| Chapter Six |
| If Grace hadn’t been so mortified, she would have laughed at Justin’s stunned face. For the first time since she’d known him, he was completely flabbergasted. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.” That pretty much summed up how they were both feeling. Grace felt and probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “She’s cute,” Justin was rambling, “I like her.” He toyed with the pink dress the bear was wearing just to illustrate how much he enjoyed it. “It’s a set.” Confused, Justin looked into the empty box, “What’s a set?” “That’s Angela. You know from the Sisters Bear series? You have one of the others in your room. They look exactly alike except Jennifer has a purple dress. There’s another one, Amanda; she has a blue dress. I saw Jennifer in your room; I thought you were collecting them.” Her mouth snapped shut. Grace couldn’t believe that she’d just admitted to being inside his room. He would think she was stalker, which probably wasn’t too far from the truth. “Your mother asked me to put away the laundry,” she softly added, in a sorry attempt at an excuse. Her excuse was for nothing. Justin either didn’t care or didn’t mind that she’d been in his bedroom. His mind was focused on something else. “Are you sure I have one of these already? I’ve never even heard of Sisters Bear.” “It’s a relatively new television show. I have a niece that loves it; she sings the theme song all the time,” at the mention of Lila, Grace couldn’t help but smile, “It’s really cute. She runs around my apartment, yelling at the top of her lungs, ‘We are sisters. We are family. Together forever-” “And ever and ever. Sisters Bear,” Justin finished, unlike her, he had not sung, “Steven drove me crazy with that song. He must have left his doll in my room.” “Oh.” It was all she could really say. She’d spent all her money and thoroughly embarrassed herself for something Justin didn’t even like. This was probably the most humiliating moment of her life. Sensing or more likely seeing her embarrassment, Justin once again toyed with the dress, “Even though it’s not exactly something I’d like, it was nice of you to get this for me. Steven’s going to love this, which in turn will make me happy. Thank you.” He was trying to make her feel better. Although he was overdoing it, Grace couldn’t help but love him even more. “Maybe for your next birthday, I’ll get him the Amanda bear.” They shared a semi-awkward laugh before falling into a silence. Luckily, the manager appeared, ending the uncomfortable pause. “Here’s your drink, Mr. Timberlake. It’s on the house, of course.” His beady eyes shifted from Grace to Justin down to the teddy bear. Justin laid his gift back in the box and took the drink from the manager’s hand. “Thank you.” Taking a quick sip, he motioned to Grace, “What will you have?” “Just water.” “Water? Nobody’s allowed to drink water on my birthday.” With a little shake of his head, Justin pointed to his glass, “Try one of these.” “Ummm…I don’t know.” “You’ll like it,” he promised before giving her order to the manager. The man nodded to acknowledge Justin, but he didn’t move. He was obviously still trying to figure out the situation. Justin didn’t seem to appreciate the manager’s curiosity. “That’ll be all,” he said in a tone packed with “I’m a celebrity” arrogance. When she was sure the manager was out of hearing distance, Grace refused to look Justin in eye when she regretfully admitted, “I didn’t want to say this earlier, but I can’t afford it.” “Don’t worry about it.” Instinctively, her chin tilted up stubbornly. “I won’t let you pay for my drink.” Justin smiled at her determined behavior and took another sip of his drink. “When you put it like, I actually wish I was going to pay.” “If you’re not…” “I won’t have to pay for anything. In fact, I don’t have any money on me right now,” he interrupted, anticipating her question. Grace drew her eyebrows together, not sure if he was telling the truth. “Are you sure?” “Positive. That guy,” he motioned in the general direction of the manager, “won’t even hear of taking money from me. It’s one of the perks of being a celebrity. Here, I’ll prove it to you.” Making a small gesture with his hands, Justin didn’t raise his voice at all when he summoned the manager. “I don’t think he heard you,” Grace said, but not a second after the words left her mouth, the man appeared before them, her drink in one hand. “Here you go, ma’am. Was there anything you needed, sir? Our buffalo wings are quite famous.” “No, thank you. We’re not hungry,” he gave her a quick look that Grace supposed meant “watch this”, “How much do I owe you for the lady’s drink?” Returning to his steadfast naval posture, the manager shook his head so swiftly that Grace was sure he would be dizzy for weeks. “Everything is on the house, Mr. Timberlake.” “You wouldn’t hear of taking his money, right?” Grace really did need to learn when to keep her mouth shut. Both men shot her annoyed glances, Justin’s somewhat more amused. “Exactly, ma’am. At Luc’s, people of Mr. Timberlake’s status are given the special treatment they so deserve.” “Oh, you’re too kind,” Justin laughed, enjoying himself, “When you close, you should come to my party across the street.” With wide eyes, the manager bobbed his head, “Yes, yes, I would like that. If you’ll excuse me, I have to call my wife. That is if I can bring my wife.” “Wouldn’t be a party without her,” Justin replied without missing a beat. Grace swore she saw the manager curtsy before hurrying away. She took a sip of her drink, deciding she needed an alcoholic beverage before saying what was on her mind. “Speaking of your party,” she started hesitantly, “I still don’t understand why you’re here and not there.” “I was hoping you’d forgotten.” “Considering I spent almost three weeks making sure it was the best party of your life, that’s not likely. You don’t have to tell me if you really don’t want to.” “Three weeks, huh? That’s a long time.” “Yeah.” Assuming he wasn’t going to talk about it, Grace tried to think of a new topic, but then he surprised her. “You have to promise not to tell my mom. I don’t want her to think I didn’t appreciate everything she did.” “I promise.” This was probably be the best day of her life. To think, she had started out the day trying to think of ways to skip the party, and now, Justin was about to share a secret with her. Just between the two of them. God, she really hoped this wasn’t a dream. |