Loving the Surrogate

Night capping

Winwards Farms restaurant offered an exquisite dinner menu for them. They had recently been awarded a Michelin star award. Which is why their fan base and lists of guests have doubled and booking here was difficult . The waiting line can sometimes last for weeks. Gracie was impressed that James was able to secure a table on such short notice, although she had the idea somehow .A good connection and a good name gets you a long, long way. She knew that. Her parents did that all the time.

They had Capreze salad for appetizers, for the main course, James ordered lobster thermidor, which was a superb house specialty, they were told by the maitre d', and for dessert, they had strawberry sherbet.

The owner of the restaurant, being family friends with the Curtis' sent their table a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to their delight, courtesy of the restaurant.

" I love strawberries.'' He said as he was spooning his serving.

"Me too! And seafood. That is why I adore Japan so much. Gee,we have a lot of things in common, James."

Grace had a wonderful feeling in her guts that there would definitely be another date coming. James's second favorite country to vita was japan and they both love lobsters. She hoped that it would not just be one or two or three. Or was she just excited about the fact that this guy ticked all the boxes for his 'future boyfriend checklist'? Maybe all the reasons matter.

*Good looking and has a strong fashion game, unlike the other boys she dated.

*Smells great (she could smell sandalwood and musk and a tone of aftershave.)

*From a respected family and from an Ivy league too( strong points!)

*Can hold a conversation longer than the average Joe.He is very smart and not boring. Yey.

*Must be taller than Gracie. (He is!)

Her mental checking was interrupted by Amanda's waving. She was waving at her vigorously. Oh my goodness! She totally forgot about her friends and the arrangement they had before going on her date. That if she doesn't want to keep the date, Mandy or Taylor can take it from here. She smiled smugly to herself. Guess your keeping this one huh, Gracie? No one is taking home the bacon but her tonight. The bacon looks so gorgeous.

Taylor was making the "go to the ladies' room sign". So she excused herself politely from her date.

"I'm gonna go to the ladies' room. I will be quick.I need to powder my nose." She said, picking up her purse.

"Sure. Take your time. I will be here waiting until you come back." James said, still eating the sherbet. Boy, does he love strawberries or not?

Gracie could see that both Amanda and Taylor were missing at their tables now. She went ahead to the ladies' room and found them there staring at her unsmiling with blank expressions on their faces that slowly turned into a grimace and a frown and wait, are they mad? But why? They were the ones who wanted this in the first place. And now that she was happy with the result, they are freaking mad.

"I'm sorry, he was really nice and all chatty. I didn't see you two arrive." Gracie apologized to them even if she was sure that there was nothing to apologize for.

They both still look like they're gonna stab her ten times each with a swiss knife. She continued her apology. But at the back of her mind, she was racing for possible reasons why this two looked unhappy.

"What did I do? You said I should go on this date..'' Voice trailing off, she started to get teary eyed and that's where her id*ot friends broke into a laughter so loud that one of the ladies who was retouching her make-up shushed them and asked them to take their girly business else where.

"Guess neither of us gets the spoil, Taylor. This girl is all cheesy over the dude , I owe my brother one thousand dollars now." Taylor was grinning and very proud when she said that her brother has great taste in men. As she explained how she and Arty had a bet about Gracie tolerating the guy. And she did. She was grateful. She might send Arty a box of wine tomorrow.

"What's the cutie's name?"

They were now face to face with her. They waited for the sour woman to leave before the inquiry proceeded. It made her remember when suspected criminals were questioned by investigators. They didn't see his face because his back was towards them. If she tells them, they would definitely flip.

"Does he smell great? I bet he is huge." Mandy followed along. It was her turn to speak now, for she knew they were waiting for the juicy bits. She stood there, in the middle of the off-white tiled ladies' room, as if making a public speech , like in debate class where she aced her topic last week.

"Well, his name is James Andrew Curtis." She dropped it like a nuclear bomb on her friends. They were in a state of shock. Mouths ajar.

Taylor interrupted her. "Shut up. What the...James Curtis ?The James Curtis?!I'm gonna kill Arty.Oh, I am gonna kill that bastard. He will be dead, I am telling you, two! He saved the best for you and not his own flesh and blood!'' She was being dramatic, that's all. Dramatic is Taylor's middle name but she knew her best friend, and had just lost a precious prospect, but Taylor was a sport and she loved Gracie and her happiness was more important than a Curtis lad.

"Do you happen to know James?" It was Amanda asking.

"You guys live under a rock or what? The Curtis family owns the Bank of America ,he plays quarterback and he is well travelled, well versed and he will surely take after the company after graduating. Future in demand bachelor of America and I can not imagine why Arthur failed to mention that he is friends with James."

