Chapter 4

Seminary: Chuck Bass has it all: the money, the lifestyle and the women... What happens when he comes home after the summer and finds out his stepsister brought home a friend. Who appears to be a female version of himself... What happens when that particular stranger turns his Bass-world up side down... Is it possible for Chuck to have finally met his match...?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything! The characters and gossip girl are property of the CW and it's creators.

The days that followed her encounter with Chuck were very hectic. Blair devilishly won the battle over the property she had set her mind on. It was a deal she was very proud of. Contrary, Lily wasn't so pleased after she'd received one angry phone call from Mr. Rufus Humphrey himself, during which he accused her of ruining a million dollar deal for him. He lost that commission and his protégé Vanessa Adams had received it. After explaining the situation to both Lily and Bart, Lily understood and Bart gave her a proud suppressed smirk. Business-wise, that property was the best suitable for Waldorf Design New York, and he knew that. It happened to have been spoken for, so yes she had to act quickly and play it somewhat dirty. But if that hadn't been the case she would have gone with it as well. Probably would have paid less, than in the current situation, but it is worth it.

Lily soon forgot her displeasure, when Blair and she sat down discussing the interior design of the office. Blair expressed her wish for the decoration to be rich, classic and elegant, just like it was in France. She doesn't like the over the top, American style. Lily agreed with her and happily accepted when she offered her to take charge upon that matter. She immediately got to work. After all, everything has to be done quickly (but not roughly), given the deadline she has agreed upon with Bart. She knows that he expects her to make it, so the preparation for the Waldorf Designs offices in her top priority.

Meanwhile, Blair has also started the search for an apartment, putting Vanessa in charge for that, after giving her a list of requirements. Truth to be told, she expects nothing less than the girl working her magic twice. However, there's less rush on this one than on the business property, that's why she gave her two weeks along with a very generous budget to close a deal.

She herself has been busy meeting potential buyers for her clothing lines. Some meetings were successful, others weren't. The main reason for those few failed meeting were that the buyers were worried that her creative designer could pull a Vera Wang on her. Blair ensured them that that would never be the case, given that Jenny is not only very strictly legally bound to the company, but also gets credit for her designs in every way possible, including getting played more than a fair share of the winnings if a clothing line is successful. So the only way for Jenny to make money is to make the clothes successful. It's actually rather genius. So she thinks.

For the days that are to come, Blair has another great plan: to hang out with Serena and her catwalk-material friends, all socialites and it-girls, some actual models at the beginning of their careers. Whilst going out and having fun with them, she can also be scouting them, hoping they won't be aware of it.

#Blast_06122008# French maiden calling it quits?

Only for tonight that is...
She was spotted leaving S and her socialite friends behind to party the night away Butter,
while she goes home early… Where's the fun in that...?
Luckily our dark prince has come to his senses
and realised that not all things French are exciting...
He seems to prefer red over brunette at the moment…

xoxo, Gossip Girl

After a night like that, she calls a quit around 2 am and makes her way home in a cab. Blair walks in the apartment, Jimmy Choo's in hand, mostly because her feet are very tired after spending a 14 hour-day on 4 inch heels, but also because she doesn't want to wake anyone. Or better a certain someone.

"But I'm always up for a game of cat and mouse." He kisses the skin behind her earlobe gently, before adding: "If you are."

She shouldn't have allowed him that kiss- that was a big mistake. It was very discreet -if anyone had been around, he would have taken it as something completely innocent; someone else may haven't even seen it or thought he just whispered something in her ear - but in her mind that made it even more tainted. Thinking better about it, she shouldn't have allowed any of his behavior that night. The way he cornered her, somewhat threatened her. She was never afraid of him, never for a second thought he would actually harm her. He had gotten her riled up, that's for sure, something that has probably been his plan in the first place. For some reason, however, she hopes that it's not him, but the New York air or the amount of work she needs to do that has her riled up and somewhat insomniac. It is the city that never sleeps after all… The thought that it could be because of him is absolutely unacceptable.

Her moment of sleepiness has passed and once again she feels wide awake. She could go to bed and toss and turn for the next few hours or have a nightcap and actually do some more work whilst waiting for Mr. Sandman to return. Blair decides on the latter and walks over to the kitchen counter where the family keeps their best scotch displayed: both Bart and Chuck enjoy their fair amount of scotch on a daily basis. She finds a brown sealed envelope on the pristine white kitchen counter with her name written across it in a very elegant handwriting, Blair recognises as Jenny's. She smiles: any hope of actually catching some sleep tonight has been killed by her excitement over the envelope or better, over what's in it...

She pours herself two generous fingers of scotch and walks over to the window. She lays her royal blue jacket on the sofa and the envelope beside it, and looks out of the window. The view from up here is magnificent. She never thought she could fall in love with another city, like she did with Paris, but New York proved her wrong.

"Look who the cat dragged in…" someone states from behind her in a low whisper.

Blair turns around startled. Of course, he would have sneaked up behind her. She finds Chuck leaning against a wall on the other side of the spacious living room. His hair tousled, pants wrinkled and a few upper buttons on his shirt unbuttoned. He looks so unlike himself, more like a nonchalant version of him. The answer to why he looks that way comes seconds later when a redhead, equally tousled, comes around the corner. At this point Blair is really happy she didn't decide to go with her first thought of trying to catch some sleep: it would have been impossible, anyway. The thought of having to listen to them getting it on, makes her shiver. The redhead stops mid-step once she notices Blair standing at the window.

