bradley
Bradley spent the next twelve hours in a daze, and all he could think about was Victoria. Her smile, the smooth feel of her thighs, her slickness, and her moans. To his surprise, she preferred to have breakfast at his place rather than go out for brunch, and she left soon afterwards, even though he invited her to spend the day out together.
Usually, women jumped at the chance to spend more time with him, but Victoria was a mystery. He wondered if he had done or said anything to upset her, but couldn't come up with anything. She seemed happy enough as she writhed beneath him, moaning in ecstasy, and again when she spent all night curled up in his arms.
To distract himself, he made lunch plans with Roman. The guy was a Russian beast. He was 6'3" and 200lbs of pure muscle, but he was one of the nicest and most easygoing guys Bradley knew.
As he waited for Roman, his thoughts returned to Victoria. He had forgotten to make any follow up plans with her, which was a shame. The fact that everything was left open-ended made him uneasy, and that wasn’t like him. Normally, he loathed any kind of commitment to a woman, but she was different.
His phone beeped. Victoria? I knew you’d be getting in touch, he thought. He looked at his phone, completely sure it was going to be her asking about their next date.
No.
It was Cynthia.
Bradley sighed and opened the text.
Where did you run off to last night? I waited for you. I had something extra special planned...
He rolled his eyes and wondered when Roman was going to show up. Cynthia was a regular at the club. Sure, they had had a friends-with-benefits arrangement, but he never took her seriously. She was a nice enough girl, but his feelings towards her were purely the nocturnal kind, or at least were.
These days, he could think only of Victoria. He was not going to wife Cynthia, which is what she seemed to be aiming for with her constant plans and lovey-dovey eyes. He considered several responses to her text, but before he could begin typing, someone slapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, brother!” came Roman’s booming voice from behind him. “Nice to see you outside the Kave.” His voice was raspy and he had a strong Russian accent that made him a hit at the club. He really played it up for the clientele, telling stories of being a foot soldier in the Russian mob back in Moscow. The ladies really ate it up.
Although Bradley had heard rumours of Roman’s business dealings with some unsavoury characters, he also knew that he studied architecture back home. Architecture wasn’t as sexy as the mob, though. He was trying hard now to break into the industry in the U.S., but in the meantime, he still had to pay for the roof over his head, and he was a natural at dancing.
“Hey, how are you, buddy?” Bradley stood up and gave him a half-hug.
“Good, thanks.”
"How was last night after I left? The usual?"
Roman grabbed a menu. “Yeah, same old. Did one more dance on the stage and then it was time for the VIP room.”
“I see. Hope the tips were good.”
Roman looked up with a devilish grin. “As always, bro. You know it.”
“The VIP? Yeah, you were gone before it started, man, what happened? The boss wasn’t too happy about it either. Just between you and me...”
“He can eat shit. If I don’t want to do it for one night, what’s it to him?”
“I know. But it keeps the customers happy, and that’s what he cares about, I guess. But why don’t you want to do them? The money’s good. It’s usually a lot of fun, too,” he said, winking and chuckling.
“I had a friend there, and I didn’t want to keep her waiting.” Truth was, he didn’t feel like touching any other woman. He was too fixated on Victoria to get excited about anyone else. Nobody else even came close to getting on his radar. Not while she was around.
“Oh yeah, that girl? She was hot. New flavour of the week?”
Bradley shot him a look that could kill. “Shut the fuck up, man.”
Roman put his hands up in mock surrender. “Whoaaaa, sorry! You can’t blame me for saying so, though.”
Bradley knew that Roman was right, so he let it slide. Like most of the other guys, he had a new favorite girl every couple of weeks, but kept his regular rotation going. Not anymore, and he didn’t want to be thought of as a player anymore. He knew now that he was capable of some semblance of deeper feelings, and it was uncharted territory for him.
“Her name’s Victoria and she’s a sweet girl. Not anybody’s flavor of the week, that’s for sure.”
“You getting the feels for her or something?”
Bradley didn’t answer him right away. He gave his order to the waiter and turned to Roman. “She’s cool. That’s all I know for now. And I don’t want to ruin things. In fact, I hope my job isn’t too much of a turn off for her. I know a lot of chicks dig it, but she’s more serious than most. She’s got a head on her shoulders and thinks long term.”
“It sounds as if you like her. A lot. You know what? There’s nothing better in this world than love. So I say you go for it. I’m not joking around when I say this. If you think you want her, really want her, then don’t let her get away.”
“Are you saying I should quit my job?”
Roman’s eyes popped open in mock surprise. “No, man! What would we do without you? Who will keep the ladies coming back for more?”
They laughed and started in on the feast that the waiter laid out on the table before them.
Bradley thought some more about his Cynthia issue. She was a good person, and he didn’t want to hurt her, but he knew that he wasn’t going to be sharing his bed with her again. The dilemma nagged at him. Does he be upfront with her, or just let things fade to friendship? He couldn’t imagine straight up telling her that he was no longer interested, so he decided to let her down gently and eventually fade out. Maybe Roman could help, he thought.
“Hey Roman. I have a problem.”
Roman looked up. His mouth was full, so he just nodded, waiting for Bradley to continue.
“You know Cynthia from the club?”
“Yeah, man, who doesn’t? She’s obsessed with you,” Roman smiled, but Bradley wasn’t amused.
“Yeah, that’s the problem. She’s nice and all, but I need her to leave me alone. I’m gonna have to tell her it’s over. Nicely, though. I thought about just doing a fade out, but that seems like a wimpy thing to do. The best is to just tell her straight up. I just don’t want her being pissed and making life difficult for me at work.”
Roman shrugged. “Yeah. I see the issue. What do you want me to do about it? Take her off your hands?” He laughed as he speared another slice of bacon with his fork.
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea, now that you mention it. I was thinking something completely different, but your idea is better. So, can you do that for me, assuming the need comes up?”
“Sure, bro, no problem.” Roman chuckled. “Assuming she’s willing to give you up. That girl sticks to you like Velcro.”
“I know, but she’ll have to get over it. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I never promised her anything. We were just two consenting adults having no strings fun. But it’s gotta end now.”
“Got it. I’m sure it’ll blow over soon.” Roman paused. “Anyways, how’s the studying going?”
Bradley sighed. He hadn’t focused nearly enough on his coursework recently. He tried to get all his studies done during the week because the weekends were so unpredictable, but Victoria had been his main preoccupation for that last while.
“Not bad. Last semester was great and I’m in line for a really good residency. But I’ve got exams in a few weeks that I really need to pull off, so I’ll have to step it up in the studying department.”
Roman was one of the few people at his night job that knew he was in med school. He wanted to keep his two lives as separate as possible.
He didn’t want anyone at med school to know the connection, so the less people at work that knew about his studies, the better. Besides, it was better for his image work-wise. In their minds, he was the bad boy stripper, not the studious future doctor. As far as they all knew, he was a mechanic by day, and he wanted to keep it that way.
They discussed their upcoming week while finishing brunch, and went their separate ways. On the way home, Bradley pulled out his phone again and looked at Cynthia’s message. It would be an asshat move not to respond. He quickly typed out a response.
I had plans after work. See u at the club on the weekend if you come.
Perfect. Friendly enough, but without leading her on. The last thing he wanted was a stalker or a pissed off woman on his hands. Besides, he didn’t want any complications now. Not when he was weaving his web around Victoria.