When Grace woke the next morning, she was facing towards the king-sized bed which was still perfectly made. She let out a hoarse chuckle at the irony of the two of them pulling out the sofa bed to make it look as if they hadn't slept together and then ending up not even using the actual bed.
She made a mental note to at least untuck the sheets before she left the room.
Lethargically, she rolled over to her other side and found that Oliver was still sleeping, turned away from her.
She stared at his profile in fascination. His back, which was covered in only the minimalistic material of his singlet, looked so taught and toned, his shoulders so broad and strong.
She'd never before seen him in this light, she'd never even bothered to look, but now, after what he'd done to her the previous night, Grace found herself quite fixated.
He was incredible. She found herself wondering what it might be like to truly be wanted by him. She thought to herself, if this was what it was like when he was only doing it out of duty, to really have him as a lover must be mind-blowing.
She immediately berated herself for the thought. Despite how many lines they had crossed at this point, she still didn't feel it was appropriate for her to think of her boss that way.
But he had been so attentive with her, so generous. She wasn't overly experienced with men but she could honestly say that she'd never had that kind of treatment from a bed mate before.
As his shoulders rose and fell with his restful breaths, Grace felt the urge to just reach out and touch him, not in a sexual way, but more to soothe him.
At least to herself, she could admit that there wasn't a person on Earth she felt more fulfillment in caring for than Oliver Warbucks.
With a careful hand, she reached out and gently stroked his back. The warmth of it was as much of a comfort to her as it was intended to be for him. For a few minutes, he continued to sleep soundly but when he began to stir, Grace deftly withdrew.
"Hmm, I thought you said back massages were above your pay grade."
She smiled bashfully, realizing she'd been caught out.
"Actually, I was thinking now might be a good time to ask you for a raise", she played back with him.
He turned and met her eyes and responded unexpectedly, "I believe you got one last night."
Grace turned scarlet and threw the sheet over her head to hide her face from his.
She heard his low chuckling beside her before he cleared his throat. "I apologize, that was terribly indecent of me."
She lowered the sheet just enough to look him in the eyes again. "But not wrong."
"You mean not incorrect, or not inappropriate?"
With a dramatic sigh, Grace pushed the sheet off herself completely. "Honestly, is there anything inappropriate we haven't already breached?"
"Well, yes, probably quite a number of things."
Grace glanced at him sideways. "I didn't mean it as a challenge."
Oliver chuckled. "I know you didn't", his fingertips lightly brushed her bare forearm and Grace shivered a little, then looked down sadly.
"I have to get back to New York today."
He nodded despondently. "Yes, you do. As much as your boss would benefit from the pleasure of your company a little longer, he recognizes that for the benefit of the company, you are more needed at home."
She gave him a warm smile. "Shall I order some breakfast before I go?"
"Certainly. I can't let you leave on an empty stomach."
She stroked his cheek tenderly with the back of her hand, then rolled over and stood to cross the room to use the telephone to call room service.
Her gesture had been fleeting and almost casual, but it left Oliver reeling. It was such an unexpectedly affectionate thing for her to have done and although she didn't seem to think twice about it, it made Oliver's head spin.
He raised himself up on his elbows to stare at her as she picked up the telephone and ordered their breakfast.
"Yes, two full breakfasts please…uh, yes, two please. That's right."
Even the cadence of her voice sounded extra sweet to him.
"Coffee?" She asked and it took Oliver a second to realize she was speaking to him.
"Oh, yes…please."
"Yes. Thank you very much", she ended the call and turned back to face him. "They'll be up shortly."
She stood from the bed and said, "I'm going to wash and dress before they get here."
Part of him wanted to try and convince her to come back to bed while they waited for their food, but he knew that would be pushing boundaries once again and he had done too much of that already in the past twelve hours.
He watched with amusement as she reached down and roughly tugged the bed linen out of its neatly made formation.
He laughed softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make it look like a pair of professionals with actual interpersonal boundaries slept in this room last night."
"I suppose that's not really us anymore, is it?" He asked with a coy smile.
"In the office, perhaps. Just not so much in hotel rooms", she responded with an impish smile of her own.
