Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Eighty-Nine

    "Mia Thomas is the name on everyone's lips today."

    "Mia Thomas survived an attack from now-deceased NFL player Trevor Riley."

    "He was waiting for her in the bathroom of a movie theater once he saw that Mia was in attendance of a movie premiere in New York City, as video footage shows."

    "Everyone is talking about this engrossing story. There are rumors that multiple cable television networks are in talks to bring this story to the silver screen."

    "Both Mia and Drake are keeping tight-lipped on this story, and aren't speaking to the press. But the question on everyone's mind is, Will Mia talk? Will Mia open up about what happened to her, or will she brush it off as she continues on the amazing career upswing she's been on this past year?"

    Mia pocketed her cell phone and leaned her head back. Having had to endure Trevor's attack was bad enough; it was excruciating, having to relive the attack each time she happened to catch media coverage of the story.

    "Oliver, what's up?"

    She glanced to her left, where Drake was seated in the back of the limousine transporting them from the Cleveland, Ohio, airport to their hotel.

    "No. It's too soon." Drake pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, no... I get that. Can we talk about this later?"

    Mia's brows furrowed as she listened to his conversation.

    "On our way to the hotel. It's not that, just...she's already been through a lot. You know? The rumor blogs already won't shut the fuck up about it. If she did that, then...the story would never go away."

    "What is he saying?" Mia asked.

    Drake's eyes slid over to her. He gave a slight shake of his head.

    "What is he saying?" she repeated.

    "We'll discuss this later," Drake said into the phone.

    She held her hand out. "I want to speak to him."

    He covered the cell phone speaker with his hand. "Mia..."

    "I'm not a piece of glass, Aubrey. I'm not going to break. Give me the phone."

    With a sigh, he handed her the phone.

    She lifted his iPhone to her ear. "Oliver?"

    "Hi, Mia," Oliver greeted. "How are you?"

    "I'm good. What were you talking about with Aubrey?"

    "Everyone who is anyone wants to interview you about what happened," Oliver explained. "I held them off for awhile, but an offer from Diane Sawyer came in. Diane Sawyer, Mia."

    She turned her head and gazed out of the window. "I don't think I'm ready to talk about any of that publicly."

    "Of course, and that's your right," Oliver said hurriedly. "I wanted you to at least know that the option was there. I wouldn't even think of putting you out there before you're ready."

    "Thank you, Ollie."

    "I'll let you and the boy get settled in," Oliver told her.

    She hung up the phone and tapped the top of it against her bottom lip, contemplating Beyonce's advice in conjunction with the offer that was just provided to her. There's no way I'm ready to interview about this, she thought worriedly. I can barely talk to Aubrey or Bri about it. How do I expect to sit in front of a camera and one of the most well-respected journalists to ever live and talk about it? But Beyonce's words of wisdom refused to leave her mind. Before she could even fully understand her own actions, she found herself pulling Drake's cell phone away from her mouth and dialing Oliver. She felt Drake's eyes on her, but couldn't bring herself to meet his questioning gaze.

    Oliver answered on the second ring. "Yes?"

    "The interview with Diane Sawyer. On second thought, I'll do it."

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

    Going by the comments on social media, Cleveland's residents expected for Drake and Mia to cancel the concert. That didn't keep them from filling the stadium and screaming for the two music artists.

    Dressed in full stage costume, Mia held onto Drake's arm while he snapped a photo of the two of them. He lowered his cell phone and typed in the caption, "Dear Ohio, we would never think to cancel on you. Hope you're ready."

    Usually, Drake was all over the place before a show. Checking on the music with Future, chanting with his boys in anticipation for the show, running around to make sure that everything was in place to ensure that his performance would be memorable. But tonight was different. Tonight, he stayed by Mia's side. If his arm wasn't around her, then he had a comforting hand resting on her thigh, or he was leaning close to her and whispering inside jokes to her to help calm her nerves.

    And only he could do that. Only Aubrey Drake Graham could quite effortlessly take the life of a man, then be the picture perfect embodiment of the supportive boyfriend. There were some moments when she felt like she was the only one who'd gone through it, the only one who'd witnessed the horrific events of that night. Drake gave no signs of having gone through trauma, other than the worry that he showed for her.

    When Chubbs entered the room and Drake started joking around with him, Mia just stared at him. She stared at him and wondered how he could be so casual and lighthearted after what he'd done to protect her. She stared at him and envied his ability to carry on with his life. Granted, he hadn't done anything wrong. Trevor was a cancer, and the world was better without him in it. Why should Drake have to walk around tormented, just because he'd been the one to snuff out the existence of a monster? With Trevor gone, Drake knew that he and Mia were safe from harm. He could sleep without worrying that Trevor was stalking them, plotting the next moment when he could spring up on Mia.

    She was grateful to her boyfriend for protecting her when she couldn't protect herself. The display she'd put on for the press after they exited the theater was staged, but the feelings she portrayed for the cameras were very real. Drake was a hero. There was no doubt as far as that one fact was concerned. If he hadn't walked in when he had, then it could be Mia who was lying in a morgue somewhere being sliced into and studied.

    It was just disarming to see that the event haunting Mia was barely having an effect on him. Seeing him act so calm, so...normal was making her feel like she was overreacting. She knew that she wasn't overacting, knew that she had gone through something traumatic that no one should ever have to go through. But hearing Drake crack jokes and laughing at the jokes of others, she couldn't help but feel inklings that she was erring on the side of dramatic.