Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Four

    Drake stared off into the distance, watching other people dancing and carrying on.

    Rihanna leaned in close and shouted into his ear, "What is wrong with you? We're in a club and we're supposed to be having fun, and you're over there looking like you're trying to solve a math problem."

    He glanced at her.

    "I can't get one smile out of you?" she asked, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. "Just one?"

    He flashed a quick smile at her.

    "You can keep that fake ass smile," she said, shoving at him. "I want a real one."

    Drake laughed and shook his head.

    "You might as well be down there with her if you're up here looking like you'd rather be at someone's funeral than standing here with me," Rihanna told him, pouting.

    He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He flashed a wide, shark-toothed grin and held it on his face for longer than anyone should hold a grin on his face. Then he randomly tossed his head back and laughed, as if she'd said the funniest joke of all time.

    Rihanna raised a hand to her forehead. "Why do you have to be so extra?"

    The smile disappeared from his face. He raised a large hand and cradled her cheek in it. "You were the one who wanted extra, baby," he said. "So you got extra."

    She pulled her face away from him and shook her head. Then she slanted her gaze downward to Mia, who looked to have quite the interesting guest seated beside her.

~~~~~~

    "It never ceases to amaze me how people speak with conviction about something they have absolutely no clue about," Mia said, looking at Zach with wonder.

    His left eye twitched, and he raised his gaze up to where Rihanna was twerking on Drake. "You can't possibly be okay with that, no matter what kind of twisted agreement you have with him."

    "Anything going on between me and him is none of your business," she muttered, grabbing her drink and taking a long sip from it.

    "Be careful with that - the last time you were tipsy around me, things got intense."

    She gave him a pretty intense side eye. "You don't have to worry about anything getting intense between you and me. I'm nowhere near tipsy, and even if I were, I've learned my lesson."

    He sighed. "I know it seems like I came over here just to be a jackass."

    "What would have ever given me that impression?" she joked dryly, stirring her drink.

    "When I saw you, I didn't mean to come over here starting shit. I swear I didn't."

    "Like I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth," she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "You called into that radio station to apologize and wound up just stirring more shit and causing more drama."

    "That's not me, at all," he insisted. "You can ask anyone. I'd never hurt anyone, not intentionally. I just...met you and went a little crazy, I guess. Do you know how it feels to like someone, really like someone, and know that they're into someone that is rumored to just be... using them?"

    Mia's eyes rose and she caught a glimpse of Rihanna bent over, dancing in front of Drake. "Can't relate," she said quietly. It took awhile for the irony to clear so that she could fully understand Zach's words. Once the fog cleared, she furrowed her brows and blinked at him. "Wait, what do you mean rumored to just be using me? What would he be using me for?"

    "Writing his shit, of course. That's the word on the street."

    She frowned. "What?"

    "You're known for your lyrics, and you have been for awhile. Of late, Drake is known to not have written most of his own shit. So people put two and two together and figured that he's with you because he's using you to write his rap lyrics these days."

    Her eyes hardened. "I don't write his lyrics for him, Zach. He and I have collaborated and will probably always continue to collaborate, but he doesn't need me to write his lyrics. He doesn't need anyone to write his lyrics for him. He's his own lyrical genius."

    Zach chuckled. "Right. Like you'd tell me otherwise."

    Now it was her turn for her eye to twitch. She scooted closer to Zach. "I'm not bullshitting you. He writes his own shit. And I find it crazy that people who haven't sat down with him while he writes feel confident in saying what he does or doesn't write. There is video footage out there, on YouTube, where you can see him writing his own stuff. He writes for other artists, for crying out loud. I've said all of this shit before."

    "You don't have to try to convince me of anything, love," Zach said, chucking her lightly on the chin. "But I think it's cute that you want to."

    "Ugh, get the fuck out of my booth," she muttered, shoving at him.

    He laughed and reluctantly granted her request, standing out of the booth. "It's cute that you get worked up while defending him," he said. "Meanwhile, he's getting worked up by putting in a whole 'nother kind of work with another one of his collaborators." Grinning and shaking his head, he put up his index finger and middle fingers. "Peace, Mia."

    She slid to the edge of the booth seat and kicked one of her feet out. Completely irritated, she whipped out her phone and googled "Mia writing for Drake." The results made her complexion go pale.

"IS MIA WRITING LYRICS FOR DRAKE?"

"DRAKE KNOWN TO BE QUITE THE LADIES MAN BUT LATEST RUMORS SPECULATE THAT HE HAS CHOSEN TO SETTLE DOWN BECAUSE MIA IS WRITING FOR HIM."

"IS MIA DRAKE'S NEWEST GHOSTWRITER?"

    None of the publications were credible. E! News knew better to broadcast those types of bullshit theories. But unfortunately, these days the public didn't know which publications were credible and which weren't. From the comments being written on these posts, a lot of people were believing these bullshit stories.

    Strangely, as Mia sifted through the stories, she felt some sort of odd feeling of relief that she had something else to focus on...something besides the fact that the world's biggest pop diva was grinding all over her man.