"What is that?" Grace asked, pointing at something on Paul's plate. She ate French fries with her macaroni and cheese instead of anything weird.
"Umm, I don't know." He examined it with his fork, "do you want to try it?" He cut it in half with the fork.
She looked at me, "mommy, can I try what that is?" She put it in her mouth when I nodded, "it tastes like a lemon." Her eyes squinted and her lips puckered.
Paul ate it next, "its some sort of fish, but it's really sour." He took a drink of soda, "do you wanna try it?" He asked, holding another piece towards me.
I took his fork and ate the fish, "ugh, gross." I took a gulp of water, "I don't like fish very much." I smiled politely, "but at least I can say I tried it I guess."
As we ate, Gracie talked and talked, and I was silent, Paul talked to her but he stared at me more. Every time I looked up, he was staring at me and he's quickly cover it up by reverting his eyes somewhere else. I wanted him to stare at me, but the more I thought about it, my face got brighter and hotter, "so, Paul, how is, football?" I tried to break up him and Grace.
"Not happening right now. Haven't picked one up since the incident five years ago." He sipped on his straw, "so, what are the sleeping arrangements?"
"You can sleep in my room for a few nights. Until you leave I guess. And I'll be sleeping in Grace's room with her since her bed is fairly big. I don't want you to sleep on the couch because that couch sucks and it'll hurt your back."
"Babe, you can sleep in the bed with me." He smirked, "I don't bite babe." He ate some salad. My mind went back to a night with Paul in bed before Gracie was born. He'd bit me before, but in a more pleasurable way.
I slightly smiled, "right. Gracie, how was school today?" I could feel him staring at me, "what did you guys do?"
"I painted you a picture. It's in my backpack." She ate more fries, "how long is daddy gonna stay with us?"
"Yeah Paul, how long are you gonna be staying with us?" I put my napkin on my plate and finished my water, "because, it's not that I mind, but I want to know how long I'm sleeping in Grace's bed."
"Stephanie, I said you could sleep with me. You don't have to do that." He motioned to Grace and picked up the tab, "do you guys want anything else before I pay this?"
"No, thank you for dinner Paul. Grace, what do you say to your dad for dinner?" I went for my purse when Paul stopped me, "at least let me get Grace and I."
"No. I told you guys it was my treat and I invited you, so, I'm paying for it." He gave the guy his credit card, "no problem Grace, sweetheart."
The waiter looked at the card and smiled, "Mr. Levesque? Who are you trying to play games with? Let me see some ID please."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Paul opened his wallet, "here, is this good enough? Jesus Christ." The waiter smiled and shook his head, "just kidding, do you think I could get an autograph?"
"Yeah, sure, why not." Paul signed a piece of paper, "what's your name? I'll write it down." I saw that Paul was extremely frustrated, and after the water walked away, "he turned to me, "Stephanie, I don't get it, how the heck do people still recognize me? So what if my name is Paul Levesque, maybe I'm not the football player." He whispered so only I was listening, "fuck." He stared past me, "looks like this just ruined everything."
"The waiter told us you were here. Can we get your autograph?" A young couple stood at the foot of the table, "thank you so much, we're big fans."
They walked away and I spoke up, "you have gained weight, no offense, but, other than that, you still look very familiar. So I have to say, yeah, you look the same as my ex-boyfriend Paul." I glanced away, towards Grace, "so honey, when we get home, I want you to get ready for bed, it's gonna be a little late."
Paul's face fell at my comment, "babe…" More people coming to our table interrupted him. Grace didn't understand what was happening, but she didn't ask surprisingly. She contently watched Paul and he watched me.
"Grace and I will wait in the car, I don't want her to go to bed late." I got up and walked out, Grace was holding my hand.
"Stephanie, I'm coming with you." He got his credit card from the waiter and caught up with me, "I hate that. Baby, I'm sorry about that. It wasn't supposed to happen and I know it jacked everything up." He got to the drivers side of my car and motioned for me to throw the keys, "you still mad?"
"I guess not." I put my seatbelt on and sat quietly, "the waiter started it. I'm sure that happens more than you would like. Even though you get to hang out with hot girls."
He started the car and turned the lights on, "I don't care about that Stephanie, I was hoping all night that wouldn't happen. And because I had to show the damn guy my ID, he had to go around telling people." My piece of junk car squeaked at the red light, "I don't know why we took your car, my truck has a full tank of gas."
"Hmm, let's just go with this car is a lot easier to get in than your truck, okay?" I responded with a heavy sigh.