Real Love Ch. 15

He jogs down slowly, warming his muscles up for what is to come, saying good morning to the members of staff that he sees out and about. As he turns the corner heading for the gym, he hears a low whistle and sees Connor sitting under a palm tree.

He looks like he's been drinking all night.

"Morning," Brad says, his good mood evaporating. His nostrils flared at the scent of scotch at the same time as he saw the half-bottle in the Scotsman's hand.

Connor winks, then beckons him over with a nod of his head.

"Albright, ya wee dobber," Connor slurs happily, yet Brad can see in his eyes that he doesn't look drunk.

He holds out a hand to Brad as if asking for help getting up and when Brad reaches out, Connor palms him a small piece of paper. He tries not to grin, but he's not very successful.

"You're right sober, man. Ye need tae party harder."

Brad crouches down facing Connor and glanced down at the note.

{Code 4162, Pastry Kitchen door. Leads to ladder down. At bottom another combination, plus scanner. Need to catch C tonight when he's on his way down. Will call you. Up for it?}

Brad looks up and nods.

"Yeah, but I can't party like you, Connor," he adds.

Connor reaches out and grabs his hand, taking the paper back off him and stands up, swaying slightly.

"You're hammered," Brad says, on the off-chance anyone is listening or watching.

If Connor thought it important enough to act like he's drunk, then he should probably play along. Connor pulls a cigarette from behind his ear and makes a big deal of trying to light it, neatly setting fire to the paper in the process as he lights up.

"Aye, you and me should party one night when we're in LA," Connor slurs, leaning back against the tree, as if he's falling over. The burnt piece of paper drifts to the ground, consumed.

"From what I hear I'll need a weekend to party and the rest of the week to recover," Brad says, smiling.

The fact that Connor got the first part of the combination and then got inside is great news. Real progress. Now he's looking to resolve this problem once and for all.

"Why fucking recover? Just keep partying," Connor smiles, clapping him on the shoulder as he stands on the consumed paper and casually twisted his foot. "And, cut out this six in the morning workout shit. It's depressingly healthy."

"You could join me in the gym right now, Connor?" Brad suggests, laughing as the Scotsman wanders off, the tap of his cane loud on the pavement.

"Aye, but I'd make you look like a wee bitch. Nae chick wants to blow you after seeing that, Brad."

Brad grins, mouths the words 'thank you' and jogs off to see Julian.

His workout is far superior to yesterday's, and he broke seven of his personal bests working his ass off, and isn't in absolute agony when he finishes. Julian puts it down to the injections helping heal his injured muscles and his body reacting well to the diet and exercise.

Brad promises to see him later and then takes a brisk walk back to the house. Kelly has drawn him a bath, but has already showered, dressed herself and is hard at work with Debi sorting through resumes.

"You two know it's only quarter to seven, right?" Brad says as he heads for his bedroom.

"We know," Debi nods. "The early bird catches the early worm."

"I like to think of us as partially insane myself," Kelly chuckles.

He enters his bathroom and bathes, runs the clippers over his face to get the stubble back to the right length and does all the other bits and pieces guys do to try and look good. Then gets dressed.

He walks by his assistants and sits on the balcony, enjoying a cigarette and a cup of coffee before breakfast when Kelly and Debi comes out to join him.

"Right, let's hear today's schedule then," he says.

"Someone's firing on all cylinders today," Debi says.

"He is, isn't he," Kelly replies, giving him a quizzical look.

"Good work out," Brad explains. "Broke seven of my own records, so I'm treating myself to coffee and a cigarette, and no, the irony is not lost on me. So what's happening?"

"Easy day," Debi says, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Breakfast at seven thirty with a briefing on dealing with the media until half past nine."

"Easy day? You're gonna kill my good mood," Brad grins.

"After that," Debi says, grinning and pressing on," you're seeing Doctor Kerr, then Shiro at the salon for a trim."

"Sounds good."

His eyes catch Kelly and she's trying not to laugh.

"After that you've got half an hour with Margaret," Debi says cautiously.

Brad facepalms himself with both hands.

"I knew the gods are out to get me today."

Smiling at his humor, Debi says, "She's going to run through your wardrobe choices with you and has a shortlist of stylists for you to interview when you get to LA."

