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Chapter 3: The Reconciliation
Lily was so excited. Bart had once again skipped out on breakfast, but he had a dress and heels sent over to the apartment, along with a note.
So sorry to cut out early on you, my Love, but to make it up to you, I got us reservations for dinner tonight at Très Délicieux. I know how much you've been wanting to go there. I also had my assistant pick out a little something for you to wear to the restaurant. She knows her fashion, so I figured you'd like what she picked out. Our reservations are for seven o'clock. I shall see you at six. See you tonight, my love. -Bart.
Lily had squealed when she read the note, for she had been wanting to go to Très Délicieux for months! It was almost impossible to get in. She guessed that was a perk of dating someone rich and powerful—nothing was impossible to get in.
She had squealed again when she saw the outfit. The dress was a beautiful red Valentino dress, and the shoes were red, peep-toe pumps. Bart hadn't been lying when he said his assistant knew her fashion!
Now, she was squealing again when she looked in the mirror, dressed, hair and makeup done, and ready to go. She looked absolutely breathtaking if she did say so herself.
She looked at the clock. It was five after six. Bart should be home at any moment.
She headed downstairs, and sat down on the couch with her issue of Cosmo, and began to look through the pages.
When she finished her magazine, she looked at the clock to see that it was six-thirty. She set the magazine down, then dialed up Bart's number.
Just when she thought his voicemail was going to pick up, he answered. "Hello?" He sounded a little distracted.
"Bart? It's Lily, Darling. Are you on your way home?"
Bart was silent for a moment.
"Bart?" Lily asked. "Are you there?"
"Um, yes! I'm sorry, my Love," Bart apologized. "I'm afraid there's been a change in plans. Something came up at work that is going to take hours to deal with. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel our plans for the night. I might have to pull an all-nighter, so don't worry about waiting up."
"But Bart, I was really looking forward to going to Très Délicieux! I'm all dressed up in the outfit you sent over and everything!" Lily usually wasn't a whiner, but she had really been looking forward to this!
Bart sighed. "I know, my Love, and I'm so sorry to have to do this to you, but it's something I really can't ignore!"
"So, you can ignore me, but you can't ignore work," Lily stated coldly.
"Lily, that's not fair, and you know it," Bart said calmly.
"Fine. I'll just see you tomorrow then," she said, trying not to cry.
"You know, I didn't cancel the reservations, so why don't you go anyway? Maybe Serena would like to join you?" Bart asked.
Lily sighed. "Yeah, maybe. If she's not busy with Dan."
"I'm sorry I have to go. I love you, and will see you tomorrow!" Bart said.
"I love you too. I really wish you didn't have to sta—" Lily cut herself off when she realized he had already hung up.
She stared at the phone, then shook her head, and hung up. "Stay all night," she finished with a sigh.
She sighed again, then dialed up Serena's number to ask her if she could join her tonight.
"I'm sorry, Mom, I'd love to, but I can't. Dan and I are going to a party for his new book tonight. Some other night, maybe?" Serena had said apologetically.
Lily nodded even though Serena couldn't see her nod over the phone. Only, next time, getting into Très Délicieux might not be possible, she thought with dismay. "Some other night. Have fun. I love you."
"I love you too, Mom. Goodnight," Serena said.
"Goodnight, Serena." Lily hung up the phone with a sigh. She'd ask Eleanor, but Eleanor was out of town. She could ask Chuck, but Bart surely would find out then get angry she had asked him. Besides, she and Chuck weren't on the greatest of terms lately anyway. "I've got to make some more friends!" she muttered to herself. She really wanted to go, but she didn't want to look ridiculous going to a fancy restaurant by herself, all dressed to the nines.
She sighed again. There was one person she could ask, but she'd have to be pretty desperate to ask him. Unfortunately, desperate was exactly what she was. After all, she really wanted to go to that restaurant.
With yet another sigh, she brought up the oh too familiar number on her phone. Then, with only a few second's hesitation, she dialed the number.
He picked up on the second ring. "Hello, Lil."
