Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW. I also do not own nor have any affiliation with Michael Kors, nor his brand.
I'm back! Thanks for bearing with me. Life without an internet connection is not fun. I do not recommend this to anyone.
"I tried again," Blair confessed as she helped Chuck pack his suitcase the evening before his trip. She'd had a permanent frown on her face since she got home from her internship. Tears threatened to spill over several times, but so far she had been successful at containing them.
"Tried what?" he inquired as he leaned in to capture her lips in hopes of erasing the frown. He hated to see her as depressed as she was. He'd been trying to cheer her up since the moment she stepped off the elevator that evening but had yet to be successful.
"I tried to convince my boss to let me go with you," she explained as her arms wrapped around his neck as a reflex, "I had this crazy idea that he had a heart after all. I was clearly mistaken. After I asked, he pulled me out of his office and proceeded to ream me out in front of everyone. It was humiliating."
"I'm so sorry," he responded as hugged her close. No wonder she appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"I've never wanted to quit anything in my life until today," she stated as the tears began to fall, "Now I dread going back to it tomorrow. The looks of pity that I received as I left the office were possibly more embarrassing than the screaming."
"Baby, you need to talk to Human Resources," he responded as he pressed his lips to her forehead, "No manager should ever make a scene like that. If he worked for Bass and I saw what you're describing, he would have been given a pink slip before he finished his rant. There is a way to address employees, and that is not it."
"If I talk to HR, he'll know that I can't handle this job, and I can," she insisted as she shook her head as her grip around his neck tightened. "I'm doing a good job."
"This has nothing to do with your capabilities," he assured her, "You are doing very well. Michael told me so himself."
"I just need to get through these next few weeks. Then this internship will be over, and I can focus on you and my school work again," she insisted.
"Blair, you need to stand up for yourself!" he exclaimed, "You're Blair Waldorf! Do what you do best . . . fight back!"
"This isn't Constance, Chuck, and this isn't even NYU. This is the real world. High school tricks don't work here," she shouted back.
"Then it's time for you to learn some real world tricks," he stated as he took a deep breath to calm himself down. It was his natural instinct to protect Blair whenever anyone appeared to threaten her. He wanted to run out and throttle this man, himself, but that would ruin Blair. As mad as he was, he'd never hurt her by crushing her dreams. "Go to HR. That is a real world solution. This man needs to know that what he did was wrong, or he'll do it again."
"Chuck, just let this go," she whispered softly as she caressed his chest through his designer suit. She could see he was warring with himself about what he could do to rectify the situation. "Let me handle this."
"As long as you promise that you will handle this and not just let it go," he countered, "Nobody gets away with hurting the love of my life."
"You're so sexy when you get all protective," she smirked as she kissed him hard on the mouth. She felt him smile against her lips as he forced her gently to lay back on the bed. "We need to make this count. This will be our last few hours together for ten whole days."
"We always make this count," he chuckled softly as their clothes began to fall away. She was getting into a better mood for which he was thankful. His plane left early the next morning. He knew their temporary goodbye was going to be difficult enough. Leaving her each morning was difficult when he knew that he'd see her a few hours later. These next ten days were going to be the longest of his life.
Blair slept peacefully at Chuck's side all night. However, he didn't sleep a wink. He was content with watching her all evening as he tried to memorize every line and curve of her body, every freckle on her beautiful skin. He didn't want to miss one detail as he knew this was how he was going to get through the painful days and nights away from her, his memories of her and how she felt against him.
All too soon Chuck's alarm went off and disturbed his thoughts. Blair stirred awake and instantly reached for him as he motioned to silence the alarm. The annoying alarm was completely forgotten as she pulled him to her desperately needing a few more moments with him before their forced separation.
"I'll call you as soon as our flight lands in Tokyo," he assured her as she escorted him to the elevator. She wanted to walk him down to the airport shuttle that was waiting for him with the rest of the travel party, but he didn't want the rest of his team to see him so emotional with her. He was the boss, and it was important that they see him as the professional he had become in his short time as CEO.
"You had better," she stated as she wiped a tear out of her eyes.
"You know I love you," he assured her.
"I know," she nodded, "I love you too."
"And you have nothing to worry about," he responded as his arm came around her waist and pulled her tight against him, "I promise to be on my best behavior. No Sake or Shochu for me."
She chuckled softly as he pressed his lips to hers.
"Promise me that you'll take care of your boss," Chuck stated as he pulled away and looked deeply into her eyes, "Because if I have to fly all the way back from Tokyo to take him out, I'm going to be beyond pissed."
"I'll make an appointment to speak with HR first thing this morning," she assured him. She glanced at the watch on his wrist to see that he was already late. "You had better go. You don't want to keep your team waiting."
"I love you," he declared as he kissed her one more time. Her arms came around him as she pressed her body more firmly against him. He pulled his lips away before they could take their kiss any further.
"I love you," she replied with a slight moan as he began to pull away.
"We'll take a holiday as soon as your internship ends to make up for these lost days," he assured her. He tried to force himself to release her and step into the elevator but his arms refused to relinquish their hold from around her waist.
