Chapter Fourteen.
"Hey Pumba, did you know that the man who invented the toilet was named Thomas Crapper?"
Even though he did, John humored her. "Nope."
Gracie's eyes trailed downwards, lost in thought. "You knew that, I know you did. But I bet you didn't know that he was the nephew of Queen Elizabeth 1st and that Mr. Crapper gave her the first ever toilet which was made out of gold."
Well that he didn't know. "How do you know that?"
She shrugged and licked her ice-cream. "I had a lot of time."
It had been three months since 'revelation' day, and the day that Alex had found her. Two days after that, John took Gracie to Tampa with him for fear that Alex might somehow hunt her down and hurt her again, while Randy stayed in St. Louis. The perverted bastard hadn't been seen nor heard of since that day.
That was about a month ago. Gracie was back in St. Louis with Randy and even though John had gone back on the road, he was visiting her today. Pu-John and the nine year old were now on their way back to the Orton household after an afternoon visit to the ice-cream parlour.
Gracie's personality had been a roller-coaster since the 'revelation' (Randy liked to call it that). Some days she was jumpy and scared and didn't say anything for the whole day, while other days she seemed to forget her past was was bubbly like every nine year old should be. Expect for the laughter. Despite John and Randy's efforts, Gracie Ordenes-Orton was still laughless.
Today was one of the latter days. Not too smiley, but talkative none the less. Her two carers were still on that mission to make that small giggle erupt from her mouth, and John was still one in believing that food could fix everything. Hence the trip to BruSter's
As soon as the front door opened, Gracie made a break for her room, mint choc chip dripping down her hands, before Randy could quiz her on her day. John (after checking the fridge), headed towards the study, where Randy most likely was. He spent most of his hours these days either on the computer or on the phone, inquiring about what had happened to his daughter's other father.
He could faintly hear a voice coming from the office. Even though John was a hallway and a half away, he could hear the disappointment in Randy's tone.
"Yep... yep. Alright. Thanks anyway. You too. Thanks. Bye."
John leaned in the door frame, nibbling at his sandwitch. "No luck?"
"Nope. Seriously, how could someone die, have a funeral, and their body just disappear?"
Some lettuce fell on the floor. John didn't see it. In between mouthfuls of food, he spoke. "Well think about it laterally or something. What if his funeral wasn't even held in the States? What if he isn't even dead? What if he's faked his own death because he's secretly-"
"Stop eating that baloney, John. It's making you delusional."
John smirked and rolled his eyes. "Just offering suggestions, dude."
Randy placed the phone back in it's cradle and pushed the computer chair in. He started to walk towards the kitchen to put away an empty plate, before turning back to John. "No seriously, stop eating that baloney. It's out of date."
"By how much?"
"Oh, about a month. Or three."
Unbeknownst to them, Gracie was sitting at the top of the stairs, listening to the whole conversation. She had known about Randy's quest to find her dad. She sighed, hearing that he was going nowhere with it. And besides, what could Randy possibly do once he found Daddy? Bring him back to life? Take her back to her happy time? Even a wrestler like him couldn't do something like that. It was pretty pointless. Before either man could catch her eavesdropping, she scooted back to her room and shut the door quietly.
When she was younger and thinking about Daddy like this, she used to curl up in a ball and rock, completely shutting herself off from the outside world. Now that she was free of her mother's terror, Gracie now found comfort in playing her guitar and softly singing to herself.
She scurried to her bed and lifted the mattress up slightly, looking for what she'd placed there. She eventually found the sheets of music and pulled them out. Slightly crumpled, but otherwise in pretty good condition. Gracie chewed on her lip, contemplating. She placed herself on her bed and sat cross-legged. Her eyes scanned the sheet, reading the notes. And slowly, the lyrics started to escape from her mouth.
Randy was just passing the stairs when he heard ...singing? That voice was way too high-pitched to be John's and the sound was far too clear to be coming from the TV. Realizing who it belonged to, he quickly put the plate in the kitchen sink and bounded up the stairs, two at a time. He silently pressed his right hear against her door and listened.
But he's far far away
And I'd do anything just to see his face
But he's far far away
Walk a thousand miles just to see his smile again
He smiled as he heard Gracie sing for the first time. She wasn't exactly Jackie Evancho (even tone-deaf Randy could tell she botched a few notes), but the overwhelming emotion that came through in her voice was amazing. It was as if she was an old soul, and to an extent she was, and was singing her blues away with a saxophone man by her side, in the back of a cheap bar. He didn't think it was necessary to ask who she was singing about, either.
Then a light bulb went off on top of his head. Randy almost ran back down the stairs to his mobile and the phone book. He dialed the number he wanted and impatiently tapped his fingers.
Someone answered. There was a baby's voice in the background. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Randy. I need to ask a big favour of you..."
The person on the other side hesitated. "Um, yeah, sure. What's up?"
…
"Randy where are we going?"
A short while after she'd ran off to her room (and not long after he'd left her door after listening to her sing), he'd knocked on her door, telling her to bring her guitar and that they were meeting someone very special. Other than that he'd given nothing away.
He parked the car in a high school car park, which was empty apart from a small, dark green Golf. Randy turned to her with a little smile plastered on his face, and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes. "We're going inside one of the classrooms to see an old friend of mine."