She rolled her eyes. She could practically hear the smug grin on his face. "Hello, Rufus. I'm not asking you this because I want you back, but rather because I'm desperate, and have no one else to go with. Would you like to join me for dinner at Très Délicieux tonight?"
Again, she could practically hear the smug grin in his tone when he responded, "But of course, my Darling."
~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~
"Wow!" Rufus whistled upon arriving at the restaurant and seeing Lily. "You look ravishing! But that doesn't surprise me." He pulled her close, and kissed her cheek. "Thank you so much for inviting me."
"Just don't get the wrong idea, all right? I invited you only because I was desperate to come here, and Bart got too tied up at work to join me. I didn't have anyone else to go with," Lily said sternly, her arms crossed over her chest.
Rufus brushed her off with a hand hitting the air. "Details, details. The important thing is I get to have dinner with you."
"At a hard to get in restaurant," Lily reminded him.
Rufus shook his head. "You should know by now, Lil, I'm not impressed with expensive restaurants. What's important is the company, and tonight, my company can't get any better than you."
Lily was going to complain that he had called her Lil, but she figured she's let this one slide since what he said had been kind of sweet.
"Let's get seated, shall we?" she asked.
Rufus motioned with his hand to the hostess station. "They're your reservations."
"Actually, they're Bart's," Lily said. She headed over to the hostess station anyway, and gave Bart's name.
"Right this way, Mrs. Bass!" the hostess said with a polite smile.
Lily couldn't see because she was walking ahead of Rufus, but she was willing to bet anything that he was rolling his eyes behind her back. When they were married, he absolutely loathed anyone still calling her Mrs. Bass. She had no doubt he hated it just as much now even though he and she were no longer married.
The hostess seated them, and it was only a minute later that their waiter showed up to take their drink orders. Rufus ordered a Merlot, and she ordered a glass of Chardonnay.
They made small talk while they looked over their menus. When the waiter came back with their drinks, they ordered their food. Lily ordered the Chicken breasts Dijon, and Rufus ordered the Hanger steak with mushrooms and red wine sauce.
Once the waiter had gone to put their order in, Rufus spoke first. "It's so typical of Bart Bass to promise you a nice dinner, then ditch you to work."
"He has to pay the bills," Lily said. "He can't help if the office needs him."
Rufus shook his head. "For one, he's Bart Bass. He already has all the money he could ever need. For two, he's the boss. He didn't have to work if he really didn't want to."
Lily placed her hands on the table, and fought to keep her expression serious. Rufus kind of had a point. She hated when he was right. Of course, she'd never admit to Rufus that he was right. "You know what? Can we not talk about Bart tonight? Clearly all you're going to do is insult my husband, and I'm not going to sit here and listen to it!"
Rufus held his hands up in defense. "All right, all right. I'll be good. But just let me say one more thing."
Lily sighed. "What's that?"
"That he's a fool for choosing work over you." He grabbed her hands. "I'd never pass up an opportunity to spend time with you—especially when you were looking so much forward to it. And, especially with you looking so sexy in that red dress!"
Lily blushed. "He didn't see me in it. His assistant just picked it out for me."
Rufus shrugged. "Even so, he had to have seen what she picked out for you. Even if he didn't, I don't care if his assistant picked out a paper bag for you to wear, you'd still be the most beautiful woman in the world to me."
Lily blushed some more. She wouldn't give into his charms. She wouldn't! She didn't know what to say to him. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about it. Their salads came, and she immediately went to work on her salad as if she hadn't eaten in a month.
~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~
"Oh, Rufus that was so long ago!" Lily said with a laugh.
Rufus grinned. He was making her laugh. That was a good sign. "You were so convincing. Heck, if I hadn't known better, even I would have believed you!" Rufus said with a laugh. He had just reminded her of the time when they were in their twenties and had just stared dating. Lily had missed her curfew for the third night in a row, causing Cece to ground Lily, and cut her off financially for a week. Lily had sneaked out of the house to be with Rufus. They had made love back at his place, then gone out to find something to eat. Lily saw this restaurant she really wanted to eat at. It wasn't anything super fancy like the restaurant they were eating at now, but it was still nice enough to be pricy. Seeing as Lily had been cut off, and Rufus never had much money to his name, they couldn't afford to eat there. However, Lily headed into the restaurant anyway.
