Blair crossed her legs carefully as to not call attention to herself, but it still earned her a sharp glance from Chuck. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They'd been in the meeting with the Germans for over three hours, and her legs were starting to cramp. However, while the lower half of her body seemed to have fallen numb, and her hands hurt from jotting down notes and translating certain words on her iPad, she was far from bored.
Over the last month of her employment with Chuck Bass, she'd sat in on almost all his business meetings. And when she did so she told herself that she was anything but fascinated with him. No, no, no, not at all. Not at all blown away by the stillness in him that hid his incredibly quick mind. Or at how she was starting to be able to read the nearly imperceivable flickers of reactions. And in no way did she find herself close to smiling when she saw the faint quirk of his mouth that hinted at his amusement of something she'd just said. Nor was she proud when she caught him off guard with a quick comment and saw the shimmer of respect in his eyes.
No, Chuck Bass was just an enormously stubborn pain in the ass.
Blair didn't realize she'd been nodding to herself until she saw Chuck shoot her a cold glare that would freeze a normal human being, but one that just made her give him a little shrug and signal with her hand that he should be paying attention to the Germans on the open conference call.
He scowled. Blair Waldor-... Humphrey, Chuck corrected in his head, was intelligent, highly, to the point of insanity, organized, and efficient. He also wasn't entirely sure she wasn't at least partially insane... which would seem to be confirmed just now when he saw her nodding her head as if in agreement with whatever crazy voices that drove her.
While listening to the Germans, he multitasked by thinking about his assistant. Over the past month, since he'd decided he didn't want to fire her, he'd started trying to figure out what made her tick. She seemed to thrive with challenges, and she had a clear love of power. While he didn't participate in work place gossip, he kept himself abridged of it because information was power, and you never knew when you'd need to use it. He'd learned that when she'd started at BI she'd been shunned by many of the other assistants. Many of them had wanted her position, and several had been sure that they'd be getting the sought after spot, only to have him hire externally. Chuck knew there'd been whispers about how Blair had only gotten the job because she'd slept with him to get it, which had amused Chuck since he'd had sex with many of the gossips. He hadn't even thought to step in to put a stop to the rumours, somehow knowing that Blair could handle the situation on her own. He'd been right.
She'd not only crushed the rumours, but also the people who had started them, and along the way she'd gathered a group of minions. He knew very well that Blair hadn't done any of the photocopying and filing for a while, and he also knew it was a minion that picked up his lunch and handed it off to Blair at her desk.
Being Chuck Bass he'd also noticed that she had the most amazing ass he'd ever seen, but he refused to listen to the voice inside him that whispered to him that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
His scowl intensified. Blair raised an eyebrow at his expression and pointed her pen at the intercom. The Germans were still talking, and so Blair and Chuck both refocused back on them until the conference call finally was over. Blair made a hasty retreat from his office before he could ask her for coffee.
Blair sat at her desk, ignoring her phone, well ignoring her sister-in-law's phone calls. They were supposed to all be going out to dinner Friday as a pre-wedding week celebration. Only Dan heard Blair voice her disdain over the fact that there was no such thing, and it was tacky to celebrate a singular event more than a week in advance. In front of her in-laws she managed to fake it, but she knew she'd be glad when the whole thing was over.
She sighed, sitting back in her chair with a little flop. She'd actually finished all the prep work for Chuck's upcoming business trip to a new Bass hotel in Belize, and would have had him sign off on it by now, but his door was closed. He only ever closed the door when he was on the phone with his girlfriend. Blair tapped her pen against the armrest of her chair, putting together what Chuck Bass would look for in a girlfriend.
Her lips pinched together. She'd be blonde, of course she'd be blonde. She'd probably be eight feet tall with six feet of that being legs. She'd probably be able to fold them behind her head to. Blair was surprised with the vigor with which she threw her pen across her desk, hitting the picture of her and Dan on the beach in Cape Cod last summer, and knocking it to the floor.
Blair cursed and scrambled around her desk to get it, only to find it had slid under the couch in the small, elite waiting area. Her pencil skirt was tight, but she managed to get to her hands and knees to peer under the couch. She had to flatten herself onto her stomach and stretch, and even then she could just touch the end of it with the tip of one finger. She was grunting and straining so much that she didn't hear the elevator chime or the boots that padded across the wide hall that led to her desk and the waiting area.
"If Chuck is making you clean under the couch, I'd ask for a raise." Said a laughing voice from high above her. Blair rolled over like a shot and looked up at her visual of Chuck's girlfriend come to life. She was stunning. She was blonde.
Blair hated her on sight.
Before Blair could say anything, the other girl dropped to her knees and easily reached under the sofa and grabbed the picture. As she was lying on her back, Blair thought for a moment she was about to be crushed by the larger woman, and dying under a blonde was not high on her list of ways to go. The other girl now pulled the picture out and instead of handing it back to Blair, she looked at it. She gave a little whistle. "Wow. He's kinda cute... in rumpled kinda way. Boyfriend?"
