The day started out as it always did. Grace slammed her hand on the alarm clock, which would ring at exactly seven AM every morning. Slowly, she sat herself up, blinking her eyes a few times to adjust to the bright light erupting through the room. She then stood up, making her way to the bathroom and forcing herself to take a shower. The rest of the morning was almost a blur as Grace very zombie-like got herself ready for the day. Another boring day.
Business school was honestly a bore. It sucked. But, business was something she was good at. She had always been good with numbers, good at leading. So why not do something that included both? Grace Winters was starting her second semester of college, hoping that it flew by as fast as the first semester did. A girl could dream, couldn't she?
She had made her way down to her parents kitchen, the time nearly seven-thirty as she walked in to see her mom standing over the stove. Grace never could understand how the woman was able to wake up so early with such energy. She acted like she had been up for hours, which was something Grace could never do.
"Hey, Grace." Caroline said, a kind, motherly smile on her face.
Grace smiled back, sitting at the counter, taking a sip of the fresh squeezed orange juice her mom had poured for her as she entered. "Morning, Mom."
Her mom smiled once more, walking over to her with a sizzling pan of bacon. She placed two slices on her plate, following it up with some fried eggs. "Eat up. You have a busy first day back."
"I know, don't remind me." Grace groaned, already dreading it.
"Now, don't start that. You know it'll all be worth it once you walk across that stage and receive your degree."
"Yeah, just three grueling more years to go." Grace replied sarcastically, taking another bite of her food as her dad walked by, kissing her quickly on the forehead.
"I gotta hurry and get to the office, but I'll see you two ladies tonight for dinner." he said, hurrying and grabbing his lunch Caroline had laid out as he walked in. He reached over, thanking her and giving her a kiss, before rushing out the door.
Grace watched, returning to her food after she heard the door shut. Caroline walked to the opposite side of the counter, pulling out her laptop as she began logging in to start her work for the day.
"How many new orders?" Grace asked her, finishing up with her breakfast.
"Twenty-three." she said excitedly. "I'm gonna start on them today, and hopefully get them finished by the end of the week."
"I'll try to help when I get home." Grace replied, carrying her empty plate and glass to the sink. "I have to be at class by eight-thirty, so I'm gonna go ahead and leave."
Caroline nodded, telling her 'Bye.' and 'I love you.' as she walked out the door. Grace got in her Jeep, cranking it up and began driving to class. It didn't take long, maybe about thirty minutes, and before she knew it, she was seated in a lecture room. The professor droned on and on about God knows what. She, like most other students, sat in her seat, her iPhone sitting on top of the desk, audio recording everything the professor said. It was futile trying to take notes in his class. He droned on and on, never stopping. So by the time the students managed to write half of what he was saying, they felt like their hand would fall off. Grace had learned that the hard way.
A friend of her's, Emily, nudged her softly. "You coming to my place after class?" she asked quietly, her voice barely loud enough that Grace could hear her. Her hazel brown eyes, which differed greatly from Grace's ocean blue were always bright and kind. She usually kept her blonde hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, her hair tie being hidden by a piece of hair she would wrap around it. They had been friends since first semester. Not best friends, but good friends.
Grace shook her head softly, moving a piece of her brunette hair behind her ear. "My dads working late, so I want to be home today. Mom doesn't like being at the house all day by herself."
Emily poked her lip out, disappointed. "But I'm inviting people over. You need to come."
Grace shook her head once again. "I'm sorry, I really can't tonight. Maybe next time?"
She sighed, but nevertheless smiled and nodded, going back to listening to the lecture.
It lasted close to an hour, and finally, Grace was able to go to a different class. She loved her math class, because it was less lecturing and more teaching. She hated the lectures, they bored her and were hard to focus on. Grace was a more hands on type of student, preferring to actually do something rather than sit and listen. The remaining classes she had for the day passed by in a blur, and soon enough, she was back at home. Caroline was sitting at her table, various balls of yarn laid out in front of her. She was finishing up a blanket she had started for an order, and Grace laid her bag down and took a seat beside her. "What's the next one?"
"Green and blue baby boy blanket. I need it finished first. It's for a funeral." she said, a small bit of grief in her voice.