"Where are you going?" Rufus asked her.
She grinned over her shoulder at him. "To get us some food, my Darling!"
"How are we going to get some food when we don't have any money?" Rufus asked.
Lily grinned at him again. "Just follow my lead." She winked, then headed into the restaurant.
Rufus had no choice but to follow in behind her.
Lily asked to speak to the manager, and Rufus had been extremely confused.
When the manager arrived, and asked Lily what he could help her with, Lily told him that her name was Cassidy James, and that this was her partner Gavin Houston, and that she and Rufus were local food critics there to see if their food was up to par.
Rufus thought for sure that there was no way the guy would buy it. For starters, obviously the manager had never heard of food critics by those names. Second, they were both so young. Third, what food critics came in twos? But, to his surprise, the manager suddenly turned serious.
"Right this way. I'm sure you'll find our food up to par. I even happen to have the best table in the house for you!" he said.
Lily grinned. "Why thank you! I can tell you already, this is starting off well."
The manager grinned, seemingly pleased with himself. "And of course, you both may choose anything you'd like on the menu, as well as dessert. It will all be on the house."
Lily smiled. "Thank you so much!"
She turned around and winked at Rufus, who could only grin in return.
Their meal had been the best they'd ever eaten. The dessert was divine.
Lily promised she would give rave reviews, and told the manager that he should look for their review in the New York Times.
The manager couldn't thank them enough.
Rufus and Lily left, then walked until the restaurant was out of their sight. Then, they both burst into laugher.
"That poor guy is going to be crushed when he sees no review in tomorrow's paper!" Rufus stated.
Lily laughed. "He'll get over it. The food's great. I'm sure a real food critic will come along and praise them up." She smiled, then wrapped her arms around him. "Besides, as least we got to eat free, right?"
Rufus wrapped his arms around her, and looked down at her with lowered eyes. He nodded. "Right!"
"I'm still hungry for something," Lily then purred into his ear.
Rufus moaned. "For what? Though, he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
Lily slowly licked his left ear. "For you."
"Wanna go back to my place for some more dessert?" he asked her with a playful grin.
Lily jumped up on him then, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. "Take me there, Baby!"
Rufus laughed, and tightened his arms around her, then carried her the whole two blocks back to his apartment.
"I still can't believe he believed you," Rufus said with amusement.
Lily grinned. "Maybe he was just infatuated with my hot looks!" she joked.
Rufus nodded. "I don't doubt it!"
Lily blushed.
Rufus smiled to himself, and went back to his salad. He was making her blush. That was another good sign.
~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~
"Thanks for inviting me, Lily. I had a really good time, and dinner was delicious, as was dessert," Rufus said to Lily as they exited the restaurant forty-five minutes later, having finished their dinner and dessert. For dessert, they had had crème brûlée, which they had both enjoyed.
"Thanks for joining me. I really wanted to go, and I wouldn't have went had I had to go alone," Lily stated.
Rufus grinned, and playfully nudged her. "Going with me wasn't half bad, was it?"
Lily smirked. "It was tolerable."
"So, did the restaurant live up to your expectations?" Rufus asked.
Lily nodded. "And then some! The food was delicious! I mean, how good was that crème brûlée?" Lily asked.
Rufus pat his stomach. "So good!"
"It was so good I could go for more. I should have gotten more," Lily said.
Rufus grinned mischievously. "Or, we could go back to my place and have a dessert that's even better. You know, for old time sake?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Rufus. Are you forgetting I'm a married woman?"
Rufus groaned. "Don't remind me."
Lily walked over to him, and kissed his cheek, which surprised him. "Thank you for paying the bill. You didn't have to do that, you know. I'm the one who invited you, and, not to be rude, I'm the one who has the money—not you. I should have insisted I paid."
