Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Fifty-Five

    Opera was a zoo. The club was filled to capacity with more hopefuls lines up outside hoping to get in. Most of them would never get in, not until the reason they were standing there had already vacated the- premises. The VIP area was full of celebrities, most of whom had attended Drake's concert.

    Drake kept his arm around Mia nearly the entire night. He drank to his heart's content, while she paced herself. When they got back to the hotel, she had to get some writing in for her collaboration with Nicki, and she had a Skype session with Beyonce scheduled the following day.

    He slow danced with her in VIP and sang into her ear as they moved together.

    The music was loud, the drinks flowed freely, and there was a lot of laughter. Many people, celebrities and non-celebs alike, stopped by to compliment Mia on a job well done during her performance.

    There was nothing but good times and positivity, and yet when the night was over and she and Drake were cuddled close in the backseat of his chauffeured SUV, she felt relief. She leaned heavily on him, listening to his drunken declarations.

    When they returned to the hotel room, he collapsed in the bed without taking the time to undress. She helped to undress him, then pulled the covers back and tucked him in. She leaned down and gently kissed his lips before turning and breaking out her laptop and notebook. Not wanting to disturb him, she hauled them off to the living room of their hotel suite.

    While he slept peacefully, she paced the length of the living room, rapping and singing lyrics to herself.

"She said, 'Never depend on a man,'

I said, 'Bitch, do you know who I am?'

If not, let me let you know whassup,

Never needed a man in my life, bitch whut?

Myx Moscato, bitch believe that's me.

The Nicki Minaj Collection though, bitch that's me.

Any other deal that I ink that's me.

You bet your ass that I did it all independently."

    Mia ran over to the coffee table and knelt down to make notations in her notebook. A wave of fatigue rolled over her, but she pushed past it and stood back up, continuing to pace while rapping. Pausing to make notes to her notebook, subtracting words that prevented lines from matching up to the beat, adding words in where they were needed. Checking and double-checking, repeating the same lines over and over until the melodies got stuck in her head.

    By the time she collapsed on the bed next to Drake, night was giving way to day. The sky was brightening. She had maybe four good hours to sleep - that's if she fell asleep right away, which she didn't. Lines and word puzzles racked her brain, making it impossible for her to sleep. She tossed restlessly, and wound up returning to the living room so that she at least wasn't disturbing his slumber. Another hour lost, and she had three hours to sleep, curled up on the living room couch with lines still running through her head.

                                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The next morning, the entire crew headed to Philadelphia. On Instagram, fans were predicting that Drake would bring out Meek Mill as a surprise guest, since Philly was his city. Drake's fans were adorable; they never sat still. They were always trying to predict his next moves, when time and time again he showed that predicting his moves were a waste of time. He loved to throw people off. Just when anyone thought they understood his mental process, he flipped everything they thought on them and veered off in a completely different direction.

    "We have two and a half days in Philadelphia, and then we're off to NYC," Chubbs said into his cell phone, getting out of the car and moving to open the back doors of the SUV.

    Wearing a navy blue hoodie, a pair of dark jeans, and sneakers, Drake stepped out of the car. He slid a pair of shades over his eyes, then held his arm out to Mia. "In NYC we're hooking up with Nicki and Meek. Have you touched base with them?"

    "The plans are solid," Chubbs told him.

    Drake leaned in close to Mia. "You should take a nap before your Skype session with Bey."

    She shook her head stubbornly, even though her eyes were heavy-lidded. "I'm fine," she mumbled, sticking her hands in the front pocket of her black hoodie.

    He looked at her doubtfully. "Maybe the performing and the helping them is too much."

    Chubbs closed the back door for her.

    She gave him an appreciative look, not having realized that she'd left it open. Maybe I bit off way more than I could chew, she thought. She felt completely exhausted, completely drained but still somehow had to find the energy to put the best foot forward for Beyonce.

    "Take a nap," Drake told her firmly. "Tell me when you need me to wake you up, and I'll wake you up."

    "Hey, it's Drake!" someone down the street called.

    He lifted a hand into the air to wave at whoever it was, then turned to Chubbs. "We need to get inside of the hotel. Mia's about to pass out on her feet. We don't have time to meet and greet fans out here."

    Chubbs nodded and moved ahead of everyone else. Tank held up the rear of the group.

    Drake slid an arm around Mia's shoulders and guided her inside. "I'm worried about you."

    So am I. "I'll be fine," she insisted.

    "What time are you scheduled to Skype with Bey?" he asked.

    "Four o'clock."

    He glanced at his watch. "All right, that gives you...what, a little over four hours to sleep?"

    "I don't want to get on Skype looking like I just woke up."

    "Then wake up a little before four," he told her, tilting her chin up with his hand. He studied her and gave a shake of his head. "You're definitely taking a nap."

    She turned her head away from him, but leaned into him as they walked towards the check-in counter in the glitzy hotel lobby. Wherever he walked, she followed, close to the point of falling asleep on her feet.

    He wrapped both arms around her while they were in the elevator and chatted with his friends while they waited for the elevator to reach their floor. Then he was guiding her off and walking her down the hall.

    She was only vaguely aware of their movements. Later on, she wouldn't remember anything past them all walking inside the etched glass doors of the luxury hotel. She would wonder how she'd even gotten to their room.

    "You're almost there, baby," he was telling her once they were in the room. He picked her up and laid her on the bed, then pulled the covers back and tucked her in. He bent at the waist and kissed her forehead.

    A sense of deja vu. He's tucking me in the same way I tucked him in last night, she realized dreamily, right before she passed out completely.