Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Nine

    It was interesting, how you could get so completely wrapped up in someone, so completely used to them, that a room could feel empty, just because they weren't in it. Drake wanted to give Mia her space since she was pissed off at him, but he also wanted to hunt down her hotel and confront her. He wanted to let her know that she didn't have anything to worry about, and how could she even worry when by now she had to know that his heart belonged to her.

    His phone buzzed nonstop with all sorts of notifications. People texting him images and videos of him and Rihanna entering the hotel, demanding to know what was going on between them. The messages coming in were from people who didn't know better by now, even people in his circle who should know better by now.

    Chubbs's updates came fewer and farther between, until they ceased altogether. According to him, he and Mia were staying at a hotel nearly a half an hour away.

    She wanted to put distance between us, she's that pissed off, he thought as he pulled his shirt over his head. He tucked the shirt away in the closet, and caught sight of her luggage. There was a sharp pain in his heart as he eyed her pristine condition Louis Vuitton suitcases. I want to give her space, but everywhere I turn, I'm being reminded of her. Whenever I see something that belongs to her, I just want to go to her. Or at least call her. So...what do I do? Run to her the way I want to, so we can fix this, or give her the space she needs, until she's ready to talk to me?

    As a young buck, he had avoided confrontation at all costs. When women were angry with him, he often gave them the time they needed to simmer down. In most cases, the women forgave him for whatever screw-up he'd committed. He started off hating confrontation, and then he just got used to his women cooling off and returning to him. There had been exceptions to that, of course, women who presented a challenge to him. Women whom he liked to rile up, whose buttons he liked to push. With Mia, though, things were different. They always were.

    He wanted to go to her and talk to her about this, not because he liked to rile her up or push her buttons. While it was fun to rile her up at times, he would never bring an ex-girlfriend or ex-plaything into a current situation. No...he wanted to go to her and fix this, because she was unlike any other woman he'd ever known. Despite the sheer amount of women he had access to, he knew without a doubt that none of them would come close to being as amazing as she was.

    Standing, staring at the bed, it dawned on him. There was no need for him to go back on forth on whether or not he should stay here or go to her. The answer was quite obvious. With a sigh, he turned into the bathroom and took a quick shower before getting dressed.

~~~~~~

    Some people would be surprised at the amount of planning that went into the arrival and departure of a celebrity. Once you hit a certain level of fame, simply walking into a grocery store, movie theater, restaurant, or library was not advised. Even flanked by security guards, there were many factors to consider. Which entrance to use, and which time to use it? What were the best ways to avoid photographs being snapped, if leaked photographs weren't wanted? How hectic would things get inside of the venue, and were there any escape routes that could be used, if shit went to the left?

    Case in point, entering this hotel with Rihanna. They'd walked into the hotel hand in hand, wearing smiles. It had been planned ahead of time that they would arrive to this very hotel in the same vehicle, planned ahead of time that they would walk from the car to the hotel while holding hands. Once inside, they'd continued holding hands - mainly because the paparazzi were still snapping pictures through the glass windows of the hotel.

    The headlines the following morning were guaranteed to be a barrel of laughs but while standing beside Rihanna in the elevator, all he could think about Mia. And it was Mia he thought of as he took that same elevator down to the main floor.

    He was dressed in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, and had a baseball pulled down low over his eyes. No security team with him. Riding solo.

    By the time he was seated in the front seat of the dark-colored SUV, morning radio show personalities were kicking off their shows. In the world of hip hop, there were only three stories worth mentioning this morning. The first story would be the possible reuniting of Drake and Rihanna. The second story was regarding the huge diamond ring that Nicki Minaj had just posted on social media the previous night. Both the first and second stories often went hand in hand; whenever Drake received a great deal of spotlight, it didn't matter whether it was as a result of recent accolades or a rumored romantic involvement - Nicki always felt the need to shift some of that spotlight onto her. That seemed to be doubly the case, now that her business relationship with Mia was strained. The third story worth mentioning wound up being the first story that the radio station led with.

    "We're going to play you a song," the radio show host said to his audience "and then we're going to ask you a question."

    The song that was played featured three different artists. One of those artists happened to be Jay-Z.

    Speaking of strained business relationships, Drake thought while driving. He listened to the song, which boasted an array of subliminal messages directed at a number of individuals.

    "Now the question we have for you, Miami, is in regards to Jay's verse. In his verse, do you believe he was taking shots at your boy Drake? Because, I don't know...it seemed like Jay could've been coming for him."

    "Well, there have been rumors that Jay and Drake's friendship hasn't been the same since Drake rejected the Tidal deal and went for AppleMusic."

    "One of the smartest moves he's made, if you ask me."

    "When you're at the level Jay-Z is at, do you even have real friends anymore?" the female show host queried. "Or is everyone at that point a business acquaintance?"

    The Miami sky was growing lighter as the sun ambled higher into the sky.

    Real friends still exist when you're at this level, Drake thought while pulling the car to a stop. And I'm on my way to make things right with my best friend, right now. While seated at a red light, he listened to the song the radio played while punching in a text to Chubbs. The text message only contained three words: Which room number? The light changed green before he received a response.