Since Day 1 (Eminem & Dre)

Waiting Game

It felt weird coming back home after going out to LA. He had been there before for the rap Olympics a few months back but he hadn't gotten to experience luxury like he did this time. He was still riding the high of the past 5 days even after he had gotten home. The first thing he did when he got back was cash that check and use it to pay off everything they were behind on for the moment. They had just been kicked out of their place and were staying at a friends rental home so they put that money towards getting a new apartment that they could afford but was big enough for the 3 of them. He wasn't dumb though. He knew better than to blow this check immediately; that's why he paid off what he needed to, put some money in Hailie's college fund, used some for groceries, and put the rest aside for later use. It truly was a gift that he had been giving such a large amount of money suddenly. They were in a hell of a jam but for the moment it felt like they were doing alright. Part of him wanted to brag when he got back to work on Monday but he didn't want to jinx it. Plus it was better to make moves in silence so that no one would try to piggyback off of his success or clown him if it didn't work out. He told Kim all about it though and she was just as happy about his new found success as he was. I mean of course she was. His success was her success and vice versa because they were a team.

He was in high spirits over the first few days back at work. Nobody could tell him nothing that could kill his spirit. If the bosses got onto him: didn't matter. They had no idea the things he had been up to and the places he was gonna go. Waiting for Dre's call is what got him through his work days. He'd hurry back home hoping that maybe Dre had called while he was a work. When that didn't happen, he waited throughout the afternoon for Dre to call him. This went on for a few days and he didn't mind. He knew Dre had to have been a busy guy... right? He was so sure that Dre would call him by Friday even if it was to tell him that it wouldn't work out. He was really hoping to convince Dre to take him on as a writer or an engineer or something. Anything. Anything to get them out of this hell that they had found themselves in recently. He came through the door on Friday and went to the phone to check for messages.

Nothin.

It was starting to piss him off a bit because the very least Dre could do was call to tell him it didn't work out. There was no point in dangling that opportunity in front of him if he wasn't even going to do a follow up. But its whatever. He knew better. He knew not to get his hopes up anyways. It was going to turn out like it always did: with him pissed off and debating whether or not he should even bother any more. This shit was starting to really kill his self esteem too.
Was it possible that it actually had nothing to do with his skin color? Could it be that he actually is just a sucky fucking rapper?
This idea really pissed him off but he didn't show it. He put on a hopeful happy face for his girls just like he did every day. There wasn't a chance in hell that Hailie was ever going to see him beat down and he wasn't going to let Kim know how he felt. He didn't want to put his own emotions on her. Those were his to deal with. Not hers. He gave Kim a kiss and smothered Hailie in kisses before heading to get his clothes so he could shower. He was picking out his clothes when he heard it. The phone was ringing. He damn near sprinted out to the living room to catch the call.

"Hello?" He answer it out of breath

"Mathers." His boss said on the other end

Damn. He really was hoping that it'd be Dre.

"You're off tomorrow right? James is having to call in for family reasons and I need someone to take his shift. I got a backup for him already but I might need extra help. You wanted those extra hours right?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright well. No guarantee but I'll call you in about an hour if I need you to come in tomorrow. If I don't call, that means i got it filled."