exploits。？
Oops。
？Well； Mom；？ Blair admitted； ？I might have gone alittle overboard on the wedding dress； but
once you see it； I know you？ll agree？？
？Wedding dress？？her mother gasped。 ？I guess that explains the eighteen…thousand…dollar charge。
What is this about a wedding？？ She sat down on the bed and fanned herself with her
diamond…encrusted fingers。 ？I feel like I？m going to faint！ You？re getting married？ Oh； Blair！ I
don？t know what to say！？ She threw her arms around Blair and burst into noisy tears。 Then she
abruptly sat up。 ？No； wait； I do： over my dead damn body you？re getting married！ Have you lost
your mind？！？
Blair rolled her eyes。 ？No； Mom； I？m not getting married。 At least； not right away。 Anyway； that
dress was only ten thousand； not eighteen。？
Oh； yes； that？s much better。
？No； my dear； innocent child。？ Eleanor shook her head。 ？Didn？t you realize that the exchange
rate is almost two to one？？
？Look；？ Blair declared hurriedly； ？I？m sorry； okay？ I only bought a few things； and they？re all
for school。？
Yeah。 We all wear wedding gowns to freshman orientation。
It didn？t look like she was going to escape any time soon。 Blair picked up the new issue ofW
she？d left on the night table。 She？d bought the oversize magazine to keep her occupied on the long
flight； but the plimentary Maker？s Mark bourbon had ended up being a much more interesting
diversion。
？Blair。？ Eleanor sighed and squeezed Blair？s knee through the purplish…brown hemp…blend
bedspread。 ？I don？t mind you buying a few things？but a wedding dress？？ She paused。 ？Still； I bet
it？s quite a dress。？
？It is！？ Blair exclaimed。This was the mother she knew and sort of loved。
？Even so； I？ve talked it over with Cyrus； and I？m going to call your father this afternoon； but I
think he？ll agree that； since you？re home now； presumably to stay？？
？I？m definitelynot going back to London；？ Blair inter…jected； trying not to feel emotional about
her dramatic departure from Marcus？s hometown。 Had he even noticed she was gone？
？？this is the perfect opportunity for you to find some work for the summer。 A job。？
Awhat ？ No prende； se？ora。
The room was spinning。 ？What did you just say； Mom？ Ajob ？？
？Yes； dear。 A job。？
Blair fell back onto the pillows and threw her arm over her eyes。 ？But I？lldie if I have to work。？
？Don？t overreact；？ Eleanor insisted。 ？It？ll be a terrific experience before starting school。？
？Haveyou ever worked？？ Blair demanded。 She began to flip through the magazine angrily；
almost tearing the pages as she turned them。 She？d just fled a country； having been spurned by the
love of her life。 A lecture from her never…worked…a…day…in…her…life mother on the merits of
employment and pulling herself up by her bootstraps was the absolutelast thing she needed。
？That？s beside the point；？ Eleanor replied evenly。 ？We？re not talking about me； we？re talking
about you helping to pay some of these exorbitant bills。 If you？re going to spend this much；
you？re going to have to earn something。？
Workfor the summer？ Blair closed her eyes？no one she knew was working during this； their last
summer vacation ever。 No one！ Well； except for Nate； but that was a punishment。 There was
Serena； too； but that wasn？t really a job？it was a dream e true。
Blair？s eyes suddenly came to rest on the page in front of her。Speak of the fucking devil 。 There；
smack…dab in the middle of Suzy？s latest reports on all the society gossip； was a photograph of
Serena van der Woodsen arm in arm with the designer Bailey Winter。 Blair remembered when that
photograph had been taken； at Winter？s runway presentation the previous season。 She and Serena
had been seated in the front row？naturally？and when the designer had e out to take his final
bow； he？d noticed Serena in the audience and pulled her up onto the runway with him。
Tuning out her mother？s relentless drone； Blair scanned the page to see whether there was some
news about Serena。 And indeed there was： Suzy？s column was all about how Bailey Winter had
signed on with Ken Mogul to provide the costumes for Mogul？s new film project；Breakfast at
Fred？s。 It wasn？t enough that Serena got to star in a movie with Thaddeus Smith； she also got to
wear custom designs by one of the best living American designers？
？I just think it？s a matter of responsibility； Blair；？ her mother declared。 ？You know； when you
turn twenty…one you？ll get access to your trust fund； and your father and Cyrus and I need to know
that you？ll handle the money responsibly。 We feel very strongly that a job is the perfect way for
