Stained Recovery

Excuse Me, I love you || Chapter 10

HEADS UP: This is gonna be a long ass chapter -- so try to keep up. LOL. Anyway -- here ya go!
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Cleo

"It's taking a lot of effort for me to not punch your face right now Cleo, I swear to God -- you're lucky Ariana took this lightly," Jasmine said with gritted teeth as we stood beside the stage with Ariana's other friends and her family.

I glanced around the area, a man with a long stubble was talking to Ariana's mother. Courtney and Alexa were enthusiastically jamming with their phones up and recording Ariana's performance. Two other men were also beside Alexa and Victoria, dancing and grooving with the music.

My ears were filled with the crowd screaming Ari's song, perfectly singing each word of the lyrics which caused a smile to be permanently stuck on my face despite Jasmine's nagging beside me.

"I'm really sorry, Jas... please don't be mad at me. I really had to talk to Naomi to finally close this chapter. I can't start anything with Ari without talking to her... that'd be unfair for Ariana." I said with my eyes still watching Ari on stage.

She was doing their routines with much precision while holding the mic and belting each note with perfection. Damn... her voice is so fucking angelic.

"I know but you didn't have to do it alone -- you don't know how worried I was. That woman knows how to hook you in. I don't want you falling for that again, I hate seeing you hurt over that." I can hear Jasmine's voice tremble a little -- over the blaring music around us, I know that she was super worried and wanted only what's best for me.

I gave her a thankful smile, slightly averting my eyes from the beautiful woman performing on the stage. "I know Jazzy, and I'm really thankful to have you as my best friend. I love you, you know that right? But I needed to hear everything from her. Regardless of how painful it was --, I needed it... for closure... so I can move past everything."

She just eyed me with concern, so I gave her a side hug and let my arms remain on her shoulders. "Let's just enjoy Ariana's show, yeah? Besides, we can talk about this some other time. Right now, I just want to watch this incredible woman."

I said in a dream-like trance. The visuals and choreography of the last two songs were phenomenal. I've heard those songs on the radio and some streaming platforms but I didn't imagine that this could be that good in a live show.

All of Ariana's movements got me feeling some type of way. She was so in-tune with the music and beat -- she was so carefree like she was born to do this shit.

Her perfect pitch and harmonies rung through my ears -- I couldn't help but appreciate her as an artist. I mean, I've seen Ariana as just 'Ari' and she's always been beautiful but right now... she's in her element.

Jasmine stayed quiet for a minute before tapping my arm so I could release her. Courtney called her up to get some selfies while Ari performed on stage. With a shake of my head and a gentle smile, I just removed my arm around her so she could run back to Court and her other friends.

I silently watched my pop star at the corner -- she's sitting at the end of the long table now, with her legs up and perched on the table, her foot visibly matching the beat of the intro of the song. Another guy was on the other end, but I can't actually see his face.

He seems like provoking Ariana and doing what he was supposed to do. When the crowd roared, I instantly figured out that this is a crowd favorite... unfortunately for me... it was an unfamiliar song.

Damn it... I should've prepared and listened to her whole album.

Her dancers started to strut across the stage, walking in a very alluring manner. I was so entranced looking at Ariana, dancing provocatively -- I literally must have drool on my face.