Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Fourteen

    In all things, Mia liked to hit the ground running. Once her mind was made up about something, she never half-assed it. She either gave all of herself, or none of herself. So when she decided to become a boss ass bitch, she got started the minute her feet hit the ground on Los Angeles.

    She made phone calls as soon as she'd boarded off the plane, and the phone calls didn't stop by the time she reached the house she shared with Drake. And about the house she shared with Drake...

    Standing just inside of the front door, she slipped her cell phone into her purse and raised her hands to her hips. If she was going to become a boss ass bitch, then any form of dependence just wouldn't do.

~~~~~~

    Drake thoughtfully ran his fingers over the shark tattoo inked into his forearm.

    "Everyone thinks we're engaged," Rihanna said with her eyes on his arm.

    "I'm not surprised, considering everything that's being shoved at them," he said irritably. "Billboards, cute pictures outside of aquariums, not to mention the tattoos."

    "The tattoos are symbolic, and do have meaning," Rihanna pointed out. "Just not the meaning that everyone is hoping for."

    He nodded and toyed with the champagne glass on top of the table. "How are things going with you and Travis?"

    Rihanna drew back in her seat, her eyes widening slightly. It was rare, but this was one of the few times in her life that she was rendered speechless. "Things are going."

    "He loves you," Drake said, raising the champagne glass to his lips while watching her over the rim.

    "He's sweet."

    "Do you love him?"

    She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and looked away from him. "Are we really going to have this conversation?"

    There used to be a time when the sound of her accent alone turned him on. Those days were long gone. These days, he viewed her as more of a sister. Some of the words Mia had shouted at him, had rung a little true, a little close to home - in particular, mentioning wanting to hold him down as well as Travis held down Rih. "Do you love him?" he repeated.

    "Yeah, I do. Very much."

    "Then why are we doing this?"

    "You know why we're doing this," she said, her brow furrowing. "It's why we always do this."

    "For the money. For the publicity."

    She shrugged.

    "Do you remember how we both were, in the beginning?" he asked her. "We laughed at the people we thought were selling lies for publicity. We swore that we would never become those people."

    "And then we got to the top," she said, her voice level.

    He shook his head and sighed.

    "What were your words?" She touched a finger to her chin. "I believe your words were, We were never supposed to get as far as we did. Isn't that what you told me?"

    He didn't respond.

    "That is what you told me," she went on. "During one of the times when you were pissed off at me and didn't care about hurting my feelings. One of the times when you were bluntly honest with me. You told me in so many words that with my lack of vocal range, and with your past as a pretty boy actor, neither of us was supposed to ever see the top spots. The odds were stacked against us. We were supposed to see a reasonable amount of success, but we were never supposed to be viewed as the best. Now that we are, we have to adapt to our newfound success and evolve."