you to learn to manage money and carry out other people？s wishes； not just your own。？
Blair glared at the ugly eggplant…colored bedspread。 Fine； she？d get a summer job。 But she was
not going to settle for anything less than the most glamorous summer job imaginable。
？You know；？ she mused； ？maybe you？re right。 Maybe a job is just what I need to keep myself
busy this summer。？
？Yes！？ her mother cried happily。 ？I knew you？d e around！？
？And maybe you can help me get one？？ Blair asked sweetly。
？Of course！？ Eleanor agreed。 ？I？m sure we can make some phone calls and find you something
wonderful in no time at all！？
There was； of course； only one telephone call she needed her mother to make。 Being the daughter
of Eleanor Rose； Bailey Winter？s most loyal couture client； would surely e in handy when it
came to landing an assistantship on the set ofBreakfast at Fred？s 。
If you can？t beat ？em； join ？em！
it？s getting hot in here
Furtively cupping the butt in his palm； Dan took a long last drag on his cigarette and tossed it to
the ground； stubbing it out quickly and exhaling smoke into the breeze。 He was stationed on a
bench at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Houston and could see Bree crossing the street。 He didn？t
want her to catch him smoking？again。
？Dan！？ Bree called out； dodging the battalion of cabs creeping up Sixth Avenue； waving
excitedly。 She was wearing short； stretchy black pants that flared a little at her calves and a
turquoise sports bra and was carrying a gray Nalgene water bottle。 She trotted through the traffic
and up to the bench。
？Hi！ It？s so good to see you。？
？You too；？ Dan replied； oh…so…casually closing his book and grinning at her。
？Oh！ You？re readingThe Way of the Artist ！？ she exclaimed。 ？Ilove that book。？
？Really？？ Dan had a feeling she might。 ？That？s a funny coincidence。？
Sure it is。
？Totally；？ giggled Bree。 ？FirstSiddhartha ；nowThe Way of the Artist ？ You must be the Strand？s
spiritual expert。？
？Oh； definitely；？ Dan lied。 ？Everyone they hire has a different specialty。？
？Cool。？ Bree grabbed his hand and yanked him up off the bench。 ？Now e on！ We？re going to
be late。？
？Okay；？ Dan agreed cheerfully。 ？I hate missing the previews。？
？Previews？？ Bree asked。 ？We？re not going to the movies。 Remember？ We？re going to Bikram。？
？Uh； yeah；？ Dan replied nervously。Bikram； Bikram； Bikram。 Not a movie。 Maybe a
restaurant？ ？Right。 Um； good； I？m； uh； starving。？
Bree laughed。 ？Yeah； I？m pretty hungry for some exercise myself。 Let？s hurry so we don？t miss
this class？the evening sessions are even more intense than the ones I usually take。 And maybe
afterwards I？ll buy you a Jamba Juice。？
Class？ Jamba Juice？ She might as well have been speaking Swahili。 Dan had no idea where they
were going but he followed Bree down the street； making idle chitchat about books he hadn？t
actually read and getting more and more worried。 It didn？t seem likely that they were going to a
restaurant。 Then Dan looked up and saw it； looming in the distance： a hand…painted sign with a
funny； Indian…style font that was supposed to look like Sanskrit that proudly proclaimed BIKRAM。
It wasn？t a movie。 It wasn？t a restaurant。 Bikram was a kind ofyoga 。 Bree was taking him to a
yoga class。
Namaste！
Bree trotted up the stairs eagerly； like a kid on Christmas morning。 She turned and glanced over
her shoulder at Dan； who was lagging behind； trying to think of an excuse not to participate。 He
decided to feign an injury and was trying to choose a part of his body he could claim to have hurt。
He had a cracked rib maybe； from lifting too many dictionaries。 He？d been hit by a car on his way
to work this morning and was pretty sure he was concussed。 He had a rare neural disorder that
caused him to black out in small crowded rooms full of sweaty people lying on colorful rubber
mats。
？PS； Dan；？ Bree called down to him。 ？I？m glad you didn？t bother with a change of clothes。 For
the evening sessions；Yogi keeps the heat even higher than usual； so we usually just go naked。？
Now things were getting plicated。 First； there was no way he was going to do yoga； and
second； he？d be damned if he was going to do yoganaked 。 On the other hand； Bree would be there
too； he？d get to see her pletely naked the very first time they hung out。
？Um； great！？ he enthused； already out of breath from climbing the stairs。 Dan had never
exercised in his life； but the sight of Bree？s round； yoga…firm butt a few steps above hi