"I've to interview them?" Brad asks.

"She doesn't trust us with it," Kelly says, grinning. "You'll just have to get on with it."

"Then you're doing it," Brad says, nodding at her. "If I have to put up with her for half an hour, then you two are doing the interviews, Kelly."

"I knew I shouldn't have laughed," she mutters but makes a note.

"Next? And please tell me it's something fun."

Debi makes a reluctant face and Brad sighs.

"And then I'm back at the gym, then lunch, right?"

She nods.

"Yes, and you do have the remainder of the day free, except the after dinner meeting and your time with your sisters this evening."

"Really?" Brad asks.

That sounds weird.

"You're sure?"

"It's right here."

She holds up the piece of paper.

"All afternoon. Free time with friends."

"So a few hours of hell, then play time?"

"Jesus, Brad," Kelly mutters. "You've got a half day. If you were at home you'd be working til five or six. Stop being a grump."

He grins.

"Yes, dear."

"Now then, recruitment," Kelly says, moving swiftly on while Debi tries not to laugh. "We're canning the idea of separate media relations for each of you right now. It's going to make more sense for one spokesperson for all three of you, and then there's no mixed messages or contradictory statements."

Brad shrugs.

"Okay."

"The short lists are done for the rest of what we need right now, so we're getting them to meet us the day after tomorrow. Debi and I will get the interviews done and that's going to tie us up a bit, but you're going to be busy with other things. We would like you to pop in during each interview though."

"Why?"

"To see how each of them react to you," she explains. "You come in and hit them with a couple of rapid questions then walk back out again. It allows us to see how they react under pressure, what they're like if they've screwed up. It's a very effective plan. Danny always used it on everyone he hired."

"That's sneaky," Brad says. "I like it."

"One of Mr Packard habits," Debi explains. "He turned me into a nervous wreck during my interview."

"Kelly?"

"Me?"

She shakes her head.

"I nailed the answers, then turned the tables on him and quizzed him about a statement he made in the interview. He hired me on the spot."

"Fantastic," Brad smiles. "Okay, I trust you two with the recruitment and I don't know shit about what I'm heading for in LA, so do what you have to do, hire or fire as you see fit and try to keep me from making a complete fool of myself, okay?"

Debi nods, and Kelly says, "Sure."

"Anything else, or can we go get breakfast?"

"Breakfast young man!"

They eat breakfast rather quickly, the high point of which is Casey and Margarita showing up late and getting a bit of a ribbing about making too much noise. Brad knows some of the rooms aren't completely soundproof, but they didn't know that and he finds it funny watching them squirm a bit.

All too soon though, their briefing on the media starts while Ed, Casey, Margarita and Louisa excuse themselves to go for a walk round the Island. Brad sits through the importance of controlling the flow of information to the media, be it the paparazzi and gossip columnists or the tech magazines and business press. Feeding the beast, they called it.

His visit to Doctor Kerr perks him up a little, even though she gives him a full physical, complimenting him on how rapidly he's getting into shape, and then kicks him out with a clean bill of health. Brad is feeling pretty good now, but the things Connor has been telling him still makes him nervous.

Shiro gives him a trim, shows him a couple of different ways to style his hair and then gets Brad to do it, giving him some pointers. Then, he's being reluctantly dragged off to meet Margaret.

As he expects, she doesn't react well to the news that Kelly will be selecting his stylist, so after huffing and grumbling for a few minutes, she eventually hands over two resumes.

"I guess even you'll find it hard to screw this one up, but I won't hold my breath," Margaret says sarcastically.

Then she begins to go through color charts for casual and formal wear, showing him what works for him in what scenario, casually arranging his wardrobe as she explains it all. Brad doesn't react well to the way she speaks to him, as if she thought he's still in kindergarten and eventually, he's had enough.

He resorts to asking her to explain every point she makes at least six times before he let her move on, and by the time he does that on three different points, Kelly appears and tells him it's time for his next meeting.

Margaret bustles away, looking a little more pissed than normal, although Brad admits to himself it's hard to tell.

"Nice tactic," Kelly mutters when Margaret is out of earshot.

"What? I don't understand, Margaret. Can you explain that bit again?" Brad grins.

