Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Sixty-Seven

    During rehearsals, Mia avoided eye contact and physical contact with Drake, as much as possible. She ran through the songs she was supposed to perform with him, then waited for him and the rest of the crew in the SUV. She returned text messages to her friends, Bri and Desirae, making sure not to mention any of the drama she was going through.

    The back door of the SUV opened and Drake climbed in.

    Her fingers stilled on the onscreen cell phone keyboard.

    "You did great today," he complimented, closing the door once he was in the car.

    "Thank you," she said quietly, resuming the text message.

    "Tomorrow, I believe you have a session scheduled with Bey?"

    Unless you've slept with her, too, Mia thought angrily, arching her hips so she could pocket her cell phone. "Yes."

    "There were a few designers I wanted you to meet with early tomorrow morning, before the session with Bey," he told her. "It's time for your concert wardrobe to get an upgrade. I had your measurements sent over, when we were in D.C."

    "Thank you," she said, gazing out of the tinted window as if there was something of interest to look at outside.

    "Will you look at me?"

    She rolled her eyes and turned to look at him.

    "I get that you're mad at me. You have every right to be. But...what happened was in the past, before I even knew you."

    She frowned. "You can't understand why I'm concerned that you slept with someone - in the past - who I'm working with now?" she demanded. "You can't understand why I'm concerned that you've been traveling with this person, without me around? You can't understand why I'm concerned that I'm your girlfriend, yet a promise to someone you hooked up with - in the past - is who you preferred to honor in this situation? Instead of coming out and telling me, you held onto the secret of someone you claim not to love like that. I, who am someone you claim to love like that, had to stay in the dark. Now I have to question everything you've ever told me, especially everything relating to her. Now, I have to work with her, knowing that she slept with you. That isn't fair to me. None of this is."

    "I agree," he told her, and the look in his eyes was sincere. "You're right. I'm sorry."

    She shook her head, trying not to focus on how cute he sounded when he pronounced the word "sorry." It was one of the words that caused his Canadian accent to creep into his voice.

    "I can promise you that nothing has happened between me and her since then."

    The front passenger door opened and Chubbs hopped in.

    "You can promise that, sure," Mia said, turning to look out of the window. "But can I believe anything you say, anymore?"

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

    That evening, the vibe in their hotel room was tense. Mia wanted nothing more than to be held by her boyfriend, wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with him while they enjoyed a movie and relaxed before having to wake up early the next morning. But she refused to sleep next to him. Instead, she curled up on the couch in the living room area of their suite, and tried to distract herself with B movies on second-rate cable channels.

    A few times, Drake came out of the bedroom and padded into the kitchen. He would pour himself something to drink from the refrigerator, or ask how she was doing. The last time he came out of the room, he asked whether or not she was coming to bed.