“Well； don’t；” Blair said fiercely。
Grrr。
Nate pushed open the men’s room door at exactly the same time
that Serena pushed open the ladies’。 Together； they walked down
the hallway back to the table。
“Nate；” Serena said； smoothing her new brown suede skirt over her
legs。 “Can you please explain why you’re not talking to me？”
“I’m not not talking to you；” Nate said。 “See； I’m talking to you right
now。”
“Barely；” Serena said。 “What happened？ What’s wrong？ Did Blair
say something to you about me？”
Instinctively； Nate reached into his jacket pocket and fingered the
flask of whiskey that was hidden there。 He looked down at the
marble floor； avoiding Serena’s beautiful sad eyes。
“We should get back；” Nate said； speeding up。
“Fine；” Serena answered； trailing after him slowly。
She had that sour salty taste in the back of her throat again； the
taste of tears。 She’d been holding them back for too many days
now； and she could feel a tidal wave ing on。 All of a sudden she
would start sobbing； and she wouldn’t be able to stop。
When Nate and Serena took their places at the table； Chuck
smirked at them knowingly。 How was it？ his face seemed to say。
Serena wanted to hit him。
She ordered another cup of coffee and dumped four teaspoons of
sugar in it and stirred and stirred； like she was trying to stir a hole
through t