Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 18: P.J Clarke's

Clementine's plan turned out going the way she wanted. She had immediately called after her father gave her Clarke's phone number, and he said he could help her getting a reservation in his restaurant for Saturday night. She was extremely excited since she knew Bucky would love the birthday present, and she couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive.

She headed towards Brooklyn on Friday evening to Steve's house, where the pre-party was taking place. She was late for the celebration, and when she got there, there were over 15 people in his house, which made her feel a bit anxious since she didn't know more than half of them. They all already knew each other, since they had gone to high school together or lived in the neighbourhood. Clementine felt like an outsider, since she had nothing in common with them. However, the guys were more kind to her than the girls were, who looked at her like she didn't belong there. She later found out Bucky had hooked up with some of them, which made her feel uncomfortable. Luckily for her, Steve had come to the rescue, and they spent the night talking in a corner. Bucky had tried to spent most of the time with her, but she told him to spend the time with his friends, since it had been a long time since they had all been together.

Shortly afterwards, they had gone to a pub in Brooklyn, and as Clementine predicted, they had all gotten Bucky pretty drunk. She had also gotten jealous since the other girls invited to the party had tried to dance with him, but Bucky only seemed to have eyes for Clementine, which made her happy since she knew for sure she could trust him. They had danced for hours, and Clementine stayed until midnight so they could all sing happy birthday. She told Arthur to pick her up at 12:30, which he did, but she was disappointed she had to leave while the others were still celebrating. Bucky had tried to make her stay longer, but she didn't want to make Arthur wait, so she left at 1:00 am, and left Bucky there since Steve had told her he would take care of him.

She went to bed at 2:00 am, and didn't wake up until 10:00 am that same day, feeling rested. She hadn't drank the night before, since she wanted to be fully sober and well rested that day. She spent the afternoon shopping with Eleanor and Sophie for a dress for that same night, and around 5:00 pm, she headed home so she could shower and get dressed for that night.

As soon as she got home, she saw her parents dressed very elegant in the living room, and they appeared to be waiting for their daughters to get home.

"Oh, you're here! Are you ready to go, then?" Asked her mother.

Sophie and Clementine exchanged looks.

"Go...where?" Asked Sophie.

"To the country club, of course. I told you both this morning. There's this special dinner and we were invited."

"You didn't say anything." Said Clementine, confused.

"Oh, I thought I did." Said her mother. "We are still going."

Sophie shrugged her shoulders and went upstairs to change, while Clementine stayed behind with her arms crossed.

"I can't, mom. It's James' birthday." Said Clementine.

"Even better, it's time you introduce him to the society. I don't think no one knows him there, it's strange." Said her father.

"No, I'm not taking him to meet all those knobheads-"

"Clementine, language." Warned her mother.

"We are not going, we already have plans. I made a reservation in this restaurant because they have a special guest tonight..." Said Clementine.

Her mother sighed, giving up, and stared at her daughter. "Alright, do whatever you want."

"Fine. Have a nice evening." Said Clementine, in a sarcastic tone.