Chapter 3, in which our heroes try to entice the girls, a fire breaks out, and an old man nearly has a heart attack. Enjoy!
Bradley met up with Angel and Katie at the club. As they entered, the deep booming rhythms pulsed up through his feet. "Ya, this is what I'm talking about!" Bradley shouted to be heard over the beat. He grabbed Angel and twirled her around once, then did the same for Katie. Laughing, he gestured them to join the dancers on the floor, and he would get the first round of drinks.
Stopping at the bar, he motioned to the bartender. "Three of the house brew," He called. Snapping off the tops of the bottles, the bartender passed him the beer. As he made his way back to Angel and Katie, he paused. A woman was standing close by, her body language clearly making it known that she was not interested in the guy who was trying to chat her up. Bradley placed the beers on the table beside her, and said "Hey man, she's not interested."
The woman looked at Bradley, and he saw a glimmer of recognition there. "I'll handle it," She called back. The very drunk man looked at Bradley, and said, "Ya asshole. Fuck off!"
All of a sudden, the man found himself lying on the floor, face up, his beer dumped on him. "Mind your manners, you drunken ass." The woman shouted at the drunk, then grabbed Bradley's hand and pulled him away.
"You okay?" He asked when there came a pause in the music. "I'm fine, Mr James. I saw Miss Coulby and Miss McGrath around here somewhere. Oh, there they are. Here ladies, I've brought your man back to you." She ended with a small laugh.
Katie and Angel both laughed too. "Oh he's not our man," Angel had to raise her voice as the music started back up again. "Oh I LOVE this song! Come dance with me, Katie!" And with that they spun off to the dance floor again. Bradley was left standing there with the woman.
"My name is Desiree, by the way!" Called the woman, as her body started to sway with the music. She gave him a sultry smile, and began moving toward the dance floor. "Oh no you don't," Bradley called, and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around the dance floor. Before they knew it they were dancing to every song together, and she was matching him drink for drink. Katie and Angel kept bursting out laughing, and every time he'd asked "Whut?' They'd just laugh harder and shake their heads.
By one in the morning, they were both totally trashed, and he thought about helping her home, but it was a very fleeting thought. "Come back to my room," Bradley slurred. "Make love with me…" They climbed in a taxi, and made it back to the hotel. Desiree didn't make any noise of protest, as he slid his hand across her back, and down a bit further as they stumbled down the hall. He fumbled with the lock, got the door open and then they fell together into the room.
He got up slowly, as the room was spinning, helped her up as best he could, and they both made it to the bed. They kissed passionately, but Bradley's head was so messed up he kept missing her mouth. Trying to take his pants off was another problem, his hands weren't working the way they were supposed to. All of a sudden, everything went black. As he fell into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard was "Oh, shit…"
Bradley woke up with the mother of all hangovers. He was in bed, his shirt lying on the floor, his jeans half unzipped, and a woman sound asleep beside him. As he turned over to look at her, he realised it was the girl from the club the night before. What was her name? Debbie? He remembered different bits of the night, but nothing very clearly. Had they had sex? His eyes popped open quickly. Looking at the woman, he realised she was fully clothed, so the panic subsided a bit.
"Hey," He heard from her side of the bed. Her eyes were open slightly, a shy smile on her face. He offered her a grin, and stretched. Folding his arms under his head he turned to stare at her. "Guess I wasn't much of a Casanova last night, huh?" A subtle blush crept up his neck to pink his cheeks.
She blinked, then burst out laughing. "No, I guess not. Well, you'll just have to make it up to me then, huh?" A wicked grin flashed across her face. Then she blushed too. "God, I must still be at least a little drunk… I'm not usually like this," She laughed again. Bradley decided he really liked that little laugh of hers.
"Well, I'll tell you what; I happen to have the day off today, and I'm sure we can find something to do. How about breakfast?" He drawled in his cheapest imitation of a Frenchman. The woman laughed long and loud. "Only if you promise not to do that again!" Came the retort.
Bradley offered the shower to her first, and began getting clothes for his shower. He really wished he could remember what her name was. It was kind of embarrassing to be calling her everything but her actual name, and he was pretty sure it wasn't Debbie. It took him 7 minutes to remember, and he did it just as she was walking out of the bathroom.
"Desiree!" She stopped towelling her hair, looked at him like he was barking mad, and asked "Yes?" Bradley flushed scarlet, and said in a sheepish voice, "Nothing…" She laughed again, and said matter-of-factly; "You forgot my name, didn't you?" Her grin showed that there was nothing for him to apologise for.
As Bradley took his shower, he thought over the things that they could do together. He really liked Desiree, and wanted to get to know her better. As Paris was the city of romance (Or was that Venice?) it's not like he was stuck having to go to a movie or anything cheesy like that. No, he'd woo Desiree properly. Bradley thought some more. Hmmm…. Well, he'd think of something.
As he got out of the shower, inspiration hit. The Eiffel Tower! Every sappy, romantic movie he'd ever seen (not that those were frequent but they did happen) that took place in Paris had SOMETHING to do with the Eiffel Tower. And he'd bet she probably hadn't seen it yet. Since she had an American accent, he guessed that she hadn't been in Paris for very long.