"Wow, you certainly know a lot about this guy.'' Said Amanda. "Are you sure you're not keeping tabs on every hot guy in the state?"

Taylor hit her with her purse. "Oh well, looks like someone's getting laid. When was the last time Gracie? Four months since the last hump?"

Friends are indeed like sisters and they support you and are genuinely happy for you. But yeah, her last s****l activity was a long time ago, but James ain't like that. She liked to believe so. He strikes her differently. Maybe she'll just wait and see where things between her and James will go. She went back to her handsome date.

The waiter had already cleared the table. What's left is their glasses of wine and the plate charcuterie board they ordered before she left for the ladies.

"Hi, sorry I took my time. Saw some ladies from Yale." As she sat in her place again.

"No, it's fine. Mother takes more time in the ladies' room, ten times more. I honestly think there's another world in the ladies' room." That was a good joke and she laughed at it heartily.

"Do you think we can have another of these ,Gracie?"

"Another bottle of expensive wine? Sure." She asked.

"No, this. Another date perhaps.'' Gracie's heart skipped a beat. Her stomach felt like it was in knots. She was perspiring ."Get it together Gracie, It's not like he is asking you to marry him. He was just asking for another date, i***t. Answerable by a yes or a no.'' She said that to herself, reminding her not to be overly optimistic.

"Did I say something wrong?" James broke her reverie.

She realized that he was waiting for an answer. "Yes, we should go out again."

James wanted to get to know his date more and it was still early. "Um, do you want to go someplace else? There's a Cafe I know of."

They left Winwards restaurant shortly after. Gracie passed by her friends and told them that they'd check out a Cafe .

"We are gonna go some place else too." Taylor announced, which shocked Amanda. They did not talk about anything.

"We are?" "Yes, we are celebrating Gracie's successful date. I need booze and we both need men. Still can't get over my brother's betrayal, hahaha" They stood up and kissed her.

"We want a blow by blow update in the morning. Have fun." And they were gone.

After her friends left, James came to her and said that the valet was outside with his car. " I've sent the limo home. You are riding with me."

This guy has style indeed and she likes it. Outside, the valet was standing in front of a red luxury car. Yup, this guy can take girls home with his car. But Gracie has her own luxury car too, so she wasn't that impressed, maybe a little impressed.

The white horse cafe in New Preston was where James meant. She and her block mates were just talking about this place a few days back because it was the talk of the entire Yale cafeteria. And now here she is. They chose a seat in the al fresco where they could see the night sky and the still busy Connecticut street.

"Coffee here is good. We always come here." he said.

"For the after party, or to cure hangovers?" Gracie could not resist asking. Great job ,Gracie. Now he will think you are nosy. James took a sip of his black coffee, no sugar.

"No, I come here often with Rhina.'' Even better, he is seeing someone. Gracie thought. She felt dismay and jealousy of this Rhina girl.

" Oh,what does she like here?" asking was even harder. Pretending that disappointment was fickle.

"Rhina likes her coffee smothered in whipped cream, kind of gross, but she likes it so I get it for her anyway." His animosity while talking about Rhina cannot be hidden. He is fond of her! So why the hell did he take me out on a date and have the guts to take me here and bluntly talk of his girl in front of her? The audacity.

Gracie is about to explode. She is not to be disrespected this way.

One more strike and this James, no matter how handsome he is, will regret his actions towards Gracie Smithson. She kept her silence while stirring her coffee.

"Rhina will be here soon." She heard him.

"Excuse me?" That's it. This guy needs to be educated on how to treat a lady. She would lash out at him so well that he would never forget this cafe. When a lady approached them.

"Jamie!" Gracie's jaw dropped, this girl is lovely, classy and she looks like James. He stood up, offered her a seat and introduced her to Gracie.

"She's my sister Rhina. This is the lovely Gracie Smithson, my date for tonight and maybe for many more to come.'' She blushed like peaches not because of his introduction to his sister, but because she was so quick to judge. All she was able to say was

"Hello."

It was a good night with James alone at first, but even better with his sister. She grew up as an only daughter so she felt a sisterly connection with Rhina. The night ended wonderfully. James took her to the Yale dormitory around midnight.

"Goodnight Gracie, It was fun. Sorry about my sister, she's a complete chatterbox."

"It's okay, I love her." and she kissed him on the cheeks.

She went inside and saw Taylor and Amanda and half of the girls sitting in the common hall all staring at her.

"What's going on?'' she asked because she had zero idea.

All the girls stood up and said " YOU ARE DATING JAMES CURTIS,WE HATE YOU'' and they all laughed. Oh what a good night.