"I had to go to my bath so you wouldn't hear me laughing. I thought she was going to have a stroke at one point."

"I'll try harder next time," Brad says, chuckling. "

As Brad thinks about his relationship with Margaret, he decides it's time to clear the air and lay down the law.

"Kelly, would you please set me up with a meeting with Margaret please. I need to resolve some issues with her now that I think of it. I can't let this continue. I don't like treating her this way."

"Done Brad."

"Right, what's next in this morning of hell?" he asks.

"Me and Debi."

Brad sighs.

"Ordinarily that would fill me with joy, but..."

"Which reminds me," Kelly says. "I need to talk to you after we're done with this."

"Sure. What about?" Brad asks.

"Nothing major. We can do it after your workout."

"In the bath?" Brad suggests.

"If you want," she nods.

"Cool. Right, let's get this over with, shall we?"

Brad opts for the balcony, so he can have a smoke while they chat. Debi joins them after seeing Margaret leave.

"We canceled all the personal appearances and scheduled some time with Charlie per your instructions. Most people were disappointed but they understand why you're doing it," Debi says. "Do you have anything else you want to add to the mix?"

"Just one thing. Thank you for your help and for putting up with me, always appreciating everything you two do for me. And never think I don't know what you're doing," he says giving her a hi-five and a hug.

"You're welcome Brad," she says with a smile.

Brad notices that Debi really appreciates the hugs he gives her. It's a surprise based on how she reacted to the first hug he gave her not that long ago.

Debi asks, "Would this be a good time for the three of us to talk frankly about our team relationship?"

"It would," Brad responds. "So, you two discussed it?"

"Not really. We had a very brief discussion, but if you don't mind, I'd like to hear it from you. With issues that you have with me, I would appreciate hearing from you. Sorry Kelly, but I don't need a mediator and she already knows this because we just talked about it. I don't mind if you discuss it with her, but I want to talk directly to you if you have issues with me. Okay?"

"Sorry Debi... Okay," Brad begins. "Let me see if I can do this better this time... I don't want you to feel left out of the team because of our special relationship. I feel bad having to send you off so we can have some 'fun', so I'd like to know how we can make you feel better about our team."

"Brad, you don't need to be worried about me," Debi begins. "I know you and Kelly have something special going on and I don't want to be a rotten apple about it. I have so many other things I can do."

"That doesn't solve my problem, Debi, nor has it put my mind at ease. I want you to be happy and comfortable with the two of us all the time, both personally and professionally, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"I do understand and to be honest, I'm not sure what to say until I experience the situation."

"Okay then... Would you please leave the room so we can fuck?" Brad blurts out.

Debi is stunned and her mouth falls open. She definitely feels out of place and uncomfortable. Then she slowly begins to rise from her chair.

"Debi, stay there please. Did that make you feel like you are part of the team?"

"Okay, Brad. That just made it perfectly clear what you're driving at. Now I really understand. I thought I did before but in reality, I didn't."

"I'm sorry to put it that way. That was the blunt way to help you understand where I'm coming from. I would never do that in reality and I don't want to treat people that way. But, I'm looking for a solution to this problem because I know it will affect you. It has already affected Kelly," Brad says.

Debi thinks for a minute.

"Would it be possible to go on this trip and allow me to get a feel for what I'm getting myself into?" she asks. "Then we can discuss it when we return to the Island."

"If you feel comfortable with that, I'm okay with it. I was hoping for a resolution, but it can wait. What do you think Kelly?"

"I'm good with that as well. Both of you brought up good points. Debi, any time you wish, you can talk with just me, with just Brad, or both together," Kelly reiterates. "And not just about this, but with any topic you want to talk about."

"Now Brad has a workout to get to so we'll see you when you get back," Kelly says, giving him a smile. "And, I must admit, you're turning out to be pretty good at stress relief."

"Thank you Kelly," Brad says.

He gets up, and as he walks by Kelly, he suddenly throws his arms around her, gives her a wet kiss and big, short hug and runs off before she has a chance to react, totally unexpected and fast.

Kelly says, laughing, "He will make a great boss, Debi. You watch... That was HOT!"

Debi agrees as she laughs with Kelly at Brad's surprise maneuver.

To be continued. Stay tuned for Real Love Ch. 16