Gloria held out her phone to me and showed me a restaurant they were interested in. I gave the screen a quick look before I let out a sigh. "I don't think I should join you guys for dinner. Restaurants aren't exactly the safest spots for me." I shrugged.
"Oh, but we can sit in the back and hide a little." Holly offered.
I shook my head and pointed at the pictures they had pulled up on their phones. "I don't want you to miss out on getting the window view of the beach, just because I'll be on full display for the paparazzi." I shrugged. "I'll grab some dinner at the hotel and stay in."
"I'm not letting you have dinner all alone." Bradley suddenly spoke up after having been silent for a while. My head snapped towards him in surprise and Gloria and Holly shot each other questioning looks. "Mom and Holly can sit at the window and we'll sit in the back. That way they'll have their beach experience and you won't be alone." He offered.
"Since when are you this nice to people?" Holly asked, teasingly. Bradley rolled his eyes at his sister and threw the sticky tissue at her, earning a squeal from her.
"I really just want to tick off 'having dinner with Lady Gaga' of my bucket list." He joked, shooting me a grin.
I giggled. "Oh? I'm on your bucket list? What an honor." I joked back. "You don't have to-"
"I want to. So it's set?" He looked at his mom who was already dialing the restaurants number to make reservations for us.
I mouthed a 'thank you' at Bradley who gave me a quick wink before his mom hung up the phone.
This man would make vacation a lot more interesting to me than I thought...
++++
I gave my reflection another quick glance and smiled. I suddenly was very thankful for Frederic who pushed me to pack a nice dress. It was rather low cut and very tight but I knew it would drive Bradley absolutely insane, which was the goal. Teasing him a bit wasn't too bad, right?
I brushed over the soft fabric and grabbed my purse, taking the elevator down to the lobby where we'd agreed to meet.
When the doors opened I immediately found them standing there, neatly lined up, already waiting for me. Gloria and Holly looked absolutely stunning in their own dresses and I let my eyes linger on Bradley a bit longer than appropriate. He just looked too good in his suit. His lips were slightly parted as he took in my appearance as well while I walked towards them. Gloria and Holly greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and then walked ahead. I gently grabbed Bradley's bow tie and adjusted it, placing my fingers under his chin and softly pushing his mouth closed with a smirk on my face. "Come on, cowboy." I patted his chest once and then followed the other two women outside. It took Bradley another second to follow us and I felt sort of accomplished at that. It felt nice to know that someone was interested in me like that since it's been a while. Men usually got scared of me and my social status and didn't even dare to talk to me but Bradley didn't shy away from showing me that he found me sexy and that made him even more attractive to me in return.
I noticed a few paparazzi scurried around the hotel but they couldn't get to us fast enough since Glorias car was parked right in front of the hotel and we were inside of it as fast as possible.
Bradley held the door open for me like the gentleman I had already assumed he was and did the same for his mother and sister as well, getting in last. We were both in the back and I glared at Holly who occasionally wiggled her brows at me and formed hearts with her fingers to tease us.
"Really mature, Holly!" Bradley joked, laughing at her making kissing sounds.
When we arrived at the restaurant the waiter guided Holly and Gloria to a beautiful table by the windows and they thanked me again for calling the restaurant and handling it all after Gloria wasn't lucky enough and I waved them off. It wasn't really a big deal to me.
"Miss Gaga, I am a huge fan. Please follow me. We've arranged a table for you and your date in a private area. No windows, no paparazzi and no other tables with possible fans sitting at them." He explained while Bradley and I followed him to the back. Neither of us tried to correct him and let him know this wasn't really a date.
He pushed open a set of wine red satin curtains and I gasped at the beautifully set up table. The room was small and dimly lit, the candles around the room smelled of vanilla and the wine was already on the table. I was used to these kinds of special treatments, yet it always amazed me again every time. I definitely didn't take any of it for granted.
I turned towards the chef and smiled warmly. "This is absolutely perfect. Thank you so much. What can I call you?" I asked.
The elderly man smiled back. "I'm chef Su." He said.
"Thank you so much, chef Su!" I repeated with a giggle.
He guided us to the table and I noticed how quiet Bradley was. I wasn't sure if he was comfortable but that thought soon vanished when his large hand was placed on my lower back as he pulled out the chair for me and helped me sit down. His eyes never left mine and I blushed, quickly looking back up at Su who poured us some wine and explained what kind it was. Bradley's touch still burned against my skin and I was sure I was sweating a bit more than appropriate even though it was pretty warm.
I sipped on the wine to keep me occupied and chef Su excused himself to make us our first course. The room fell silent when he left and I awkwardly clutched my almost empty glass of wine in my shaky hand, trying to calm my nerves. It's not like this was a date and even if it was, it wasn't my first date with a man. Why the hell was I so nervous?
I was sure it was Bradley's whole aura. He seemed so confident and strong. He didn't shy away from looking at me and my outfit and I constantly felt hot under his glances. The fact that he was wickedly handsome didn't make it any easier for me either. He definitely was my type but I was almost sure he was everyone's type.
"Is it always like this?" He asked after a while.
"What do you mean?" I asked, putting the now empty wine glass down.
"The crazy extra set ups so you can have your privacy." He looked around, taking in our surroundings.
I sighed and followed his gaze. "I wish it wasn't, but yeah. Most of the time I don't get to choose where I want to sit, what I want to see and where I want to go. It's always dangerous, some fans and paparazzo are crazy." I explained.
"Did something happen before?" He questioned, suddenly interested.
"I get pushed around all the time." I scoffed. "It's not like they won't get physical when I don't pay them any attention and I've definitely had my fair share of rude comments thrown at me and my family and friends." I explained, pouring myself some more wine. It definitely helped with my nerves.
"Don't you have bodyguards?"
"Peter is with me usually, but I don't want to be watched and babysat all the time." I sighed. "I want to do normal things, like go to the mall and buy a present for my moms birthday without them offering me everything for free or going to the fair and eating some cotton candy while my boyfriend wins me a stuffed animal. It sounds cliche, I know."
Bradley chuckled and shook his head. "It doesn't. Sounds nice... are you in a relationship?" He asked, probably curious about the boyfriend part.
"No, why are you asking?" I teased. Before he could answer chef Su was back with our first course. It smelled amazing and I knew I'd enjoy it before I even took the first bite.
We thanked him and he left again. I guided the fork up to my lips and moaned at the taste of the food, catching Bradley's look at me. He swallowed a piece of his own food and then smiled. "Don't let it drip down your chest again." He joked, reminding me of my ice cream incident.
"Don't worry. I'll wait until the dessert arrives." I joked back, making him suck in some air through his teeth at my teasing.
"Why are you single?" He suddenly asked, kind of taking me aback. Not because I was offended but because he sounded genuinely interested.
"What I do isn't very compatible with relationships. Men either don't talk to me at all because they're intimidated and their manly egos get horribly offended by my success or they try to control me. I tend to think it's me." I shrugged. "I mean, other women in the industry make it work, have children and get married, yet here I am." I joked a little.
Bradley smiled. "I'm definitely not intimidated by you. I would be if you weren't like 5 foot and flipped your fake hair back every ten seconds because your ego is bigger than your head." He joked. "Referring to my ex girlfriend who dropped me for a role in a movie and then wanted me back when they fired her for being a bitch." He chuckled.
"She sounds lovely." I remarked sarcastically. "And I'm also 5 foot three and 3/4 to your information!" I pointed my finger at him, making him hold up his hands in laughter.
"Now I'm a little intimidated." He joked back.
I have plans for this and can't wait to write more wow. Am I back?! 😂🤷🏻♀️