This is a follow up to Love Scenes (chapter 10). Happy Gadge day.
Public Displays of Affection
It's cold and raining in New York; according to the weather app on his phone anyway. Gale however is over a thousand miles on a Caribbean beach, knee deep in the surf and enjoying the feel of warm sun on his face. He stares at the horizon, exuding the kind of confidence and rugged sexiness that only a man wearing the three thousand dollar watch on his wrist can possibly hope to achieve.
He turns, his profile to the photographer, and faces down the beach. It's almost ten now and guests from the exclusive hotel that owns the beach are starting to come down to lie out on the sun loungers. Most of them spend a minute or two watching the shoot but quickly get bored of watching Gale posing in the water and focus on their tanning instead. There's one new arrival perched on the lounger closest to the shoot and watching with great interest. Even with the huge hat and sunglasses, Gale recognizes his girlfriend, and grins. He lifts his hand to wave her over; remembering at the last moment that he's in the middle of a shoot, he holds his hand over his eyes. The photographer likes it, and tells Gale to hold the pose while he quickly snaps several shots in rapid succession.
It's another fifteen minutes before the photographer is satisfied with this series of shots and Gale can come out of the water. He asks for five minutes and jogs to where Madge is sitting.
Gale hadn't planned to spend his thanksgiving weekend on a photo-shoot so far from home. He had wanted to spend it back home with his family, but the offer had been too good to turn down - A well paid and high profile shoot that could lead to more work with a high-end fashion company. The money was significant enough to make a real difference to his family, so he'd agreed to fly down for the shoot. The unexpected bonus had been Madge. She had been in Brazil to promote her album and had been able to rearrange her schedule to spend a few days with Gale on her way home. As great as the money is, and as lovely as the weather is, Gale's most grateful for the chance to spend a few days with Madge.
She rises to meet him, smiling excitedly. He picks up the pace, his own grin splitting his face. It's been over a month since they saw each other in the flesh and it's been a month too long. His first instinct is to sweep her into his arms and kiss her soundly, but he refrains, settling for a hug instead. His eyes sweep the beach, nobody is paying them any attention so he risks a quick kiss, hoping her huge hat will conceal them.
"Nice hat," he says when they step back. "When did you get here?"
"Not that long ago. I checked in and came here. Is it OK for me to watch?"
"Yeah, of course; you can come over if you want." Madge nods so he leads her back to where the crew is set up. His hand finds her of it's own volition, their fingers linking together before he remembers the rule - No Public Displays of Affection.
The hardest thing about dating somebody as famous as Madge isn't the long gaps when they don't see each other because she's in Japan promoting a single, or in Europe to perform on a a TV show, or shooting a video in Brazil. It's having to hide their relationship; when they'd started dating Madge had asked that they keep it as private as they could which means not being seeing together in public. Sometimes there was advantages to having a girlfriend who couldn't go out with him in public; it meant spending a lot of time holed up in her penthouse apartment, just the two of them. But he wants to do normal things, like hold her hand in public, dance with her in clubs, wrap his arms around her to keep her warm when they wait for a taxi, or kiss her when she is being cute at brunch.
He releases her hand and they walk down the beach side by side, not touching each other. All the same, every cell in his body is aware of her and reacting to her.
He introduces Madge as his friend. She takes off her hat and greets everybody cheerfully. Judging by the way eyes widen and people do double takes, most of the crew seem to recognize her but they remain professional, or think they're too cool to make a fuss over a popstar, Gale can't quite tell. Madge finds a place to sit, and watches quietly as Gale is prepped for his next shot.
He changes into a white shirt, and is sprayed with water until the shirt is soaked and clings to his skin. There's debate on how many buttons should be opened. One of the interns turns to Madge for her opinion.
"Oh, definitely more," Madge giggles, ignoring Gale's glare.
That seems to resolve the matter, and much to Gale's dismay, half the buttons on his shirt are left open. They pull the shirt back to reveal more of his chest, and his chest hair which he was lucky enough to keep for once. A good paying job and not having to get his chest waxed is a win for Gale, so he says nothing as the stylist pops open another button and sends him back to the water.
Gale feels slightly self-conscious posing in front of Madge, so he tries to block her and forget that she's there. An impossible task, because she's all he can think of. After a few minutes of pretending she's not there, he changes tack. He locks his gaze on her and gives her his best smolder, pouring all his energy into impressing her. The photographer is loving it, but that's just incidental to Gale, what he's really interested in is how much Madge is loving it. She leans forward in her seat, her cheeks pink and watches him intensely. She reaches up to run her finger over her bottom lip, a gesture that Gale has learned is her tell when she's aroused.
