Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle-Chapter Forty-Five

    Chubbs called her. Chubbs. He was nice when he called, very polite. As always. "Drake would have called you, but he's rehearsing for his next performance."

    Mia was smart enough to know what that really meant. Drake still didn't want to talk to her, so he had Chubbs call her. Her heart broke in half, but kudos to her for keeping her voice level. "I understand."

    "He would like you to join him for the rest of the tour," Chubbs explained to her. "The audience is pretty much demanding it, actually. He wants you to perform 'Soul Cry' and provide background vocals for a few other songs."

    "I'm supposed to be helping Nicki and Beyonce," she told him. "I haven't even started working with Beyonce yet."

    "He worked out a deal with them. You'll be able to write for them while you're on tour with him."

    Mia sat on the edge of the bed in her hotel room. "He's worked everything out, hasn't he?" she asked with a dry laugh. "He worked out deals before even talking to me?"

    Chubbs was quiet on the other end of the line.

    She sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes. "How is he?"

    "He's...he's hanging in there," Chubbs muttered awkwardly.

    "Chubbs?"

    "He's hurt. All right?" There were rustling sounds and then his voice grew more distant. She could hear him speaking to someone in the background. Then he came back on the line. "Sorry about that. He's hanging in there, trying to focus on his shows. And his fans."

    Mia narrowed her eyes. "He's standing next to you right now, isn't he?"

   "Mia..." Chubbs said slowly.

    She stood up from the bed. "He's such a coward!" she yelled into the phone. "He's too busy to talk to me so he has you call me? Meanwhile, he's making plans for me without me? I didn't tell him I would join him on tour. It would be unprofessional of me to have to leave Nicki and Bey so I can go and help him. He doesn't even have the balls to talk to me. Why would I join him on tour? You said he's so hurt, right? He probably doesn't even want me there. So no. I refuse to join him. And if his audience demands for me to be there, so what? He can suck it up." She hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed.

    The phone started to ring almost immediately.

    She paced the length of her room a few times, scowling at her phone with her arms crossed over her chest. "I didn't even do anything!" she screamed at no one in particular. "A man kissed me and I slapped him. I did what I was supposed to do and told Aubrey about it. So what the fuck is his problem?"

    The phone continued to ring, and didn't stop ringing until she answered it.

    "I'm done talking, Chubbs!" she shouted into the phone. "So stop calling me!"

    "It's me."

    She immediately sobered at the sound of Drake's voice. "Oh."

    "I should have called you."

    "Yes you should have," she agreed, some of the anger leaving her voice. "And you should have responded to my text messages. Or my voicemails. Or any of my attempts to contact you."

    "That feeling sucks, doesn't it?" he asked her. "The feeling of waiting around while someone ignores your messages."

    She fought back tears. "You know I'm sorry for that."

    "Yeah. I know." He sighed. "Look...I know that it's not convenient to ask you to join me for the rest of my tour. If I were smart, I would have made sure that you were always a part of the tour. We should have planned on performing 'Soul Cry' together. If I had, you'd be here with me already. And if I had, you never would have been in NYC." His unspoken words said that she would have never been kissed by another man, would have never felt the need to ignore his messages while thinking for a way to tell him. "This isn't the most convenient time for me to ask you. And you're right. I shouldn't have made plans without you. But...I need you. Okay?"

    Tears sprang to her eyes.

    "I need you," he repeated softly.

    She sniffled into the phone and sat back down on her bed. "I need you, too."

    He didn't respond.

    "You know I love you, right?" she asked him in a tiny voice.

    "Mia...I'm still processing what happened, and I need time to do that," he told her. "When I say I need you, I'm talking about for the tour."

    She barely felt the tears running down her cheeks. "Oh...okay."

    "I'm sorry. I know how harsh that sounds."

    "Just a little bit," she said, beginning to feel numb.

    "If you're willing to come join me for the rest of the tour, I can have the tickets purchased for you today. Oliver is drawing up a contract for you, probably as we speak. You would be compensated for your time."

    "Compensated for my time?" she repeated, his words going in one ear and out the other. "You're talking to me like I'm a stranger. I don't understand why this is happening. Something happened, something that I didn't want to happen. I ignored your messages and I stood you up for our Skype date. I'm so sorry for that, Aubrey. You know I am. You know me. I couldn't do something like that without feeling completely horrible about it. But...you ignored mine. So aren't we even? Can't you consider that payback and just..."

    "Just go back to how it was between us?" he finished for her.

    "Yes."

    "I know you feel bad. And I will get over this. But...I need time, Mia."

    She wiped at her tears, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. He said that he will get over this...not that he might, not that he probably will. But he said that he will. I can hold onto that. "Okay."

    "Will you give me that time?" he asked her.

    "Yes."

    "Thank you. I'm not talking to you as if you're a stranger. I'm talking to you as if you are my professional equal. Because in my mind, you already are. Don't take offense to that."

    She cupped her other hand around the phone too, relishing the sound of his voice and the polite tone that had crept into it. "Okay, I won't."

    "Will you join me for the rest of my tour?"

    Overwhelmed by the love she felt for him, she replied, "Yes. I will."