"Elizabeth!" I flinched, turning around to see a curly haired boy navigating the crowd. I held my breath, recognizing that hair anywhere. I'd decided to treat myself today, doing some retail therapy and now ending up at Starbucks for a bit of coffee to keep me going for the rest of the day.
"Brad, hey." I said nervously when Brad finally reached me. Instantly I was being pulled into a tight hug.
"Liz! We all miss you." Brad said, letting me go. "Let me buy your coffee and we can talk, alright?" Brad offered. I hesitated, but Brad was already at the counter, pulling out his wallet and asking me what I wanted. I asked him for a grande vanilla latte and Brad ordered, finding us a table. We sat, setting my bags under the table.
"What have you been up to? It's been almost a month." Brad said awkwardly, though he tried to be casual and friendly.
"Yep, one month. I'm still in retail therapy." I said awkwardly. Brad laughed, holding up a finger as he went and grabbed our drinks. He returned, sliding the cups in front of us.
"Retail therapy's better than the state James is in." Brad laughed, looking a bit upset and exhausted.
"What's... how is he doing?" I asked nervously. Brad examined my face before answering.
"He's kind of in denial. He won't talk about it, but we found one of your dresses in the wash and you left a pair of shoes behind and he cried when he found the dress. He's really beat up, Liz." Brad said sadly, resting his elbows on the table. I sucked in a breath, looking at Brad's eyes to see if he was lying, but something told me he wasn't.
"I'm not much better." I admitted. Brad raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his drink. "I've been doing quite a bit of retail therapy. Throwing myself into work a lot, ignoring twitter and all that. I really miss him, but I can't do anything about it." I sighed, drinking half of my coffee in one gulp, finally feeling the exhaustion.
"Why can't you do anything about it? I mean, clearly neither of you are over this break up, and it would be good for both of you if you just got back together." Brad pointed out, looking at me over his drink.
"No, I can't do that. I broke up with him because it was better for his career, I can't go back on that." I shook my head vigorously, tapping my fingers on the table.
"Better for his career? He's been shit in songwriting and his head's never in it when he's playing or singing. Yeah, some of the fans were jealous and didn't like you, but most of them did like you. You were both better together." Brad insisted, meeting my eyes. I frowned and bit my lip nervously.
"Are you making it sound worse than it is just so we'll get back together?" I asked hesitantly. Brad laughed bitterly.
"I honestly wish I was. He's been pathetic. It really shattered him when you ended things." Brad told me honestly. It was a bit surprising how torn up James was about it. The relationship was fake, after all. But maybe we'd both made a mistake, fallen for the wrong person.
"I need to go, I was just meant to be getting drinks for the boys while they picked up some Nando's for us to eat at the studio. They'll be wondering where I am... Anyway. Just consider calling him or something. Please." Brad pleaded, getting up and patting my arm before grinning and walking to the counter. I sighed, finishing my drink and tossing it in the dust bin before grabbing all of my bags and leaving the cafe, my heart ringing in my ears and my fingers itching for my phone.