His eyes followed her as she crossed the room to the bathroom.
He had to confess, if only to himself, that after last night, he was going to find it hard to maintain that kind of professionalism with her even when they were back in the office.
At least in his own mind.
…
By the time Grace had finished in the washroom, their breakfast had already been brought up.
Oliver was sitting at the little breakfast table near the window.
"What a charming view", Grace noted, smiling as she looked out the window and sat down opposite him.
"Yes, it's quite lovely", Oliver agreed, pouring them both their coffee.
Grace thanked him, turning her eyes back his way.
"This looks sublime", she licked her lips as she scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs.
"Grace?"
"Mm?"
"Are we just not going to acknowledge what happened last night?"
She blinked in surprise. "What about it do you think needs acknowledging?"
He twirled his fork around his baked beans and murmured rather apprehensively. "I suppose I just wanted to make sure I did everything right."
She placed her fork down beside her plate, not able to continue eating while they had this conversation.
"Couldn't you tell from my reaction?" She asked him shyly, yet rather forwardly.
He tried to meet her gaze. "Does that mean you liked it?"
Her eyes that were lowered towards the table widened in surprise. She hadn't expected him to ask such a direct question.
"Yes", she answered quietly, but honestly.
His eyes widened too then, in shock and in secretive glee.
She continued, "Though I'm still not sure that it mattered."
"It mattered to me. It matters to me."
She raised her face to look at him again. His statement and the intensity in his eyes was unnerving for Grace. Not because she felt uncomfortable with him stating it, but because she knew that his interest in making her feel good was about more than procreation. She wasn't yet sure whether to be frightened or enthralled by that knowledge.
"Well, if we're successful because of it then it will most certainly matter to me as well", she smiled delicately.
It wasn't quite the conclusion to that line of conversation Oliver had been looking for, but he knew, or at least hoped, there would be time to discuss things further when they were back in New York and perhaps not so rushed.
He returned her smile and they both resumed eating their breakfast.
…
After they'd finished eating, Grace packed what few things she'd brought with her and prepared to leave the hotel room.
"I hope that plane is reliable", Oliver frowned, still not happy with the fact that Grace was flying courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"It got me here, didn't it?" Grace countered.
"Yes", Oliver began to smile. "In actual fact, ahead of my meeting with him, I think I might even send the President a bottle of brandy for helping to facilitate your journey."
Grace shot him a look that was half amused and half concerned. "You're going to send the Commander In Chief a bottle of brandy during prohibition?"
He pursed his lips for a moment, changing his mind, "Flowers for Mrs. Roosevelt?"
The corner of Grace's mouth lifted into a slight smirk. "I'll order them as soon as I get home."
He opened the door to his room, lingering inside of it. "Call me when you get there, won't you?"
"Yes, I will."
He picked up the hand that wasn't holding her luggage and brought it to his lips, both of their eyes slipping closed momentarily as he softly kissed it. "I'll see you back in New York", he said gently and her eyes flickered open.
"See you at home", she replied, giving his hand a light squeeze before letting it go.
…
By the time Grace reached home it was four o'clock in the afternoon.
She was met with many knowing looks when she entered the mansion. The maids were practically giddy. Everybody knew by now where she had gone and what she had gone to do.
"So?" Mrs. Greer and Mrs. Pugh met her at the door, walking with her to the office once Drake had removed her coat and then quickly scarpered, not wishing to know a thing.
"So what?"
"Were you successful?" Mrs. Pugh probed.
"Well, we'll have to wait a few weeks to find that out", Grace snickered, leaving the maid and the cook squealing like schoolgirls as she entered the office.
Grace got straight on to ordering Mrs. Roosevelt's flowers. She wished she could have called Oliver right then and there to let him know that she'd made it home safely but knew he would still be tied up at the convention.
It wasn't until eight o'clock that evening, when she knew he would have finished dinner and be back in his room that she picked up the phone and dialed for the connection to his hotel.
"You're alive - thank God" was the way he answered her call, making Grace roll her eyes and chuckle at the same time.
"Yes, I am. I'm perfectly fine."
"Good."
"How are you? How was your day?"
