A/N: I'm so sorry, I really wanted to update sooner, but I had exams and I've been sick, but here you are, chapter two as promised!
Bouchon
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Looking out of his window, he observes, looking down at the street. First come the trucks, lumbering down the avenue like dinosaurs, creaky and hollow, raising their flaps to receive garbage or sweeping the street with their whiskey bristles. Then the traffic begins; a lone taxi, followed by a silvery Cadillac, and the smaller trucks, bearing logos of fish and bread and flowers, and the rusty vans, and a parade of pushcarts. A boy in a white coat pumps the pedals of a bicycle with two crates of oranges attached to the fender. The sky turns from gray to a lazy white; he knows something is going to happen to day. A jogger trips by, then another; a man wearing blue scrubs frantically hails a taxi. Three small dogs attached to a single leash drag an elderly women down the sidewalk, while merchants heave open the groaning metal gates on the storefronts. The streaky sunlight illuminates the corners of buildings, and then a mass of humanity swarms from steps beneath the sidewalk. The streets swell with the noise of people's, cars, music, drilling; dogs bark, sirens scream, it's New York. Dan loves New York, and he loves his view.
The view from his office is one of the many things Daniel Humphrey loves about New York. He loves his job, he does what he loves; he writes for a magazine. But it also allows him the time for personal writing. Another thing Dan loves about New York; it's the perfect setting for novel writing. Yes New York is a breeding ground for gossip, but this Daniel Humphrey is not fazed. The city is an inspiration; he can hardly wait to start his new column.
Just as Dan is thinking about the new column, and what sort of a person he will be working with, his boss, John Pullman, walks right through is door. And then he sees her, the girl who had always managed to intimidate him; the one that had always despised him. There she was, Blair Waldorf walking into his office.
Dan didn't know what to think, at first he thought he should be wary, because with Blair Waldorf, you never did know what was going to happen, but then he got a better look of her. There was definitely something different about her.
But of course she would look different, after everything that happened to her. Everyone had heard about it, it was all over the papers. Clear as day, Dan could remember what had been written.
Allegedly, a mere 24 hours before the wedding between Social light, Blair Waldorf and Billionaire Chuck Bass, Waldorf was struck with horror. A detailed letter pertaining the events taken place between Bass and one of his mistress's on a 'Business Trip' weeks earlier was discovered by Waldorf. Upon the distress of reading the letter Waldorf took to Bass's computer searching for more evidence, when she was found by Bass. The two entered into an argument which soon became violent. Waldorf was found knocked unconscious with bruises across her body. It was later found out that Bass's affairs had dated back to as early as four months into their nine year relationship.
Looking at Blair now almost scares Dan. How do you act around a person, when you know them, just not this version of them.
"Daniel Humphrey It's been a while" Blair says as she extends her hand to him. Contemplating her, in what must have seemed a confused expression Dan replied.
"Blair Waldorf, this is a surprise. Um…" He paused. "What are you doing here?" and just as he says it, he realises. Blair must be the other writer on the column. Oh dear he thinks, how is this going to work?
Blair's soft face turned into a slight smile as she looked directly into Dan's eyes, piercing them, before she turning her face to look up at his boss. She knows that he knows.
"The column." Dan says while he nods, answering his own question.
"Yes that's right" Mr Pullman says, "You two are familiar with one another?"
"We used to be." Blair says matter-of-factly, as if this is no big deal.
"We went to school together" Dan adds, suddenly feeling confident again.
"Well this is interesting, Very interesting indeed" Mr Pullman states, clearly excited that they already know each other. "I think I should probably leave you two to catch up. Perhaps you could gather a few ideas for the column."
"Of course" Dan says.
"Right well, I'll leave you then, Blair you can start Monday morning. 9am sharp" Mr Pullman says whilst retreating from the office.
Blair smiles and watches as he walks off. Dan knows that it's now going to be really awkward. But when Blair turns to face him she can't help but laugh, breaking the awkward silence in the air.
"Sorry" Blair says, "I don't really know why I'm laughing, but…this is just sort of hilarious in an awkward kind of way isn't it?" she says in a voice so seemingly sweet. A tone in which Dan doesn't think he's ever heard come from those lips.
Looking at Blair, Dan can't help but notice how beautiful she looks. At school, he would never have looked at her twice; her attitude was always so overpowering (Also he had a bit of a thing for the blonde bombshell back then.). But now he can't help himself.
Her facial complexion looks so incredibly smooth, and she has such beautiful rosy cheeks. Her brown hair has perfectly placed curls and sits just below her shoulders. He notices she isn't wearing her signature headband, and wonders what other aspects of Blair's life have changed. Suddenly Dan realises that he is blatantly staring at her, off in his own world, and Blair has noticed.
"Yeah"' he finally responds whilst laughing, feeling like an awkward teenager again. Even though Blair seems to be keeping her cool, Dan can sense her fragility. She's definitely not the same bold, confident girl he used to know.
"Do you want to go get a coffee?" he asks.
