Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Sixty

    The thoughts that ran through Drake's head after Zach's clarification: You can't go crazy while this radio show is on the air. You can't lose it. You can't just cuss him out while the entire world is listening. Keep it classy. Keep calm. Don't go off, man. Don't go off, just take it in stride.

    Mia sat beside him, as tense as ever. Her cheeks burned deep red and she stared down at the floor.

    "I'm sorry, Zach...what do you mean, you don't regret hitting on Mia?" Angie asked with her eyes glued on Drake.

    "That's pretty much what I did mean," Zach answered, on the other end of the phone line. "Mia is a beautiful girl. She's not just beautiful. She's talented. I've always loved her lyrics. I saw her in a club and I had a chance to get at her, so I did. I don't regret it, because you never know what's going to happen until you try it. Right? I didn't mean any disrespect to Drake, not at all. I just...I had a shot and I took it."

    "I hope your shots on the court are better than the shots you take in the club," Drake said into the microphone.

    Angie laughed. "Zach...you don't think that hitting on a girl who has a boyfriend is disrespectful, though? In and of itself?"

    "That wasn't my intent," Zach said.

    "Whether it's your intent or not, though, don't you think it's disrespectful to hit on another man's girl?" Angie asked again.

    "I mean...not really. All I did was let Mia know that I'm an option. So if things with Drake don't work out...you know...I'm here."

    Drake chuckled and narrowed his eyes. "So...wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold on. Are you...are you apologizing, or are you trying to hit on her again? I'm confused now."

    "Don't egg him on," Mia told him.

    "He's egging me on," Drake told her. He turned back to the microphone. "Answer the question, man. I thought you were calling in to apologize to me. Why does it seem like you're trying to get at her again?"

    "I didn't know she was going to be there," Zach's voice said in their headphones.

    "I'm starting to think that's bullshit," Drake told him.

    "Think what you will, man."

    Drake arched a look at Angie. "I would say this phone call is over. I mean...wouldn't you? All that needed to be said has been said."

    Angie said into the microphone, "Thank you for calling in, Zach."

    "If things don't work out with Drake, call me, Mia," Zach said.

    Then there was nothing but dead air for a full minute, before Angie shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I didn't know that the call would...go that way. I'm sorry."

    Drake shook his head at her. "Did we cover everything? Are there any other questions you had?"

    "That phone call was how I was going to end the show, since I thought that Zach was going to give a nice apology and let that be that," Angie said, glancing at a few of her studio co-workers that were in the room. "But now that things took...kind of a sour turn, I don't want to leave off on that note."

    "I'm fine with leaving, no matter what the note is," Drake said.

    "You've been kind of quiet through all of this, Mia," Angie said. "What are your thoughts on what Zach had to say?"

    "I don't have any thoughts on what Zach had to say," Mia replied. "He stepped way out of bounds with that. I'm happy and in a relationship. The fact that he made me his WCW is cute, but I'm offended that he would try to make another pass at me. That is disrespectful. Not just to Drake...to me, too."

    "That man needs to get his head right," Drake muttered, barely keeping a leash on his anger. "Are we done? Is this interview done?"

    "If you want the interview to be done, yes it's done," Angie told him.

    He removed his headphones, stood up and waited for Mia to do the same.

    Without questioning him, she took off her headphones and followed his lead.

    When they reached the elevator, he pulled out his cell phone and called the driver. He ended the call just as the elevator doors opened. They stepped inside of the elevator. Mia's hand was still in his, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her. He was afraid that when he did, he would see an image of her kissing Zach.

    "Baby?"

    Continuing to stare straight ahead at the closed elevator doors, he asked, "Yeah?"

    "You know you have nothing to worry about, right?" Her voice was so quiet, so timid. As if she were afraid that he'd shut her out again.

    "Yeah, I know that."

    "It was so fucked up of him to do that," she said angrily.

    For some reason, it was a relief to hear that she sounded as angry as he felt. "I know, right? Who the fuck does he think he is?"

    She moved to stand in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "I knew you were mad."

    He rolled his eyes and looked away from her. "I'm not mad at you. Okay? I'm not. I'm just...I can't even believe that happened, first of all. And I really can't believe that Angie let it happen. Out of all of the radio show deejays, she's been the one that I've respected."

    "I really don't think she meant for anything bad to happen," Mia told him. "She thought that Zach wanted to apologize. The photos...were definitely a bad move. But we've been touring together, and seen together, and we look like we're on top of the world – because we are. So I kind of believe her when she said that she didn't think it would get to you as much as it did."

    He didn't know if he believed that. No man wanted to see another man kissing his girl, no matter how solid their relationship was, swingers excluded. Angie was smart enough to know that. If she was smart enough to know that, then she was smart enough to know just how Drake would react. He hated to even think it, because he'd had such a good rapport with her throughout the years, but it seemed that she had an agenda. It was something that surprised him, but something that shouldn't have surprised him. That was just the nature of the business.

    Mia sighed and wrapped her arms around him, pressing the side of her face to his chest. "I'm so sorry," she apologized.

    "It's not your fault," he told her, returning the embrace.

    The elevator doors opened and several people joined them in the elevator cab.

    Mia kept her arms around him and didn't budge. At one point, she looked up at him with the most adorable pout.

    He smiled and dipped his head down, claiming her lips with his own. I can't be mad at Zach for finding her beautiful, he thought to himself. She is beautiful. I can't be mad at him for thinking that she's talented, either, because she is talented. If I dig down deep, I can't even really be mad at him for hitting on her, knowing that she is with me. I've done the same thing in the past, sometimes even out of spite. It's not something I would do today, because I've grown up. I'm beyond that. But still...it's something that I've done in the past. To be pissed off because he did something that I've done would be hypocrisy.

    The elevator doors slid open, and everyone stepped off. Mia continued to hug him for another beat before pulling a way and stepping off of the elevator. As he trailed behind her, he realized, Zach doesn't have the power to fuck up my relationship. There are only two people in the world that have the ability to fuck up what we have. Those two people are Mia. And me. So as long as we stay true to each other, we'll be all right.

    She glanced back at him and gave him a little smile.

    Pushing past his anger and frustration, he smiled back.