Sicilian Nights

Part 1: Olive Trees and Orange Groves

A/N: Hi guys! I started to write this story a while ago but decided to complete and post it tonight, because I know several of you in the Bradga fandom are quite sad right now, losing hope and many have said that reading stories helps. So perhaps this might make some of you feel a little better. I have to warn you there is quite a bit of swearing in this one - emotions are running high.

Stay strong! Lots of love xxx

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It was pure torture.

The photos mocked him, his hand holding the phone trembling slightly, his throat constricting painfully as he scrolled down the article. The images were huge, the headlines screaming; People exclusive indeed, an exclusive right into destroying his heart. He couldn't even read the text, absolutely unable to make himself discover any details; all he could do was stare at her smiling face, the familiar platinum blonde head bending down towards another man in a very public, very deliberate kiss.

Had he waited for too long?

Pain squeezed at the region around his heart and he groaned, tossed the phone from his hand and closed his eyes; the pictures were now forever burned into his brain, however, clearly visible in his mind's eye. He didn't even know who the other man was, didn't recognize him; his hand twitched towards the phone again, the curiosity to find out still battling the terrible fear of what he might learn if he read the article.

Why had he made the mistake of thinking she would just always be there?

A knock from the door made him jump slightly. "Mr Cooper? The conference room is ready."

"Yeah." He glanced at his watch, took a deep breath. "I'll be right there."

He reached for the phone, pushed it into his pocket without another glance and made his way out of the room. Late afternoon sun was shining brightly, cloudless blue skies over the Sicilian countryside, vast landscapes of the Verdura Resort stretching as far as the eye could see; on the other side, the stunning turquoise blue of the Mediterranean Sea glittered. He walked into the conference room, immediately noticing several pairs of eyes landing on him, some curious, others sympathetic; clearly the photos had made rounds in the phones of his peers too. But Hollywood was Hollywood, celebrity life was celebrity life and that was what they all were, celebrities; amongst them, no one gossiped, a few touching his arm in a symbol of understanding and he couldn't help but wonder what they knew, or thought they knew. Because he, clearly, had known nothing.

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After dinner, which luckily was filled with extremely delicious food and some very entertaining conversation to keep his mind occupied, Bradley made his way back to his room; while it was early still and there certainly would be plenty of activities on offer at the gorgeous resort, he didn't really feel like doing anything, stepping out to the balcony and deeply inhaling the warm summer air. Sun was setting, bathing the grounds in a golden glow, olive trees and orange groves just begging to be picked; this was probably one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen and yet his mind was heavy, sad, confused. Pulling out of his pocket the phone that had been on silent mode since the start of the afternoon's conference, he made a note of the several missed calls and messages, sighing and rubbing his forehead. She had called too, he noticed, to his dismay or maybe slight joy, then just anger; he wondered why she would have contacted him now, to gloat her new happiness maybe, even the four letters of her name on the screen seeming to taunt him.

Stef.

For a moment Bradley experienced a childlike desire to just delete her from his phone entirely, as though that would somehow help but it wouldn't, he knew that; nothing could ever delete her from his heart, from his soul. She was his soulmate, or so he had thought, the missing piece of him, the final part of the puzzle that made him complete.