SugarCOAT

69. Going Back to Cali 🪙

From the time we left New York to the time we landed in Cali, not only had Monica and my photo in front of Lucio's Restaurant went viral, but the photos taken with celebrities inside the restaurant went viral including my performance on GMA. My fans did it again. I know! I said my fans. They made my new song "Easy" an instant hit.

Before I could get to my bedroom at the Rivers' Residence, Colby had updated my schedule. I have a meeting in an hour with my team, a meeting after that with Ricky Santana, a magazine interview tomorrow, and I was shooting a music videos for my songs "Home" and "Easy" at the end of the coming week. Am I really ready for two years of this?

I opened my bedroom door and sitting on my bed was a large envelope. I'm getting fan-mail, too? Do fans still send mail?

I released my luggage and picked up the mail. It didn't have a sender's address. I opened the thick bubble-wrapped envelope and sliding out was a 8.5x11 inch spiral book. 

"Oh, my goodness!"

It was A.B.'s poetry book from his childhood. I kicked off my shoes, hopped in bed, and began to read it. 

Juvenile Poems by Jace Bravos 
CONTENTS: 1. Too Young to Know / 2. Rappers / 3. J.A.C.E. / 4. I'm Not A Little Kid / 5. My Girlfriend / 6. I Love You, Mom / 7. Bedtime Prayers

I think an entire hour went by, because I definitely took my time reading those poems. My favorite was titled, My Girlfriend.

Summertime is over / School is back in session 
That's where I met her / Ms. Cope was teaching a lesson 
All eyes were on her / I had to be the first 
Introduce myself to her / Hypnotize her with my words 
Excuse me, baby / I think you a cutie
You should be my lady / Tonight, let's see a movie
Just say yes, and I'll be your man 
I know me and you together could rule the world  
But the bell rung and ruined my plans
I tried to chase after her, but then my future girl
was talking to my homie by the lockers
He smiled at me 'cause he was getting her number
I was too late, too slow, too hesitant
Baby girl, you could've been my girlfriend

It definitely didn't the end the way I expected it to, but I think that's why I enjoyed it. I finally closed the book and grabbed my phone to call A.B. He answered on the first ring. 

I smiled as I rolled onto my back in bed. "I'm back in California and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had mail from nonother than my number one fan."

He chuckled, "Really? What was it?"

I pretended not to know. "Umm... Sounds like he was handsome and a little romantic, because it was packaged so carefully. The only thing it was missing was a bow."

"He should've did a little bit more, huh?"

I nodded my head. "Just a little bit more." I used my pointer finger and thumb to display a little bit more. 

We both laughed.

"But in all seriousness, I was really surprised, A.B. Thank you for sending me a piece of your childhood."

"You're welcome. How was New York?" He asked me.

I took a deep breath. "Incredible!"

"I watched your performance. You looked like you've been performing since you were a kid. I like your new song, too. I've been playing it nonstop."

He's going to make me go into cardiac arrest with all these compliments. "Thank you for supporting me, A.B."

"Always. How's your twin, I mean cousin doing?" He asked.