He hides a smirk; this is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever.
A couple of hours later they're in a car heading to their hotel. They're both fully dressed, but only because there's no partition between them and the driver. Madge's hand is under his t-shirt, caressing his abs. She presses hot, open-mouthed kisses along his neck before taking his earlobe between her teeth.
"I can't wait to have you inside me," she whispers.
Gale groans, swearing under his breath. It's a relief when the car turns off the road and down the avenue to their hotel - It's luxury resort that makes his photo-shoot location look like a Holiday Inn. Madge had sent him a link to it when she booked it. It's the type of place that doesn't display the prices anywhere on it's site. Madge had insisted it was her treat; it went against his better instincts, but he had accepted. A few days in a private resource where they could actually be openly affectionate with each other without worrying about the media finding out about them was worth swallowing a little pride for.
He feels out of place the moment they step into the lobby and wishes he'd brought something better than his old jeans and t-shirt to wear. But the hotel staff don't even blink at his appearance, they greet him warmly as Madge drags him across the marble floor and outside to the garden. She has rented a cottage, at a slight distance from the main building and hidden from view by tall trees and colorful shrubs.
The second the front door closes behind them, they pounce on each other. They stumble around the foyer, blindly trying to find a place to get down to business, while trying to tear their clothes off. It would be easier if they'd just stop kissing and focus on one thing at a time, but there's no chance of that happening.
Finally they crash into a table and Gale lifts Madge to sit on it. She wraps her legs around his waist and digs her heels into his butt, pressing him even closer to her. He slides his hands up her thighs, under her skirt to pull her panties down. Madge unbuttons his fly at the same time and pushes his jeans down his hips.
"Shit," he gasps, pulling away from her. "Condoms." He looks around for his bag. Where did it go?
"There's some in the bedroom," Madge says breathlessly before pulling him back down for another kiss.
Gale slips his hands under her and lifts her off the table, he carries her into the next room. It's a large, luxurious living room; larger than the house he grew up in and certainly not the simple cottage he'd been expecting. He doesn't have much time to reflect on the misnomer as Madge is grinding herself against him. Right, bedroom.
He carries her across the room and into the bedroom. Madge is prepared - There's a box of condoms sitting on the nightstand by the bed. He throws her down on the soft mattress and climbs on top of her.
Soon enough they're naked and Gale's on his back as Madge rides him. It's fast and vigorous and leaves them both breathless and smiling. They follow up with a shower; Gale presses Madge against the cold tile and screws her slowly, bringing her right to the edge several times before finally allowing her to fall.
They eat dinner on the deck outside their room, dressed in fluffy white robes. As the sun sets on the horizon, Gale calls his family. Talking to them makes him feel guilty; they're back home in their tiny house dealing with crappy weather and he's sitting by an infinity pool, looking down at a private beach.
"I'm sorry," Madge says when he hangs up.
"What? Why?"
She sighs. "This whole thing sucks. We can't have a normal relationship because of me. We can't go to the movies or go for a walk together because of me. And now you're here, missing out on Thanksgiving with your family because of me."
Gale snorts. "Yeah, this is a real hardship for me." He pulls her close to him and kisses the top of her head. "I wouldn't have been with them for Thanksgiving anyway. Flights are too expensive." Actually, that wasn't even true this year. Thanks to his increased profile since appearing in Madge's video, he's booked more jobs - lucrative jobs - than before. He could have sprung for tickets if he'd wanted. "Plus, the secret thing is kind of hot."
Madge gives him a small smile. "It would be nice to just have a normal relationship though."
"Yeah." He's not going to argue with that. But he doesn't care. He'll take what he has with Madge over a normal relationship any day.
"It's not because I want to hide you," Madge says. "Trust me, I wish I could tell everybody about my amazing, hot boyfriend. Especially after your shoot today. It's going to be so hard not to brag about how I'm banging you when those pictures come out."
Gale laughs. "I completely understand why you want to keep us secret, but keep talking."
She moves so that she's straddling his legs, one hand undoes the belt of his robe while the other traces the line of his jaw. "Everybody says how that video was hot, and I want to tell them they have no idea. I had a interviewer ask if you were single once. She wanted me to introduce you to her. I felt so smug."
"You should feel smug, I'm a catch," Gale preens, before capturing her lips with his and rolling her onto her back.
