Four

"I should what?"

Bradley could hear the bewilderment in Anne's voice, heck, he could even see her face. Her brows furrow when she's confused, her bottom lip sucked in.

"I need you to push my meetings by an hour. I have a prior engagement." Bradley repeats, his phone on Jamie's dressing table, his airpods tucked in. He was trying to style Jamie's hair into a half do. Half of he her styled into a bun on her head, the other half falling down her back. Bradley could proudly say he watched hair tutorials whenever he couldn't sleep in the night, so he could give his daughter whatever style she wanted.

"Is something going on? Is this a new business deal? Or is something going in Jay's school?" Anne asked. Bradley ties the soft ribbon around the bun he had done and tucked it in.

"Just... I'll fill you in later. I've got to go, A."

"Tell her I said hiiii." Jamie songs as she hops off her stool. She had on a pink jumper with jean dungarees on, sneakers on her feet. 

"Give my little angel a kiss for me and get your ass to work on time."

"Will do."

The call ends after that. They had a bit more time to spare today because Jamie woke up early. Bradley had on a velvet dark red suit, a white shirt with the first two buttons undone, his dark hair pushed styled back with a side patten.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"Can I have cocoa pops? With tons of milk?" Jamie stretched her hands out to signify just how much milk she meant. Bradley laughs as he bends down to pick up his little girl, Jamie giggling and wiggling a bit as Bradley holds her up with a hand and tickles her with the other. Her cheeks flush and her eyes were bright, her smile so big it showed she was missing a few tooths.

"Can you come and pick me up today?"

Bradley sits up at that, his spoonful of cocoa pops stops halfway to his mouth. "Of course, sweetie. Is... do you not like Lopez any more?"

Ava Lopez was Jamie's Manny, her work starts when she picks up Jamie after school and ends when Bradley walks in at six. Normally, Bradley would be home by five but they have a launch to prepare for and sometimes the various departments of his company try to get on his nerves by making excuses about late purchases and shit.

"I do but I haven't spent time with you this week."

"I'm sorry about that, darling. Work has been really busy this week but I promise I'll pick you up today and we'll have fun."

"Forts and all?"

"Forts and all." Bradley agrees. He chuckles when Jamie raises her pinkie. He locks her pinkie with his, curves his hands a bit, his knuckles pressing against hers before placing his thumb against hers. Jamie's smile was big.

"Oooh can we go to the store? I want to pick out my own ice cream."

"I'll even take you to Krispy Kreme but only if you've been good. No..."

"No biting."

-

The coffee shop was not crowded today, people were spread out in the little chairs and tables. He finds Lee close to the window, the man was looking out the window, a mug of something hot in front of him and Bradley would take a wild guess and say it was tea.

As Bradley got closer to Lee his heart was beating so fast, his mouth suddenly felt dry. Should he have ordered first? Shit. Pull yourself together, Bradley, he talks to himself. He has dated before, he has gone on dates before and have spoken to model but there's something about Lee that gets him tongue tied.

Lee must have heard him approaching because he turned to him, his face brightening as he smiled. Bradley was tempted to stop and stare because of course! Of course!  Even without make up, Lee looked so soft and really beautiful, his face lined with freckles, brows trimmed, greens eyes bright and lips stretched into a smile he directed at Bradley.

There was something about this man that makes him stumble over his words and leave him tongutied.

"Good morning." Bradley said as he takes a seat across. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Not really. I just got my tea now." Lee replies, wrapping his fingers around the hot mug in his hand.

"Um... how was your night?"

"It was good. A little cold but good. How was yours?"

"Mine was good too, my daughter had a nightmare and crawled onto my bed. So I h-" Bradley stops immediately. He mentally wanted to kick himself. Fuck, money people disappeared when he tells them he had a daughter and now he had just let it slip. He didn't want to look away from the table, he was t sure what Lee's reaction would be.

"You have a daughter?"

And that... Bradley wasn't expecting the slight tone of excitement. He looks up from the table and finds Lee staring at him, a soft smile on his face.

"Yeah. Her name is Jamie, she's six."

"Does she look like you?"

"I'd like to think so." Bradley replies. He didn't know much about Lee to be telling him vital information like how he adopted his little girl, how he ran a multimillion dollar company. It goes quiet between them, Lee lifting his mug up to take a sip. Not knowing what to do, he plays with the Hublot wrapped around his wrist.

"I'm sorry if this is awkward, I just haven't been on a date in a while."

"It's okay. It's been fun so far."

"Okay." Bradley adds. "So what do you d-"

Lee's phone cut him off when it started ringing. The man gives him a sheepish smile before picking the call. He doesn't say much, just says okay I'm on my way before ending the call. It felt like a weight had been dropped in Bradley's stomach.

"I'm sorry, I have to go."

Bradley nods. Hell if he was in Lee's shoes, he'd run away from him too. He tries not to let his sadness show as he watched Lee stand up. He doesn't turn around as Lee walked away.

He resists the urge to punch the table in front of him but it wasn't the tables fault he couldn't talk to Lee, it wasn't the tables fault Lee didn't want to stay. He sits there for a bit before getting up, he buttons his suit as he made his way to the car. Chu who had been resting against the car pulls the door open for him so he could get in.

On the short drive to his company, Bradley sighs as he thought to himself. Maybe dating isn't for me.