling for her." Down with the feelings, he grimaced. Not that what he said isn't true, he's just… Well, he's Chuck Bass. "She gets me, you know."
"Good for you, man. really. Honestly, I'm glad that you finally found someone." After Blair, he mentally adds. "So what seems to be the problem?"
Chuck finds it strange, the way they were talking right now; it almost seemed like old times. Except that back then, it was Chuck who always listens to Nate's ramblings about his life, how unsatisfied he is, etc. So maybe it wasn't really like old times but… just a few minutes ago Nate had been accusing him of cheating with Blair and now they were talking like friends. He finds the transition funny, in a way.
"Everything was going on well between us until she caught me talking on the phone with another girl. What Alex heard me say on the phone… She thought I was seeing another girl but everything's just a big misunderstanding." Chuck hopes that Nate won't be suspicious as to who the said girl was so he adds, "And you know the (playboy) reputation that's attached to my name… She storms off from the suite at 4 in the morning. I tried to explain but she didn't want to listen, told me that she never wants to see me again."
"Just give her time to cool down and then try talking to her again. Make her see things your way," Nate advised. From what she hears from Dan and Serena, it seemed like Chuck is really serious about her. Adding the fact that Chuck has never talked this way about a girl, it really must be real/serious.
"She went back to Spain. I pushed her away," Chuck said in conclusion. "I could have loved her, you know. I felt a connection with her."
"Then what are you still doing? Shouldn't you be on a plane flight to Spain? On your way to see her, get her back?" Nate said, all supportive and motivating. "Look, man: It's rare to find that kind of connection with someone. Once you do, you have to really go for it. Are you just gonna let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass?"
Chuck hardly thinks of her as an "opportunity" but was she really his only shot at happiness? Yes, she does make him happy. On the other hand, he feels like he doesn't deserve her, that he's inadequate and that maybe she was right about his feelings (that still exists) for Blair.
Alex looks at him intently in the eyes as she laid out for him the cold truth, "You still love her… You still fancy the idea of you and her being together… It doesn't matter if I'm here for you right now or how many girls will come into your life… Neither I or any other girl can ever replace her place in your heart!"
"I really don't know what to do. I don't wanna hurt her," he said in defeat.
"Think about it, man," Nate said suggestively.
Chuck lets out a sigh and thanks Nate for listening and his advice. "So what made you call in the first place?"
"I wanted to see for myself if the rumors were true. Apparently, it is and I do hope everything turns out for the best." The truth was; he wanted to find out what really happened between him and Blair before Chuck left. Nate considered the possibility that Chuck's got something to do with Blair acting weird and being distant all of a sudden. Now that Chuck has just confided in him about his girl troubles, he thought that it would be wrong to discuss the issue any longer.
"Yeah. Me too. So uhm, I hope it wouldn't seem wrong for me to ask but… how are things with you and Blair?" Here goes Chuck Bass and his curiosity. Having asked that, he pulled back his tongue and mentally kicked himself in agitation.
His girl troubles? Nate was not so keen on talking about that. Truth or Lie? Okay, here it goes: "Blair's in LA right now. She's coming home soon… I hope."
Chuck could trace a hint of uncertainty in Nate's voice and asked, "You hope? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just… With her work, you know. I don't know when it's all gonna be done," he lied.
"Nathaniel, I have just disclosed to you the real deal about my relationship with Alex."
"And you expect me to confide to you about my problems regarding Blair?"
"What problems?" Here goes Chuck Bass and his curiosity, again.
"Why the sudden interest?" Nate snapped back. Then again, this could be the right time to discuss about Blair. Yet again, it all boils down to Blair and Chuck, Chuck and Blair, what used to be. Will Nate push it?
"Fine. I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry."
They both fell silent. It was Nate who broke the tension in the air, "We're just having a rough patch, that's all. We always work it out."
"Yeah, you always do," Chuck concurred. He didn't want to push the topic further. If Nate wants to talk about it, he'd wait for him to start. Knowing Nate, he would. Or maybe he won't. It seemed to him that Nate finds it awkward to talk about Blair.
Seeing that there was nothing else they could talk about, Nate wished him well and hung up.
That went well, they both thought, going back to their business. Chuck lay on the bed, thinking about Nate's advice. (What is he still doing, wasting time when he was supposed to be wooing Alex?) Nate sat on the sofa, brooding all the more.
Maybe they could still be friends after all. They both have something in common. Girl Troubles.
A/N: I want to apologize for being irresponsible and dishonest. I wouldn't deny that I based Chapters 9 and 10 on a situation from Candace Bushnell's "Trading Up". I was reading the novel while I was writing this fanfic and as I have said, I got the idea from it. I do admit that I did not re-word the part I have copied. I truly am sorry and in order to make things right, I'm letting you all know now that the said chapters were written in reference to the book. If this isn't enough… should I rewrite the whole chapter, just let me know.
Anyways, for all those people who have read and reviewed, there are some people who have been consistently r&r-ing this story, I really am grateful… The only way I know how to express my thanks is to give you something worth reading… Something good, I hope. Each chapter, I try to do better. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave feedbacks/comments/suggestions/bashings (hehe). What do you guys think about the phone call? Chuck and Blair? Carter and Blair? Nate and Blair? Nate and Chuck's "rekindled" friendship? C/B/N/Ca drama!!