Grace quickly clasped her hands to her mouth in utter devastation. “Oh crap! I am so, so sorry. It’s the alcohol, I’m sorry. Look I’ll just leave now...” Standing swiftly, she not only pushed her chair over but managed to knock the remainder of the bottle of wine over, sending a burgundy waterfall cascading from the edge of the table. “Jeez, sorry, sorry. I really shouldn’t drink. Christ, I’ll see myself out. Just send me the cleaning bills. Sorry, Alex.” Turning, she shot out of the door like a frightened rabbit, with Alex scrambling to his feet to run after her.
Grabbing hold of her arm he managed to catch her before she reached the external door. “Whoa, it’s just a bit of wine. Nobody died, did they? Grace, don’t rush off, please. It doesn’t matter really. I don’t care, just don’t leave like this,” he pleaded with her as she refused to look him in the eye.
“Yeah, the wine and the insult. Why would you want me to stay after that epic foot-in-mouth moment? No, I just want to go home, Alex. Thanks for tonight, it really was lovely, but I’m gonna call a cab before I say or do something else stupid. I am really sorry but it’s time I went home.” Grace’s mouth lifted slightly at one side in some kind of apologetic smile.
“You really don’t have to but if you insist on leaving, at least come and wait inside while the taxi gets here. Please?” There was no point in arguing. He could see by the look on her face she wasn’t being persuaded anytime soon.
The taxi journey home was spent with Grace holding her head in her hands and cussing at her own stupidity. She knew if she drank any more than two glasses of alcohol she was asking for trouble but still she insisted on making a fool of herself on a regular basis. Her phone beeped signalling a text message; flicking her thumb over the icon she opened the message from Alex.
‘I had a great nite shame u left early will call u 2moro cab paid 4 btw’.
Great, now she would have to endure yet more embarrassment tomorrow. Did this guy not know when to give in? Grace toyed with the idea of replying to the message but thought better of it. With the alcohol still buoyant in her system she figured it was probably best to wait until the morning before responding. That way she would be sober and incomplete control of her mouth. Besides, she needed to talk to Sasha first.
The car pulled up forty minutes later outside her flat. Grace let herself in. Bypassing the lounge and kitchen, she threw herself onto the bed, burying her head in the pillows. She let out a loud frustrated shout as she pounded her fists and feet into the mattress like a toddler who had just been denied chocolate.
Ten minutes later she was tucked up in bed, make-up removed, and exhausted after her outburst. Pulling the duvet up over her shoulders, sleep began to drag her under. Eyes flitting she snuggled deeper into the enveloping bed letting the warmth wash over her, comforting her. She was vaguely aware of a phone ringing somewhere in the distance as she pulled the covers higher up to cover her ears, drowning out the offending noise. The persistent ringing dragged her from her dream like state, rousing her into realising it was in fact her own phone. Grabbing it from the nightstand she grunted some kind of greeting and waited to hear what was so important they had to ring in the middle of the night.
“Hey, it’s technically tomorrow, and I promised to call so....” Alex’s gravelly voice drifted down the phone. “...I just wanted to check you got home safe and well, I wish you hadn’t run out on me like that.”
He knew the situation was fragile but he really didn’t understand this woman. He hadn’t had to chase anyone this hard since high school but strangely enough, the harder she made him work, the more he wanted it.
“Alex, could this have not waited until the morning? I mean, really, you had to call me at midnight?”
“If I left it until tomorrow you would have had time to think too much. I’m not sure if I could salvage this thing then. You’re very...temperamental. Shit, sorry. See, you’ve got me so tightly wound...Grace, I don’t usually have to do this much work; I mean, I haven’t had to chase a girl since I was a fifteen and boy, that was painful. Oh man...I don’t know my ass from my elbow when I’m around you. Can I see you again?”
Grace sat up in bed now wide awake, grinning like an idiot to herself; she wasn’t offended that he thought she was volatile, quite the opposite in fact. “I can’t imagine you had to do much chasing in school either. Why don’t I call you tomorrow? ”
“But will you though? Do you promise? I mean I could drop by if that’s easier...”
“Do not come to my work, Alex! People will talk about me. Please. I promise I’ll ring you at lunchtime, okay?” Grace tried to appease him now, not needing him to cause yet another scene at work.
