Her first Proposal
Chuck stood in the back of the room, watching his daughter at the front. She was going over the proposal she'd written, explaining and presenting what she was looking to do with the business she found and how it would be a good asset for Bass Inc.
She wasn't but sixteen and in a dress that had him growling a little because of the length. It was just this side of appropriate, but barely, especially for someone under age. At first, a good portion of the share holders couldn't really take their eyes off the hemline, but the moment she started talking all attention was on her and not the dress. She commanded their eyes and ears with a presence he'd only really ever seen in one other person, her mother.
It was a long meeting, feeling a little longer still because it was the last of the day mostly because Chuck had told her she wasn't allowed to skip school today for this. A couple hours later saw Blair picking the pair up in the car, Grace bubbling over with energy and excitement as she babbled at her mother about how well it had gone and how they'd loved her ideas and that it was a green light on the project. She was so engrossed in telling her mother everything that she hadn't realized they were already pulling up outside the restaurant.
Her head turned to look out the window, curious which place they'd ended up and shifted to scramble out of the car once it stopped. Jude barely had time to push himself off the wall he'd been leaning against to catch her as she launched herself at him and her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug. Her words, if it were possible, got even faster in her excitement.
"Gracie," Jude murmured softly, spinning her a little after catching her, "Gracie, breath you're going to turn blue." He couldn't help the grin he now sported, though; her energy was infectious.
She paused in her talking to take a deep breath as he set her back on her feet. "They loved it!" She finally got out clearly as her parents herded them inside and towards the table.
"That's great!" He tucked her into his side a little as they moved, eyes picking out the four person table Chuck had moved to stand by. "But, wouldn't you want to share this with that boy of yours...?" The question comes unbidden, unable to stop it because there are only four seats.
She shook her head and leaned up to kiss his cheek, "No. I want the person that has stood by me, who helped me work out kinks in my proposal, and my best friend here to share this with me."
Jude smiled at her words, hand reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before he moved to get her chair as Chuck got Blair's. The dinner passed with more excited, albeit slower talk of how the meeting went and where they'd go from here. The biggest reason Grace was so excited was because while Chuck had started showing her his proposals and she'd helped him occasionally with them, this was the first one she'd done by herself. Her mother and Jude had helped write it, but then Blair was always helping write the proposals and Grace trusted Jude's opinion on these things as much as Chuck trusted Blair's; the biggest difference with this was Chuck had no hand in it. She wrote it with a little help and then she presented it to the share holders all by herself. It was quite an accomplishment for a sixteen year-old, really.
After dinner, Grace got Jude to agree to come back to the penthouse with the lure of watching his favorite movie and the knowledge that tomorrow was Saturday so it wasn't like a late night would kill either of them. So the two retreated to her room for the movie while her parents disappeared into their own room.
"You know, I wish I'd known we were doing a late night movie thing, I'd have brought a change of comfier clothes," Jude teased as Grace pulled out a pair of pajamas.
She looked over at him with a thoughtful run of her teeth over her lip before she opened a different drawer and pulled out some fabric. She tossed them at him as she made her way on bare feet to her bathroom to change, "That should work, I think?"
Jude caught what she tossed, blinking as he stared down at a pair of his own pajama pants and the missing concert t-shirt he'd been looking for for the past month. "How did you...I've been looking for this!"
"Obviously you haven't been looking in the right spot, Saint Jude," she teased from the bathroom as she made quick work of the dress she was in, exchanging it for a tank top and pajama shorts.
"Seriously, where did you get these?" Jude asked, changing the pants first so if she came back out he'd at least be that ready. With good cause and thought process too since she emerged from the bathroom shortly after with her dress in hand.
"You loaned them to me the night we got caught in the downpour because I was soaked through, just never remembered to return them to you," she answered lightly as she hung the dress up and then moved over to the bed. She nearly tripped as she watched him change shirts, his nice dress shirt being draped over her chair with his dress slacks. Catching herself before he caught her, though, she shifted to settle on the bed with her head propped up against her headboard.
"Never remembered or were trying to keep them because you knew this was my favorite shirt when you swiped it," he teased softly as he moved and set up the DVD for them. He moved back to her, remote in hand, and couldn't help but smile a little at the soft blush along her cheeks that said it was because she wanted to keep it. "You're not getting it back from me either, Disgrace," he continued teasing as he settled on the bed with her, head settling on her stomach.
Her hand automatically stole the remote and set it next to her before settling in his hair to comb her fingers through it, not able to help that the blush deepened with the unsaid comment on the tip of her tongue. Somehow she didn't think saying, 'I'm sure I could find a way to get you out of it,' would really help anything tonight so she swallowed it. "I'm sure it'll be as easy to steal back the next time we get caught in a downpour," she murmured instead as she started the movie.
He chuckled softly, the vibrations causing her to wiggle under him a little with an interesting sound that he doesn't push or try and have her make again. "Maybe, maybe not."
It's not too long into the movie that both end up asleep. Jude was the first to go, but then with her combing through his hair like that and the warmth of her under his cheek and under his hand where he'd wrapped around one of her legs, it was hard not to fall asleep. Grace, running low on energy as she'd relaxed, wasn't far behind him as her hand finely came to just rest at the back of his neck. And it's not long after that that Chuck comes in, a soft sigh because he's been ordered by his wife to not disturb them if they're sleeping, to turn the DVD and TV off. The remote is set on the dresser with the TV as he gets a blanket and settles it around the sleeping teens before he almost closes the door behind him. Jude is extremely lucking that Chuck, for all his grumbling, does trust him. It's the only reason he's not woken up and sent home, even with Blair's pushing to leave them be. He'll just be grateful that he doesn't see them come morning, when Jude has made his way up the bed and Grace is pillowed near atop him, all curled up and looking like the couple they'll become in a few years.