"You have to go," she stated as she wiped tears out of her eyes as she gave him a weak smile. He pressed his forehead against hers as he savored the feel of her against him for a few more moments before he reluctantly pulled away. He gave her as good of a smile as he could manage before the doors closed.
The elevator ride down to the lobby was used to regain his composure. He couldn't break down in front of his team. He had to maintain his professionalism.
This was an important business trip for everyone, him especially. Trump had come up with another offer the previous day that threw a serious wrinkle into their proposed deal. They had to get the Japanese company to sign on the dotted line as soon as possible or the deal could completely fall through. He refused to lose to Trump as his father had.
As he stepped into the shuttle that had been sent for him, he saw all of his business associates and a few members of their family looking at him expectantly. He quickly apologized for his lateness and then took his seat next to Eugenia. He was grateful that she was able to make the trip with him. He needed someone that could keep him grounded. She squeezed his arm in assurance as the vehicle began moving. He gave her a weak smile as he pulled out a brief and began reviewing his proposal. It wasn't necessary as he had it memorized backwards and forwards, but he needed the distraction.
"Blair, may I speak with you for a moment?" her boss inquired as he approached her workstation just before noon that day. She looked at him apprehensively. Their last conversation hadn't gone well as was witnessed by everyone in the office the previous day.
As promised, she had set up a meeting with Human Resources as Chuck told her to, but it was a few hours away. She couldn't take another outburst like yesterday. Her hold on her emotions was already tenuous because of her scene with Chuck that morning. His flight hadn't landed yet and she was holding off on going to lunch until after she knew his flight would land so that she'd be able to hear his voice.
Blair nodded as she followed her boss into his office. He proceeded to berate her once more about being such a child about their confrontation the previous day and having to run to HR to tattle on him. Blair did her best to not break down in tears as she assured him that she hadn't. She didn't see the need in adding that she hadn't yet.
The next thing she knew, Michael was storming into her boss's office and throwing him out in a spectacle more impressive than the one that her boss had made the previous day. Blair looked on in bewilderment. Her frazzled mind would not allow her to comprehend what had happened until the fashion icon was standing directly in front of her.
"I'm so sorry, Blair," Michael stated as he tried to comfort her as she completely broke down in his arms. Michael Kors intimidated the hell out of her, but at that moment with her emotions all over the place, all she could do was sob. "I was told about what happened first thing this morning. I was in meetings until just a few minutes ago. I was going to speak with you both privately, but he beat me to it."
Blair couldn't even respond. She just continued crying into his sport jacket. Michael offered to give her the rest of the day off, but she resisted. She couldn't deal with going home to an empty penthouse so she returned to work all while wondering who had gone to HR before her.
All of her co-workers stopped by to compliment her on how well she handled herself during the tirades. They'd all been subjected to the same treatment and were happy that someone had finally taken a stand. Nobody gave away who had gone to HR, nor did she care by the end of the day. She was seen as the hero in the office. She happily played the part.
"Did you call Blair?" Eugenia inquired as she padded into his suite early the next morning.
It had been a long flight and a very unproductive first meeting with their Japanese counterparts when they arrived late, on Japan time, the previous evening. Trump was playing hardball and promising things that Chuck knew very well that his rival wouldn't be able to deliver. He was just trying to make it difficult for Bass Industries to get the deal. To make matters worse, Chuck hadn't slept a wink. It was far too early to go to bed on New York time, but he knew he had to try. He tossed and turned all night without Blair next to him.
"Yes," Chuck nodded as he continued to read over his proposal, looking for the flaws that the Japanese team seemed to think were there. "She didn't answer. It went straight to voicemail. She must still be at work." That was the only time that her phone was ever off anymore as they had come to a mutual agreement after the accident debacle.
"That seems awfully late," Eugenia stated as she calculated what time it was in New York.
"Do the math again Eugenia," he stated as he showed her the application on his Blackberry that told him the time, "It's only six o'clock in New York."
"I was never good at figuring out time zones," Eugenia responded sheepishly.
"How are Cedric and the boys?" Chuck inquired.
"They were fine when I called them," Eugenia responded, "Eddie wants me to bring him back a sumo wrestler."
Chuck laughed outright at her statement. It was his first moment of true emotion since he'd stepped into the car earlier that morning.
"Are you okay?" Eugenia inquired as she studied his posture, "I know how much you were hoping that Blair would be able to join us, but you're more distant than usual. I think that is what put off the Japanese people earlier today."
"Do you think so?" Chuck inquired. He hadn't given it any thought. He knew he had been going through the motions.
"I'm not the only one who noticed," Eugenia stated, "Your team keeps asking me if you are okay."
"Damn it," he cursed himself out. He was going to blow this because he was allowing his heartache over missing Blair to take him over. "Give me one hour," he requested, "I'll do better."
She smiled warmly at her boss before she left the suite. She had the utmost faith that he'd be able to pull this deal off. Although they'd only been working together for almost a year, she had seen his brilliance first hand. She hadn't worked directly for his father, but anyone that had commented that he was just as bright as his father and had better instincts about people. He'd do what needed to be done even while nursing his serious case of homesickness.
TBC . . .