When I woke up, it was like my mind took .01 seconds to catch up and remind me of what today was: my 26th birthday.
I rolled over and let my eyes fall onto the picture collage on my bedside table. A picture of Adam in a black suit with the sun setting behind him that I'd taken just before he left for a TV appearance. Me, Adam, and Tommy at a party.
Another was of Adam and I taken just a few weeks ago, laying on the beach, Adam holding the camera above us.
I smiled at the memory of the half empty beach in the early morning, a slight chill rolling off of the waves, the musky but clean, refreshing scent of the man next to me...
Then that's when the bouquet of flowers hit the morning light. I sat up with a little gasp and picked them up.
"Oh my gosh, Adam." I whispered, sniffing the flowers; beautiful.
Throwing off the covers, standing and stretching, I walked to my bathroom, where a strange sight greeted me.
On my mirror, written in red, were the words "It's your birthday!" in Adam's script. There was a heart and a smiley face under it. I grinned and shook my head.
When I arrived downstairs, flowers in hand to find a vase, I was shocked yet again by the unexpected.
Black and Tiffany blue- my two favorite color schemes- were everywhere, balloons, streamers, and bouquets of flowers littered the walls and tables.
I covered my mouth as I made my way down the stairs. The smell of pancakes was in the air and I rounded the corner to see Adam adding a large helping of hot pancakes onto a plate.
"Adam!" I crowed, making him jump a little. "How on earth did you manage all of this?"
He flashed those white teeth. "Happy birthday! And you're a heavy sleeper and I've got people who work fast. When they're not inhaling all of the helium." he added with a touch of disdain. I didn't need to ask who it was.
He came around the island to pick me up in a tight hug, then kissed me on the cheek.
"I made chocolate pancakes with whipped cream."
"Mm, my favorite!"
He found a white vase and we put my tulips in it. I totally geeked out on the inside.
We sat at the dining-room table and dug into the delicious breakfast, silently chewing while I marveled at the decor.
"Nervous about tonight?" Adam asked, shaking the whipped cream can and adding some more onto his pancakes.
"Yeah, a bit. But I'm excited for the after party."
He grinned, leaning on his elbow. "You should be. The surprises don't end there!"
I cocked a brow. "Is that so? And I'm guessing there's no point in trying to get you to spill any details?"
He shook his head, slowing pulling the fork out of his mouth in a seductive way, winking.
I giggled and ducked my head.
"Well as soon as we're done, how about heading into town? There are a few people who want to meet up with you."
"Uh oh."
He waved me down. "Chill. It's your b-day, I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't wanna."
"Surree." I teased.
Half an hour later, sunglasses on and looking fierce, we stepped out from the Mustang and Adam took my hand, head held high and a little smile on his lips.
"What are you smirking about?" I asked, bumping his shoulder. He swung our hands between us and shrugged a shoulder.
"Nothin'."
"Such lies!"
"Well you're not learning anything more so just chillax."
We stopped by a few of my favorite stores, and luckily Adam was just as in to shopping as I was, so I didn't have to drag around a whiny guy with me through the racks and shelves.
He pointed out a pair of ankle boots that were spattered with paint and adorned with heavy spikes. I perked up and checked the price tag. Holy crap. $270 for shoes?
I turned away but Adam caught my arm.
"Do you like them?"
"Well, yeah. But they're ridiculously expensive!"
He looked at the tag. "Oh my god, babe. I'm gonna buy you the boots."
I opened my mouth to protest but he put his finger on my lips. "Uh uh; I'll. Buy. The. Boots."
"Fine," I snorted, grabbing a box with my size and trying them on.
Ten minutes later and we were in a high-end Sephora place, browsing through the Too-Faced and Urban Decay stuff. I snagged a couple glittery gray and black eyeliners, along with a pink gloss; Warrior.
"It'll go great with my dress," I said. Adam nodded, but his eyes were on the door, where a small crowd had gathered.
I groaned. It was only a matter of time before they saw us so it was to be expected, but still annoying and inconvenient.
We cashed out, put our sunglasses on, and Adam put a protective hand on the small of my back, politely, but firmly, shouldered his way through the paps so that he was closest to them and blocking most of the brunt for me. As long as our faces were covered enough they couldn't sell pictures of us. That didn't mean they wouldn't find their way onto the Web, because they always did, but this way we probably wouldn't be making it into Star or People! anytime soon.
After a few moments, Adam's phone buzzed and he checked the message, instantly grinning.
"Sweet. Okay, let's go!"
He tugged me across the street and we speed-walked to a corner café that was bustling, but not too overcrowded.
It was impossible to miss the shock of blond, purple streaked hair, shoulder pads, and vampire-esque clothing of Tommy Joe Ratliff. I hadn't seen him in weeks ever since he started playing for September Mourning!
