Public Relations

Ring, Ring

Bradley and Gaga played and ran, tip toeing over the sand and up the stairs. Luckily they were only down the beach from her home. They stumbled into her home through the back entrance and the silence suddenly made things real. There was no David, no Bobby and no paparazzi. It was just them. Alone. Without an audience, there was no need to put on a show. So, why was Bradley fighting an urge to be near her? He lightly held her small wrist and pulled her close. Gaga's heart was beating out of her chest. They both crossed a line on the beach under the veil of creating an illusion for the cameras. Now there were no cameras and yet she found her self inching closer to him. Ring. Gaga blinked out of her daze and reached into her bag. "It's Bobby. Hey, Bob." 

"The photos from the beach are starting to hit. Girl!!!" Bradley and Gaga smiled at Bobby's loud reaction. "His hands were all over you!" Gaga's hand covered her face in embarrassment. Bradley kissed the side of her head, mesmerized by her humility. Bradley's hands softly rubbed her waist and inched down to her bottom. "And the kissing!" Bradley smiled into her neck and started sucking on her pressure point. "I cannot believe it. You guys look so hot together, it's insanity!" Gaga's eyes closed as she felt Bradley tenderly focus on her neck. "Honestly, this is great publicity. Oh my God, you two in the water?!" Gaga smiled and held Bradley's head close enjoying the safety and sexiness of his arms. "Seriously, even more realistic than you and Taylor ever were." Gaga's eyes shot open, Bradley stopped moving. A coldness flushed through her body. "Then again, this is all an act so I shouldn't rag on Taylor too much-"

"Bobby, I have to go." Gaga ended the call and moved away from Bradley. 

Gaga turned on the lights and mumbled something about going to freshen up. Bradley walked around the home and had settled on admiring her record collection by the time she returned. "I actually recorded an album with Tony, he gave me those ones himself." Gaga entered seeing Bradley picking up one of her favorite vinyls. 

"No kidding. Can we..." Bradley asked. Gaga nodded and helped him put the record on. Neither knew what to do. "So...the beach was really fun."

"Yea..." 

Bradley walked over to her slowly. "Who's Taylor?" Gaga looked down at her feet. Bradley didn't know why he asked her, but he slowly has been wanting to know everything about her. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want. Hey..." Bradley took her face in his hands. "...just because the cameras are gone doesn't mean I don't care."

"Why do you do this? This PR shit." Bradley thought about his answer and when he felt her turn her face to kiss his palm, he knew she cared, too. Bradley led them to sit. "Believe it or not Stefani, I love acting." They laugh at his nervous joke. "Seriously, I love films and I hope to direct one day and I just wanted to make my Dad proud." Bradley didn't know why he was telling her all this. Her eyes were opening his soul and he felt so comfortable with her. "I never thought it would come with all this. I just want to go to a bar with my buddies and watch the game and I can't. Anyways, I guess I needed to work on my image so we started doing this. At first I thought it was ok. I was matched up with this model and I was like oh ok cool, it's hard for me to meet women, I get so nervous but it took that factor away. No flirting, no dating, she was just magically there. But she loved the cameras and I just wanted to talk to her, take her out, travel, share cultures or just stay in and listen to records. All I wanted was to be normal."

"I thought I had that. The flirting, the dating... I was engaged... to Taylor. We were happy, I was happy I thought. I didn't realize that he was more into the allure of it all than with our relationship. It was all a perfect illusion. It hurt worse because I fooled myself, you know?" It felt good to say it out loud. She felt a weight lifted.

"So you did this?" Bradley didn't know why he felt jealous over her being engaged. 

Gaga nodded. "To get over him, to show the world I was fine but I don't need their approval or to show them anything."