Meet the real me

Meet the real me

It was a morning like any other in the Upper East Side.

Not for Blair.

She woke up in such a great mood.

She smiled just re-reading the text message Dan had sent her the night before.

‘What do you think about a morning in the Upper West Side? If you’re up for that, let’s meet at Bluestone Lane, tomorrow at 8:00. You don’t even have to answer: I’ll wait for you there, if you don’t show up, it just means I'll need a lot of sugar in my coffee to cheer me up. D’

When he had left the wedding reception, at first Blair had cursed because they had forgotten to exchange their phone numbers, but she had sighed relieved when she had better checked the napkin with the poetry Dan had given to her: on the corner of the last layer Dan had written his number.

 After her shower, Blair rushed to her wardrobe.

Getting dressed was the easiest part: Givenchy  black pencil mini skirt, Ralph Lauren white shirt matched with a champagne coloured cardigan, black Manolo buckle flats and a flecked Chanel red and black coat. 

Then it was time to pick the accessories: a golden ribbon attached to the shirt collar, to add a touch of light, and a Hermes black bag.

And finally came the hardest part: which headband should she pick?
She really needed to impress him.

Once she was ready, she trotted down the stairs, crossing the living room, where her mother, her just-married husband, Cyrus, Blair’s little brother, Tyler and her same age step-brother she had just gained, Aaron, were having breakfast around the table, all cheerful and smiling, like the most sickening cookie commercial.

- Well, happy, perfect cookie commercial families don't steal the eldest daughter’s bedroom! - She pondered, annoyed just at the thought.

“Blair, dear, why don’t you join us?” Her mother waved her hand in her direction, showing the empty seat at the table.

“Nope, thank you. Contrary to you all, I don't have a lobotomized brain yet!” She politely smirked, waving her hand the same way.
 

***************** (In the meantime)
 

It might seem bewildering, but it was morning in the Upper west side, as well.

And also Dan Humphrey had woken up in a very good mood.

Oh well, not that he had slept much, he was way too triggered for it.

Once he had received that text message from Blair, he was too happy to manage to do anything else.

He read it once more.

‘Oh, looks like I’ve found a gift in the gift. So, assuming I had a very good time with you and you improved my day… What if I wanted to see you again? B’

He thoroughly inspected his cupboard, deciding his Primark kachi pants matched to a burgundy shirt and a dark blue ocean wool jacket would make him look decent enough.

But that reminded him about how short was the time he had dedicated to sleep.

He had to do something about it.

That’s why he sneaked into the bathroom, and after a quick shower he looked for his fourteen year old sister’s make-up bag.

He managed to find the concealer and applied it on his dark circles, glad to see some satisfying result.

He just hoped it was a concealer, he could have even applied a blush, as far as he knew.

Not that Dan exactly knew what a blush was, he just heard about it.

He had been lucky because Jenny hadn’t gone in the bathroom, but then he found her in the kitchen, already awake, as she was drinking some orange juice.

“Hello, big Bro, why are you already up on a schoolfree day? And where are you going, dressed so elegantly?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

- Oh. I’m elegant! - Dan threw a party in his head.

“Is it a date?” She grinned, all excited for him. “Do I know her?”

“Geez, Jenny, gimme a break, if you don’t want me to start my own interrogation!”

Jenny scoffed.

“Yeah, sure, as if you would have anything to ask me!”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, lil sis: didn’t I see you yesterday at the wedding party with that friend of Serena’s?”

Jenny gulped down.

She had been caught.

“My-same-age Serena’s friend, the stupid, gorgeous one.”

“Nate is not stupid!”

“Well, I beg to differ, to me he always has a stoned face.”

“Only because he’s stoned most of the time!” Jenny chuckled, then she figured out what she had just admitted or implied.

“You’re really blowing your pitch, Jenny!” He scolded her. “I wonder what our dad would have to say about this whole matter…”

Jenny almost choked with her orange juice.

“No, no, no, please, Dan! I’ll do whatever you want, starting with minding my own business. Enjoy your date with whoever you have to meet!”

Dan chuckled for her immediate change of behaviour and headed towards the coffee pot, but then he changed his mind.

