Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Sixty-Eight

    Drake held his hand out out to Mia.

    She stared down at it, tempted to brush it aside. In the end, his sad eyes won her over. She grasped onto his hand and followed him into the living room. "This doesn't mean that I forgive you," she told him stubbornly, watching as he turned off the television.

    "I know," he said, leading the way down the hall and into the bedroom of the suite. When they reached the foot of the bed, he released her hand and walked around to one side of the bed.

    She slowly walked around to the other side and drew the covers back. Then she set her cell phone on the nightstand and climbed into the bed. With a mix of emotions swirling around inside of her, she made sure that her back was facing him. She felt the bed sink down beneath his weight, as he got into bed. Stay on your side of the bed, she thought to herself. Stay on your side of the bed, and keep your hands to yourself, and let's just get through tonight.

    Unfortunately, he didn't have the power to read minds. His arms circled around her and he pulled her against him.

    As soon as he touched her, and as soon as she felt the heat radiating from his chest against her back, she could feel some of her anger slipping away. She hated it. She wanted to stay angry, felt like he deserved her anger. But it was so easy to ease back into their lovey dovey routine. Her entire body grew tense, but she didn't pull out of his embrace. Her emotions were mixing like oil and water, set to go to war. For the night, she allowed peace to prevail, and fell asleep in his arms.

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

    The following morning, they had no time to spare. Every moment was precious; every moment was sacred, important. A lot of activities were crammed into one day. Wardrobe fittings for Mia, a work session with Beyonce, and Drake's New York concert, which was to be held at Madison Square Garden.

    Drake and Mia both dressed casually for the day, Drake in one of his infamous OVO track suits, and Mia in a peach-colored top, jeans, and sneakers.

    The fitting went off without a hitch. Mia walked away with four perfectly-sized ensembles for the concert. Since the costumes were ordered very last minute, they cost a very pretty penny, but Drake was more than happy to fork over the payment.

    On her way out of the designer's shop, Drake grabbed Mia by the elbow.

    She frowned down at his hand and arched an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"

    He glanced around to see how close the designer was standing. Only Chubbs was within earshot of their conversation. "There is a favor I need you to do for me."

    She pulled her elbow out of his grasp. "What is it?"

    He licked his lips and took a deep breath. "You've seen how the paparazzi are when we're happy and together," he said.

    "They're all over us, whenever they see us," she told him. "Yeah, I've seen. So?"

    "So, if they catch wind that there's trouble in paradise, it's going to get worse," he predicted.

    She narrowed her eyes at him. "What is it that you want me to do?"

    "I want you to...I want us to keep our problems private, and appear happy and affectionate in public."

    Her slender brows drew together. "You want me to pretend that I'm not pissed off at you, you mean."

    "Keep your voice down," he told her.

    She took a step back from him. "Excuse me? You're not in a position to tell me what to do right now," she hissed at him.

    He ran a hand across his forehead. "Look...this isn't just for my benefit. They'd drag us both in the media. They'd be all up in our faces. They can smell drama, all right? But if they think that we're just a normal, happy couple, then they won't come sniffing."

    She shook her head. "You can't even help lying or misleading people, can you?" she asked him.

    He reached for her again, but she sidestepped him and walked out of the designer's shop, sliding a pair of shades over her eyes as she made the way to the SUV parked at the curb.

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

    Beyonce was a gracious host, and welcomed both Drake and Mia into her studio with open arms. She hugged each of them and greeted them in her husky, Houston accent. "I'm excited to be able to work with you face to face today," she told Mia. "The webcam sessions have worked out, but it never compares to actually sitting in the same room with someone and sharing your ideas in person."

    Drake leaned close to Mia and kissed her temple. "I'm going to head over to the stadium to make sure everything is on schedule," he told her. "I'll be back to pick you up when you're done?"

    She nodded, but didn't meet his gaze. "Thank you." She switched her laptop case strap from one shoulder to the other.

    Beyonce looked between the two of them, then watched Drake leave the studio. "Are you two okay?"

    Mia forced a smile on her face. "Him and me? Yeah, we're fine," she said with a wave of her hand.

    Beyonce managed to look chic in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, but concern was etched into her face. "I don't want to pry, but..."

    Mia sighed. "We're just going through a rough period. Nothing major."

    "Does it relate to what we talked about last time?" Beyonce asked, walking over to the couch at the back of the studio and sitting down on it.

    Mia followed her. "Kind of, actually." Chubbs's words, about Beyonce and Nicki not being her friends, ran through her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and clapped her hands. "The dreary details of my life aren't what we want to focus on, though. All of that will work itself out. I'm here with you, and I'm excited to work with you, and that's what's important today. Right?"

    Beyonce beamed. "I'm just impressed that you would work with me on a day when you're scheduled to perform," she said, laughing. "But don't spread yourself too thin. You don't want to get burned out."

    "So far, I feel good about the work load," Mia said, smiling back. The work is helping to keep my mind off of him and Nicki, even though Nicki will be at the show tonight and I'm supposed to continue working with her tomorrow. She took a deep breath. "I prefer to keep busy."

    "You have a good work ethic," Beyonce complimented. "That's good. Have you made up your mind about whether or not you want to strike out as an entertainer?"

    It was something she'd wrestled with all last night, and something she'd woken up thinking about this morning. "I think I have made up my mind," Mia responded. "I even think I've even decided just how I'm going to truly introduce Mia, the singer, to the world."

    Beyonce nodded and leaned forward to grab her notepad off of the coffee table. "Good. Can't wait to see it."

    "About the song we were working on, 'Infinite....' I had a few ideas I wanted to run past you," Mia announced, unzipping her laptop case.

    "I'd love to hear them," Beyonce said excitedly.