Bruno Mars | Natalie, the untold story (Complete)

Catching up/finding love?

Chapter 37

Catching up/finding love?

I opened my eyes and I saw Bruno stare at me. His eyes were sparkling and he had this seductive look on his face. He walked off to the set and left me confused.
At that moment Leah came walking in.
“Girl, what is up with you and Bruno?”, she asked while taking a seat.
“What do you mean?” I put my most innocent face up, hoping she would not see the red on my cheeks as I was blushing.
“Don’t play with me, I saw the way he looked at you”, she said while squinting her eyes.
“We’re just old friends, that’s all”, I tried to sound as casual as possible.
“Well, to me it looks more like old lovers”, she chuckled.
I tried to look busy with the clothes, hoping she would drop the subject. Things were already confusing enough.
“Well, believe me, we are just old friends. Nothing more.”
She walked off as they needed her for make-up assistance. I didn’t mind, this meant I didn’t had to answer any of her hard questions.
After I was done organizing the clothes I walked to the set to see what was going on.
I spotted Bruno sitting behind a piano. He played a song I didn’t know. It sounded lovely. When I heard him sing I got goose bumps all over. I almost forgot how beautiful his voice sounded. His eyes caught mine, he flashed his perfectly white teeth. He winked at me and I got this weird feeling in my stomach. After that take was done he walked over to me.
“Did you like it?”, he asked leaning against a wooden wall. “Yes, it’s a beautiful song. Who did you write it for?”, I asked tucking some hair behind my ear.
“Well actually…”, he started. I frowned my eyebrows, wondering why he didn’t finish his sentence. “My um..my girlfriend”, his words sounding hesitating.
I don’t know why, but I felt kind of upset. Why would I feel that way? I mean, I was over him. I shouldn’t be feeling jealous.
“Oh, that’s nice. How long have you been together now?”, I asked trying not to sound upset. “A few months”, he answered.
“Great.”
“And you? Any man in your life that has got you butterflies?”
“No, I don’t have time for that. I am too busy working.”
“Oh come on Nat! You gotta make time for love! Love is important!”
“I know, but I am fine now. I don’t really need a man”, I said crossing my arms.
“I hope you will find somebody. You deserve a good man”, he said while his eyes pierced into my soul. “After all, you are a sweet and beautiful woman. Any guy who doesn’t see that is stupid”, he said not taking his piercing eyes off of mine.
“Well, I guess we both know what happens when my love is taken for granted”, I said with a firm voice and walked off. I couldn’t deal with him saying these things. I mean, was he serious saying that?! How could he! After all that has happened.
“Natalie! Wait!”, he called walking after me. “Bruno, don’t. Let’s keep this professional. Don’t go saying stuff you don’t know nothing about!”
I walked off to the director asking if he needed me here and when he said I could leave I got my stuff and left. I said everyone goodbye and went away.
I was glad I could leave. When they asked me for this job they didn’t say how long they would need me. It could have been the whole weekend, but also just a day. The recording went faster than they thought so I was free to leave.
Once I was outside I was glad to get some fresh air.
Bruno got me a little upset. My feelings were so confused. On one hand I was glad seeing him again, he still had a place in my heart. I know that sounds weird, but he did. After all he was my first big love after Vincent. On the other hand he totally ripped my soul open again with his words.
I decided to get some coffee somewhere to get my mind off of all this shit. I took my stuff back to my hotel and walked off to find some place nice.
A cute café around the corner caught my eye and I walked in.
My eyes scanned the place for a nice seat and I found one near a window in the back. As I took my seat a cheerful waitress walked up to me. She had her brown hair tied up into a need knot. Her red lips curled up into a bright smile as she greeted me. “Welcome to Café au lait how may I help you?”
I took a quick glance at the rectangle menu card and decided I wanted to have a cappuccino and some apple pie. She wrote it down on her note pad saying she would be right back.
I just stared out of the window, completely lost in my thoughts. All I could see were Bruno’s bright brown eyes, staring at me. His voice saying girlfriend kept echoing in my head.
“Here you go Miss.” The brunette waitress stood next to my table, placing my cappuccino and pie on the table. “Thank you”, I said with a smile.
“That looks good!”
A familiar voice made me look up. “Hey stranger!”
“Oh my God… Phil!” I got up and placed myself into his arms. He wrapped them around me and gave me a tight hug.
“Take a seat”, I said pointing at the chair opposite of mine. We called a waitress and he ordered the same.
“What are you doing here?”, he asked looking at me from behind his glasses.
“I’m here for work.” I paused to take a sip from my cappuccino. “I am a fashion stylist”, I continued.
“Wow! That sounds great! I can remember that you once told that you were studying to do something in fashion”, he said folding his hands.
“But tell me, why did you leave so all of a sudden. No goodbyes, no address…”
I held still for a moment, taking a deep breath. All of a sudden I felt guilty for not letting him know where I went. He must have been so worried.
“I was worried there girl!”
“I’m sorry Phil. But I didn’t want… I mean.. I… I didn’t mean to be ungrateful. Please don’t think that! I was very thankful for everything you did for me. But I needed to leave my L.A life behind. A fresh start without any connections to my past.”
Phil nodded his head in understanding.
“I didn’t mean for you to worry”, I said apologizing.
“So, where did you go?”, cutting up his pie with his fork. I laughed, it looked so funny. “What’s so funny?”
“You are! You and your funny eating habits”, I chuckled.