She changed her approach. "Okay then... who are we seeing?"
Randy smiled again, and opened the car door. "C'mon, get your guitar."
Gracie frowned but got out anyway. Just as she was shutting the car boot, a very pretty woman jogged down the stairs to the front of the school. She had huge trusting brown eyes and extremely curly caramel hair. She had a huge warm smile on her face and Gracie immediately knew that she was going to like this woman.
Randy left his position next to the car door and met the lady halfway down the stairs. She almost jumped in his arms (but she didn't), and in return they snaked around her slim waist, holding her to him. Gracie remained at the car boot, staring at them awkwardly. He mumbled something in the lady's ear, and she giggled, placing a quick kiss on his cheek. A pang on jealousy rose in the nine year old's stomach. That was her Randy.
She cumbersomely carried her guitar towards the embraced couple. It was the lady that saw he first, breaking the hug, and sent the girl a smile that most women only dreamed about.
"Hi Gracie." said the woman sweetly, and stuck out her hand. Gracie glanced up at Randy, who nodded. She very slowly placed her hand in the woman's. It was warm and soft. "My name's Simone Costello. It's great to meet you."
Gracie felt her heart swell when Simone said her name. She didn't know why. The lady just seemed so... joyful. "I-It's nice to meet you too." She mumbled.
The adults grinned. Simone ushered them into the building, unawaringly placing her hand on the small of Randy's back. He mightn't've noticed, but his daughter did. Gracie gripped her guitar tightly as they walked through some halls. "Okay, in here."
The three of them walked into a music classroom. She looked up at Randy. "Why am I here with my guitar?"
He pulled her to his side and her stroked her thin golden hair. "...I heard you singing in your room today, baby."
Gracie stiffened and her eyes bulged. "What?"
Simone leaned down and gave her that Miss America smile. "That's why I'm here, chicka. Randy rang me this afternoon and told me about his beautiful daughter and what a wonderful voice you had. See, I'm a guitar and vocalist teacher. He wanted to see if I could teach you more about both." Simone grabbed Gracie's hand and squeezed in gently. "But I know that you're very shy. I remember that when I was your age, I was shy as well. I would not sing until I was sure that absolutely no-one would hear me."
"Really?" Gracie doubted that. How could anyone that happy and pretty be shy?
Simone smiled. "Yep. So for you to sing for me, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"
She swallowed. She seemed nice enough. "Yeah."
Randy watched the interaction between the two. He knew Simone would match up perfectly with Gracie. Sim had the mothering instincts coming in truckloads and Gracie was missing a positive female role model in her life. The fact that they both sang and played guitar was just an added bonus.
Simone suddenly pulled Gracie into a hug. It was one of the best hugs she'd ever been given, second-best to Randy's of course. Simone was warm and happy and she smelt nice. Gracie wanted to stay in her arms forever.
Simone was whispering in her ear. "Now sing, chicka."
Gracie felt tears begin to pool in her eyes. Why was Simone treating her better in the 20 minutes that she'd met her, than her mother had her whole life? It wasn't fair. Her lips trembled as she repeated the song that she'd sang before.
But he's far far away
And I'd do anything just to see his face
But he's far far away
Walk a thousand miles just to see his smile again
"Oh baby... you're hurting so much aren't you?" Simone held Gracie out at an arms length brushed some stray tears from the girl's cheeks. "Stop crying, chicka. You're too beautiful to cry. Don't ruin that pretty voice with your sobs."
Simone stood up and Gracie immediately turned towards Randy who picked her up and held her to his chest. "She's got a beautiful, pure voice. It's so emotionally driven... it's just wow."
Randy beamed, proud of his daughter. "That's my girl." He kissed her temple. "Anyway, I think I better get her home. Dinnertime soon."
Simone nodded understandingly. "I gotta go and pick up AshLynn from my mom's house, anyway. Hey Gracie?" The nine year old turned towards her. "We start vocal and guitar lessons next week, alright?" She nodded. "It's a shame we didn't get to hear you play that guitar of yours. I bet you're really good at that, aren't you?"
Gracie smiled shyly and shrugged. Randy and Simone chuckled. Sim kissed the head of her thumb and pressed it on Gracie's lips. "Don't break before then, okay?"
She nodded defiantly. "I won't break."
"That's my chicka. Now I really have to go..." Simone rushed to get her bag from the corner of the room. She kissed Randy on the cheek goodbye, and father and daughter watched her rush out the classroom door to her car.
Gracie watched as the older woman walked out of the room. She sighed sadly and rested her head on Randy's collarbone. Why couldn't Simone have been her mother?
YAY I UPDATED THIS STORY :D How long has it been? 2 months? Anyway, I did, so party at my house. Free pizzas (only if you know where I live!). :)
Hmm... did anyone figure out the hint I gave about Gracie's dad? It was about the lettuce, right at the start of this chapter... if your smart you might work it out! (:
How do you guys think Simone and Randy know each other? Anyone else see Ooh La La? And who's AshLynn?
The song I used in this chapter is: Far Away – Tyga ft. Chris Richardson (GO GO GO watch the video clip... you'll see why it's relevant to this story! [sort of])
Thank you all for reading (and hopefully reviewing!), and adios until we meet again!
And remember, keep smiling through it all.
REVIEEEW and I'll FEDEX you all some cookies !