C͓̽L͓̽U͓̽B͓̽ P͓̽A͓̽R͓̽A͓̽D͓̽I͓̽S͓̽E͓̽

1

"Found the truth beneath your lies;
And true love never has to hide."

12am studio session turned dreadful quickly. Being there since the early morning, Beyoncé was drained. Ready to go home, even though she had nothing to go home to. Besides her dog. Things felt pretty lonely.

It'd been years since she'd actually seen the people she loved dearly. Phone calls and video chats were the closest thing she had to them. It didn't fulfill the empty hole she had missing. Which could only be filled by the physical image of her lovings.

"That's over with." She removed the headphones from her ears while letting out a heavy sigh.

"At least we finished the song."

"Mmhm." She stepped out of the booth and began to gather her things. Ignoring the chats about the song, she left. The more she was alone, the more she grew tired of her life. Ready to go home and thoughts about never looking back. Just saying forget every piece of work she had to be done.

But then she would think about her younger self. The little girl that planned her life at 10. Traumatized by her parents and the toxic home. She wanted better for herself. Knew she deserved it more than anything. Promised that she would work until she didn't have to raise a finger to work anymore.

It was her word to herself.

A word she wouldn't dare go back on because it was for her. Her future and her happiness. Something she'd wanted all her life as a kid but never got. Doing the things she took pride in, but never got much attention for it. Now she's gotten what she only ever dreamed about.

In her home, she walked through the mixture of dark colors until she made it to her bedroom. Stripping from her clothing and attacking the shower. It felt like heaven to feel the water hit her tense muscles. Sitting in a rolling chair for hours will do it. Constantly singing the same notes over and over again gave her the biggest headache.

Her every night routine was about to begin. Moisturizing her body and lying nakedly in her silk sheets, she clicked on the television and grabbed her cellphone.

As she scrolled through her contacts, she thought about the conversation prepared to come. She knew she would be getting one of two sides. The happy to speak, or the tired of waiting. Either or.

The number dialed...and dialed...until the voicemail is what she heard. It made her call again, in case it wasn't meant to be missed. To her luck, it picked up. The voice she'd been dying to hear came through and it made her smile.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby girl...how are you?"

"Sleep."

She sighed as she caught on to the side she'd be getting that night. Tired of waiting.

"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep...how was your day?"

"Same as any other day Beyoncé."

"I heard you seeing somebody. That's true?"

"Why does that concern you, Beyoncé?"

Beyoncé sat up in her bed, a frown on her face. It slightly upset her to hear those words and they added fuel to small fire beginning to come. But she also knew she had no right to show that.

"You know why it concerns me."

"I don't actually. Because if that reason were true, you would be out here with me and not wherever the hell you are now."

She let out a heavy sigh that could be heard over the phone. Making the younger girl roll her eyes and adjust herself differently in the bed. Deep down she wanted to hang up the phone and leave Beyoncé hanging, but she knew the result of that.

Instead, she stayed silent. Waiting for the response building up in Beyoncés brain.

"You know I'm trying. I'll get out there as soon as I can, but I can't just drop everything to move when you say move."

"That's not what I'm asking you to do and you know it. Here you go flipping it like I'm being difficult. All I ask is to see you at least once a month. But it's been three years since I've actually seen you in my face and not on billboards. You can't expect me to keep waiting."

"And why can't I?"

"Why you even give a fuck, you not even here?"

They both went silent again, not knowing what to say to each other. When calls went like this, they would usually call it a night and try again whenever the younger girl answered the phone again. It was never a promise that Beyoncé would hear her voice every day.

"Beyoncé, I told you I wasn't gonna keep waiting. I have a life that I want to live and sitting up miserable for love isn't a part of what I had planned for myself. Plus, I'm tired of seeing you in the press. You obviously ain't missing me that bad."

Beyoncé groaned. Realizing that she'd been recorded the night before. It was nothing new for her to be caught that way, it had been a minute since it'd been reported to her.

"Baby you know that's just fun."

"Yea yea...if that's just fun to you, then this is just fun to me. I'm not waiting anymore."

"On-"

The line went dead and she took a deep breath before tossing her phone across the bed. Throwing her body back and staring at the ceiling. After her long day, she didn't want the conversation to go that way. But it did. And there was nothing she could really do about it.

Unless she went back to her hometown.