I stuffed a piece of pie into my mouth. “I went to my mother”, I said.
“It was the only place I knew where I could get my life back. I continued my study and graduated a year later. I gained a job as a clothing store manager not long after that.”
“You know I tried to search for you but no one knew where you went. I asked at Sweets, but they didn’t knew either. All they said was you quit your job”, he said. “You know, Bruno searched for you for months too.”
I dropped my fork when he mentioned his name. “Did I say something wrong?”, he said his eyes looking worried.
“No…”, I sighed. “It’s just.. Bruno..” His face popped up in my mind again. His wink and his smile that he flashed me this early afternoon.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Let’s talk about something else”, he said while he petted my hand.
“So how was your life? What did you do all these years?”, I asked him.
He told me about the productions Ari, Bruno and him did for other artists. He also told me Bruno got signed not long ago. I told him I saw Bruno in the ‘Billionaire’ video.
We talked some more until he got a phone call. He excused himself and walked away. After a few minutes he returned.
“Sorry for that.”
“It’s okay”, I smiled. “I am so glad you are doing fine again, Natalie. You deserve all the good things happening to you right now.”
“Thank you, that is so sweet of you.”
“So, Mr. Lawrence, do you have anyone in your life right now?”, I asked him with a cheeky smile.
His eyes started so twinkle and his smile got even wider than usual.
“I’ll take that as a yes”, I laughed.
He told me all about his girlfriend who he had been with for more than a year now. I got all excited when he told me she was into fashion too.
“Well, maybe I should meet her someday soon. But for now I need to go to the bathroom”, I said and got up.
When I walked back I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw Bruno sitting at our table, talking with Phil. The first thing I wanted to do was run away, but I couldn’t.
Slowly I walked back to the table. Bruno’s eyes found me and he kept looking at me. When I got to them he stood up.
“Hi Natalie.”
“Bruno.” I turned my face to Phil. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
Phil got up and walked with me, a few meters away from where Bruno was.
“Did you talked to him on the phone?” My words each came out in anger.
“Yes, but I didn’t tell him to come here. He didn’t even know I was here with you”, he answered in his defense.
“Then how did he know you were here?”
“I come here very often, so maybe that’s why he found me here”, he said.
“I’m sorry Phil, but I can’t do this right now. I have to go”, I said and I walked back to the table to get my bag.
“Where are you going?”, Bruno asked as he got up.
“Bye Phil”, I said without even looking at Bruno. I left some money on the table and walked away. I felt an hand on my shoulder, turning me around. I looked straight into Bruno’s eyes.
“Leave me alone Bruno. You’ve already done enough”, I said shaking him off of me. “Natalie, wait! Please”, he begged. “I’m sorry for what I said this morning!”
“Now where did I hear that before”, my voice spit at him sarcastically. “What? This morning? What are you guys talking about?”, Phil said confused.
“Bruno will fill you in, he knows exactly what I’m talking about!”
I stormed off leaving the two of them behind.  
Once I got back to my hotel room I started packing and booked a flight back home. I would leave early the next morning.
That night Bruno haunt me in my dreams. Seducing me with his sweet words and persuasive looks. Waking up I was all confused. I looked at my phone and saw a few missed calls from Phil. We exchanged numbers yesterday for when I was in L. A again to meet up.
There was no need right now for me to call him back. I made sure I got all my stuff and went to the airport.
When I got home my mom wasn’t there. She told me she was visiting a her sister that week and would be back next Friday.
That week was pretty quiet for me, I didn’t had any new assignments.
When my mom came back I decided not to tell her that I saw Bruno. I didn’t want to talk about it to her, maybe later. I did tell her I met Phil and that we talked for a while and exchanged numbers.
Until the weekend, then I got a call for a new job in L. A. I wasn’t very pleased to go back again, but I didn’t really had any choice.
So I packed some stuff again and headed back. This time I had two days off before I was needed somewhere else again. I thought it would be nice to go to the beach. I always loved going to the beach, it made me relax.
Walking there with sand tickling between my toes and the sound of the crashing waves made me realize how much I missed this. I didn’t really pay attention to where I was walking until I bumped into someone.
“Sorry Miss”, I said looking into the brown eyes of a beautiful dark skinned woman. “No, don’t be. I was running from my boyfriend, he tries to catch me”, she laughed. I saw a man running up to her. As he came closer I saw who he was. My heart stopped beating for a second. “Oh there is he is”, she said pointing at Bruno. “Honey, cause of you I almost knocked this woman to the floor”, she laughed while she pecked him on his cheek.
His arm slid around her waist and he just stared at me. “Well, have fun. Bye”, I tried not to give Bruno any attention. “Natalie, wait.”
“You know her?” The girl frowned her eyebrows.
I turned around and heaved a sigh. “What?” I crossed my arms and started tapping my feet impatiently.
“I want you to meet my girlfriend, Charis”, he said. She put out her hand and I shook it saying my name. “Nice to meet you. I have to go now.”
“Wait, where do you know each other from?”, she asked curiosity in her voice.
“Your boyfriend used to fuck me and beat the shit out of me basically”, I thought to myself. Of course I couldn’t say that to her.
“We are old friends”, Bruno said. “Oh that’s nice. You should come have dinner with us”, Charis said all innocent. “That’s very nice of you, but I have to go now. It was nice meeting you”,  I said faking a smile.