- Nope, it would be just too easy to have a couple coffees now to pretend I can have less when I’m at the bar with her. She has to meet the real me! -

------------------------------------------- 

Dan was outside the Bluestone Lane, where in Summer there were plenty of tables outside, but in that cold late November morning there were only the closed dark blue sun-umbrellas.

He glanced at his watch. It was almost ten past eight and his cosmic pessimism was about to overwhelm him, when out of the blue a pair of delicate, perfectly manicured hands placed on his eyes, from behind.

“Guess who’s going to have a cup, or two.. or six.. of bitter coffee?”

Dan grabbed her hands, removed them from his eyes and, smiling, he turned behind.

“Blair! So you came.”

“Why, did you have some doubts?” She chuckled.

“Well, you know. Yesterday there was a totally different atmosphere. And alcohol. A lot of it. This is every day, sober Dan. Meet the real me!” He grumbled, visibly nervous.

He was shaking, that’s true, but only because it was almost two hours since he was up and he hadn’t had the slightest amount of caffeine yet.

“So, the real you has curls.” She smiled.

Now that Dan's hair wasn’t slicked back with pomade, sure, it wasn’t long enough for wild curls, but just to show some waves.

“And a rather questionable taste in clothing, but… I’ve seen worse!” She shrugged.

“Speaking of hair, look at what you’re wearing.” Dan murmured, staring at her large green, red and yellow striped headband with a ribbon on the top. “That’s hideous.”

Blair scoffed, taking a step closer.

“Hideous? To the point that you’ll expect once more me to kiss you if I want to keep it on?”

And, yes, they were shamelessly flirting.

Dan grins.

“Exactly to that point.”

He pulled her even closer, they grabbed each other’s hair, their lips finally getting in touch again, parting, sucking each other, right before their tongues came into play.

Dan’s hands moved to her neck, then to her shoulders, as she preferred cupping his face.

After a few minutes, almost unwillingly they both parted.

“Uhm. So this is a sober, smokeless kiss.” She commented, pretending to be disappointed. “It’s even better.”

Dan beamed, flattered, but then figured something out.

“Sober, well, it would worry me otherwise at this hour of the day,” he made her laugh. “But smokeless… Geez, I took a packet at the tobacco shop next to my loft, before coming here and… I was so focused on waiting for you that it remained untouched. And that’s just not like me doing such a thing.”

He brought his knuckles to her face, caressing her under the cheekbone.

“You must be something special, Blair Waldorf.” He murmured.

“Well, let’s get in so you can find out, with breakfast… Maybe a brunch?” Blair suggested.

“Oh. A Bruch is even better. It lasts longer."

They got inside and Blair took a look around, enjoying the decor where dark wood, blue marine and white prevail, with some sailor elements to recall the word of sailing.

“Do you like it here?” Dan asked her, as they sat on a table.

“Yep, a lot.” Blair nodded, as she caressed the white marble table. “It almost seems we are on a ship… and I guess it fits.”

Dan stared at her puzzled.

“Huh?”

“In a certain sense we’re set to sail, Dan… to New Opportunities Land.” She smiled at him.

“Well, this surely requires a toast, but we still have to order…”

--------------------------- 

It was only when the waiter placed on their table the two double espressos and Dan sipped from a cup while proudly holding the others that he felt brought back to life.

“Geez, you weren’t joking about the six coffee issues!” Blair mocked him as she sipped her cappuccino.

“I never said it was a joke.” Dan retorted, placing the now empty cup and drinking the other one, without even bothering to eat yet.

For some reason, maybe to give a healthier impression of himself, he had also ordered a freshly cold pressed juice made of green apple, kale and cucumber.

It was highly probable that that sorry excuse of a drink would remain untouched for all the time of their conversations.

And they really had a lot to talk about.

“So, what University would you prefer?” Dan asked her as he brought the first forkful of his yummy banana bread to his mouth.

Blair finished chomping on her delicious avocado toast, before answering.

“I was born to go to Yale!”

“Wow, that’s the best University ever, I’m sure you’ll get in!” He cheered.