And seated across from him were Lee, Scarlett, and little Riff.
I broke away from Adam to dash over to them, throwing my arms around TJ's petite frame and squeezing the life out of him.
"Jeez, Nix!" He gasped when I let him go. "Don't kill me, girl!"
I laughed, then turned to the Cherry family, giving them all warm hugs and scooping up Riff and spinning him around. He giggled hysterically, but as soon as he saw Adam, I was all but forgotten. I set him down and he raced to Adam, his fancy little shoes beating against the flagstone.
My heart burned when Adam bent to give his godson a huge hug, exclaiming over how big he'd gotten.
"So how are you, Nix?" Scarlett asked, taking a sip from her margarita.
I sat in the chair Tommy pulled out for me and brushed back my hair, fanning my neck.
"Oh god, you know. Crazy as ever!" I caught sight of the paps across the street, all shunting each other around to get the best angle. Adam took Riff by the hand and guided him back to the table, making sure he was sitting so that his back was facing the cameras.
Adam's hand found mine under the table and we shared a look.
"So are you guys nervous for the show tonight?" Lee asked.
I nodded. "I am. Oh my gosh, I'm freaking out. But I'm glad I'll have someone helping with my makeup cause I doubt I'll be able to keep my hands steady enough!"
They laughed, and we continued our conversations until Riff started getting fidgety and tired, and the Cherry's had to leave. We hugged again and they wished me luck.
We hung around with TJ for another half hour before we had to head home and start getting ready.
Tommy gave me a small red bag and told me to wait to open it until that night.
"Why, is it something scandalous, Kitty?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
He laughed, throwing back his head. "No, darling. Nothing like that. Now, I expect you to SLAY on that red carpet, okay?"
I wrapped my arms around him again, and gave a little humorous shriek when he playfully nipped my ear.
"Tommy! Jeez, man." I joked, swatting him away. Adam wasn't concerned when he did this; all in good fun.
On the drive home, every minute my anxiety spiked higher until it felt like my heart would simply give out. Adam held my hand in the car, and I tried to focus on that instead of that night.
"Okay, so we need to be there in two hours with all our stuff, find our dressing room, and they will do our makeup and we'll change there. Sound good?" Adam said, tossing the keys on the black marble counter-top.
I nodded, my throat tight. "Yeah."
We both took speed showers, and I fluff dried my hair, tossing it up into a messy bun- no point trying to do it myself.
Hanging on my closet door was the dress. And what a dress it was. I couldn't help but stare at it.
It was just so...ME. It was a floor length, black, one-shouldered number, with a fitted bodice and diamond trim around the waist, set with a large diamond rose like thing over my right ribs. The shoulder strap was sheer with sparkling jewels right near my collarbone, and over my heart the strap was more like a keyhole.
It was light as air and moved like a calm breeze when I walked, and the slit on the left side that reached to my mid-thigh exposed the legs I'd been working on for weeks. I was toned now!
Sadly, I couldn't avoid the heels this time, and the dress was paired with the single most expensive shoes I would ever own: four thousand dollar, silver Versace peep toes with- you guessed it- a line of small, elegant white gold diamonds on the sides and the thin straps that went to my ankle.
I was terrified that I'd break the dainty shoes, but the seller assured me they were as tough as the diamonds that covered them.
My accessories were locked in a small black lock box that would be coming with me tonight. It held a set of black pearl earrings, a shimmering diamond, close fitting necklace, and of course; the Tiffany music note bracelet Sauli and Adam got me two years ago. God, so long ago...
It took two trips to get all my stuff down and load it into the big black SUV we'd rented especially for that night. Adam already had his suit, shoes, hair stuff, and a small case of his own accessories.
"Oh! I almost forgot my cocktail dress!" I said, snapping my fingers. I rushed past Adam and back to my room, snagging the light red, rather close fitting dress that skimmed above my knee. This would be for the after party. Luckily, I'd managed to find a pair of ultra comfortable, very low heeled shoes fit for dancing the night away. On my way out, I also grabbed my ridiculously large makeup bag.
"Ready?" Adam asked, kissing my forehead. I took a deep breath.
"I think so. Holy crap, Adam! I'm so nervous!"
"Don't be, okay? It's not that big a deal."
"That's easy for you to say! It's the Grammys! This IS a big deal. Okay, did you remember your speech?"
Adam rolled his eyes. "It's highly unlikely I'll win anything, but yes; I have my one index card of my speech in my bag."
"Alright, let's roll."
(Yay, a long chapter! Hope y'all enjoyed it :P
Also, there was a hint in the chapter that will be relevant when we get to CH 75... but what could it be???
Muwahahaha!
Thank you for almost 7k reads!!!
As always, I will see you in the next chapter!
~CG)