Blair gives her a nod.

"OMG! I am so sorry," the girl starts to ramble. Chuck walks over to the kitchen counter and pours himself a drink without wondering if anyone else would like something; very like himself.

"I expected nothing less..."

The girl frowns.

"And frankly. I'm already used to it."

Now the conversation gets Chuck's attention. It is indeed the second time they meet in similar circumstances: first, that unforgettable run-in at Victrola and now at home. Maybe it's destiny.

"You brought me here, while she was home?" the girl lashes out while she turns to face Chuck.

"I actually came up a few minutes ago," Blair corrects.

"You are even sicker than they describe you to be. Cheating on the wife while she's home..."

Chuck snorts and nearly chokes on his scotch.

"Yes, Charles. That's low, even for you..." Blair replies with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

Chuck's eyes grow wide as he realizes: She's enjoying this.

"You know they are no competition to you." Chuck answers to Blair, looking straight into her big dark brown- almost black- eyes. After putting his glass down, he pushes himself away from the counter, killing the space between them one slow long stride after another.

The redhead looks at them, standing close, so close their faces nearly touch. "You two are sick!" With that the cheap tramp flees their premises.

"Do you always kick them out right after?" Blair wonders genuinely.

"Yes." Chuck replies honestly.

Blair turns her back to him and looks outside the window once again. She sips her drink while enjoying the skyline she has come to love in a matter of days... It's simply mesmerising, somewhat intoxicating. Perhaps it's just the drink in her hand talking. All she knows is this: it pretty damm beautiful. Meanwhile Chuck walks back to the kitchen counter

"What's this?" Chuck wonders from behind her. "This is nice…"

Blair turns around and finds him sitting on the sofa, envelope open and the papers in hand. She rushes over.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she lashes out, fighting him over the papers, he's holding out of her reach. Once fully atop of him, straddling his lap, she can reach them. "These aren't for your eyes to see!"

"It's still a work in progress," Blair continues, looking at the pages herself. On them are drawings Jenny made for her: high fashioned suits and tuxedo's for men.

Chuck looks at the woman in his lap, her full attention on the papers in her hand. That gives him with the opportunity to study her with great detail: her hair is pulled together in a bun, low on the right side of her neck, showing off her elegant and slim neck. It takes every nerve in his body to control himself and not kiss her neck and nibble on the skin. Instead he lets his eyes wander down and enjoy the view she's absentmindedly giving him- not that he's complaining. She's wearing a sleeveless crisp white blouse that is unbuttoned just far enough for him to see some cleavage. She's wearing a soft pink bra- silk, by the look of it- finished with black lace on the edges. He gently licks his lips.

Chuck gently places his hands upon her soft skin and lets them travel upwards very slowly: from her feet, over her calves to her thighs where his hands rest. He could try to push his luck, but he wisely decides against it- so unlike him. She feels feather light on top of him. His eyes stop on her full mouth, painted in a deep bloody red colour. Blair is eyeing the pages intensely and absentmindedly biting her bottom lip. Out of nowhere, no sudden noise or sound heard, she looks away from them and at her surroundings, then up into his amber coloured eyes. She attempts to move away from his lap and on to a separate spot on the couch. An unsuccessful attempt it appears. He holds her into place.

"Could you..." she gestures towards his hands "... let go?"

"I like it just the way it is," he responds is a low hushed voice. It almost makes her shiver.

He sits up a little straighter. More of their bodies touch; it feels like he pulled her closer, but he didn't. He picks up his glass of scotch that's sitting on a side table. Blair steals it out of his hand before he can even get a sip out of it and throws it back in one large swig.
He smirks.

"Do you understand the concept of playing cat and mouse?" he sincerely wonders.

Blair nods innocently, while playing with one of the still closed buttons on his shirt until, that one too, pops open. Her fingers brush against his chest hair a little. She actually likes the feeling against her skin: her ex boyfriends or the few men she ever had a one-nightstand with never had a single hair on their chest. He grabs her small hand with his larger one.

"It's hard to play catch the mouse, if she's never around, mouse."

"You could always come out and find me, cat." She tries to move away from his lap again. Still no luck.

"Should I consider myself caught?" she wonders, regretting her choice of words the second they leave her lips.

"Just trapped." He smirks.

Blair lays down the papers beside them and places both arms to rest on his shoulders. She leans in. Her lips nearly touch his lips, but they don't. Her hot breath tickles them, making it feel as if their lips touched, brushed against one another. "I wonder what caught looks like then," she whispers against his lips.

Two blue eyes watched the entire scene between Chuck and Blair from around the corner...

I would like to thank every single one of you who left a review… I feel guilty that I wasn't able to answer all of your reviews! But it has been very hectic this week. But I do want to keep my promise – The one that I made last week: about a teaser – I will give you one about next chapter right here and now…

#Blast_13041959#
Hello UESers!
I've heard that the traditional kick-off party at the Van der Basses is themed this year.
It's all striped in red, white and blue tonight,
apart from the black tie dress code of course.
A little bird whispered that one particular guest has set his mind
on stealing the French maiden's virtue.
That is, if she has any left to give…

Bisous Bisous,
Gossip Girl

Don't forget to R&R… I do appreciate each single one of your reviews!

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