Grace felt her throat constrict. She hated when orders came in like that. It meant a child, or baby had passed, and that order was top priority. "I'll get it finished now." I said, picking up the needed materials to begin crocheting it. "Did you refund the buyers money?"
She nodded. "Of course. You know I won't make them pay for it."
I smiled and began crocheting the blanket, taking extra care in doing it.
We sat for a few hours, talking and finishing up orders that were needing to be sent out in the next couple of days. Mom was a self employed woman, selling her crocheted and knitted goods online. She had always loved to knit and crochet, and one day, I had pitched the idea to start a business instead of just handing out her creations as gifts. Yes, we still donated things, but Mom was able to expand and better her supplies as the business grew. It was far away from making her more than a couple hundred dollars a week, but it was steadily growing as more and more people found her shop. It gave me great practice, managing the profits and making adjustments as needed. We were basically like partners.
Dad arrived back at the house around dinner time, which was always six-thirty. He usually would be back around four, but sometimes things took longer at the office. He would get behind on paperwork, or would have a late meeting that set him back. It wasn't an everyday thing, but it did happen.
We all sat at the dinner table, Mom passing around a dish of her famous lasagna. We each scooped us out a serving, before going through our ritual of discussing our days.
"Why didn't you go by Emily's after school?" Dad asked, taking a bite of his lasagna.
I wiped my mouth on a napkin, chewing and swallowing my food before answering. "I wanted to help Mom finish some orders, so I told her I would hang out some other time."
Dad nodded, taking another bite of food. Mom asked him how his day went, and he began going into detail about the meeting he had with executives that delayed him. I drowned out the conversation, losing interest as I finished my food. After a few more minutes, I excused myself from the table, going up to my room and getting ready for bed.
I went through my routine, showering, brushing my teeth, and watching a little tv before going to bed. All in all, it had been another boring day.
The next morning, I woke up as a I always did, starting with my morning routine, and went down stairs to have breakfast with Mom. Instead of finding her in the kitchen, I saw her and Dad sitting on the couch, the local news on tv with a breaking news title.
"What's going on?" I asked, standing behind them, staring at the tv. Neither of them answered, and I continued to watch as a the camera flashed to a familiar house. "That's Emily's house." I noted, my eye brows furrowing together.
"The young men and woman were found inside this house, belonging to Amy and Thomas Miller, who were not home during the attack." the news anchor spoke, pointing to the house I had grown familiar to.
Tears were in Mom's eyes as she looked back at me. "They found Emily and a bunch of her friends dead this morning." she said through her tears.
I stared at the tv, my eyes glossing over. "Do they know what happened?" I whispered.
Dad shook his head. "They were attacked. They figured it was a burglary gone wrong."
I shook my head. "Why would someone break into the house knowing all those people were there? They had to of known?"
Dad shrugged. "I don't know, Hun. Her parents found them this morning once they returned home."
Tears ran down my face. "She wanted me to come over. What if I had went?" I cried.
Mom stood up and walked around to me, pulling me into hug. "Let's not think about that. What matters is that you're okay. And whoever did this to them will be caught and brought to justice. Stay home today, just relax."
I nodded, wiping my tears and hugging her back. We pulled away and Dad switched off the tv, grabbing his phone and kissing Mom on the cheek. "I gotta go, but I love you two. I should be home at the regular time today."
We both nodded, bidding him bye as he walked out the door. I made my way back up to my room, pondering on Emily's death. She was sweet, and always kind. Her smile was radiant, and though we weren't best friends, I would miss her. She didn't deserve to die, none of them did. But there was nothing I could do about it. Needing to distract myself, I pulled out my laptop, deciding to do some studying.
About thirty minutes into studying, Mom came and knocked on my door, poking her head in after a moment. "Hey, how does coffee and muffins sound?" she asked, smiling knowingly at me.
I smiled back and nodded, closing my laptop and grabbing my phone, standing from the bed and following her out to the car. We got in, driving to a small diner my mom's friend owned. When I was on break, we would go nearly every morning and get coffee and muffins. It had become the thing we did together to jump start our mornings, and I had already began missing it since my first day back to class.