"Decidedly less interesting than yesterday."
Grace pursed her lips, feeling a slight blush crawl up her neck.
"And you know what the worst part is?"
"What's that?" She asked.
She could hear his pout through the phone. "The other side of the sofa bed is cold."
Grace just about died with laughter.
…
Feeling much more calm and relaxed, yet still anxious for him to come home, Grace went about her work in a much more organized and focused fashion. Knowing they'd taken full advantage of their opportunity to be together put her mind at ease, but there was now the added possibility of something more burgeoning between them.
Grace felt as if he had possibly overplayed his hand with her in Michigan, whether intentionally or unintentionally. He had treated her body like a worshiper would, as if he really, truly wanted her, not just to make her pregnant. Then afterwards, all but coaxing that confession out of her that she too had enjoyed what he'd done to her…Grace knew it was pushing way past their boundaries, but she also couldn't help but find it incredibly sexy.
Getting back into work, Grace was as clear-headed and on top of things as she'd ever been before. She was practically floating on cloud nine.
That was until two days later, the day he was due back, when she woke up and began to feel cramps in her abdomen.
"No, no, no", she pleaded aloud, praying it wasn't so as she ran to her bathroom to check.
Upon seeing that she was already bleeding, Grace sank to the tiled floor and began to sob uncontrollably which made the pain in her stomach even worse.
She lay her head on the corner of the bathtub and let her emotion overtake her.
That was where she was found by Mrs. Greer a short time later, who had come upstairs to start her cleaning duties.
When the older woman saw the distressed state Grace was in, she rushed to her side and knelt down quickly beside her. "Oh, my dear", she whimpered, embracing her firmly.
Despite their teasing, the other members of staff cared a great deal about Grace and were all willing for her to have her wish of becoming a Mother fulfilled. Mrs. Greer was heartbroken for her friend and colleague and held on tight to her, whispering words of comfort.
After a while, Mrs. Greer helped Grace tidy herself up and caringly sponged her down in the tub, then helped her to get dressed.
She walked her downstairs and took her straight to the kitchens where Mrs. Pugh, who looked equally as crestfallen at the sight of Grace in such anguish, helped her to the table and served her some comforting food and a nice hot cup of tea.
Word got around the mansion rather quickly after that. There wasn't a single member of staff who wasn't completely devastated for Grace.
When Oliver arrived home that afternoon, he was greeted at the door by all of his staff, Grace included.
She had tried her best to get through the day and to carry on professionally, but as soon as she saw him standing in front of her, her tough resolve began to crumble.
He met her eyes and she shook her head sadly with tears yet again forming in her own.
His face fell, his heart breaking for her. Not caring that all of his other employees were there to see, he walked straight over to her and pulled her into his arms.
She immediately began weeping again, clutching onto him for dear life.
"I'm sorry", he whispered to her, "I'm so sorry."
She didn't even flinch when he turned his face and tenderly kissed her forehead, she merely melted into his arms even more.
Not wanting to intrude on what was a very somber and private moment between them, Drake began shepherding everyone else out of the room to leave the two of them in peace.
"I don't understand. What are we doing wrong?" She croaked against his shoulder.
He sighed heavily. "I don't know." He rubbed her back calmingly. "Perhaps I ought to book us both in to see a doctor, to see if there might be something evidently wrong."
She raised her tear-stained face to look at him. "You'd be willing to do that?"
"I'd do anything if it meant not seeing you in this pain."
He was completely serious and she was stunned. His eyes were full of such care and compassion and God - Grace thought to herself with a thumping heart - she wanted to kiss him.
She was startled by her own thoughts and quickly blinked them away, along with her tears."But what are we to tell him about our situation? Won't he think badly of us?"
Oliver shrugged. "I don't care what he thinks. We have to do something."
Overcome with devotion, she settled for a peck on the cheek, raising herself up slightly to reach. Oliver responded by kissing the side of her head before they both hugged each other tightly again.
"It's going to be alright. I promise", he whispered and Grace squeezed him in gratitude and affection, the latter feeling scaring her slightly as she realized that the amount she felt for him was intensifying each and every day.