SugarCOAT

13. Not Another Jaybird 🎶

I could hear the birds singing beautiful tweets as they flew outside my window. I opened my eyes to realize the bird song was coming from the alarm I set on my phone. I picked it up and glanced at the time, 7:33 a.m. Somehow I slept through all 6 previous alarms that I had set. Then, there was a sound that came from my body. The rumbling in my tummy was angry. Today, I had to do better with my eating schedule. Maybe, Bridgette could help me.

I rolled over onto my back. Stretch. I rolled over onto my stomach. Back stretch. I rolled two more times until I could hang my legs off the side of the bed. My feet touched the soft, thick rug as I stood up. A yawn from my childhood escaped my mouth. That bed right there provided the best sleep I've had in years.

In the bathroom, I freshened up. A quarter past eight, I was making my way to the kitchen table. There it was just like Bridgette told me, breakfast on a platter. I took a seat in front of a covered plate. When I removed it, I could see the steam coming from the scrambled eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, and bacon. I don't remember telling anyone what I liked, but they got it right. Unfortunately, the syrup was on the other side of the table that seats like 20 people. I tried to reach for it, but no luck. I got up and walked around the table to grab it.

"...And could you make sure his room is freezing cold before he gets there? Great." She held her phone to her ear, wearing a pastel pink fitted blazer, white jeans, and a white crop top. Her clear heels were cute, matching her clear framed glasses. She looked like a professional runway model. She sat her long legs in my seat. "You, too. Bye." She hung up the phone and sighed. She picked up a fork and closed her eyes for a brief moment. Then, she stabbed the eggs and ate. 

"Hello," I whispered.

She looked at me as she chewed. She covered her mouth, "Oh, hi! I didn't see you over there." She continued to eat.

Bridgette came out the kitchen with two plates of food. She paused when she saw us. "Jaylei, you're eating from the wrong plate." Bridgette chuckled as she put the plates on the table. "Jamie, I thought you were going to be sleeping a little longer."

"You said food would be on the table. I saw this and went for it," Jaylei smiled as she continued to eat my food.

Bridgette glanced at me. "The food is the same, except Jamie's pancakes were more crisp. I can have these cooked some more for you, Jamie."

I shook my head, "No. I'm hungry now." I walked to the other side of the table. I took a seat in front of the new plate of food, leaving a seat between Jaylei and me. "Thank you, Bridgette."

"You're welcome." Bridgette poured three glasses of orange juice before leaving us.

Jaylei pressed buttons on her phone.

I ate, poured syrup, and ate some more.

"Smells good in here!" I heard Zeke before I saw him.

"Yeah, you better eat all of it, too, because you barely be able to fit in a snack with this crazy schedule you had me working with today," Jaylei told him.

Zeke sat in the empty chair between us. "Good morning, Jae. How'd you sleep?"

After chewing my food, I said, "Really, really good."

Jaylei chuckled, "Man, I thought you were trying to cut my name short. I was about to correct you, Ezekiel Rivers."

"Ezekiel?" My eyes bucked.

Zeke smiled at me, "Jae, meet my assistant. This is Jayleiona Saner. She'll get mad at me for wanting to shorten her long name, but she already shortened it."

"I can do that! It's my name," Jaylei put emphasis on the word my.

Zeke said, "It would be cool to have Jay and Jae."

"You must want a new assistant," Jaylei told him.

"Anyway, what we doing today?" He asked her.

Jaylei cleared her throat, "In twenty minutes, you have a meeting with the Toller Brothers. At nine, you have a meeting with the designer of Co-N-Co about modeling for his new line. I know you don't want to do it, but I bet Jada would approve."

"Jada just wants a raise." Zeke poured syrup over his pancakes. 

"As do I, have you seen the prices lately? I'll be needing a roommate by tomorrow," Jaylei shook her head.

"Y'all work too much. Enjoy the pace before things pick up." Zeke used his fork to cut a triangle from his pancakes.

Jaylei continued, "We have to leave right after that to get on the plane at 10 a.m. I tried to fit in you a nap, but it wouldn't be long enough. Instead, you have a meeting with the co-producers of the new talent search show at 10:15 a.m. Auditions are currently in Atlanta which is where the producers are located. The Zoom meeting shouldn't take too long, depending on your ideas for the show. By the time you arrive in Vegas, you'll have to have a voice only meeting with the owner of the lot you want to purchase in Grove... No, wait. It's East Grove. That's at 11 o'clock. Umm... Your hotel room will be freezing cold and ready for you. You'll have an hour gap. So, I'm going to arrange for you to get food delivered. At 1:20, we have to go to your interview on Free Fred's Podcast Show. Back at the hotel, it'll be a little after 2:45 p.m., you'll be getting mic'd up for the Yazza Alvarez Show at 3 p.m. Then we get back on the plane at 5 p.m. to come back here where you can get some dinner. Then, at 6 p.m., you want to spend time with Jae."

"Who is Jada?" I asked.

"My manager," Zeke answered. 

Jaylei said to me, "Guess what his publicist's name is... JJ."

Zeke chuckled, "JJ is my aunt. Her name is Jenna Jackson, but that's family intel. Everyone has to call her JJ PR."

Jaylei rolled her eyes. "Don't be having your girlfriend thinking she was picked, because she cute." She looked  at me, "He thinks J is his lucky letter." 

I arched a brow as I continued to eat my food.

Jaylei quickly got up. "I'll be right back." She left us alone.

"I expect to read some of your writing when I get back," Zeke continued, "You not leaving here until your feet are on a movie set."

For a slight second, I didn't know what he was talking about. For a slight second, I forgot about our cover-up. Now I was back to pretending, because I had a role to play. I was another one of his jaybirds. Wait-a-minute, that could be a song.

Zeke stood up. His entire plate was empty. He chugged his orange juice in about two gulps.

"Alright. You ready, Mr. Rivers?" Jaylei reappeared with a large crossbody and shoulder bag on.

"Let's go," Zeke told her. Then, he leaned down and kissed my cheek. "I'll be back before you know it."

A smile graced my face as if I'd been kissed by the handsome prince. Then, I remembered that I was too old to be acting like this. "Bye, baby!" I waved at him as I finished my food.

Zeke pointed at me as he and Jaylei walked away.

I think I could get used to that. I took a sip of my orange juice. "Tweet-a-leet-a-leet," I sang.