We parked in what had become our usual spot, and both got out, walking in the diner and taking a seat in a booth. Brianna, a long time waitress, walked to our table and greeted us.
"What can I get y'all?" she asked. "The usual?"
"Yes ma'am. You already know it." Mom replied cheerfully, laughing with her as she wrote down our order.
"Alright, Ladies. I'll have that out shortly." she said, walking to the back and placing our order.
"I love this place." I commented, looking around at the nineties themed place. "It's very retro."
"Reminds me of my younger days." came a voice behind us. Roger, my moms friend, and the owner of the diner had came and took a seat beside my mother. "Caroline, how are you, Dear?"
Mom smiled, hugging him. "I'm good, Rog. How are you?"
"Peaches and cream over here, Darlin'." He turned to me. "Grace, I get even more and and more jealous every time I see you, Dear. You just keep gettin' more and more pretty, Love."
I smiled and picked up my coffee, taking a sip after Brianna placed it down in front of me. "No more beautiful than you, Roger. No one can outdo you, Babe." I replied jokingly.
He dramatically rolled his eyes and flipped his long, blonde hair behind his shoulder. "You keep me young, Doll."
Mom laughed, rolling her eyes. "Aren't you, what, three years older than me?"
"Shhh! Caroline, a woman never tells her age." Roger replied, acting like the statement had offended him.
I laughed, beginning to pick at my muffin. Roger sat and talked for a moment, before leaving the table and going back to managing the diner. He was a character, always had been since Mom had first met him. He was openly gay, if it wasn't obvious enough by his mannerisms. He was like a big brother, or sister, as he would joke to Mom. They had met in high school, before he came out, and became best friends. Mom used to always say she knew from day one where his true sexuality laid. He just gave off a genuine vibe, and she had always accepted him for whatever he wanted to be.
For me, he was more like an inappropriate uncle. He was always trying to make Dad uncomfortable, not in a harmful way, just a playful and innocent manner. Whereas Dad was a calm and collected man, Roger was the exact opposite. He liked making noise and having all eyes on him. He was really a cool uncle if I thought about it.
We sat and finished our breakfast, Mom excusing herself to the bathroom while I made my way up to the front to pay. She had given me her wallet and instructed me to use her card, but of course, as I went to take it out, it was nowhere to be found.
"Shit." I mumbled, remembering that I had forgotten to grab mine from the car. "Umm, gimme a second. I think my mom left her card at home. I'll run to the car and get mine."
The woman at the register nodded, but as I went to leave, a voice stopped me. "I'll cover the bill."
I turned, and a man, about my age stood at the counter, handing his card to the woman. "Thank you, but I can run to the car real quick. You don't have to do that."
He smiled and continued to give her his card. "It fine, Ma'am. I can get it. Just take it as my good duty for the day."
I smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
He smiled and payed the tab, also paying his and picking up his order. "I'm Grayson. It's nice to meet you." he said, as he stepped away from the counter.
"Grace. The pleasure is mine." I replied, my southern accent sticking out against his. "You aren't from around here, are you?" I asked, a kind smile on my face.
"Was it the accent that gave me away?" he joked, taking a seat at a nearby table. "You can sit if you'd like, until your mom returns."
I accepted and took a seat across from him. "Thank you. And honestly, the accent is a dead give away." I replied, laughing at the end.
He laughed also, flashing sparkling white teeth. "I'm from up north. I came here on business."
I nodded understandingly. "I figured by the accent you had to be from that way."
"Yes, New York to be exact."
"Wow, I've always wanted to go to New York." I commented.
His smile never left his face. "It's alright. Mostly a lot of traffic and people yelling at you."
I giggled looking down at the table.
"Grace, I'm sorry I took so long, your father-" Mom stopped mid sentence as she took in Grayson. "Who is this, Dear?" she asked with a curious tone.
"Mom, this is Grayson..."
"Grayson King, Ma'am. I was just keeping Grace company while she waited for you." he filled in smoothly, standing up from his seat. "It's nice to meet you, Ma'am."
