Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Thirty-Nine

    Mia had fallen asleep with the headphones on her ears and Drake's voice in her head. She'd woken up the same way. Her neck was feeling a bit stiff, because she'd slept in a sitting position. She showered that morning and it had felt wonderful. The heat from the water had eased some of the soreness from her neck. She hadn't taken the time to straighten her hair. Or more like, she hadn't had the time. She applied product to the front of her hair to smooth out the edges, and had left it at that. She threw on a navy blue tank top, dark jeans, sneakers, and threw on some gold hoop earrings.

    She'd poked her head into Bri's room. The day before, Bri had insisted she wanted to tag along for the writing session. Mia warned her that she would be bored, but Bri was curious about the writing process. While Bri was showering and getting ready, Mia stopped by the kitchen and toasted a bagel. While eating, she read the written words in her notebook. Between bites of bagel, she sang the words out loud. She drummed her nails on the kitchen counter, deep in thought by the time Bri appeared.

    The kitchen, like the other rooms of the house, was expansive. Granite stone countertops, a long island counter. The appliances were the top of the line. Stools were placed on one side of the island counter. The kitchen was kept meticulously clean.

    "I expected it to be a madhouse in here," Bri muttered, her voice still groggy with sleep.

    "It probably will be in about an hour," Mia said, glancing at the time on her cell phone. It was half past nine in the morning.

    "Did you listen to those songs last night?"

    Mia nodded. "I sure did. Aubrey had a music player and headphones waiting for me when I got into my room."

    Bri's brows shot up. "Wow. He wasn't playing."

    "And he stayed while I listened to the songs Vanessa suggested," Mia told her.

    "What did you think of the songs?" Bri asked her.

    Mia shook her head. "In those specific songs, he kind of sounded like..."

    "A jerk?" Bri finished for her.

    Mia laughed. "Kind of, yeah."

    Bri shrugged. "How I figure it is, he's just honest. A lot of guys will do a girl wrong or take a girl for granted. They just aren't as open about it as he is."

    Mia fidgeted with the circular wires on the notebook.

    "I mean, think about it," Bri said as she slipped two bagel halves into the toaster. "Most guys you meet, you don't know all of the dirt they've done. Why? Because while you're going on dates they are trying to put on the best front they can. Only highlighting the good shit they've done, right? When one of those guys plays you, it comes out of left field. Because you only got to know the side of him that he wanted you to see. But with Drake, you know who he is from the get. He's already confessed the good and bad he's done."

    "So when he plays me, it won't come out of left field? I'll have had warning?" Mia asked with an arched brow.

    Bri laughed. "Nice try, bitch, but no. Not where I was going with that. You also have to remember that some of those songs were written years ago. I doubt he's the same man he was yesterday, much less a year ago. People change. What they want in life changes."

    "So I'm supposed to maintain a good impression of someone who has come outright and said they're a canine at heart, they're a dog?" Mia asked. She nodded in mock-contemplation. "That makes sense."

    Bri was quiet for a moment. "All right, that line is hard to defend," she admitted.

    Now it was Mia's turn to laugh.