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 presentati