Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Nine

    The car ride back to the airport was quiet. Mia stared out of the car window and Drake sat beside her, trying to think of something to say. Some way to let her know how sorry he was. They were sitting close together, but it felt like they were worlds apart. Even though he was considered to be talented with putting words together, though, everything he came up with sounded lame. He should have told her about the run-in with Vanessa. Point-blank.

    When you were a celebrity at his level, not much escaped the public eye. The public eye was a beast. No matter where you were, if you were not in the safety of your own home, your actions were subject to be photographed. Caught on camera. Written about in articles. And for some celebrities, depending on the layout of their estate, even their homes weren't safe from scrutiny.

    He had been out in the open at a Kanye West concert when Vanessa had approached him. I should have known word would get back to Mia. And even if it hadn't, I should have been honest and just told her about it.

    Vanessa had worn a barely-there dress and sky high heels to a concert, and she hadn't brought her boy toy athlete with her. Decoding the actions of a woman weren't as difficult as some men made it out to be. All you had to do was pay attention. For instance, when a woman dresses in a barely-there dress and sky high heels to an event where she would be standing most of the time... chances were that she was putting herself back out on the market. Advertising to other men that she was available, ripe for the picking.

    Her face was caked in makeup. She had a penchant for MAC cosmetics, he remembered. Even though her face was caked in makeup, that still didn't hide the purplish undertone to the skin covering her cheekbone. A fresh bruise she had attempted to hide.

    She had approached him talking casually. Asking how he was doing, if he was still with Mia. Shouting over the music, as if a concert was a good place to have a conversation. He was quick to say that yes, he and Mia were still going strong, then turned the question around back on her. How were things going between her and Trevor? A question he had asked even though the answer was already known. The answer to his question was all over her face. Literally. Her answer had been vague, at best. But she made sure to tell Drake that he had been on her mind lately, and that she missed him. That she missed spending time at YOLO estate with him.

    It wasn't uncommon. This situation actually tended to happen quite often. A relationship or intimacy would spark between him and a woman. Things wouldn't work out. They would see him at some event and the entire conversation was almost exactly the same. Starting off with easygoing surface conversation, and then ease into how they couldn't stop thinking about him lately. How they missed him and wished that things had worked out. A line, an opener letting him know that they were still into him and wanted to reconnect, if he so wished. Whether or not he took them up on the transparent offer depended on whether or not he missed them back, whether or not he was happily involved with someone else, and how much liquor he had in his system at the time.

    With Vanessa, there was absolutely no urge to reconnect. Even if he hadn't been with Mia, he now knew without a doubt that Vanessa was bad news. She'd hooked up with Trevor out of spite. And after that, despite Trevor attacking Drake in an attempt to get at Mia, Vanessa had stuck by his side. As long as Trevor kept buying her shit, kept spoiling her with the benefits of the lifestyle he led, she would continue to stay by his side...despite the fact that he abused her physically.

    The nurturing side of him wanted to reach out to her, offer her some kind of assistance to help get her away from Trevor. But common sense prevailed. He couldn't get involved with her again, in any way. She was a grown woman who had chosen to hook up with a man accused of smacking Mia. This was the bed she had made herself; she would have to lie in it. It wasn't his job to go around saving everyone else. Sometimes that was a fact he had to remind himself.

    She seemed to sense that he was not into her or the shouted conversation over his boy's concert performance, so she walked off shortly after that. His boys, OB, Ryan, Niko, and Mark had hooted and hollered once she walked away. "She wants it! She wants that thang back!" OB had shouted, whooping with laughter.

    The concert had been amazing, as expected. After all, it was Kanye. And after the concert, he and the boys had gone back home. He had gone upstairs, walked into his bedroom, where Mia was in bed feeling under the weather. He had undressed, and even though he was being careful not to disturb her, she woke from her slumber and sleepily asked him how the concert was.

    And that was when I should have told her, he thought, turning his head now and looking at her. She was still staring out of the window, completely ignoring him. This couldn't have come at a worse time. In two days, I leave out. We wanted to spend these two days together since I'll be away from her for so long, but spending time together won't be easy if she's pissed at me. Not the way I was picturing these last few days.

    While the chauffeured car moved through the light, nearly non-existent Berkeley traffic, he continued to think of a way to explain himself to his girlfriend. The girlfriend who was doing everything to shut him out. The girlfriend he loved with all of his heart.

    She turned her head and looked at him. The look in her slanted brown eyes was hurt, but she looked like she was also studying him. Trying to decide if he was a good guy or a bad guy. The fact that it would even be a question at this stage in their relationship was a reality check for him.

    If you don't want these next few days to be ruined, you'd better think fast, he thought as she turned back to stare out of the window.