Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Thirty-Three

Three...
    Years...
       Later...

    "Breakfast meeting with VH1 at 8:00am, followed by a Fader interview at 10:00am. Photoshoot at 1:00pm, and then you're due at the airport. Jet takes off at 6:00pm. Your fitting with Christian Soriano is scheduled for 8:00pm and he had to rearrange things to fit your schedule, so we want to try to be as on time as we possibly can. He understands we'll be headed over to him as soon as we step off the plane. After the fitting we hit up Cardi B's concert, where you should just make it for your performance of the hit you guys have together. Your room is booked at the Four Seasons, and a car has been reserved." Tori Lawrence looked up from the calendar screen on her phone and adjusted her glasses.

    Mia removed a collection of sparkly bracelets from her wrists, then did the same with the diamond hoops gracing her ears. From a distance, some of even her hardest core fans wouldn't recognize her - not with the Harley Quinn-esque two-tone blonde and aqua hair she was sporting these days. "Light work. And Thursday?"

    Tori swiped across her screen. "Thursday is Good Morning America, the Ellen Show, a photoshoot with Vibe magazine, lunch with Issa, MTV Music Award Show rehearsals, and the rest of the day is clear."

    "No rest for the wicked, huh?" Mia questioned rhetorically, spreading her arms wide.

    Tori hopped to action, setting down her phone and moving to remove Mia's jacket.

    "It'll be nice to see Issa, though," Mia mused. "It has been too long. Isn't the Insecure marathon running this weekend?"

    "I think so," Tori replied, tugging at Mia's other sleeve.

    Mia turned and watched Tori hang the jacket up in her master bedroom closet. "Hmm."

    Tori's phone buzzed, and she walked over to check it. "It's The Breakfast Club again," she announced, sweeping a dyed red bang across her forehead. The color complimented her light complexion. She was giving a little bit of a Charli Baltimore tease. "They're insistent. They want you on."

    With furrowed brows, Mia firmly shook her head. "They'd get me up there, grill me about Aubrey for the millionth time, and not even once bring up my new album," she predicted. "If I didn't spill the beans about why things ended with Aubrey in that interview years ago, what makes anyone think I'm going to start spilling now?" She grabbed the hem of her silk tank top and pulled it over her head, crossing the room in long, lean stride. "Continue telling them 'No' until it sinks in."

    "Sure thing," Tori said, already texting a response. "Only..." She glanced up from her phone.

    Continuing to unsnap her bra, Mia arched a look in Tori's direction.

    Tori fidgeted with her phone. "What did happen between you and him?"

    Mia sighed and disappeared into the closet.

    "I mean...you two seemed really solid. For the first time, since, like...ever, he stopped hoing around."

    An abrupt chuckle came from the closet.

    "And you two were, like...perfect together."

    Inside the closet, Mia unbuckled her belt. "Perfection doesn't exist."

    "Yeah, I know that...but..."

    "Aubrey and I were not meant to be together," Mia continued. "We tried. It didn't work. We both moved on."

    "Well...you moved on," Tori emphasized.

    Mia shrugged. "Whether or not he has isn't any of my business."

    "Yeah, but-"

    "You should really be less focused on what happened between Aubrey and I, and a lot more focused on your job," Mia interrupted, poking her head out of the closet. "My last assistant was fired for digging too much in the past instead of caring about what she was doing in the present. I kind of like you. So please keep up."

    Tori bobbed her head up and down. "Yeah, no, of course. I'm...sorry for being nosey. I'm just starting to worry about him a bit, I guess. It's been so long since..."

    Mia emerged from the closet, sporting a chic cream-colored pantsuit. "Tori. Focus."

    The assistant blushed and lowered her eyes to the floor. "My bad. Sorry."

    "When you've gotten it together, maybe you could run Friday's schedule past me?" Mia said, clapping the girl on the back as she passed her.

~~~~~~

    "That wraps up this week's entertainment news. Before the end credits start rolling, I just wanted to ask the question on everyone's mind...where is Drake? Since the dawn of his career, the rapping, singing, and whiskey-making powerhouse hadn't allowed his fans to go one full year without hearing at least one song from him. But for the past three years, the star has been completely radio-silent. He also hasn't posted anything on social media during that time. Will Smith, relatively new to social media, had a milk carton custom-made with Drake's face printed on it, above the caption: Where am I? The last post Drake had on his social media account was a picture he'd taken with then-girlfriend Mia Thomas, who has filled the void Drake has left with a bit of rapping and singing of her own. Even so, his fans are taking to that last post, begging for his return. Toronto fans have ambushed Instagram and Twitter with pictures of themselves holding signs telling Drake that the '6' misses him. If Facebook still existed today, we're quite sure the fans would be taking that social media platform by storm, also. We're not used to a Drake-less world. We don't want a Drake-less world. I say all of that, just to ask this: Drake? Where are you, man? Come back to us. And bring OvOFest back with you."