Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Thirty-Five

    Another flight later and Mia and Tank were back in NYC. Mia dove right back into working with Nicki, picking up where she'd left off. She thanked both Nicki and Beyonce for allowing her to hop a plane to Miami, despite having work scheduled. She thanked them both profusely.

    While seated on the couch in the studio, Nicki had waved off the appreciation with one perfectly manicured hand. "I'm known for my crazy work ethic, but there have been times where I had to take a step back and take care of my relationships outside of this industry," she explained. "Sometimes you have to do that, you know? Work and your reputation as an artist are both important, yes, but your relationships? If something has the potential to wreck a relationship that's important to you, you have to nip that in the bud. Take care of it. As you can see, the work was waiting for you when you came back. Taking a day off isn't going to kill a project."

    "I still appreciate it," Mia told her emphatically.

    Nicki's phone started ringing. She rolled her eyes as she picked up her phone. She grinned hard enough to display a set of dimples when she looked at the LCD screen on her phone. "Speaking of important relationships. You see? His timing." She pressed a button on the phone and raised her phone to her ear. "What do you want, Kendoll? Bitches are trying to work up in here." She paused and listened to whatever it was he had to say. Her eyes widened. "Oh, word? Yeah. Yeah, but actually... would it be okay if I brought someone with me? No, duh, not a nigga. My twin. Drake's girl. Yeah." She inspected her nails while listening to the caller speak.

    Mia tried focusing on her notebook, but that was difficult to do when you knew you were being talked about.

    "Nigga! Nigga, bye." Nicki cackled with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and hung up the phone. "That's my baby, Ken. He is a mess. Such a fool sometimes."

    "You two really seem to love each other, though," Mia remarked. Over the months she'd gotten to spend time with Kenneth Petty and Nicki - they'd even joined her and Drake for a few double dates to high profile events. Nicki and Kenneth had a relationship similar to hers and Drake's - at least, that's how it appeared from the outside looking in. A lot of flirting, a lot of playfulness, with a lot of love underneath it all. Their relationship was one that seemed to have garnered even more attention that Drake's and Mia's.

    Nicki raised a shoulder and ducked her head down. Her dimples were still showing. She batted her eyelashes and stroked her ponytail. "When I'm not thinking about my work or my career or my family, he's all I think about," she confessed. "They always say when you find the one, you know it. I knew way back when, when I first met him, and I know now. He's my one, I'm his one. I'm lucky to have him."

    "And he's lucky to have you," Mia said, overwhelmed by the rap star's cutesy demeanor.

    Nicki raised her head and rolled her eyes. "All right, we have to get back to work. Lord knows I'd talk your ear off about Kendoll for hours if you let me, and we wouldn't get shit done." She flipped her thick ponytail behind her and scrunched up her nose, tapping her pen on her notepad. "Ooh. By the way. I hope you don't have any plans tomorrow night."

    Mia's brows furrowed. "Tomorrow night? What's happening tomorrow night?"

    "You are coming out with me and Ken tomorrow night," Nicki said, drawing a line through several words and making a notation in the margin.

    "Where? To a club?"

    "Mmmhmm." Another notation. Nicki frowned down at her notepad and chewed on the end of her pen. "You brought dresses with you, right?"

    "Yeah," Mia replied.

    "Good. I want you to wear something sexy." Nicki groaned in frustration and crossed out another line on her notepad. "Damn, I almost had it."