Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Sixty-Six

    Mia waited onstage while Drake spoke to Future the Prince. Drake stopped a few of the stage hands walking by and gestured while speaking. She paced the length of the stage, warming up her voice. It was a constant battle, having to remind herself not to replay the conversation she'd had with Drake in the dressing room. Now wasn't the time to focus on any of that. Now was the time to focus on work. Performing.

    While kneeling on the floor, she'd had an epiphany. She was living an extravagant, decadent life. Granted, Drake paid her well for working with him on his last album release, but the reason she was able to lead such a lavish lifestyle is because she was Drake's girlfriend. Despite working with him, despite being on the brink of becoming a household name, and despite the ongoing projects she was working on with Nicki and Beyonce, she was - at best - a package deal with Drake. Whenever people saw her out, they immediately scanned the area to see if Drake was nearby. She wasn't her own entity yet.

    As she paced now, she thought, Maybe it is time for me to strike out on my own. I've been living comfortably with Aubrey, in no rush to get my own career solidified, but anything can happen. And if anything does happen, I don't want to be stranded because I depended on him.

    Drake walked over to her. "They're going to change the setup and have the microphone stand moved over to this platform right here," he said, nodding towards the step behind her. "It won't take them too long, but they're also going to have to play around with the lighting and make sure it's adjusted correctly. When we first start rehearsing, the lights might be a little crazy at first."

    "Okay," she said, and turned her back to him. She continued singing to herself.

    "So...I'll just let you know when everything is up and running," he told her.

    She dismissively raised a hand and wiggled her fingers at him. "Sounds good. Thank you."

    He sighed and she heard his retreating footsteps across the stage.

    Take a deep breath, she coached herself. Breathe. You're going to be okay. Just focus on getting through tonight, and focus on getting through tomorrow's performance. She took a deep, steadying breath.

    Chubbs walked out onto the stage and pulled Drake aside. They talked for a minute, then Drake returned to where Future's turntables were setup. Chubbs turned his head and saw Mia looking at him. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and sauntered over. "You ready for tomorrow's show?"

    She nodded. "Yeah."

    He glanced over his shoulder at Drake. "The Boy seems to be in...rare form."

    She shrugged her shoulders. "Does he? I haven't noticed." She continued pacing along the stage.

    Chubbs walked alongside her. "I heard some of the conversation that you had, back in the room."

    "I'm not in the right headspace to talk about it," she said irritably.

    "You'll never be in the right headspace to talk about it," Chubbs told her. "You love him and you found out that he was intimate with a woman he's still on good terms with. If my girl found out something like that about me..." He ducked his head down and chuckled. When he raised his head and looked at her, he stoked his goatee. "Let's just say I wouldn't be alive, standing in front of you, talking to you right now."

    She stopped pacing and studied him. "It's just that him keeping this secret reminds me of the borderline fiance he failed to tell me about, when we first started dating."

    Chubbs laughed. "Free, you mean."

    "Yeah. That was supposed to be the last secret he kept from me, and now I find out something like this. And it's never something small, it's always something...major, like this."