It's About Time

You Sure Know How To Make A Guy Feel Special

Sorry that this chapter is really short! I'm leaving for Florida and I really wanted to get something up before I leave. 

************************************************************************************************************

Chapter 8

“Oh, lighten up Grace”, Natalie sneered.  He looked a little taken aback by the genuinely angry tone in her voice.  He quickly covered it, however.

“Oh, someone’s feisty today” Grayson smirked.  He sent Natalie a challenging look to which Natalie rolled her eyes.  “Did someone spit in your food this morning, or what?” He continued.

“I’ll spit in yours if you don’t shut up.  I don’t really want to sit here any more than you want me to.” She affirmed.

“Oh Nat, I know you want me”, he said with a crooked smile.  “Face it: You want to sit here, all alone with me, at this wonderful table.”  He gestured to the open table and sent her a flirty wink.

“Would you please , for five minutes, shut your mouth?!” Natalie finally shouted.   The tables around her fell silent, ears pricked for any new piece of gossip.  Natalie suddenly became very interested in the lunch table, picking at a spot on the plastic top, cheeks flaming.  

Grayson shot an irritated look to the surrounding tables, willing them to go back to their own lunches, before turning his attention to Natalie.  He crossed his arms, resting them on the table as he watched her pick at the invisible spot for another few seconds before clearing his throat.  She looked up at him, her expression sheepish and her eyes sad.  

“What the hell was that, Nat?”

“I’m sorry.  I’m just really stressed and frustrated and today was a horrible day and you just don’t stop talking sometimes and I got super worked up and I took it out on you and you didn’t deserve it- well you kind of did- but still, I shouldn’t have yelled at you and I’m sorry”, Natalie ranted.  She watched Grayson, waiting for a response.

He gave a slight shake of his head, brushing off the apology.  

“Natalie, it’s fine.  I don’t care that you yelled at me.  Are you okay?”  Natalie measured his expression for a moment, searching for any signs of sarcasm or humor.  There didn’t seem to be any, just a slight curiosity.

“I’m fine.  Today was just really stressful and I got worked up.  I didn’t mean to take it out on you and I’m so sorry about that”, she explained calmly.  

“Don’t worry about it”, he said, picking up his slice of pizza and taking a bite.  Natalie watched him chew his pizza for a minute, slightly confused by his mood swing.

“That’s it?” She questioned incredulously.

“What do you mean?  Should I have done something else?”  He asked looking adorably confused.  

Natalie shook that thought off and responded with “I just expected you to make more jokes about it.  You know, something along the lines of ‘That time of the month, huh?’”.