Rumor Has It

Part 2

Bradley was preparing dinner while his mother was keeping Lea busy. In times like this it always felt like they were a complete family and there was nothing missing for a little while. It was when everyone else had gone to bed that he always started to feel lonely. Maybe he could ask a friend to set him up. The idea seemed silly and childish, but it made sense when you thought about it. Or he could try online dating, but he knew there was always that risk that someone might recognize him.

Lea was packing up her school supplies in the living room when he called for dinner. He walked into the room where she had just finished tucking away the book and pencils on the coffee table, putting them back to their proper place in her bag.

"When is Mommy coming back again?"

"I don't know, sweetie. She's in New York for work at the moment."

"She said she will call after school today."

Bradley frowned, he had watched the girl while she had sat in front of the television yesterday, always throwing glances at his phone.

"We can call her together after dinner and you can ask her yourself."

"Okay." She said quietly and her expression seemed so unlike his little girl.

Gloria heard his promise and threw him a stern look while she helped him set the table.

"Are you sure you aren't setting Lea up for a disappointment? What if Irina doesn't answer again?"

"She will," he insisted, although there was no real conviction in his voice. It frustrated him when he thought about what his daughter might be feeling like after he had just barely managed to convince her not to cry yesterday and that Irina must have gotten very busy. He couldn't help it, and he knew Gloria noticed because he saw a sympathetic look on her face. Bradley shook his head to clear it from those thoughts. "Well, she better does, she didn't call yesterday when she promised either. All Lea wants is to tell her mom about her first day, that's only normal."

"I know, but...it's sad to watch."

*

His phone finally rung when Lea was already in bed and he woke her up again to let her have a talk with Irina. It had been difficult to hold back any anger, but the last thing he wanted was for his ex-girlfriend to hang up again. The talk was very short and he waited until he stopped hearing the quiet mumble of Lea's voice before he came in to get his phone back. He knew she would never sleep if he let her have it over the night and he forced a happy face on when he opened the door.

"Did you tell Mom all about your day?"

His daughter looked at him wistfully. "Mommy doesn't like animal pasta."

"No, she never did." Bradley laughed and remembered trying to sell Irina the dish as a proper dinner a few times, drenched in his special tomato sauce.

"Can you forget your Mom or Dad?" Lea asked suddenly.

"What do you mean? Where's that coming from now?"

"Emily said she doesn't remember her Dad because he's been gone very, very long. Will I forget Mommy if she's gone very, very, VERY long?"

"No, you aren't going to forget your Mom."

"But Emily forgot her Dad."

"She must've been very little when she last saw him then."

"How little?"

"I don't know. It's not really any of our business and it might make her sad if we ask."

*

This time, he sought out the large black car immediately and made sure to park nearby. He spotted the woman and walked up to her with a friendly wave.

"Hi, I'm Bradley, I'm Lea's dad."

He could tell that the young woman recognized him immediately. "Bradley Cooper, isn't it? Nice to meet you."

The woman offered him her hand. "I'm Ashley. It was so good to see Emily already made a friend, she's talked a lot about Lea."

"Yeah, Lea has been speaking a lot about Emily too," he said, thinking back to the bedtime conversation yesterday. "She asked if she could invite her over. I wanted to clear that up with you first. Are you...?" he stopped, waiting for Ashley to fill in the gap.

"Oh, I'm not the mom. I'm her mom's assistant." She looked around as if she suspected someone to pop out from around a corner or a bush nearby and stood closer to the huge vehicle behind them. "I'd love for Emily to have a playdate, but I have to clear it with her mom. I'm sure you understand, it's difficult...with privacy and all that."

"I get it, of course. If it's okay with you, we'd love to have her over on Saturday. I can give you the address and my number and you can talk it over."

"I will try and clear it up, I was hoping she'd make new friends once she starts school." Ashley explained, "and she should get to have playdates with new kids."

Bradley was baffled, he had never seen anyone take it this seriously. There were often paparazzi around the town, but they usually stayed clear of the school that was surrounded by high walls and trees anyway. But not even having playdates?

At this moment, they saw the girls leave the school building, Lea immediately sprinting in his direction while Emily was dawdling behind. His daughter threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close for a hug as soon as she reached him.

"Hey there, Lea!" he greeted her and she laughed into his neck. Emily caught up slowly and peered up at him like she knew one of his secrets. "And hello Emily, it's nice to meet you." He held his hand out to her and she threw a careful look at Ashley, waiting for an encouraging nod before she took it.

He was taken aback by how much the little girl was acting like an adult and by how reluctant she was. Lea, on the other hand, was already hanging onto Ashley's arm like she was going to take her home.

Would you wait in the car, Emily?" Ashley asked her after letting Lea explain to her what plans they had already made. Bradley was already regretting having brought up the playdate too early, in case her mother would say no after all, after hearing all this.

"Are you having a PRIVATE talk?" the little girl asked back and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"No. Actually yes. Please go sit in the car, honey?" Bradley watched the girl imitate the same roll of her eyes that Ashley had demonstrated, before she mumbled something and climbed into the car. It was the first time that Bradley noticed they weren't alone and that there were two large men sitting in the back with her.

"If you're worried about privacy, you can drive all the way up and onto my driveway, too. If I give you the code to the gate nobody would see you outside." He explained to the woman who looked relieved at his offer.

"Yeah, it sounds good. Thanks. I'll let you know either way. Her mom's just very protective of her."

He couldn't help himself, but now he was curious himself, even if he wasn't the type to be nosy.