Hired | b.w.s

Twenty Five

I grab myself a coffee before heading back to my apartment. After a long day on set, I am so excited to just go home and rest. Of course I'm thankful for the writers making my role bigger in the show and I can't believe it's happening after only three months on the soap, but it does tire me out at the end of the day. It's exhausting having to act so over the top but I wouldn't change it for the world. I can finally afford rent easily and manage to feed myself at the same time and I'm doing what I love. I didn't think I'd ever get here but man am I proud of myself. Sure, I could afford to get a bigger and posher apartment, but I like this one, it has character and holds fond memories.

I unlock my apartment door and shut it before flopping onto my bed and groaning. I sit up against my headboard and pick up the script for next week that was sent to me in the mail. I run my eyes over the printed words and begin learning the lines. I would love to sleep, but my job comes first and I need to know these lines before next week for rehearsals. I drink from my coffee and mumble the lines to myself under my breath. I rub the back of my neck before walking to my fridge, script still in hand, and searching through it. Man, I really need to stock up. Even though I can afford food now, I still never remember to buy it. I am such an irresponsible adult.

I shut my fridge and walk back to my bed, but I'm interrupted by a knocking at my door. I frown. I'm not expecting anybody? I put my script on my desk and make my way to the door. I unlock it and open it, only for my heart to immediately drop to my stomach. My pulse quickens as I take in the sight in front of me I never expected to see again.

Brad is standing at my door with an unbuttoned white shirt and his hair pulled back into a small bun on the top of his head. My stomach twists at the sight, I've seen his new hair style in a few newspapers and my occasional online stalking, but it looks so much better in person.

"B-Brad." I stutter as I take in the shock of seeing him here after five whole months.

Five months ago he was standing in this exact place, kissing me goodbye. Why is he here so soon?

"Can I come in?" He chuckles at me as I just stand here staring at him.

"Y-Yeah, sure!" I snap out of it, open the door for him to come in and shut it behind him. I need to calm down. It's just Brad. "Why are you here?" I blurt out nervously.

"Charming." He laughs at my question with flirtatious eyes. "I finished tour last week and I thought I'd...stop by." He answers my question whilst looking around my apartment curiously.

"How was the tour?" I ask him, ignoring the tension beginning to fill up the room.

Last time he was here I was kissing him, I've thought about kissing him quite a lot over these five months.

"Eventful." He laughs. "Enough about me, big shot. How's the new job going?" He grins at me.

I can't believe he even knows that I got the job. Has he been keeping track of what I've been doing? I know that I've been watching what he's been doing, no matter how much I told myself not to.

"It's good, it's tiring but I love it. I'm surprised you even know about it." I laugh softly.

"I've been keeping tabs on you. You're not very easy to forget." He sends a subtle glance my way before looking to my desk and eyeing my script. His fingers trace over the top of it gently. The tension is rising.

"Neither are you when you keep popping up in my weekly newspaper." I cross my arms jokingly.

"Well, what can I say? I'm a superstar!" He exaggerates in a funny voice, making me laugh.

I missed this, I missed him. A silence falls over us and I feel a sudden seriousness take over me as I watch him look around my room with his newly defined jawline and long hair.

"Why did you really come here?" I ask him softly.

He looks up to meet my eyes with a soft expression in them, he walks closer to me and rests his hand on my arm. Tingles run through my skin.

"I wanted to see you." Brad softly admits.

"Why?"

"I missed you. A lot." He admits and my heart jumps out of my chest. "You're literally all I could think about on that damn tour bus. I have written multiple songs about you that you will most likely hear soon." He teases but my heart warms at his words. I'm desperate to hear those songs.

"I missed you too, but nothing's changed." I look sincerely into his eyes. "You're still in a band that tours constantly and I have a demanding job now."

It aches my chest to say, but it's true. He stays silent and traces his finger tips along my arm, reminding me of the night in his hotel room a little over five months ago. He takes a deep breath in and out.

"I'm quitting the band." He mutters.

My eyes widen and I choke a little on my breath as I take in what he just said. He can't do that, he loves being in that band!

"What? No, you can't, you love that band, you love making music." I step away from him. I'm not about to let him ruin his dream for me.

"That's true...but I also love my freedom." He says and steps closer to me again. "I love those guys and I love music, but management have been even harsher with me lately and I feel like I'm just their puppet. I'm done with the controlling and the publicity and having to pretend to be happy when meeting fans and not being able to have any privacy." Brad calmly says to me, he seems like he's been thinking about this a lot. There's not even a sense of regret in his voice.

"So get new management." I suggest, he can't just throw away everything he's worked for.

"That doesn't solve the privacy issue." He smiles at me. "I just want a normal life. I'm content, I've lived out my dream, I've achieved it. I can still make my music, I just won't get to perform it for fans."

"But you said to me that you get new dreams, that it never ends." I frown, remembering the conversation that we once had.

"I do have a new dream." He looks into my eyes and caresses my cheek. Shivers run through my body.

He doesn't need words to tell me the rest, his soft lips on mine for the first time in five months are enough to tell me everything.