DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE

XVIII

December 18, 2000
4 PM
New York
Giselle's POV: I smiled as I adjusted my outfit that I would be wearing tomorrow for our performance. I sighed and fixed my shorts. "How does it look, mama?" I turned towards my mom. She smiled,

"You look beautiful baby!" She smiled and we watched Kelly and Michelle walk in with matching outfits. "All of you girls look beautiful!"

"Thank you mama!" I smiled and looked over at Kelly and Michelle. "You girls excited?"

"Very!" Kelly smiled over at me. "Just nervous. But I know we'll do great." She looked over at Michelle and we all nodded in agreement. As long as I have my girls there is nothing else I need. I checked the time and looked over to Matthew who was on the phone. I had been waiting all day for Shawn to call me back and he hasn't. I want to see him, talk to him. But I don't wanna push any boundaries with him. I had left a message letting him know I was finally in New York and wanted to come and see him. I just hope we won't get into a heated discussion.

"Have we gotten any calls from Shawn? I'm still waiting to hear back from him." I asked Matthew as he got up from his seat. He nodded,

"Yeah, he said you can come by anytime. He's home." He replied handing me over a piece of paper. "This is his address if you don't remember. Just be safe. I'll have security help get you to his place. Okay?"

"Okay, sounds good." I smiled taking the paper from him. I grabbed my purse and left the building, heading outside toward the car. I got inside and shut the door, buckling myself in. The car ride was short, he wasn't too far from the stadium. I bounced my leg up and down nervously, not knowing what he wanted to talk about. Is it about Marshall? Something else? About fifteen minutes later I arrived at his apartment and got out, heading towards the lobby quickly; trying to be avoided by paparazzi. I went up to the front desk giving a small smile to the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm here to see Shawn Carter. What's his room number?" I asked.

She smiled at me widely, "414. The elevator is on the right."

I nodded and held my purse, "Thank you!" I headed towards the elevator and security followed. "I'm okay, you can head back to the stadium. I'll call when I'm ready to head back."

Security nodded and walked out of the apartments, letting me head up to Sean. I got into the elevator and watched the door shut. I got up to floor four and felt my hands begin to sweat. I scanned down the hallway and found his room. I knocked softly and bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for him to answer. The door slowly opened and he stood in the doorway, wearing a baseball cap, low jeans, and a t-shirt. He looked me up and down with his dark brown eyes, "Hey."

"Hey..." I replied, watching as he backed up from the doorway and gestured for me to come in. I walked inside his place, looking around. I hadn't been in his apartment before and it was pretty nice! It had great space and big windows, peaking out on Brooklyn. I set my purse down and stood staring out the window. "This is beautiful," I smiled over at him. He nodded and shut the door, walking towards me.

"Yeah, it's nice. Has a lot of space." He commented shoving his hands into his pocket. "Thank you for coming. I needed to talk to you."

I nodded and turned around to face him. "No problem... it's good to see you. I've missed you." I smiled up at him. He nodded not saying a word. He walked towards the couch and sat down leaning forward. Him not even saying he 'missed me too,' struck me hard. I stood and watched him palm his face and look at me.

"I'm takin' Marshall off of my album." He spoke calmly. "I don't want anything to do with him, don't want him anywhere near my work." He sighed. "Bey, he's not good for you."