She wasn't but sixteen and in a dress that had him growling a little because of the length. It was just this side of appropriate, but barely, especially for someone under age. At first, a good portion of the share holders couldn't really take their eyes off the hemline, but the moment she started talking all attention was on her and not the dress. She commanded their eyes and ears with a presence he'd only really ever seen in one other person, her mother.
It was a long meeting, feeling a little longer still because it was the last of the day mostly because Chuck had told her she wasn't allowed to skip school today for this. A couple hours later saw Blair picking the pair up in the car, Grace bubbling over with energy and excitement as she babbled at her mother about how well it had gone and how they'd loved her ideas and that it was a green light on the project. She was so engrossed in telling her mother everything that she hadn't realized they were already pulling up outside the restaurant.
Her head turned to look out the window, curious which place they'd ended up and shifted to scramble out of the car once it stopped. Jude barely had time to push himself off the wall he'd been leaning against to catch her as she launched herself at him and her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug. Her words, if it were possible, got even faster in her excitement.
"Gracie," Jude murmured softly, spinning her a little after catching her, "Gracie, breath you're going to turn blue." He couldn't help the grin he now sported, though; her energy was infectious.
She paused in her talking to take a deep breath as he set her back on her feet. "They loved it!" She finally got out clearly as her parents herded them inside and towards the table.
"That's great!" He tucked her into his side a little as they moved, eyes picking out the four person table Chuck had moved to stand by. "But, wouldn't you want to share this with that boy of yours...?" The question comes unbidden, unable to stop it because there are only four seats.
She shook her head and leaned up to kiss his cheek, "No. I want the person that has stood by me, who helped me work out kinks in my proposal, and my best friend here to share this with me."
Jude smiled at her words, hand reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before he moved to get her chair as Chuck got Blair's. The dinner passed with more excited, albeit slower talk of how the meeting went and where they'd go from here. The biggest reason Grace was so excited was because while Chuck had started showing her his proposals and she'd helped him occasionally with them, this was the first one she'd done by herself. Her mother and Jude had helped write it, but then Blair was always helping write the proposals and Grace trusted Jude's opinion on these things as much as Chuck trusted Blair's; the biggest difference with this was Chuck had no hand in it. She wrote it with a little help and then she presented it to the share holders all by herself. It was quite an accomplishment for a sixteen year-old, really.
After dinner, Grace got Jude to agree to come back to the penthouse with the lure of watching his favorite movie and the knowledge that tomorrow was Saturday so it wasn't like a late night would kill either of them. So the two retreated to her room for the movie while her parents disappeared into their own room.
"You know, I wish I'd known we were doing a late night movie thing, I'd have brought a change of comfier clothes," Jude teased as Grace pulled out a pair of pajamas.
She looked over at him with a thoughtful run of her teeth over her lip before she opened a different drawer and pulled out some fabric. She tossed them at him as she made her way on bare feet to her bathroom to change, "That should work, I think?"
Jude caught what she tossed, blinking as he stared down at a pair of his own pajama pants and the missing concert t-shirt he'd been looking for for the past month. "How did you...I've been looking for this!"
"Obviously you haven't been looking in the right spot, Saint Jude," she teased from the bathroom as she made quick work of the dress she was in, exchanging it for a tank top and pajama shorts.
"Seriously, where did you get these?" Jude asked, changing the pants first so if she came back out he'd at least be that ready. With good cause and thought process too since she emerged from the bathroom shortly after with her dress in hand.
"You loaned them to me the night we got caught in the downpour because I was soaked through, just never remembered to return them to you," she answered lightly as she hung the dress up and then moved over to the bed. She nearly tripped as she watched him change shirts, his nice dress shirt being draped over her chair with his dress slacks. Catching herself before he caught her, though, she shifted to settle on the bed with her head propped up against her headboard.
"Never remembered or were trying to keep them because you knew this was my favorite shirt when you swiped it," he teased softly as he moved and set up the DVD for them. He moved back to her, remote in hand, and couldn't help but smile a little at the soft blush along her cheeks that said it was because she wanted to keep it. "You're not getting it back from me either, Disgrace," he continued teasing as he settled on the bed with her, head settling on her stomach.
Her hand automatically stole the remote and set it next to her before settling in his hair to comb her fingers through it, not able to help that the blush deepened with the unsaid comment on the tip of her tongue. Somehow she didn't think saying, 'I'm sure I could find a way to get you out of it,' would really help anything tonight so she swallowed it. "I'm sure it'll be as easy to steal back the next time we get caught in a downpour," she murmured instead as she started the movie.
He chuckled softly, the vibrations causing her to wiggle under him a little with an interesting sound that he doesn't push or try and have her make again. "Maybe, maybe not."
It's not too long into the movie that both end up asleep. Jude was the first to go, but then with her combing through his hair like that and the warmth of her under his cheek and under his hand where he'd wrapped around one of her legs, it was hard not to fall asleep. Grace, running low on energy as she'd relaxed, wasn't far behind him as her hand finely came to just rest at the back of his neck. And it's not long after that that Chuck comes in, a soft sigh because he's been ordered by his wife to not disturb them if they're sleeping, to turn the DVD and TV off. The remote is set on the dresser with the TV as he gets a blanket and settles it around the sleeping teens before he almost closes the door behind him. Jude is extremely lucking that Chuck, for all his grumbling, does trust him. It's the only reason he's not woken up and sent home, even with Blair's pushing to leave them be. He'll just be grateful that he doesn't see them come morning, when Jude has made his way up the bed and Grace is pillowed near atop him, all curled up and looking like the couple they'll become in a few years.