Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Sixty-Four

    Mark Wahlberg, Rosario Dawson, 2Chainz, Kevin Hart, Kanye West, Nas, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, YG, Big Sean, Ariana Grande, and Jessie J...just some of the names of the party guests in attendance, mingling and swimming in Drake's backyard. The music was on full blast and the party was in full swing.

    Drake made sure to introduce Mia to everyone of importance. She thought she was going to pass out when Beyonce extended her hand, initiating a handshake. She came quite close to passing out when Beyonce complimented the dress Mia had worn at the awards show. "I'm a huge Cavalli fan. The dress looked amazing on you."

    Another notable moment was meeting Nicki Minaj. After asking Drake what happened to his face and getting past her worry for him, she turned to Mia. "Bitch, are you the long lost twin I've been hearing about?" Nicki demanded with her hands on her hips. She wrapped Mia up in a warm embrace. "Everyone keeps telling me that we look alike. I saw your performance in Toronto. You were amazing."

    Kenneth Petty stood at Nicki's side, speaking in low tones to Drake while Nicki and Mia chatted.

    "When you're done working with this punk right here, holla at me," Nicki told Mia. "I love your lyrics, and I'd love to work with you."

    Life made. Entire life made. Mia was buzzed and high on life far before she started drinking. But of course, she did start drinking. It was a party, after all. The liquor flowed. The vibes were positive. Mia wrapped her arms around Drake's neck and danced with him near the pool.

    He held two stacked Styrofoam cups filled with his mystery purple drink, but kept one arm around her waist. "Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked her.

    "Tonight has been beyond amazing," she told him. "Beyonce? Nicki? Oh my God."

    He laughed. "They're amazing women," he said, taking a sip from his cup.

    OB walked up to them. "Footage of the fight is on TMZ."

    "Of course it is," Drake responded, continuing to dance with Mia. "Hold it up for me."

    OB held up his cell phone once he cued up the video to play.

    Drake grimaced. "That looks...really bad."

    "Hold on, hold on, my favorite part is coming up," OB said, turning up the volume on the phone.

    "Keep thinking I'm soft!" Drake could be heard shouting in the video footage. "Keep thinking you can fuck with me or the people around me. Keep thinking that!"

    OB burst out laughing, rewound the footage, and played it again.

    Drake arched an eyebrow at him.

    "Sorry man, sorry," OB said, cutting the footage off and wiping the smile from his face.

    Drake sighed and slowed his dancing steps. "Tomorrow I need to have a talk with Oliver."

    "I texted him about the video footage," OB told him. "He's going to take a look at it."

    Drake took another sip of his drink.

    "I mean...no one will call you soft after this," OB told him. "Silver lining, right? You kicked the absolute shit out of a professional football player. The dude is taller than you. More...muscley than you. And you kicked the complete shit out of him. "

    "And all for love," Ryan piped up behind OB. He continued walking towards where the food tables were set up.

    Drake laughed and pulled Mia closer to him.

    "Death threats," OB said with a shake of his head. "You made fucking death threats. Gah! So gangsta. So amazing. So epic."

    Drake rolled his eyes. "Can I have a minute with my girl? I don't want to hear about this shit, man. We have too much to celebrate."

    "Right, right, my bad," OB said. He turned his back and walked away, but not before rewinding the video footage and playing it again. His laugh carried back to Drake and Mia.

    Drake shook his head. "That boy is crazy."

    "But he's right," she told him, looking up at him. "No one will question your strength after seeing a video like that."

    Drake shrugged. "I guess. Once in awhile, seeing or hearing someone call me soft used to bother me. But these days, I honestly don't care anymore. I make a living doing what I love. There's shit about the industry that I hate, sure. But it has given me so many opportunities...opportunities to take care of my family, my friends. Myself. A few comments about my perceived softness or the way I look doesn't take away from all of the positive things I've gotten from making it in the business."

    "I think the video is hot," she muttered, looking away from him.

    He smiled down at her. "Oh, you do?"

    "I know that you could potentially be in trouble with the lawsuit and everything, but...seeing you kick Trevor's ass was pretty sexy," she said, turning her eyes back on him.

    "Speaking of sexy," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. "That kiss back at the VMAs. What was that really about?"

    She stared up at him wordlessly.

    "You said you really liked my performance and everything, which is flattering, but...there was something else behind that."

    She bit her bottom lip. "I didn't want to start anything..."

    His brows furrowed and he stopped dancing. His arm remained around her waist. "What is it?" 

    "When you left to get ready for your performance... Rihanna told me to watch out for you. She said that I should check the text messages in your phone when I get the chance."

    She'd expected him to be angry, but instead he laughed. "So she told you that and your response was to kiss me in front of her?" He was laughing so hard, he could barely get the words out. "Savage. You're a fucking savage."

    Mia beamed up at him.

    "Good move," he praised, lifting his free hand and pushing her hair back behind her shoulders. Once his laughter subsided, he told her, "Chances are, she won't be the last girl to tell you something like that. There are a lot of women who are going to have some very unflattering impressions of me or how I treated them. And I'm not Trevor. I'm not going to lie to you. Some of them are telling the truth. There are women that I should have treated better, women that I may have led on. I wish I had treated them better. While there are some women who are telling the truth, a lot of them will lie or exaggerate. There are some women I know of, who are desperate to have me back, and they are active in writing in forums or approaching women that I'm seeing and telling them all sorts of bullshit about me. Shit like that always gets back to me."

    "Do you ever...reach out to them and ask them to stop?" Mia asked him, frowning.

    "I used to," he said, turning his head and looking towards the swimming pool. "But they don't. They just become sneakier about it. It still gets back to me. Bad news travels fast. I just want to make sure you know what you're in for. We've briefly talked about this before, but dating me won't be easy. And if TMZ has coverage of the fight, they also have the report that I've claimed you as your girlfriend. If you go check your social media accounts, you'll probably be in for a surprise."