Chapter 2 - A Night With Stranger

"Are you now equating that all men are the same?" asked Justin, snorting.

Gracie was reluctant to answer with a nod of her head. Because for now, all she needed was someone to listen to her story about her tragic love problems.

Tragic ... sometimes Gracie wanted to laugh at herself because she thought that her love story had a tragic ending. It was because this was the first time she had been broken by the man she thought would perfect her future.

"Don't jump to assumptions like that, because the character of a person is different. Try to imagine, do you really want to be compared to other girls?"

Gracie remembered how Troy dumped her. He didn't equate her but compared her. Unfortunately, it was obvious that what Troy meant was, he wanted to have a girlfriend like the one he just got.

"See? You don't even want to, do you?" Justin said to her. The man kept his eyes on her even though Gracie didn't look at him as she spoke. Justin wanted to see Gracie's reaction every time he said it, to open her mind.

They then didn't talk. But Justin kept spinning because he didn't know where Gracie lived. Because Gracie still hadn't opened her voice or realized that they'd been just going round and round.

"Please stop here," Gracie said suddenly.

"Why? Do you live here?" Justin looked around him, where many homeless people had gathered, a dirty place because that was their area. But he stopped too, as Gracie wanted.

Gracie stared at him. Her brown eyes stared at Justin more intensely because they were just next to each other. "I don't. This is not where I live."

"So what? You think I'm going to leave you alone here?!" Justin's tone already seemed to peak because he couldn't leave a girl in a place like this.

Gracie took a deep breath. "I don't know you. Who are you? Justin? Well, I had no intention of getting to know you either. So I was kind of lucky not to say my name. And I want to get off here because I feel safe in a place like this. So I will–"

Suddenly the car started again with the engine roaring, leaving the slum. Gracie's eyes glared at him, startled. "Hey! You should have dropped me off at that place!"

"Shut up! If you don't tell me your address, I'll take you to my apartment myself!"

His threat made Gracie silent. She should have given his apartment's address straight away, but for some reason, she kept silent, as if she had forgotten where she lived. It was true that she was really messy and sad. That was right. She can't even rebel, even though there was always a chance for her to rebel.

When they got to the apartment, Justin opened the door of Gracie's passenger seat. He told her to get out but Gracie didn't get out of his car either.

"Don't be childish. Come out. We arrived at my apartment.

"Do you have something to make me lose my senses?" asked Gracie, looking at him. The look that was full of pain made Justin raise an eyebrow.

Of course, Justin had an extensive collection of drinks that could make a person's consciousness disappear temporarily–but it depended on how the person enjoyed it.

"I have many," he replied.

Gracie immediately got out of the car. "Then I'd like to give it a try. I want to get drunk and forget about that bastard!"

***

Justin sighed, knowing that it turned out that the girl who said she wanted to drink something strong, turned out to get drunk easily and had even just fallen asleep with her head lying on the table while still sitting on the floor.

He pulled Gracie who was limp and helpless, then moved her to his bedroom. That was when Justin opened Gracie's bag, trying to find out her identity and address.

"Well, so your name is Gracie Samantha?" he asked.

He let Gracie sleep, while Justin cleaned up the mess Gracie had made. Even though they had just met, his pity for her appeared. Justin couldn't see a girl hurt by a jerk. Moreover, he saw for himself how Gracie walked sadly under the rain earlier.

Justin slowly drifted off to sleep. He sat on the sofa and closed his eyes. His body didn't change, he even looked masculine in a position that didn't move at all.

When morning came, Gracie woke first. Her head felt dizzy then she started looking for the bathroom to vomit because she already felt nauseous. And that sound woke Justin up in an instant. He stood up, walked over to the room, and headed toward the bathroom to make sure what was going on.

"Shit! How much did I drink, anyway?!" she asked herself.

"You've only had one bottle, but you're already completely helpless."

Justin's voice surprised Gracie who then turned to him. The man just crossed his arms, looking at Gracie. His face didn't look friendly at all because in the morning he was awakened by the noise made by Gracie.

"Oh, sorry, I woke you," said Gracie who realized her mistake.

Her face was pale as she had vomited up quite a bit of what made her sick. Justin was just silent and turned to head to the kitchen. He then made something warm for Gracie to drink.

"Drink this and I will drive you home," he said as he handed Gracie warm ginger tea.

"Thanks. But I can go home alone. It's already morning and I can–"

"Once again, don't refuse my offer, Gracie."

Gracie's eyes widened in surprise when Justin said her name. She looked angry because someone just knew her name. "Did you unpack my bag?!" she asked. Her tone rose, looking up, precisely Justin's face.

"I had no choice. I need your name as well as where you live. So when you didn't want to tell me, I already knew from the start."

Her breath was out of breath because she was annoyed at Justin. But if it already happened, she could not do anything else. Because for her, if someone already knew her name and address, then she would deal with that person.

"So don't act like knowing your name is a bad thing, Gracie. You'd better shower and get ready now," Justin said coldly.

Grace shook her head. "I'm not going to take a shower. I don't have my toiletries or clothes and–"

"I have toiletries and girls' clothing. It belongs to my ex-girlfriend. So you can use it."