“Well, alright, but if you haven’t rung me by one thirty I am coming to see you.” He meant it. There was something pulling him towards this girl. He had no idea what but he intended to find out.
Alex hung up with a stupidly large grin spreading across his face, almost splitting it in two. Result - she asked if she could call him. Had he not been trying to get her to do the exact same thing for the past week?
The soft morning sun broke through the flimsy curtains that covered the large picture window, stirring Grace from a deep slumber. Checking the alarm she groaned before turning over, clenching her eyes closed again. Just a few more minutes. It only seemed like she had finished her phone call with Alex a few moments earlier but to be fair it had taken her ages to get back to sleep. She had kept running their conversation over and over in her head, replaying his words. She didn’t think she was making him work for anything; they’d just had dinner a couple of times. Although Grace couldn’t get over the fuzzy feeling his voice created in the pit of her stomach or the stupid grin that was plastered across her face as her thoughts drifted back to the fish finger sandwich date. She was still unable to understand why he wanted to spend time with her. Well, no time to ponder that one now, she had to be at work in an hour.
Alex paced the decking outside the lighthouse, unable to sit still. He wasn’t used to downtime in the first place but now he was waiting on a phone call from the one girl he desperately wanted to hear from. He had given her a deadline of one thirty; that gave her another hour to call him or he would stick to his word and drive over there, whether she was embarrassed by him or not. Secretly he loved that she was uncomfortable being seen with him. Usually girls fell over themselves to make sure everyone and his brother knew they were out with him.
The last relationship he had been in ended for just that reason. Rhea was the less than popular one in a squeaky clean girl group. Chris, his manager, had introduced them at some awards ceremony where Uni-Fi had been nominated in the Best Single category, which they had won. Rhea had flirted with him all night and they ended up going back to his hotel room. That one night stand had turned into almost a year. The press, not to mention his PR team, were ecstatic at the coupling.
Alex had fallen hook, line and sinker for her until he realised that she had a hotline to the paparazzi, allowing them to orchestrate various photo opportunities or give away little snippets of information about him or his family. He had been distraught at herbetrayal because she had known just how much he hated being in the limelight. She had witnessed first-hand his utter meltdowns at the beginning of every live show they did. It was because of Rhea that he refused to take any chemicals; he had witnessed all too clearly the absolute devastation that rubbish caused as he watched her destroy her career because she couldn’t function without a line of coke. That had been nearly two years ago. He had been in no rush to get involved with anyone after that. That was until now.
The buzz in his pocket resonated down his thigh, jolting him back to reality.
“Hey, you just made it. I have my car keys in my hand and I was heading out the door.” He chuckled as he listened to her beg him not to just turn up unannounced when she was at work. “Yeah, yeah I heard you. You’re mortified at the thought of being seen with me. You could give a guy a complex. What time should I pick you up? I can order take out or book somewhere.”
“I thought you could come to mine. I’ll cook for you but don’t come to the studio just come over to the flat at about eight?” Grace hadn’t meant it to sound like a question but she was still curious as to what he saw in her.
Sliding his phone back into his pocket he felt like ateenager again. Giddy and lightheaded. How he was going to pass the next few hours he had no idea.
As the doorbell rang loud and shrill Grace began to hyperventilate. She had left work shortly after their phone conversation earlier in the day so she could shop for food and start cooking. God knows it wasn’t her strong point. Now he was on her doorstep it didn’t seem like such a good idea; what if she gave him food poisoning? Taking a deep steadying breath she opened the door to let him in, accepting the carrier bag he thrust at her as he entered the flat. Guiding him into the kitchen she peered inside to find a bottle of wine and a toddler cup with a lid.
“What’s this for?” She raised her eyebrows quizzically at the man who was now leaning against the countertop, arms folded across his impressive chest.
“Well, the wine is for drinking and given your history of knocking your drink over me I thought the cup would be useful.” Alex grinned wickedly as he reached for the bottle to open it.
“I don’t know whether I am insulted or grateful.” She scowled at him as he tried his best to look contrite but failed miserably. “I think you should pour that and sit while I dish up the meal I have slaved over for the past three hours! I can’t believe you bought the cup!”