Blair smiles at the suggestion.
xx
Amelia Wood was Dan's turning point in life. She was his summer of awakening. He never imagined his life would be like this. Living in an enormous Manhattan apartment definitely wasn't part of the plan. When Dan was first given the opportunity to attend Yale University, he was forced to turn it down due to lack of funds. Dan thought this was the end to his dreams, the only problem was, he hadn't opened is eyes yet. But this all changed when he met her
Amelia Wood was five years older than him and an Upper East Sider. The Blair Waldorf of her year; someone he never imagined himself being with, only she wasn't exactly like Blair. He never felt like he was being judged with Amelia, and she expected the same from him. But every now and then Amelia would say or do something that would remind him so much of Blair, which sort of scared him.
Their relationship was purely sexual, neither of them had interest in finding love. After they'd have sex Amelia and Dan would tell each other stories about their lives. Amelia told him how she'd found out her father had been cheating on her mother, and that her mother knew and did nothing to save their family. He realised that most of the girls on the Upper East Side who pride themselves on being perfect, are the ones with the most insecurities and problems. Just like Amelia. This made Dan really think about the girls that he went to school with, and how naive he had possibly been.
Things between Amelia and Dan didn't work out. She moved to Paris for a job, and he stayed in New York. Dan didn't feel like it was that big of a deal, he moved on. What he learnt from Amelia would prove to be more important than he realised, later on in life.
xx
As the two of them walk down the street, Blair realises she's walking down a familiar path.
"Where are we going?" she asks, even though she's fairly certain she knows where.
"Just this place called Bouchon" Dan answers, nonchalantly.
"No kidding! I love Bouchon, it's my favourite café. Do you go often?" she asks as they enter the café.
Dan smiles and replies "Every day. I like the environment here. It's... peaceful. I can come here in the middle of hectic day at work, and just forget about all my worries and relax".
"That's why I come here! For a half hour a day I can come here, have a nice coffee and not have to worry about my thoughts" Blair keenly says. Although she is starting to feel internally scared that the idea of having something in common with Daniel Humphrey, thrills her.
The café is crowded, which is definitely attributed to the fact that the place is so great. It's dimly lit inside, and there's a light buzz of chatter in the air. A young girl sits in the corner, maybe six or seven years old, sipping her milkshake, whilst her mum reads the newspaper, an elderly couple are sharing a piece of cake, some teenagers are having a gossip, a young writer sits by himself typing away on his Macintosh, showing off his impressive talent. Finally they spot an empty table, and they take their place.
Neither of them really knew what to say. They'd both heard stories about each other over the years, but neither are willing to bring up what they've heard just yet.
"I read your books" Blair tells him all of a sudden, breaking the silence.
She anxiously waits to see what Dan will say. She knows this will have surprised him, but she's not the same Blair everyone used to know. And Blair's right, Dan is surprised, which is obvious by the dumbfounded expression plastered on his face.
"Don't seem so surprised. Why wouldn't I want to read the books written by someone I went to school with?" she says while laughing once again. All this laughing surprises even Blair. She doesn't know why, but being around Dan is making her feel… happy.
"Just like I'm sure you read all about me in the papers last year..." She continues, whilst without realising it her smile drops.
"Yeah well I guess I did" Dan tells her honestly, unsure of how to act now.
Sitting in the middle of café after having not seen someone for ten years definitely isn't the write time to start divulging all your problems onto someone. Blair can't work out why she even brought it up.
"Yeah so anyway, I heard you ended up going to Yale? How did that all pan out? Blair asks desperately trying to change the subject.
So Dan told her. He told her how during his freshman year of college at NYU he wrote his first novel. It didn't earn him enough money to attend Yale, but the accolade allowed him the opportunity for a full scholarship. He told her about his time there and how much he was inspired. By the end of it Blair was still listening to every word he was saying. Which was strange, because she used never be able to get away from him quick enough.
"But you still made your way back to the city" She tells him.
"Of course I did. It's New York. How could I live anywhere else?"
xx
Monday morning his hectic, and Blair is out of her whits. It's been so long since she's actually held a job, she isn't sure that she actually can. The temptation to pick up a bottle of vodka on her way to the office was strong, but she resisted.
Unfortunately she managed to sleep through her alarm (since she's not used to waking up early). "Nine am sharp" She remembers as she hears her new boss's voice in her head. She currently has ten minutes at the most before she has to be out of her apartment and one her way to work. So by the time Blair actually arrives at work, she hasn't eaten breakfast, she isn't wearing makeup, she's not happy about what she's wearing, and she's aching for alcohol.
As Blair reaches her floor, there is a redheaded girl waiting for her. The girl is very unique looking, so unsurprisingly catches Blair's eye. She's playing with the laces on her Doc Martins, probably trying to work out which way of tying them up works best. When the girl looks up, Blair notices that this girl is around the same age as her.
"Blair Waldorf!" the girl softly yells. "I'd recognise you anywhere she says! You, being the socialite and all. I thought…" The girl continues to talk but Blair doesn't hear it, she's so worried that she's going to screw up this job that she can't think, or even care that someone is trying to suck up to her.
"So are you ready to go?" she eagerly asks.
"Sorry what?" Blair asks dazed with confusion, what had she just said?
"I said I'm supposed to show you around the office, and give you an introduction to the magazine. So are you ready to go?" The girl smiles at Blair and she can't help but smile back. She's getting a good vibe from this girl.
"Sure, that'd be great. Let's go" Blair tells her.
"Great, oh and by the way, you can call me Rainbow."
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