Mom slightly blushed and glanced at me before replying. "It's nice to meet you, Grayson. I'm Caroline Winters." She turned to me, giving me a look. "I'm sorry I took so long. Your father called. Turns out he'll be having another long night at the office." She looked back to Grayson, a smile on her face. "If I'd known you had company, I would've waited a little longer to come out."
"Mom." I hissed, nudging her.
Grayson laughed, gathering his bag in his hands. "I was needing to head back to my hotel anyways. I have a couple hungry men who will be wondering where their breakfast is if I don't hurry."
Mom nodded, "Well, thank you for keeping Grace company in my absence. Do you have a phone? I can give you her number and maybe you can call later?"
"Mom!" I hissed again, not exactly mad at the idea of getting the handsome man's number, but merely the audacity of my mother. "I'm sorry about her." I mumbled to Grayson, my face red as a tomato in embarrassment.
Grayson smiled and pulled out his phone. "Actually, I was about to ask for you number, before your mom graciously offered it to me. If that's okay?"
I stared at him, dumbstruck. Sure, I had dated a few guys in high school, and I knew I was a decently attractive girl. But this guy, this guy looked like he belonged on a magazine cover. "Umm.. yeah. Gimme your phone."
He handed it to me, and I quickly typed my name and number in, saving it, and handing it back. "Just, umm, call me whenever, I guess?"
Grayson nodded. "I will. It was nice meeting you both."
"Nice meeting you." called Mom as he walked away. "Wow. He is hot." she mumbled once he was out of ear shot.
"Mom!" I groaned, letting her drag me to the car.
"What? He is. Did you see him? He was gorgeous, Grace. And he liked you. You know I think you're the most beautiful thing that's walked the planet, but a man like that in this town doesn't happen much."
I rolled my eyes. "He asked for my number, that doesn't mean anything. I mean, he probably won't even call." I said, climbing in the car as Mom started it up.
"Oh, he'll call. And you better answer when he does. I like him, he seemed like a gentleman." she concluded.
"You literally spoke to him for a a minute, Mom."
She rolled her eyes, beginning the drive back to the house. "Well, still, you better answer."
I sighed and nodded, staring at my phone the rest of the ride.
It was getting close to be being late when my phone finally rang. I was laying in bed, studying on my laptop before bed. I picked it up, my nerves flaring as an unknown number popped up.
"Okay, calm down. He's just a guy. Calm down." I repeated to myself, sliding over on the screen to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Grace? This is Grayson, from the diner this morning." his deep, baritone voice filled my ear.
"Hey, I remember you." I replied, a smile falling on my face.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to call. It's been a busy day and evening. You weren't in bed yet?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"No, I was getting ready for bed and studying, but I can talk."
"Okay, good." he replied with a laugh. "How was your day?"
"It was okay. I skipped class today, so it wasn't all that eventful."
"What are you majoring in?" he asked curiously.
"Business. I'm not sure what branch yet, but I know I wanna do something within those bounds."
"A business woman? I like it." he said jokingly.
I giggled and rolled on my back, the phone still pressed to my ear. "What do you do? You said you were out here for business?"
"I run a family business. We have a few clients here that I needed to meet with." he answered.
"You run a business?" I asked, very intrigued by his words. "Like you own it?"
He laughed, and I heard shuffling like he too had moved to a more comfortable position. "Yes. You could say that."
"Huh, well, it seems we have a bit in common."
"I guess we do."
I talked with Grayson for over an hour before I finally needed to go to sleep for class the next day.
"Could I possibly take you out tomorrow night, if you aren't busy?" he asked before we hung up.
"Yeah, I'd love that. Would you like to meet somewhere or pick me up?"
"I can pick you up, but either one is fine. Just whatever you're comfortable with."
Any other time, I would opt to meet the guy there in case the date didn't go well. But for some reason, I felt comfortable enough for him to pick me up. "You can pick me up. I'm comfortable with that."
"Okay, sounds good. Just text me the address and I'll pick you up around five?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you then."
"Okay, good night, Sweetheart." he replied.
"Good night." I said back, blushing madly and hanging up the phone. "He called me Sweetheart." I gushed to myself, rolling over in bed and closing my eyes, eventually calming my excitement enough to drift off to sleep.