It's tempting to just spend the next day in their room, naked – They haven't even set foot in the infinity pool yet – but they somehow talk themselves into getting dressed and going for a cycle.
The hotel provides bikes and picnic. They set a slow pace along quiet roads overlooking the ocean. They stop frequently to take in the stunning scenery. With a pair of sunglasses and her bike helmet on, Madge feels at ease in public and isn't worried about people taking her picture.
They find an almost deserted beach for lunch. Madge strips down to her bikini and Gale loses his shirt. They throw down a blanket to eat lunch, then lie back and soak up the sun.
"I'm going to be walking funny for a week," Madge murmurs. Gale raises a eyebrow sleepily. "Between last night with you and cycling today, my thighs are going to be so sore."
Gale chuckles smugly. "There's still two days to go." Madge groans, which just makes him laugh more. He dozes off for a while and when he wakes up, he's feeling hot from the sun. His watch says it's almost three. He looks around and sees that they're alone, the other people who were on the beach earlier are gone.
He stands up, rousing Madge from her own nap. "I'm going for a swim."
"Mmmkay," she says, her eyes drifting closed again.
Gale jogs to the water and dives into the waves. He swims around a little, but it's boring on his own. After a few minutes he clambers out and jogs back to where Madge is lying. He stands over her and gives himself a shake, eliciting squeals as the cold drops fall on his girlfriend.
"I'm bored, come in with me."
"I'm sleeping," Madge says pointedly.
"Plenty of time to sleep when we're back in New York." Gale bends down and scoops her into his arms. She shrieks and kicks in protest, but not enough to actually convince him that she doesn't want to go in the water. He carries her in until the water is past his knees, then dunks them both.
Madge surfaces, pushing her wet hair off her face and laughing. "You're such an ass. We're done." Her words would be more convincing if she didn't wrap her arms around his neck at the same time.
Gale slides his arms around her waist and cups her ass, wading out further to where the water is deeper. When he's waist high, he lets her down so they're both standing with their arms around each other.
He's peppering kisses to her neck when she asks. "Where did everybody go?"
He shrugs. "Dunno."
"We're alone," Madge realizes. A smirk grows on her face and she presses closer to him. "Have I ever you told you about my al fresco fantasy?"
"No," he groans. "But I'm all ears."
"Well," she says, nipping at his earlobe. "I really want to fuck you in the open air, where anybody could see us."
Gale doesn't really think she's really fantasized about that. As her fame has grown, so has her desire for privacy and he really doubts she'd fantasize about being caught having sex outdoors. But, he's game to play along. As he undoes the ties of her bikini top, he looks around to make sure they're alone, but to his dismay, spots a couple walking down the path to the beach. "Aw, fuck."
So instead of al fresco sex, they swim around for a little longer, splashing and dunking each other. Then they dry off and climb back on their bikes to cycle back to the hotel.
For dinner that night, they venture down to hotel's restaurant and sit on the deck overlooking the water. The great thing about staying in such an exclusive resort is that none of the other guests are at all interested in who Madge is, if they even recognize her, and so she's able to relax and simply enjoy the meal and being with Gale.
Gale is more than happy to keep their relationship secret in order to keep it private; but at times like this, he wishes that they could be more open about it. It's nice to sit in a restaurant with other people and still be able to hold hands or steal a kiss. He's crazy about Madge and doesn't want to have to pretend otherwise.
They stay in the restaurant far later than expected lingering a long time over desert, finishing their bottle of wine and talking. They're the last to leave the dining room, and the lobby and bar are pretty deserted too.
It's such a nice night, they decide to take the long way back to their room, along the beach. They slip off their shoes and stroll down to the water's edge. Madge rests her head on Gale's shoulder and they walk hand in hand, letting the sea wash gently over their feet. As they get further away from the hotel, it gets darker. The moon is only a crescent tonight, and although there are plenty of stars, it's still pretty dark.
When they reach the end of the beach, Madge turns to face Gale. She wraps her arms around his waist and sways. "I think we're alone now, the beating of our heart is the only sound," she sings. "I think we're alone now, There doesn't seem to be anyone around."
Gale slides his hand over her backside. She's right, they are completely alone. "Still want to try that al fresco idea?"
Madge bites her lips before breaking into a grin. She looks over his shoulder once more, making sure the beach is deserted, before stepping out of his arms and pulling her dress over her head. She drops it on the sand with a giggle. Gale quickly starts undressing too. Madge tosses her bra to the ground and shimmies out of her panties. With another laugh she runs into the sea, shrieking at the cold water.
