Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Eleven

    Mia sat across the living room from Drake and found that she couldn't stop staring at him. For the past hour, he'd been speaking - nearly non-stop. At times, he was able to look her in the eyes, while at others he was looking everywhere else in the room but. The stories that he had were plentiful. He broke down just how complicated his friendships and business relationships were. From the way he told it, many of his "friendships" with other industry artists sounded more like "keep your enemies closer" mentality than a true friendship.

    It was no wonder so many celebrities came off like they were crazy, no wonder that so many child stars had psychotic breaks at certain stages of their careers. From the way Drake made it sound, there was a tenuous grip on reality, in Hollywood. So many friendships were fake, and so many "friends" were wiling to turn their backs on you when you needed them the most. So many "friends" were willing to turn on you when it was most beneficial for them, for the sake of getting more fame and money.

    Someone would prove themselves to be trustworthy somehow, and then completely break trust. "Sometimes betrayal comes from the people that you expect it to," he'd said, leaning back in the corner armchair. "Sometimes betrayal comes from someone you'd smelled impending deceit on from the minute they stepped through the door. But then there are times when betrayal comes from the people you least expect it...people whom you've looked up to for the better part of your career, people whose success is at such an all-time high, you'd never expect for them to be involved in petty plots to take down someone else." The more he talked about it, the more boyish he looked. He was a little over 6'1", but cowered to the point of looking small and defenseless in that chair. "There are times when I'm smart, times when I'm good at reading people. There are times when I've learned my lesson and keep my circle small as fuck, because I know that the only people I can really trust are the people who came up with me, the people who have known me for most of my life. Then there are those times when I'm dumb as shit, and trust the wrong person. Let the wrong person in, let the wrong person too close. Because even though I know I can only trust my circle, this person is huge. Their career is goals for most of us other artists, so what reason could they possibly have to ever come at me. Right? Right?" He wiped his mouth with one hand and looked away.

    "What, because of a business deal gone bad?" Mia asked. "You think someone would come at you for that reason?"

    "That is a part of it. A big part of it." He was quiet for a moment, as if considering the question himself. "If I had joined his business venture, there is no doubt that all of us artists together would have been an unstoppable powerhouse. We were all the perfect formula. Me, Nicki, Bey, you even had Daft Punk, Madonna, J. Cole, and some other really strong names - from all sorts of genres. Together, we would have given Apple a run for their money. I think that Jay could almost taste the victory over Apple, until I backed out. Which...I hated doing, trust me. I've always looked up to him. I believed in the vision he had at one point, obviously since I was going to sign. The concept of artists having more rights over their own music is something I will always believe in. But ultimately, some things went down. There were some whispers I'd heard. Before that deal was announced, I paid attention to anything and everything being said, and an offer from Apple came in. So I had to sit back, consider all of the factors of both deals, and decide which would be best for me. At the end of the day, that is all that decision was. Me making the right move for my career at that time. Nothing against him or what he was trying to do. But I learned that if there's one thing in the world he doesn't play with, it's his money."

    Sunlight shone through the open blinds covering the balcony window. It was early morning and while people were waking from deep slumber, Mia was listening to words that would most likely give her nightmares for many nights to come.

    "The deal is most of it, but not all of it. There has been tension there for whatever reason, for awhile. We were cordial despite it, but me backing away from that deal made it harder for him to be cordial with me."

    She could remember some teasing between Jay-Z and Drake, the last time they'd all gone out to dinner together. Jay-Z had made a joke about signing Mia, which had caused Drake to get a bit prickly. At the time, she'd taken it as a joke between friends, but knowing all of the back story between the two artists put an entirely different spin on that verbal exchange.

    He smiled sadly. "When I had reservations about you wanting to be in this industry, you probably thought that it was because I was some misogynist who wanted his woman cooking dinner for him in the kitchen when he got home from a hard day's work."

    "I knew better," she said. "I knew there had to be a reason, and even had a feeling what the reason was."

    He nodded and lowered his eyes.

    She shrugged. "And maybe I thought you were a little bit of a misogynist pig. Just a little."

    He laughed and toyed with the baseball cap he'd removed from his head earlier. "This business is a lot more cutthroat than it lets on. People come into it all wide-eyed and excited to make their mark on this world. I know, because I was one of those people. You come into this business shouting that you're not going to let it change you, but...the business has other plans for you. There are those precious few who manage to make their mark while remaining true to themselves and who they are. And the rest of us..." He shook his head.

    She dreaded the next words that were going to make it out of his mouth.

    "The rest of us are lucky if we make it out on the other side alive and with our sanity," he finished, turning to look out of the window.