“Make sure he doesn’t fuck you up like he did to me.”

“Bruno”, I said while giving him a small nod.
I left them arguing about me not coming with. My butt hit the sand and I folded my arms around my legs. I let my head rest on my knees while I watched the waves crash.
“You look like you need some cheering up to do.”
“I don’t care who you are, but I am not in the mood right now”, I said not taking my head off my knees.
“Well, then we can sit together being cranky.” Another butt sank down into the sand, next to me. “Can you please leave?”
“No.”
“Well, then I’ll leave”, I said trying to get up. A bright smile and some baby blue eyes stared at me. “You look pretty when you pout”, he said.
He had me laughing. “Aaaah there is a smile. You can smile!”, the stranger said.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Let me do this properly.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Blake”, he said.
“Well, I’m Natalie”, I said smiling.
“Nice to meet you Natalie”, he said. “Now, why are you so mad?”
I laughed. “Why do you care?”
“Maybe it will help you lose some anger. Talking to a stranger about your problems is easier than talking to someone you know.”
He was right, it was easier. No strings attached.
“You’re annoying!”
He laughed, he had a beautiful laugh.
“My ex- boyfriend..”, I started. “Tell me about it..”, he chuckled.
“You’re gay?”, I exclaimed.
He started laughing even more. “No! I just broke up with my girlfriend. Well, it’s been a year now…”
“Well, for me it’s been a couple of years now, but I walked into him a week ago and just now on the beach again.”
I stared at the ocean. My hands were supporting me behind my back. I had on leg laying down and one half up.
Blake was lying next to me, hands supporting his head, looking up the sky.
“Go on…”, he said.
Strangely it felt so comfortable talking to him. I told him in big lines what happened between me and Bruno, without saying his name or mentioning the abuse. He talked to me about his ex-girlfriend too.
I don’t know for how long we were up there, but half way I got hungry.
“My stomach is growling, how bout yours?”, he asked while rubbing his tummy. I chuckled; “Mine too.”
“Come on, let’s grab some dinner”, he said getting up, his hand reaching out for me. I grabbed his hand and got up.
“Well, I don’t know.. I mean I just met you”, I said doubting.
“You just told me all about your ex-boyfriend and you know all about my ex-girlfriend. I think we are good to have dinner”, he said with a grin.
I agreed to have dinner and so we did.
Back at my hotel room my phone buzzed. I had a message from Blake.

Hi beautiful.
I had a great time, I hope to see you again soon.
Sleep well.

I smiled while reading it. I send a text back that I had a great time too.
Never I would have thought that I would be smiling again, reading a message from a man.
That night I went to bed, not dreaming about Bruno…