Blair toyed with a cherry tomato on her toast, making it roll out of the slice.

“I’m not so sure after my catastrophic interview!”

“What level of catastrophic?”

“They asked me something like the easiest question in the world, AKA which is my favourite book and I’ve trained countless times in my room, giving the most brilliant answers possible… but in that moment my mind went totally blank, I couldn’t mention a single book… Instead, I started ranting about my life, starting with my gay father, passing through when I stole a pair of pajamas for my former boyfriend, who didn’t even appreciate that; then I practically begged for my interviewer to get me to Yale… and, grand finale, I kissed him on the cheek to greet him!” Blair yelped, burying her head in her folded arms, on the table.

“Oh.” Was all Dan managed to say.

“Yeah. Meet the real me. So, if you want to stop our date right here right now, because you don’t want to have anything to do with this restless, neurotic disaster I am, I’ll perfectly understand.” She grumbled, without even raising her head.

She flinched when she heard Dan’s chair slide behind, a sign he had got up for real.

- I knew it. I’ve ruined everything once more and now he’s leaving… and I can’t even blame him for that. -

Blair felt someone gently tapping her shoulder and when she raised her head she saw Dan, kneeled, as he was smiling at her oh so sweetly.

“I think you’ve just scored even more points, Blair.”

“Really?” She sniffed, as he went back to his seat.

“I’ve tried to get in Brown,” he started his own tale. “But I seriously doubt they’ll want me again after what I did.”

“Why, what did you do?” Blair grew instantly curious.

“I guess I’ll need another double espresso before telling you.” He decided, calling the waiter.

“So, I was in the middle of an interesting comparison between Goethe’s Werther and Shakespeare’s Amlet, explaining who’s more pathetic and why…” He informed her, as he drank his coffee. 

“Geez, that was something so cool I should have talked about in my interview!” Blair sighed with regrets. “Please go on.”

“Then I had an emotional breakdown when in my mind I associated myself with Werther and I began to understand how much Serena was my Lotte… That’s the exact moment I’ve figured out Serena didn’t love me, never had and probably wouldn’t ever do.” 

Blair searches for his hand entwining her fingers with his.

“You know what, Dan? I guess that Werther deserves a lot better than stupid Lotte.” She smiled at him.

Dan sheepishly smiled back at her, their fingers still entwined.

- She really knows what she’s talking about. She’s into books just like me! Serena was beautiful and everything, but… it’s not that we could have so many stimulating conversations… I have the feeling I could quibble with Blair about literature for hours… Well, it’s not that we could get busy in other kind of stimulating activities, too… -

“Dan, hello, are you still here?” Blair snapped her fingers before his eyes.

“Huh, yeah, sorry … i got lost in my thoughts and before you ask, yes, you were hogging them.” He scratched his nape, nervously.

Blair smiled, sort of flattered.

“Where was I? Oh yeah, right. However, after that, I sort of dissociated from where I was…”

“Just like you just did?” Blair chuckled, amused.

“Nope, much worse. My interviewer was trying to take me back to the present time, she even asked me to talk about what I like to write… but instead I got up, saying I needed a moment to get fresh air, so I left the room… but never came back.” He confessed.

“Really?” Blair burst out laughing and Dan just nodded.

“I guess we’re both basket cases!” She leaned closer to kiss the top of his nose.

“And I guess this insight deserves a toast… Can we do that with coffee and orange juice?” He suggested, grabbing his cup.

“Why not? The perfect basket case toast.” She giggled, lifting her glass of orange juice, touching his cup with it.

“To new opportunities to make a disaster together!” Blair cheered.

“To new opportunities to be happy together!” Dan suggested a more romantic goal.

“Aww.” She grew softened, as they drank.

The fact that she had managed to eat a whole brunch and yet she felt so much comfortable with Dan that her stomach didn’t churn, to Blair hands-down meant something.

- Oh, Dan Humphrey, you must be something special, as well. -

“Blair?”

“Yes?”

“Unlike that ungrateful former boyfriend of yours, be sure that I would appreciate anything you would want to steal for me.”

Blair giggled, winking at him.

“Good to know, Dan.”

--
 

THE END