Page 20 of The Publicity Stunt

"Speaking of Bri... where'd she go? Shouldn't she be back by now?"

Kace looks around, suddenly worried. Did she get sick? Or did someone show up and she needs rescuing? Both men slide out of the booth and look around frantically for her. Camera flashes catch their attention, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

"There she is," Brett says and points to her as she bends down and smiles for another picture. "Do we help her?"

Kace tries to catch her eye to see if she needs him to swoop in and save her, but she focuses on the table of preteen girls and signs autographs for them. "I think she's okay," he says, his eyes never leaving her.

After close to fifteen minutes, she makes her way back to the table. "Sorry," Bri says and slides back into the booth. "I didn't plan to be gone that long."

Kace looks at her as he slides back in beside her. "What was that?"

"A birthday party. The birthday girl, Kali, just turned twelve, and she almost fainted when she saw me. Her dad asked if I'd come over and wish her a happy birthday, and then one thing turned into another. They were a sweet group."

"You took a lot of pictures and signed autographs. That's really sweet of you," Brett says.

Their server walks by, and Bri waves him down. "Do you know who their server is?" she asks and points to the birthday table.

"Stephanie, I think."

"Can you get her for me, please?"

He nods, staring star struck as though he just noticed who she was, and he hurries away.

Within seconds, a frazzled-looking woman with short black hair hurries to the table. "Hi, I'm Stephanie. How can I help you, Ms. Waters?"

Bri smiles at her. "Hi, Stephanie. You can call me Bri. You're serving that party there?"

"Yes, ma'am. I feel so bad for the father. He came in with expired coupons, and my boss won't accept them. He also has gift cards that aren’t working, and I don't know that he can pay for the meal. Her mother just passed, and this is the first time she's wanted to do anything since the funeral, which he told us, but my manager won’t budge."

"Your manager isn't willing to help make something work?" Brett asks.

She shakes her head. "My manager's an asshole. Sorry!" Her eyes widen as she looks at Bri and covers her mouth. "That was rude."

"Hey, we've all had managers who were assholes," Bri says with a smirk. "I'll take their tab. Can you also bring me a notepad and pen?"

"You're paying for their whole tab? Oh, bless you. I was going to try and pay what her father couldn't from my tips tonight. I'll be right back. Thank you."

Kace stares in shock. "Did you know there was a problem?"

"Her dad started pulling out every card in his wallet when he looked at the tab. The last thing he wants is his daughter knowing he can't pay for her birthday dinner. And knowing she just lost her mother breaks my heart."

Stephanie walks up and hands everything to Bri with shaking hands. "Would it be inappropriate to ask for your autograph? I know it's super lame to ask, and you can totally say no, but I'm a huge fan. I tried calling the radio station a thousand times to win tickets to your show tomorrow night, but I wasn't lucky. This is so much better, I think."

Smiling, she signs the paper. "What's your last name?"

"McDonald."

"Here," she says. Scribbling on two other pieces of paper, she hands them to the server. "The top one's for her father, and the bottom is for the birthday girl. Thank you, Stephanie."

"Thank you. And... thank you for not being a jerk."

"You're welcome?" Bri says and laughs.

She flushes a bright red and hurries away. Bri pulls out her wallet and her phone, typing on the screen.

"How bad is the bill?" Brett asks.

"More than he'd be able to split on cards, I think. But it's not bad considering how many kids there are," she says. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. I need to have Nia put will call tickets in for Stephanie."

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