cigarette
holder。 The look was very Greta…Garbo…in…hiding； which was exactly the effect she was going for。
Across the room；The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow played silently on
TV。 Blair puffed on her cigarette； staring dramatically into the near distance。 She couldn？t bear to
look at Aaron because he was wearing his Harvard sweatshirt again； as if he？d specifically dressed
to piss her off。 She？d already ripped her Yale pendant off the canopy over her bed and thrown it
out her bedroom window along with her father？s old Yale sweatshirt。 ？If you don？t mind； I？d like
you to please get the fuck out of my room。？
？I was just leaving；？ Aaron replied。 ？Hey； have you talked to Serena lately？？
Blair shook her head。 ？Why？？
？No reason；？ Aaron shrugged unfortably。 He？d been hanging out with his buddies in
Scarsdale since Friday night and hadn？t seen or talked to Serena since the Les Best show。 He
pulled a tin of herbal cigarettes out of his back pocket and tossed them onto Blair？s bed。 ？Try
those；？ he advised。 ？They？re 100 percent natural and they smell way better than that
mass…produced shit。？
Blair kicked the tin onto the floor。 ？Have a nice walk。？
Aaron pulled her bedroom door closed behind him and headed outside with Mookie。 He entered
the park at Seventy…second Street； taking the path that led to a little wooden footbridge over a
stream that fed into the lake。 Every now and then Mookie stopped to dig furiously in the snow
with his brown…and…white paws； as if he were looking for a doggie toy he？d dropped there last
summer。 Then eventually he？d give up and trot on again。
A petite blond in dark sunglasses and a blu