Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Ninety-One

    Drake sat on the couch in the studio, holding a warm plate in his hands. Forking perfectly-made scrambled eggs into his mouth. His gourmet chef threw down in the kitchen, but for some reason, Mia's cooking was more satisfying. Nah, homey, you're just head over heels. Whipped.

    Noah had soft music playing through the speakers. He bobbed his head as he worked some of the controls.

    Shawn arrived at the studio about forty-five minutes later. Chubbs led the younger man towards the back of the studio, giving a curt nod to Noah. Shawn glanced around the studio in awe. "Wow."

    Drake looked up at Chubbs. "Thanks for bringing him, man. And Mia?"

    "Resting in the bedroom," Chubbs responded.

    "Good."

    Chubbs nodded and turned around. He walked up to Noah and bent down, speaking to him in low tones.

    "That guy's like a ninja," Shawn commented, hooking a finger over his shoulder to indicate Chubbs. "You never hear him coming."

    Drake grinned. "When it comes to stealth mode, he is one of the best." His expression turned serious as he said, "I want to apologize for not checking in with you and Bri last night-"

    Shawn held a hand up. "Bri was just messing with you. We chilled by the pool and wondered where you and Mia were for, like, five minutes. We wound up figuring that you went inside for...personal time. We weren't really running around in a panic. One look at your security and we know your property is well-protected."

    "Good." Drake wrapped up the last few words of the text message he was sending and leaned forward to set his phone down on the coffee table.

    "Mia told me about how you randomly brought her on stage," Shawn said, sounding nervous. "I hope you don't expect me to sing anything. Or rap anything. Or write anything. Those aren't my strong suits."

    Drake laughed. "What are your strong suits?"

    "Engineering. Mechanics."

    Drake's brows shot up. "Wow. Great field."

    Shawn smiled proudly.

    "I didn't bring you in here to sing, or rap, or write. I brought you in so we could toss some ideas around. Ideas about the proposal."

    "Oh." Shawn looked away from him.

    "You...you're still going to propose, right?" Drake asked, his brows furrowing.

    Shawn nodded. "Yeah, of course."

    "Do you know what kind of vibe you're going for?" Drake asked him. "Beach proposal? Park proposal? Did you really want to go for horse-drawn carriages, or...?"

    Shawn sat down at the other end of the couch. "I don't even know where to begin." He thought about it for a minute. "I mean...she loves you and your music, so maybe we could just do something here? I'd suggest a party, but everyone she knows is in Texas."

    Drake shrugged his shoulders. "So, we fly them here."

    Now, it was time for Shawn's brows to shoot up.

    Drake's thought process: Fly in the friends and family. Invite a few big names, whoever happens to be in town, or whoever is local that I trust on my property. String up some lights, make it beautiful. It would also jive with the idea that I had, the song I want to sing for them. He stroked his jaw in thought and said to Shawn, "I'm going to need full names and birthdays of the people close to her that you want to invite, so I can purchase their airline tickets. Since people work during the week, we can set it for Saturday night. They can stay the night. Cap it at about twenty, twenty-five people."

    Shawn's eyes widened. "You'd...you'd do that for me?"

    "I barely know you," Drake told him, "but you seem like a solid guy. And I've grown fond of Bri. Bri is Mia's closest friend, and you already know how I feel about Mia." He paused. "There's something that I want you to hear." He leaned forward and grabbed a glass of apple juice from the coffee table. "It might sound borderline awful because I just ate, but you'll get the idea."

    "Sure, go ahead."

    Drake cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and started to sing the song he wrote for Mia. When he was finished, he opened his eyes.

    Shawn had tears in his eyes.

    Drake smiled. "It's a keeper, then?"

    Shawn nodded. "It's...it's perfect."

    "If this is going to work on such short notice, we're going to need to make plans," Drake told him. "Lights. Decorations. Food and drink selections. I need a list of Bri's favorite music artists. It would look cocky if I only played my own shit."

    "I'd love for our friends and family to be invited, but I don't know if I want them there for the actual proposal," Shawn said.

    "So we hide them," Drake suggested with a wave of his hand. "You and Bri have your own private moment. We still have the decorations set up. She just doesn't know a party will happen after the proposal."

    "All right. Yeah, that's perfect."

    They continued to toss out ideas and make plans. When the two men were finished, Drake had Chubbs take Shawn back to the main house.

    Noah stood up from his seat and stretched his arms over his head. "What's this I hear about a new song?" he called back to Drake.

    "It's a song I wrote for Mia," Drake said.

    "I heard some of it. It sounded good."

    "I'm going to need music for it," Drake said, bringing his hands up and locking them together behind his head.

    Noah laughed. "I figured as much. Does it have a title?"

    Drake shook his head. "Nope."

    "I don't even know the lyrics, but I have a feeling the perfect title for the song would be Mia's Song."

    The corners of Drake's mouth turned down as he mulled it over. "You could be right about that." He picked up his cell phone from the coffee table. He pressed a series of onscreen buttons and then raised the phone to his ear. "I'm going to need about twenty-five airline tickets purchased. Flying out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to LAX. Leaving from Dallas this Saturday morning. Returning to Dallas Sunday afternoon. I'm going to give you a list of names and birthdays, along with how people should be grouped together on each flight. I also need a list of big names that are in town or will be this weekend."