Rufus shook his head. "Don't even mention it! You shouldn't have had to pay. Why should you have to pay just because Bart had to work? You're the lady, and call me old fashioned, but the lady should never have to pay. Not with me anyway. Not when its you especially. You're worth every penny."
Lily looked touched. "I guess I really should have ordered more crème brûlée then!" she joked.
Rufus motioned back toward the restaurant. "We can still go back in and get more. It's not too late!"
Lily laughed. "I was just joking!"
"Still, I'm willing," Rufus said.
Lily sighed. "I know you are. It's okay, really. I want to bring Bart some coffee, and something from the deli. Knowing him, he didn't even pause to eat dinner tonight."
Rufus' felt his own face dropping. He couldn't help it. Why did Bart Bass always have to get in the way of his and Lily's happiness? Couldn't they just be rid of him for one night at least?
Lily kissed his cheek again. "Thanks again. Have a good night."
Rufus kissed her cheek in return. "You're very welcome. And, you too."
"Thanks." Lily started to walk away, then turned around, and faced him. "Oh, and Rufus?"
Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Please don't mention tonight to Bart. He doesn't need to know you and I had dinner together." Lily looked at him pleadingly.
Rufus shook his head. "I won't mention a thing to anybody about it, let alone Bart."
Lily looked relieved. "Thank you." She then turned, and left.
Rufus watched her until she was out of site, then he sighed. Bart probably had spies all around anyway. Lily should know that. But he would keep his mouth shut about the night as promised. As much as he would love to rub the night in Bart's face, telling him would only push Lily away, and he couldn't do that. Especially not now when he was just starting to break through her icy interior when it came to their relationship.
With a sigh, he hailed a cab, then headed back home to Brooklyn. Tonight hadn't been much, but it was a start. He'd take any good moment with Lily he could manage to get his hands on.
~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~
Lily was all smiles when she headed toward Bart's office, coffee and food in hand. She was imagining him loving her in the outfit. She'd tell him she went to dinner with Serena. Serena would cover for her. Then she could tell him how she had wanted to bring him dinner and coffee so that he didn't starve himself. Also, she wanted to show him off the outfit he had bought her. If things went according to plan, he'd be taking a break to eat his dinner, then have his dessert, which of course would be her. She was hoping he wouldn't be able to resist her once he saw her in her little red dress.
The building was eerily quiet. She was surprised, for usually someone was always around. She guessed only Bart was brave enough to work after hours. Oh well. If things went according to her plan, it would be better for no one else to be there anyway. That way, they didn't have to worry about others hearing them make love on his desk. Or on his office couch. Either one would work for her.
She got to his office door, and stopped short when she heard moaning. First it sounded like female moaning, and then it sounded like Bart's moaning.
She opened the door, and got the shock of her life. It turns out, Bart was in the mood for making love while still sitting in his desk chair...with his assistant on his lap, treating it like a carnival ride.
Lily covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh."
His assistant cried out in surprise.
Bart looked around his assistant, and his face instantly paled. "Lily! What are you doing here? I thought I locked the door."
"I was going to bring you dinner and coffee since I didn't think you would stop to eat dinner, but apparently you prefer to skip straight to dessert!" Lily snapped. "And, apparently, you didn't lock the door. You might want to make sure you do the next time you decide to bang some two-bit slut on your chair."
"Lily, this isn't what it looks like," Bart tried.
Lily laughed. "Really? The big and powerful Bart Bass can't come up with anything better than the cliched, 'It's not what it looks like'?"
"Lily, I—"
Lily cut Bart off. "You know what? Save it, Bart! I was a fool to go back to you! You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm filing for divorce. No one cheats on me. No one!" She was so angry, she tossed the food and coffee across the room. The coffee splattered against one of the white walls. The food bag sat unharmed on the floor. "You might wanna clean up that wall," she muttered, nodding toward the wall before leaving the office, and slamming the door hard behind her.
She ran out of the office building, ignoring Bart's cries for her to come back. There was no way she was going back to him. She had already been fooled by him more times than she should have been.
