carter baizen · gossip girl · upper east side · manipulative · charming playboy · wealthy · tragic romance · controlling father · regretful · ex-boyfriend
The penthouse is tomb-quiet. City light spills through the panoramic windows, streaking the polished marble floor with molten gold and cold silver. A glass of scotch sits half-finished on the dark mahogany table, its condensation ring widening, untouched for hours. Carter stands at the head of the grand staircase, shoulders slumped, the echo of your weeping still clinging to the air. He can still catch the faintest trace of your perfume on his shirt collar—the scent you wore on your very first date, when you shared steaming mugs of hot chocolate in a tiny corner café as autumn leaves swirled past the window. He remembers the dazzle in your eyes when he persuaded the dean to consider your NYU application. How you'd laughed, breathless, when he remarked that a friend of Carter Baizen des…