Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Seventy-Five

    When Mia and Drake walked through the door to the studio, Nicki was seated on the couch at the back of the studio, dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex. Kenneth was nowhere to be found, but members of Nicki's crew were scattered around the studio, posted on couches or standing in the corner of the room looking at their cell phones.

    Nicki lifted teary eyes to Drake and Mia. "Oh, you're a little early."

    "Are you okay?" Drake asked her.

    Mia watched her closely with a raised brow.

    Nicki waved her tissue in the air. "Yeah, it's nothing."

    "It doesn't look like 'nothing,'" Drake muttered, frowning.

    Mia glanced up at him, then directed her focus back to Nicki, who looked impossibly tiny on the large, overstuffed couch. Nicki was dressed in a cute pink sweatsuit. Her hair was curly like Mia's, and for some reason that irked Mia.

    Drake walked over to the couch and sat down next to Nicki. "What's wrong?"

    Mia trailed behind him. There was no room for her to sit on the other side of him, so she had to sit on the other side of Nicki.

    Nicki dabbed at her eyes again. "Ken and I went at it this morning."

    "About what?" Drake asked her.

    She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "The usual. The legal bullshit that is going on. He also blames me for his own career stalling. He's feeding into all of the internet bullshit, the memes people are making. People keep shouting at him that he's nothing but a hype man. He's taking all of that shit to heart."

    Drake pursed his lips shut.

    "I keep telling him that he's a king, you know? I keep telling him that he can do whatever he wants in his career. He's blaming me for holding him back, but I never told him he couldn't go out there and do what he needs to do. He's the one who feels like he has to follow me everywhere."

    "He's just acting out," Drake said. "Give him time."

    "We have so much history together, but I don't know if we're going to make it through this," Nicki said, her bottom lip trembling. "Not this time."

    Mia shifted her gaze from Nicki to Drake. There was a look in his eyes, a flicker of emotion that she tried to tell herself she imagined. That brief glimpse was her worst fear. She felt very much like a third wheel.

    "It can't be easy, fighting with him, but right now your first priority is working on this fire album you're about to put out."

    "Album? What?" Nicki rolled her eyes. "Like I can even think about that right now."

    "You booked the studio time," he pointed out. "Studio time isn't cheap."

    "Look at me. Listen to me. My voice is fucked. My mood is off. The album is the last thing on my mind right now." Nicki turned and angled a look at Mia. "Look at you, Little Miss Quiet."

    Drake locked eyes with Mia.

    "I didn't want to interrupt the heart-to-heart," Mia said, sliding her sunglasses off.

    "You're more than welcome to interrupt," Nicki said, laughing. "I need to get my mind off of this. Maybe I do need to try writing, see if that takes my mind off of it."

    "Or maybe you can use the fight to create an entirely new song," Drake suggested. "That's what I do."

    Nicki nodded and sniffled. "Right. All right, umm...I'll grab our notebooks," she told Mia, jumping off from the couch and jogging across the room.

    Drake scooted closer to Mia. "You okay?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

    "Yeah, of course," she replied.

    He draped an arm across her shoulders. "What you just saw...that was just me looking out for her, making sure she's okay."

    "I understand," she told him. "I get it. It's okay."

    He didn't look like he believed her, but he pressed a kiss to her temple.

    When Nicki returned with two notebooks and a handful of pens, she asked them, "How long are you staying in the city?"

    "We're here for another few days until heading to the next city," Drake responded.

    Nicki turned to Mia. "In a perfect world, I would like us to have all of the vocals for the song we're collaborating on recorded before you hit the road."

    Mia nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I'm ready."

    They worked for hours. Drake took messages and returned a few phone calls while they worked. Then he stepped outside of the studio, holding up his finger to indicate to Mia that he'd be back.

    Nicki glanced over at Mia. "You're both so cute together."

    Mia smiled. "I always thought so, too."

    "Thought?" Nicki repeated. "You make it sound like you're not together anymore."

    "I guess that is how I made it sound," Mia said, lowering her eyes.

    "Are you sure everything is okay?" Nicki asked. "I've dumped all of my baggage onto you guys. If you need to talk, I'm here."

    Mia stared at her, wanting to like her. But whenever she looked at her now, she had visions of Nicki kissing on Drake. Images like that made it difficult to overcome negative feelings. "Thank you," she said earnestly. "Everything is fine. Just trying to find a balance between everything. The work, the performing, the relationship. It's tough."

    "Tell me about it," Nicki agreed. "But if you find the right one, it's totally worth it." She groaned in frustration and leaned forward to grab another Kleenex. "No one understands why I love Kenny as much as I do. I hear it all, see it all. I'm so attracted to him, though. He's my everything. One of the toughest feelings in the world is to feel like you're losing a person in your life that you've deemed your everything."

    The door to the studio opened, and Drake walked back in, pocketing his cell phone. He gave Mia a small smile, then ducked his head down and went to speak to the sound engineer, whom he seemed to know.

    "Tell me about it," Mia said softly, echoing Nicki's earlier sentiment.