As he dressed, he heard voices in his room. Scrambling to get dressed, he slid on the mat, whacked his shoulder on the towel rack, and bumped his head against the door. There was silence from the room for a few seconds, and then Colin's voice rang out, "Bradley? You okay in there?" "Fine," he replied, scowling because his head hurt.
Since it was just Colin, and because he didn't expect anyone else to be there but Desiree, he walked out wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Ocean watching. Her raised eyebrow indicated he maybe should have thought that idea through a little more before following through. Oh well.
"Forgot my briefs," He chuckled softly, grabbed them, and dashed back into the bathroom, so they couldn't see his red face. The soft tinkling laugh of Ocean was overpowered by Desiree's full-throated belly laugh. Once he was fully dressed, he re-emerged, snapping his now wet towel at Colin's chest. Grinning, Colin made a grab for it and they played a little tug of war with it. It was an old, familiar ritual, and it helped bring calm to Bradley's mind.
"So," He began. "What are you two up to on a lovely day such as today?" Bradley risked a glance outside. It was bright and sunny, looked quite warm for a late fall day.
"We were hoping to go see the Eiffel Tower," Colin explained. "And wanted to know if you and Desiree wanted to come with us. We can take a picnic and sit on the lawn," Colin finished breathlessly. Bradley was flabbergasted. Not only had Colin anticipated what he was going to do, he came up with a better idea than Bradley had!
"Ummm," Bradley hesitated. "Oh come on Bradley," Desiree chuckled. "I haven't been to see the Eiffel Tower yet, and Colin and Ocean seem like a lot of fun to hang out with!" Bradley tried to look gruff, but it was hard with the three of them standing there grinning like idiots.
"Fine, we can go, but I want meat with my lunch!" Bradley joked, slapping poor Colin on the shoulder. "And Cheese!" Laughing now, he led the group out the door and down to the breakfast area.
Colin led the other three round the Eiffel Tower, doing his best imitation of a French tour guide. His humor had them in stitches, especially when he managed to look offended and amused at the same time. His poor French accent, trying to be heard over the thick Irish brogue, kept them laughing throughout most of the morning.
True to his word, Colin brought lunch with him. There were fruits and vegetables, all kinds, and for the carnivores he'd packed some sliced meat, cheese, and lots of rolls and baguettes. A small tub of butter for the rolls completed the package, and they bought drinks to enjoy while they were there.
In all, Bradley had to admit, this was more fun than he'd had in quite a long time. As they sat eating, he noticed that Ocean and Desiree had been enjoying each other's company. Not that they'd been ignoring the guys, but they seemed to connect in a similar way that Colin and Bradley had done when they had first met. At the moment, they were chatting together while Colin and Bradley looked on, eating.
Ocean suddenly looked up, mid-sentence, and stared at Bradley. "Hey, do you think we could go see Hope and Hero today?" She asked shyly. Bradley frowned. "Already? We just left them there yesterday," he replied. "You don't think there's anything wrong, do you?" After what she had done yesterday, in calming the horse and the wolf, he was pretty sure she was magical. Or at least as close to magical as one could get in today's day and age.
"Not wrong, precisely…" Ocean replied softly. "Just, not quite the same as it was a few minutes ago." She shrugged. "It's probably nothing, but I need to make sure." Bradley nodded. "As long as it's okay with these two jokers," he nodded to Colin and Desiree. "Then I have no problem with checking up on them. Was gonna suggest it later, actually." Which was half true. If he'd remembered, he would have, so there.
After lunch they all piled into Bradley's car, and made their way to the stable. As they got closer, they noticed fire trucks and smoke in the air. Ocean gasped, and leaned over Colin to get a good look out the window. They all saw Henry standing a short distance away, and Bradley parked his car. Rushing out, they all congregated at the elderly man, who looked quite dazed.
"Henry! Are you okay?" Bradley had to shout to make himself heard over the sound of the fire engines, the water and the sound of terrified horses.
"Eh?" Henry replied. "Oui, I am fine. And thanks to that little Hope, my horses are also fine. Never saw anything like that before." He turned gentle eyes to Hope, who was sitting on the ground next to Hero. "Not only did she bark like mad to get my attention, she also managed to get all the horses out. I don't understand what she did, but she saved their lives!"
Bradley noticed that all of the horses were standing out in the field beyond them, none of them moving. They seemed to be in the same place, at the farthest corner of the pasture. They were neighing, but none of them were in danger.
He wandered over to Hope and knelt down beside her. Giving her a gentle rub in the ruff of her neck, he surveyed the area to make sure there wasn't anyone else who needed help. It seemed the old man lived alone, and the only ones there other than himself were the horses. The firefighters had the fire under control, but the barn was in ruins. Behind him, he heard Desiree and Ocean quickly talking together about what they could do to help Henry. Colin was talking to the old man himself, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay.
They stayed with Henry for quite some time, making sure the old man was all right and all the horses were content once the fire was put out. When they finally left, they were dirty, with the smell of smoke in their nostrils and on their clothes. They returned to the hotel to shower, and made plans for dinner.
