Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Fourteen

    Drake turned his head and looked back at her. "Do you believe her?" he repeated. "Be honest. This isn't going to work if you can't be honest with me."

    "I don't know what to believe," she confessed. "I haven't known you for long, and I don't know her at all."

    "When she started talking to you about me, what was your first impression?" he asked.

    "That...she was just trying to cause drama by making me doubt you," she responded.

    He nodded. "I mean...you're right. We haven't known each other for long. I don't expect for you to blindly believe everything that I tell you," he said. "But if you're going to work with me, or if you're going to...be anything else to me, there are some things that you're going to need to understand. There are some things that you are going to have to be ready for."

    Seated beside him, she clasped her hand in her lap. "I'm listening."

    He leaned back in his seat and turned his body to face her. "Everything you need to know about me is in my songs," he started out by saying. "And I don't say that to be corny. I don't say that as a plug for myself. It's true. I am very...honest about my experiences, to a fault sometimes. You know? If you listen closely to the words in my songs, I do not claim to be the perfect man. I do not claim to be the perfect gentleman. I try to be. I strive to be. But I have made mistakes, mistakes that I have admitted to in my lyrics." He paused and stared down at his hands.

    She watched him quietly, not daring to interrupt his train of thought.

    When he looked back up, his eyes were earnest. "I'm really starting to like you. I already admire you, from what I've seen on your videos. You're a talented writer, and even though you deny it, you have a very nice voice. I want to work with you, and I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me. Apart from everything you've heard, everything you've seen, all of the rumors, and the gossip, and all of that...I want you to get to know me on a personal level.

    "But you do need to understand that in getting to know me personally, you'll be getting to know everything, the good and the bad. There will be people who can't wait to tell you about all of my shortcomings as a man. How I played this girl, or dated these three girls all at once, or strung that girl along while talking to this other girl." He covered her hands with his. "Being at the level that I am, all of this talk comes with the territory. If we decide that we like each other, really like each other, and want to pursue something real, dating me will not be easy. I'm going to say it again, because I want to make sure to emphasize this point. I am not an easy man to date."

    "What makes you say that?" she asked, finally mustering up the courage to speak.

    He looked away from her. "For a lot of reasons, some of which I'm sure you can guess. My career in and of itself is tough on serious relationships. I travel and I'm away for extended periods of time. My career and reaching goals I've set for myself, right now, is first priority for me.

    "I've also dated my fair share of women. Not all of those relationships ended on a positive note. I still see them from time to time at different events, and if you are with me, you would also see them from time to time. And just like tonight, a few of them may have warnings for you, about me. And not even just that. There's the paparazzi. There are the music videos, where you'd see me hugging up on barely dressed women. There are the groupie tales, of which ninety-nine percent of them are completely false, but once in a while, a true one may come up. And you'd know because the girl sending in the story will know an intimate detail about me, something that most people won't know. Then there are the fans, the fans who want me to stay single forever so they have a shot at being with me. If we start dating, they'll have words for you. You'd have to handle all of that, and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

    She thought about his words. "It sounds like a lot to handle."

    "It is," he agreed. "I won't sugarcoat that. I can't sugarcoat that. It would be a disservice to you, and to myself, to sugarcoat any of this. If we'd have any chance of being anything, co-writers on a song or something much more personal than that, I would need you to be prepared for this."

    She ran a hand through her hair and turned to look out of the window, watching the scenery that whizzed by as the limousine cruised along the highway.

    "The woman you met tonight, whose name I refuse to say out loud," he went on passionately, "there are a lot more out there. And they'd all be chomping at the bit to say something to you that makes you doubt who I am as a person, and how I feel about you. My relationship with them didn't work out and because of that, some of them want to make sure that I live a miserable life without them." He lapsed into silence, watching her as she looked out of the window.

    She wanted to speak, to assure him that she wouldn't listen to the gossip and unfounded claims that his exes would whisper into her ear. But that wasn't a promise that she could make to him. Instead of responding to what he had to say, she said softly, "I've had two serious boyfriends in my entire life. The first one, was in high school. He was a great guy. We just...drifted apart when I went to college. The second, I met while I was in college. And he seemed like he was a great guy, but I came to find out that he was a charmer. He could spin a web of lies in front of you, and they would sound a hundred percent like the truth. It was impossible to tell when he was lying and when he was telling the truth.

    "He cheated on me. With a girl that I thought was a friend." She continued gazing out of the window, but she didn't see highway scenery anymore. She saw faces from a recent but still distant past. "I cut them both off. When I saw them...together...a switch just flipped off, and any feelings I had for him were just...gone." She turned to face Drake, who had sympathy in his eyes.

    "I'm sorry you had to experience that," he told her.

    She shook her head. "Don't feel sorry for me. It was something that I had to go through in order to know what I am willing to put up with, and what I'm not willing to put up with. I guess I'm saying that...I have no tolerance for cheaters. Or for liars. Once I find out someone has lied to me, or cheated on me, I cut them loose and let them go." She sighed and rolled her eyes upward. "I'm very guarded. With you, it's easy to let that guard down because you, too, are very charming."

    He removed his hands from hers. "Don't compare me to a man that cheated on you."

    She pursed her lips shut.

    "Maybe it's best that we just keep this relationship professional," he suggested, sliding closer to the window and putting distance between them.

    She'd come to the same conclusion. After her previous relationship, she wasn't sure she could even risk getting hurt again. And with his career as an entertainer, his lifestyle came with a lot of temptation. A lot of women stepping over each other's backs just to get the chance to be the female named in his next hit track. "I think you're right," she agreed finally, looking him directly in the eyes.

    "I was going to invite you to spend the night with me," he said, "but it would be best if I dropped you off at your hotel."

    She nodded. "I completely understand."

    They remained silent for the rest of the trip. Mia kept her focus on the scenery flying by, to prevent him from seeing the tears that filled her eyes.