"Hello Mrs. Bass!"
She inhaled deeply one more time before turning around to face a man that she loathed. She had nothing to talk to him about, over the past few years they had exchanged the minimum of words possible. Serena seemed not to like to have both of them left alone, stupid and needless concern on her behalf since neither Blair nor Dan seemed to have any pleasure at each other's company. They would greet each other at parties and exchange a few more words if the event would just consist of him, his wife, her and her husband.
It was a fact that time had only done well to Dan Humphrey. His hair was not the curly mess that it had always been, he wear it shorter and combed to the back, with a trace of mouse, gel or wax (she couldn't care less) to keep it a little bit more in place. His choice of clothing had gone from plaid nonsenses to casual suits without the touch of a tie; he just looked smart casual. Blair found herself wondering if away from the enquiry eyes, at the comfort of his own house, he would go back to wear those horrific plaid shirts that he had been so found of years earlier.
"Good afternoon Humphrey! I would say it is a pleasure to see you, but I don't have the habit of lying."
"Always adorable Bass!" Blair hated when he addressed her as Bass, it felt so wrong when he pronounced that name so, obviously, full of venom. Besides for him she had always been Waldorf, and at some stage of their lives that now seemed more like a long dreamt dream, she had been simply Blair.
"Hello there Dorota! It has been a long time." Dan changed his attention to the maid that was simply standing there with quizzically eyes moving from one orator to the other.
"Hello Mr. Dan, how have you been?"
"I'm quite alright…trying to write a new book these days."
"Trying? I has been hard for you to find writing material without digging through the private lives of the people that are the closest to you, hasn't it?" Blair spit with rancour.
"I believe that I have extended my welcome here. Dorota it was truly pleasurable to see you; Bass…" Dan trailed not being able to formulate any sort of fake pleasantry, nor bothering to retort. If she hadn't changed over the years, this would upset her more than words, the contempt.
With that Dan bowed his head lightly on the direction of Dorota and proceeded with walking away. Blair had immediately turned on her heels on the opposite direction, not noticing a little white paper that had fell from Dan's back pocket when he shoved his hands on his front ones. However Dorota did and in one rapid movement, taking the chance that none of them would ever look back, she bent over to grab it. There was not the time to take a peek at it, so she pushed it into her pockets and proceeded to follow her boss that was now a couple of meters ahead of her.
Contradicting all of the odds, Dan did look back. He had found his inspiration even when he was not looking for it; well at least not in the figure of the woman that had brought hell over him, and had dragged him into some of the darkest days of his life. He watched as she went away elegantly in her high heels, followed by a running Dorota that tried to keep up with her boss's pace.
Letting out a sight, Dan looked up into the blue sky that hadn't a single cloud to taint its pureness. The hate and discomfort, that he had felt just some brief minutes ago rushing thought his body, slowly started to disappear and giving space for his brilliant genius to start to devise the plot for his next book.
She was just about to leave the studio when her phone rang. Shuffling through her purse, she barely managed to retrieve the little ringing device before the caller had lost its patience and hang up the call. With a hair movement of someone that is about to place a mobile to an ear, Serena took a quick glance at the monitor.
"Hello mom!"
"Hello darling, how are you doing?" Lilly chatted casually on the other side of the line.
"All good…TAXIII!...Sorry about that, I just finished a photo shooting so I am heading off home now."
"And how is Daniel?"
"Oh he is having a little creative issue with his next book, but besides that he is doing fantastic."
A taxi stopped in front of the statuesque blonde, she opened the door gave him quick instructions and relaxed on the back seat.
"Glad to hear." Lilly's tone changed to a more tensed one "Listen dear, I was talking to Chuck about some of the subjects that I should present to the board while he is away, and he told me that he would not manage to return in the next two weeks."
"So?"
"Serena, dear, are you not forgetting of an important date approaching?"
Realization suddenly hit her, "Oh, but of course, Henry's birthday!"
"Yes, business are taking a little bit longer than they should, some problems with the negotiations…well, all in all he wished very much that he would be here. So this got me thinking, Blair must be quite busy planning her new collection; therefore why don't you, as the godmother, offer to plan the his birthday party?"
"Mom I don't know if Blair would like that…you know how much she loves to plan parties!"
"That she does, but dear, Chuck actually asked me to input this idea into you. He is worried that Blair will work herself up too much. Please be a dear and talk to her!"
"Ok, ok I will do so right away."
"Thank you so much dear! Alright so I am going now…thank you so much once again! Oh, send my regards to Daniel."
"Kisses"
And with that she finished the conversation. Serena gave herself a couple of minutes before she speed dialled her best friend's number. She was starting to get excited with the idea of organizing a party for her godson. Obviously she would need Dan's assistance to explore the wishes and desires of a soon-to-be 6 year old boy. Maybe that would, who knows, entice him to start considering adding a member to their small family. The thought of having a child with Dan made Serena chuckle. They had been married for a little over than a year now, but they had dated forever before he finally proposed; if she had to wait that long again for him to bring the baby topic to the table, they would never have children.
"Serena? Hello?!"
The voice on the other side of the line brought her down from her reverie and back into the initial plan of offering to plan Henry's birthday party.
"Hey B! Sorry I got distracted by my own thoughts while the call was connected." Blair knew that the blonde had a smile on her face right now.
"So, I haven't heard from you in ages and now we talk twice on the same day, what happened?"
"Stop being a drama queen…we talked…what?...hmm…two days ago?!"
"Seems like forever!" Serena chuckled on the other side of the line.
"So, I'm actually calling to do you a favour!"
"A favour? To me?"
"Yeap! My mom told me that Chuck will be away for Henry's birthday, so….tcharan!...I'm offering to help you plan his birthday party!"
"Well that is very sweet of you S, but Chuck really never helped me organize Henry's partied before, so I don't see why I would need help now?"
"Oh come on B! It will be so much fun, besides it's the perfect excuse for us to hang out more!"
"You are lucky that I actually miss you dearly….deal, you are officially a Henry Bass's birthday party planner."
"Thank you for the privilege" Serena replied lightly "So do you want to come over for dinner so that we can discuss some ideas?"
Oh no! No, no, no, no…twice in one day was twice too much of Humphrey's presence.
"Actually today is not the greatest of days to do so. I have to give my opinions to the designers and I haven't, well, elaborated an opinion yet. Maybe tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow will do! I will call you tomorrow then. And B…I'm super excited about this!"
"I can tell"
"LOOOOOOOVE you B"
"Bye Serena!"
"Bye!"
When she finally reached home Dan was exiting his office, clearly aware of her arrival. At the sight of him, she ran in his direction and hung her arms around his neck, while he placed soft kisses on her neck.
"hmm…how was the photo shooting?"
"It was alright…the usual: pose, flash, pose, flash…nothing new."
"And when will I be able to see the printouts of my fabulous wife? I mean, I do have to approve the amount of flesh exposed!"
"Since when do we have that arrangement?" Serena questioned him jokingly.
"It is in our wedding contract…look it up!"
"I will, but first…"she kissed him fully on his lips "hmmm…I have something to tell, slash, ask you…"
"Go ahead, but make it quick!" now it was his turn to kiss her.
"I am planning Henry's birthday party and it would mean the world if you could help me out with it."
"Yeah…sure!" Dan said lightly.
"Wonderful! Oh this is going to be just great! You, me and Blair!"
Blair?! Oh, fuck!