Hopping out of his jeans, Gale chases after her. He catches her easily and they move out to where the water is above waist height. Their kisses quickly grow heated. Madge wraps herself around him, and when he feels her grind against his cock, he has a terrible realization. "Shit. Shit, fuck, balls. Shit."
Madge looks shocked. "What?"
"I have no condom with me," he groans.
"Um," Madge bites her lip. "I'm on the pill. And I haven't been with anybody else since I met you." She leans closer so that she's almost whispering in his ear. "I really want you to come inside me."
"Jesus," he groans, because he really wants that too. "If you're sure."
"I am," she says, kissing him again. She sinks down on him then, causing a stream of curses to tumble from his lips. He buries his face in her neck, sucking and kissing on the soft skin there. It's a sensitive spot for her and always results in the most delightful sounds. It doesn't take long for either of them to come. Madge digs her fingers into his back, panting in his ear while he swears again.
For their last full day, they venture down the beach in front of their room. Most of the other beach users are at the far end, in front of the hotel. There's a couple of people along the stretch between there and them, but they're not paying any attention to Madge and Gale.
They goof around, building castles in the sand and running into the water to cool down. Madge feels so at ease, that she's openly affectionate with him. She doesn't feel the need to hide their relationship, so he's free to kiss her and hold her.
"This is so nice," she sighs that afternoon. They're standing knee deep in the water, pressed close to each other. She rests her head against his chest. "It won't be like this forever," she says quietly. "They'll get bored of me soon and move on to the next person."
Gale doesn't really think that's the case. He's heard the stuff she's working on, and it's incredible. He thinks the attention on her will only intensify as the world realizes how talented she is and that her new 'grown up sound' is here to stay.
Madge pulls back and looks him dead in the eye. "If you want to go public, I will."
He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good thanks. I'm not going anywhere, so there's plenty of time for us to be out, so to speak. I really don't mind keeping things private."
She smiles and kisses him again. "Thank you."
Sadly, their vacation is all too brief and by Monday, Gale is back at school. He doesn't mind. At least Madge is back in the city for a while. He's spending his nights at her apartment; he sneaks in through the underground garage.
He's walking from class to the library when he notices that people are watching him. He's grown used to it. Since the video came out, and his own profile has grown, he gets recognized more and people stare at him. It's usually just a glance, or maybe a double take. Today however, it feels like the first couple of weeks when the attention was crazy and overwhelming. People are openly staring and whispering to each other.
He has a sinking feeling about this. So he pulls out his phone. He had it on silent in class and he's missed dozens of calls, messages and alerts. He's pretty sure he knows what's happened. Sure enough, when he opens the first message, it contains a link to People magazine's website.
"Exclusive: Madelyn Undersee has a new man. See the steamy pictures of their intimate beach getaway here."
His heart drops. He almost doesn't want to look, but he has to. He's expecting the worst, even though he knows there's little chance that anybody was able to take pictures of them having sex at midnight in the ocean. So it's actually something of a relief to see that all the pictures were taken at daylight. They're of their last day – image after image of Madge and Gale wrapped in each other's arms, kissing each other, rubbing cream on each other, laughing and smiling together. There's absolutely no way they can play this off as 'just good friends'.
He sits at the back in his next class, reading through his messages. Mostly he ignores the ones from his friends. Funny how they all claim not to care about entertainment gossip yet they were all aware of the pictures before he was. There's a few frantic messages from Madge. For some crazy reason, she's apologizing, as if she has any control over it. He taps out a message to assure her everything's fine and puts away his phone to concentrate on class.
As he walks back to his dorm after his class, it feels like everybody is staring and talking about him. He keeps his head down and hurries on. His phone is buzzing like crazy with messages, but he ignores it for now, wanting to get back to the privacy of his room before he looks at them. First he needs to call Madge.
He's crossing the street to his dorm when he hears his name being called. He spins around. "Madge?" She's hurrying towards him from her black Escalade parked down the street. "What are you doing here?" he asks, leaning down to kiss her.
"I just wanted to see you," Madge says. "I was worried you might be harassed."
He laughs. "A few gawkers, but nothing I can't handle." He realizes they're standing in the open, arms around each other. "So, I guess we don't have to hide anymore."
"I guess not," Madge smiles.
He takes her hand in his. "In that case, lets go get a coffee."
