Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Two

    The thing about being one of the hottest commodities in the music industry, was your phone notifications went off non-stop. It made Mia wonder how Drake did it...how he functioned with his phone always blowing up. He confessed that he was horrible with responding to text messages at times, even to those whom he loved with all of his heart. It was something he continued to work on. She finally understood the craziness of it all. Text messages from Bri and Desirae would get lost beneath messages from industry bigwigs finalizing plans. Beyonce's and Nicki Minaj's assistants wanting to know when she was landing in New York, which hotel she would be staying at.

    After Drake showered and dressed, he ordered breakfast to be brought up for them. "Today and tomorrow," he explained, "are going to be about you and me."

    "And then you fly out on Wednesday," she mumbled, trying not to let depression set in over that fact.

    "And then we both fly out on Wednesday," he corrected her, setting the breakfast tray on the bed before hopping in.

    "I still think you should fly to New York with me," she insisted. "You could make the introductions and we could spend my first night there in a hotel. Then you could fly to Miami Thursday morning."

    He smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "I would love to do that, but it would put too much of a time crunch on rehearsals. Plus in this business, you're going to want to learn independence sooner rather than later. You'll be fine. Nicki is like a sister to me, and she's already in love with you. Bey is a sweetheart. You'll be in good hands. But I do think I'm going to send Tank with you."

    Her brows furrowed. Tank was the buffest, toughest-looking member of his security. "Tank? Why?"

    "So he can look out for you. Follow you wherever you go, make sure people and paparazzi don't fuck with you." With careful movements, he picked up a plate filled with pancakes and handed it to her.

    She accepted the plate without taking her eyes off of him. "I may have been deemed the next big thing in music, but I'm not a celebrity, Aubrey. I don't need security."

    He arched an eyebrow at her. "After the whole Trevor situation, I'm not really trying to take that chance. You'll barely notice Tank's there. He'll only talk if you initiate conversation most of the time. Otherwise, he's on ninja status when it comes to silence."

    With his arms being as big as tree trunks, I'm going to notice he's there, she thought.

    "I guarantee you, a time will come when you will be thankful that he came with you," Drake promised. "The gossip mags are obsessed with you. The three cities paparazzi seem to be most aggressive in are Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. So just...let me do this for you, okay?"

    She nodded. "Okay." Her phone notification went off again. She glanced over at it in disdain, then looked back at Drake. "It won't stop."

    He laughed. "Silence it."

    "But I might miss something important."

    "Hand me the phone," he instructed.

    She twisted her torso and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. With a bit of hesitation, she handed it over to him.

    He punched in her lock screen code and silenced her ringtone.

    She started to protest.

    "You don't have to respond to every single message you get as soon as you get it," he told her. "If you try to keep up with them all, it will drive you nuts. Trust me, okay? Whoever is messaging you can wait a few hours. So just...relax. Watch a movie and eat breakfast with me. When the movie is over, check your messages. Respond to the most important ones. Spend some more time with me. Then respond to more of the messages."

    "Beyonce's assistant-" she started.

    "-Can wait," he finished, handing her back the phone.

    She set her phone back on the nightstand and stared down at her plate.

    "In two days, I leave out and I won't get to go to sleep holding you or wake up next to you for close to three months," he told her.

    "You're right. I'm sorry." She cut her stack of pancakes into sections. "I think that staying busy while trying to keep up the messages is just a way to distract myself from remembering that you'll be gone for close to three months."

    "The time will fly," he claimed.

    I'm not so sure about that, she thought.

    He flipped around the television channels with a skinny black remote with colorful buttons, settling on a comedy movie featuring Kevin Hart. "Besides...if it gets to a point when we can't stand to be apart from each other, I can just fly you out to whatever city I'm in."

    She turned and looked at him. "You would really do that?"

    He shrugged. "Of course."

    She threw her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

    His arm slid around her waist and he ducked his head down so he could kiss the top of her head. "If you ever feel like you have to see me, just tell me. Okay?"

    "Okay," she said softly.

    "I mean that. Because if I feel like I need to see you, I'm going to tell you. Then I'm going to fly you out to see me."

    They ate breakfast while watching Kevin Hart in all of his comedic glory. When they were done eating, they cuddled each other while continuing to watch the movie. Each stealing kisses from the other, because soon they would have to go without. Soon, they weren't paying attention to the movie at all. They became tangled up in each other while Mia savored the fact that his lips tasted like pancakes.