Hired | b.w.s

Eighteen

I follow Brad outside the meeting room, down the stairs and into the car in silence. He tells the driver to go to some place I've never heard of and the driver obeys orders.

"I hate this." Brad finally speaks to me with a sigh.

"What?" I ask him softly.

"This whole fake thing. I hate that I have to fake my life and now I have to kiss you." He sighs and leans his head back to the chair.

"I can't be that bad." I try to tease him and he smiles a little.

"No, it's not that." He looks at me sincerely before looking down to his hands. "It just sucks."

"I know." I agree softly. Because I understand.

For me, this is a job I have experience in and I'm used to. For Brad, this is his actual real life. He's just a guy who wants to sing and unfortunately this is what comes with it. It can't be easy. The driver pulls up outside of a park which I've never seen before and we both get out after I thank the driver.

"What is this place?" I ask him as we walk along the gravel path.

"There's always some kind of undercover paparazzi here begging for a picture." Brad softly responds. "I used to come here when we first started out, but quickly realised I couldn't come here anymore when there was pictures of me on the internet every day." He tells me and grabs my hand in his.

Pushing down the warmth in my chest, I stay silent and walk with him through the park. I soon notice what he means as I see one or two people dressed way too casually, attempting to look inconspicuous but failing miserably. They're so obviously paparazzi it's funny that they think they're undercover.

Brad leads me over to a bench and we both sit down on it. I feel nerves creep up in my stomach as I sit next to him and tilt my head his way. I don't know why I'm getting nervous, this is just another actors kiss, it's just a job. He takes my hands in his and scoots closer to me.

"I'm sorry I have to make you do this." He mumbles and I take notice of the couple freckles scattered across his nose.

"It's my job." I respond quietly.

"That doesn't mean that it's okay." He responds and looks down.

We both notice one of the 'undercover' paparazzi obviously lurking from a distance and turn back to face each other. I take a deep breath to calm my stomach.

"I guess now is as good a time as any." Brad says softly before slowly leaning in.

Butterflies flutter in my stomach as he cups my cheek and softly connects our lips. Some strange feeling goes through my body as our lips move together naturally. My eyes close and my mouth moves by itself as I get lost in the kiss. Our lips move softly together, it's warm and comfortable and it feels as though it was meant to be. My spine tingles as his fingers dig deeper into my hair. Suddenly, I hear a click go off to my left and I realise the photo has been taken. But neither of us stop. The kiss continues just as it did before, Brad focussed in on my bottom lip. Another click snaps me out of my spell and I finally pull away from his warm mouth.

We just stare at each other for a second, a litany of emotions running through our eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." Brad mumbles but doesn't move, he's still incredibly close to my face and I don't know what to feel or what to do.

"For what?" I breathe out.

"For not stopping." He answers softly and leans back against the bench, looking out onto the view. I almost miss him being so close.

"I didn't stop either." I respond, he looks to me for a second before looking back out to the view.

I copy his actions and watch the trees move in the wind in silence. All that I can think about is how that was definitely not an actors kiss.