chapter TEN.

Blair was already seated at the table as she waited quite impatiently for her best friend. They'd decided to have dinner together at this new restaurant that had just opened up in SoHo called Eleek, but their reservations were for six-thirty. It was seven now, and Serena still hadn't showed up. Blair was tempted to call over one of the waitors now just to teach the blonde a lesson when she did show up.

But instead of switching to total-b!tc# mode, Blair snatched up the entree fork and and the dessert fork and began softly scraping them together, just to keep from going completely insane. Beneath the table's silky white cloth, she was tapping one of her heels against the floor with annoyance. Who on earth did Serena think she was? Having been the one who made these reservations in the first place, the least she could have done was show up.

Then finally the young blonde's all-too-familiar scent of patchouli and sandalwood and lavender enveloped Blair completely. Normally she grinned at the reassuring smell of her best friend but right now she was so revolted by Serena she felt much more like gagging.

Nonetheless, a fake smile turned the corners of her lips upward as she greeted her friend.

"Hey, S." She gestured at the seat across from hers and just as the blonde was about to sit in it, the waiter appeared from out of nowhere and pulled it out for her. Serena smiled that grateful, you-know-you-love-me smile and then slid into the comfortable piece of restaurant furniture opposite her best friend. Blair scowled at the sight and when she looked up and saw just who the waiter was, she scowled even more - it was the same guy that had bartended at the SoHo House Rooftop Pool! The one she was supposed to be flirting with and smiling at, not Serena!

"May I take your orders now?" he asked politely, flashing both girls an adorable smile and then winking at Serena. It had been too quick for the blonde to notice, but Blair had caught sight of the entire thing and it was now taking every ounce of energy in her body not to jump across the table and tackle them both. She opened her mouth to voice what she wanted, but Serena cut her off.

"Yes, thank you. We'll have the duck and the acorn squash souffle with the chard and lingonberry sauce." She hadn't even glanced at the menu, which somehow made Blair even more furious at her.

Cute Waitor Boy doodled something onto a notepad, nodding enthusiastically as if Serena had just given an hour-long lecture on something extremely important and he'd been hanging on every word she said all the while. "Excellent choice." He slid the pad into the pocket of his black pants and continued to stand there as if he was an actual part of their evening.

What Cute Waitor Boy did next caused Blair's mouth to drop. He turned to Serena and parted his lips to speak: "Look, I know this might seem totally inappropriate but I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out with me for drinks later. My shift ends at nine."

Serena seemed just as shocked as Blair did. In fact, she couldn't even bring herself to say anything. But luckily Cute Waitor Boy didn't seem to be looking for verbal encouragement of any kind because he continued: "Well here's my number. Feel free to call anytime." He fished the notepad back out of his pocket, scrawled something across the page, and tore it out, putting it down in front of both girls.

And with that, he finally left their table, allowing a thick silence to fall over them.

Serena's lips curled into a slow, strange smile, until finally she was howling with laughter.

Blair just stared at her with clenched jaws, manically twirling the ruby ring she always wore around and around her finger.

"Can you believe that guy?" Serena asked rhetorically, still chuckling at the rather ironic situation that had just occured. "I mean he doesn't even know whether or not I've got a boyfriend or anything!" When her eyes met Blair's and she realized that she wasn't happy, Serena quickly toned it down, placing both hands in her lap and forcing away her laughter.

Another silence fell over both girls until finally Blair pushed her chair away from the table, grabbed her purse, and began making her way toward the bathroom rather quickly, her heels clomping against the restaurants carpeted floor. Serena stood up as well, her eyebrows furrowing with distress and confusion as she watched her friend walk away. "Blair, wait!"

The brunette didn't stop, though, she just kept walking, already able to feel the bile rising in her stomach.

Serena sighed and brought her navy blue eyes back to the table. There, she saw the strip of paper Cute Waitor Boy had left. Was this it? Was this why Blair was so upset? Brok. Call me, said the paper. And then he'd scrawled his number down in his loopy handwriting and drew a small heart next to it as if Serena had shown any signs of affection towards him in the thirty seconds she'd known him whatsoever.


I guess the old saying is true: 'Never, under any circumstances, give a clue to you liking the same waitor as your best friend does, otherwise trouble will abound'. . . Okay, so maybe that's not an offical saying, but shouldn't it be? We Upper East Side girls need all the guidance and wise words we can get!

you know you love me.
xoxo; gossip girl