Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Fifteen

The rules of being a boss:

1: Don't depend on anyone but yourself to get to where you want to go.

2: Get your own. House, car, career. Get your own, on your own.

3: Focus on your career. Focus on making your money. Don't waste your energy on scrubs or any man (or woman) who failed to see your worth.

4: Don't worry about what the next person is doing. Worry about your own situation, your own money, your own ass.

5: Be the best you, and be the best at what you do.

    Until she could find and purchase her own place, Mia chose to stay in a hotel. She loved hotels, so it was far from a punishment. She was seated on the hotel bed writing in her notebook when LL Cool J's "Loungin' Remix" featuring Total came up in the playlist she had stored in her phone. Her pen froze above paper when the chorus played. "Who do you love?" she sang out, closing her eyes. "Are you for sure?" After setting aside her notebook, she stood up from the bed and started dancing. Other words started to fill her head; they were words she didn't even have to think about. "Who do you trust? Are you for sure? Who do you trust? Are you for sure?"

    She listened to the softly spoken words that LL was saying in the background. The original words were, "I wanna lounge with you - I do what I gotta do." Still dancing, she switched the words up to, "I want a life with you - I do what I gotta do."

    Then there it was: that unmistakable itch, that stubborn urge to lay down a track. It was an urge that she felt more and more often these days. It was an itch she knew she wouldn't be able to get it out of her system.

    Two hours later, Mia paced around a Los Angeles studio with her eyes closed, whispering words under her breath.

    Music cut in, a mix of LL Cool J's "Loungin (Who Do You Love)" and YG's "Who Do You Love," which featured Drake.

    Allowing herself to feel the music, Mia continued pacing around the studio. Bobbing her head to the beast, she started singing.

"Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?"

Then she flawlessly eased into a rap freestyle:

"You were the knight in shining armor that took my hand at the start,

The poet with the pretty words that finessed my heart,

The guide who explained the ins and outs of this industry,

The charmer who showed me a side to himself that most doesn't see.

From the start, your hoes were coming up to me with warnings,

Still I stayed up most nights talking to you until morning.

A friend once told me most men want nothing more than to bust in you,

But you were different - that's why I put my trust in you.

My career took off, blasting like a rocketship to Mars,

Onika was once a friend, but that did end when she heard my bars.

She loved me back when I sang - guess I should've stayed in my lane.

The more heights I reached, the more people wished for the fall of me,

But meanwhile I was living my life and giving you all of me.

Trust that my love was never fake, but I'm sitting here wondering -

Was it all a mistake?

"Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?

Exes. They're the impossible, invisible standard.

They're also what keeps us wondering if he's philandered.

Meant to remain in your past, but yours is in your present,

Standing next to her, even a princess would feel like a peasant.

Even though I'd do anything to help your career move forward,

It's unfair to ask of me that I sneak through back doors.

Only to have me in your room afterwards on all fours,

Then volleying back to her the next day while you flirt on your tours.

You once told me that we wouldn't have to play up to the cameras,

That I never had to worry about the Robyns, the Keishas, the Tamaras.

That I belonged to you, and that you belonged to me,

And we could just love each other forever, freely.

But every time an ex with a huge net worth slinks by,

I notice you get a bad case of a wandering eye.

And it becomes a question of are you my guy, or her guy?

And it becomes a question of do I take fight, or stay and fight?

Because if life is a play and God is the director,

Then the role of the love of my life, he gave you part,

Which is why I entrusted you with my whole heart.

"Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for sure?

Who do you truuuuust?

Are you for suuuuuure?"

    Tears filled Mia's eyes to the point where her vision was blurred. She couldn't see the awed expression the studio engineer was giving her. Sadly, she sang out, "I want a life with you. I'll do what I gotta do."