Theo & Gracie

• Nobody •

Autumn of 1951

She loves his gray eyes. Unlike the rest of the men she's ever met, his steel gray eyes stood out amongst the sea of blues. Gracie's in awe of how gentle his eyes are, the little crinkles on the edges were her favourite, it made his eyes look special, like they were smiling and his stare, goodness, the insane effect it had on her racing heart.

"I'm so sorry, I'm a terrible host," Theo started, pulling Gracie out of her thoughts.

She smiled sheepishly at him, did he realize she was staring? She hoped not, it would've been too embarrassing if he knew how much she likes his eyes, "Non, non, I'm fine waiting."

Theo flashed out a smile, "I promise, I'll finish up soon and I'll take you out for well..." he held his wrist up, glancing at the time before staring back at her with a boyish grin, "supper? or an early breakfast," he says that jokingly.

Gracie giggled, she almost never giggle but he brought out so much that she didn't remember ever doing, "supper will be fine, Theo."

He nodded wordlessly and winked a crinkly gray eye at her, oh the things that his eyes can do to her, Gracie wanted to just squeal, anything to let her feelings out but that wouldn't be proper, her Aunt Sarah would've die of a heart attack if she knew how improper she behaved in front of Senator Rutherford.

It was enthralling to watch Theo so engrossed in his paperwork, she loved how his brows would knit together and how adorable the thick rimmed glasses perched against his nose looked on him. He sat on the leather seat and while some would hunch over, she realized that Theo didn't, he had such elegance in him, the way he sat and held his marble pen in between his long left fingers - something that she found utterly sexy as she always had such insane preference in left handed men.

He's distant and ruthless, it's better not to be too close with him. People kept telling her that she deserved better and that forming any kind of relationship with Theodore Rutherford would just end disastrously for her. He would just break her heart, they said but Gracie refused to believe them for how could she when Theo had been nothing less than kind to her, gentle and so understanding. She wished they could see the compassion she saw in him, yes, he wasn't anywhere near perfect, he is as her Aunt Sarah referred to as a politician who played his cards well but still Gracie liked him the moment she met him.

We're not together, we just like to meet up occasionally. She would say that whenever people start questioning their relationship or friendship, in honesty she didn't know what exactly they were. Gracie just felt so comfortable around him, she liked visiting him in Washington where he'd occasionally bring her to his office in the Senate Building. Gracie could spend hours just staring at him while he buries himself in his work, one time she exactly did just that and she truly enjoyed it, there was a sense of contentment that washed over her.

"God damn it," Theo's voice and the clinging sound of his pen as it landed on the table snapped Gracie out of her thoughts.

"Theo, what's..."

"Nothing," he cut her off sharply, voice tight as he hissed with pain at Gracie's touch. He placed a palm against her fingers, brushing it off lightly, "Nothing - it's nothing, I'll be alright in a moment."

Gracie frowned, was this pain his normal? Horrible - horrible shoulder injury, he was lucky they managed to treat it on time or his entire top right side would have been useless. She had vague memories, bits of stories shared by the ladies of the society of Rosie's son, Theo Rutherford's time at war, little informations in between gossips and useless chit chats that she utterly hated. She couldn't help but wonder if those informations were even real or exaggerated stories made up into ridiculous rumour.

"Your shoulder, it's your shoulder, isn't it?"

Taken aback, he blinked in surprise before his entire demeanor started changing, within seconds his gaze turned incredibly cold and hard, as if she had just touched on an inner demon he desperately caged, "no, no it isn't."

He's lying, it's written all over his face. Gracie felt a tug on her heart, he had lied to her, stared straight into her eyes and lied. She had crossed the line, she understood that and it mattered to him of course but what hit her hard at that moment was the fact that his decision to lie to her was the blatant proof that Theo didn't trust her enough, she was not someone that he would trust with his secrets. She was in fact, a nobody.