"Husband." Blair said coolly as she tried to sit up as gracefully as possible. She somehow managed to gain her balance, and she swung her legs to the side to sit looking at the girl that seemed glamourous plunked on her knees, in jeans and a sweater. However, Blair's keen eye could tell that everything was designer and cost a fortune, regardless of its haphazard look.
"Wow... arranged marriage?" The blonde teased, smiled at her own joke, but she laughed outright at the pinched scowl the brunette gave her. "Sorry! Love match, clearly!"
Without thinking Blair reached out and shoved the other girl over. The other girl laughed more and it was like a bell, and would be considered infectious to anyone but Blair.
"I like you!" The blonde declared.
"Well, I don't like you." Blair returned haughtily.
"... Are you two... going to kiss?"
Both the women's heads snapped up to see Chuck standing in the doorway of his office.
"Chucky!" She blonde greeted enthusiastically.
Blair thought the other woman would get up and she'd have to watch the couple make out in front of her, a thought that for some reason churned Blair's stomach, but she was wrong. The taller woman easily got up, but then stood where she was, holding out a hand to help Blair up. Feeling Chuck's gaze Blair didn't want to put on anymore of a show than she already had, and she knew she'd never be able to get up in this skirt without scrambling, so she took the offered hand.
Both were on their feet by the time Chuck sauntered over to them. Blair busied herself straightening her clothes, sure his gaze would be on his gorgeous girlfriend, but when she looked up her gaze slammed into his. For a moment she was held by those amber eyes and she forgot everything.
"Here five minutes... and already corrupting my assistant." Chuck addressed the taller of the women.
"I think she hates me, but we're going to be best friends!"
"Do you know your best friend's name?" Chuck raised a brow in a mocking tease.
The blonde's head waggled at him, and she looked Blair up and down, and then looked Chuck in the eye. "Blair Humphrey."
"Good to know you can read a nameplate." Chuck smirked with a nod at the plaque that adorned Blair's desk. Then his eyes found Blair's and they stayed locked with hers as he nodded to the blonde. "Mrs. Humphrey, Serena Van Der Woodsen."
"Don't be an ass." Serena tried to pout but ruined it with a giggle. "I need to pee!" Serena declared, and skipped forward, kissing Chuck's cheek before continuing on, heading into Chuck's private bathroom.
Blair and Chuck were left standing by her desk alone.
"She's lovely." Blair commented dryly.
"It's good that you think so... especially since she's your new best friend." He pointed out dryly, and Blair could have sworn a hint of a smile tilted him lips. She must be delusional.
"I have enough friends." She bounced back at him, and raised a shoulder. "But clearly you don't."
Chuck glanced over his shoulder at his office. "She's more than a friend."
"I imagine so." Judgment dripped from her voice, she became aware of the feeling rolling in the pit of her stomach, and the first word that came to mind to describe it was jealousy. That couldn't happen. She cleared her throat and stepped away from him, moving to her desk and picking up the information for the trip. "Can you sign off on these before I go?"
"Go?" He questioned as he started scanning.
"Yes, as in leave for the day." Blair said coolly. "It's past 5 and I have dinner plans at Marco's tonight."
"I see... Italian... How romantic. Far be it from me to throw a wrench into date night." Chuck said, still not looking at her. He signed a few places and handed the whole thing back to her. "These are fine, but you'll have to make a few adjustments."
"Adjustments." She scowled, knowing her work was perfect.
"Yes." He said, and his eyes met hers. "You'll need to expand the reservation... since you're coming with me."
"What?" This must be what gobsmacked felt like.
"This deal is expansive, and I'll need my assistant to be on hand... It was in the contract." He pointed out the travel clause in Blair's contract.
Blair did a quick mental check, and was actually relived. The dates she would be in Belize would get her out of a great deal of Jenny's wedding events, but would have her back before the actually ceremony. Perfect, thought Blair. Then she realized that this would be four days on an island with Chuck Bass. She swallowed hard, and was about to argue her way out of it when Serena returned.
"So? What are we doing tonight?" She smiled widely at both of them. "Drinks?"
"Sorry. I don't do third wheel." Was Blair's icy reply as she gathered her things.
"Ugh." Serena ignored Blair's tone, and tried to cajole her new friend. "Come on, B! Come out and play with me! If the press get a hold of this, think how lame I'll look?"
"Lame?" Blair frowned in confusion.
"Yes! That the only person I could find to eat with was my brother!"
It hit Blair like a truck. This beautiful creature was not Chuck Bass' girlfriend... but his sister? She did a minute double take, her eyes narrowing on him, and as if he could read her mind about how there was no way there could be any shared genetics between two, he raised an eyebrow in challenge. Blair held her questions in, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was curious about anything to do with his personal life.
"I should go." Blair dismissed them both, taking her things and heading for the elevator.
The siblings watched her go, Serena honestly liking the sharp girl and planning more frequent drop ins on her brother, and Chuck's wheels were spinning.
"Serena?" He asked in a voice that would be for their ears only.
"Hmm?"
"Feel like Italian tonight?"
Serena glanced over her shoulder to where she could see Blair pretending to ignore them as she waited for the elevator, and then back to her brother. Her eyes sparkled, as she caught on. "This should be interesting..."