She ran down the street until she couldn't run anymore. Then, she sat down on the steps to some building she had never been to, and cried until she had no tears left to cry. Then, she got up, brushed herself up, composed herself, and hailed a cab. She had something to do. Something that was the only thing that would keep her sane. She had to see Rufus.
~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~
Rufus couldn't stop thinking about Lily, and the night they had had. Sure it had only been dinner, and sure it had cost him two hundred dollars, but it had been worth it just to hear Lily laugh again, and to see her beautiful smile. It felt so good to not be at each other's throats anymore. He loved her so much. Tonight had been the start of something big for them he hoped.
Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. He wondered who it could be at this hour. He climbed out of bed where he had been looking at his and Lily's wedding picture. He set the picture on the nightstand, then went to answer the door.
He opened it, and boy was he surprised to see Lily there. Looking angry at that.
"What did I do this time?" he didn't mean for it to come out quite so harshly, but he had a good time that night, and he knew she did too. She had no reason to turn it into something bad unless Bart had found out about it and turned her against him.
She shook her head. "It's nothing you did." She narrowed her eyes. "It's what Bart did."
Rufus hid a smile. It was about time she got angry with Bart! He didn't know for what, but whatever it was, he was just grateful to be the good one in her eyes again. "What did he do? He shut and locked the door behind her.
"I went to bring him coffee and dinner like I said I was going to. I thought maybe he and I could share a little romantic time together. Boy was I surprised when I saw him already having some romantic, or in this case, lustful time with his intern. I found her riding him right there on his desk chair. It was disgusting! Absolutely despicable! I should have known Bart Bass can't and never will be able to change!"
Rufus clenches his fists. "Like I said, he is an ass hole! Where is he? Is he still at work? I'm going to go teach him not to ever mess with you." He started to head to the door, anger overcoming him. How dare Bart cheat on Lily? Especially after she trusted him to love her and cherish her? He didn't deserve to live.
Lily held him back. "Rufus, no! You know Bart. He'll just have you put in jail. He'll never change anyway. Please, just stay here with me. I need you."
Rufus turned around, and saw the hurt in Lily's eyes. He sighed. "How can I say no to you?" he asked, pulling her close.
"You were right, and I was wrong. I should have stayed with you. Bart is nothing but a manipulative, lying, cheating ass!" Lily cried.
"Well, I should have listened to you about Ivy. She's a lying, conniving little bitch, so we're even," Rufus said, gently rubbing Lily's back.
Lily looked up at him, and laughed quietly. "What a mess we are, huh?"
Rufus grinned. "Actually, we're not a mess. We finally saw our exes for the manipulative monsters they really are."
Lily gently stroked his cheek. "And I finally realized that you're the only one for me. You would never cheat on me."
Rufus shook his head, and gently stroked her cheek in return. "Never!" he agreed, his eyes lowered with love for her.
"Can you ever forgive me, and take me back?" she asked.
"Lil, it's already been done. Can you forgive me for trusting Ivy over you, and take me back?" Rufus asked.
Lily took his face between her hands, and looked deep into his eyes. "Rufus, it's already been done," she murmured.
He closed his eyes, and leaned in, then sighed as Lily's lips met with his.
They kissed for quite a while, their kisses intensifying with every kiss.
Lily then started backing him toward the bedroom.
He moaned. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"You're not just trying to get back at Bart? Because I don't want this to be because of that. I want this to be for love and nothing else," he stated.
She shook her head. "It's only for love. I promise you, Rufus. I love you, and I just want to be with you. I need to be with you. Make love to me, please?"
Rufus nodded, his eyes lowered with love for her. He picked her up. "I love you so much!" he said.
Lily stroked some hair out of his eyes. "I love you too. More than I even knew my heart could hold. It's always been you, Rufus. Always."
"And it's always been you, Lil," he said, his eyes still lowered with love for her.
They kissed again, then he carried her to the bedroom, so eager to make love to the one great love of his life again. It had been far too long.