Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter Seventy-Three

    Even with Farrah's takedown in motion, the show must go on. Mia continued preparation for her tour. Behind the scene, Drake's teams was investigating the different companies Farrah did business with and reporting her identity fraud to them. They also dropped an anonymous tip to local law enforcement.

    "You used to be into these bad bitch mantras," Drake reminded her. "Would a bad bitch worry about someone who was trying to ruin her career?"

    Mia had slowly shaken her head. "No, she wouldn't."

    "A bad bitch would stomp the opp out and shut it down, would she not?"

    She tilted her head to the side and smiled at him. "Are you my bad bitch coach now?"

    He laughed at the absurdity of the question. "I'll fill the role if I have to."

    "I'd prefer for you to fill something else," she said boldly.

    "Something else I'd gladly volunteer for," he said, his voice lowering as he leaned down and claimed her lips with his own.

    Those moments with him in between the pressures of preparing for this tour were everything. They were grounding for her. Somehow, he always knew what she needed to hear and found the time to deliver those words to her, even with his own crazy schedule. She was preparing for a tour while he was making music and co-parenting with his child's mother. 

    Tour wardrobe was designed, and Mia practiced the dance moves while decked out in her tour gear. She gave the designers feedback as to challenges she'd encountered while wearing the costumes. Adjustments were made and issues were resolved. The time for the start of the tour was drawing nearer and the feeling of pressure mounted. 

    Oliver contacted her with updates regarding ticket sales. Drake continued to shower her with love and encouragement. He declared that he knew she would kill the tour, but doubt started to creep in. What if her performances weren't worthy of a tour? What if something went wrong? What if she fell flat on her face while on tour, both literally and figuratively?

    Remember your bad bitch mantras, she reminded herself. She couldn't help but feel like a fraud, a basic bitch posing as a bad one. What if I freeze up on stage? Sure, I've performed on large stages before, but during a lot of those performances, Aubrey was with me. This tour is all about me.

    Even with self-doubt eating her alive, though, she kept giving dance rehearsals her all. She kept up her media appearances and successfully managed to give the impression that she wasn't worried at all about this tour. Nervous where? She was ecstatic to go on tour, couldn't wait to interact with her fans. That was the face she had to wear, for the sake of appearances.

    "Show doubt in yourself, and your fans will reflect that doubt back onto you," Drake had warned her while they lie in bed together. "Even with all the crazy shit Kanye has said in his lifetime, the one thing he is definitely right about is that you have to be your own biggest fan. You have to believe in yourself, have faith in yourself - or at least be a damned good actress and pretend to believe in yourself. Fans follow your lead. You have self-confidence pouring out the ass and they'll pour confidence back into you. Express doubt or stress, and they won't know whether they should spend their last dollar on that concert ticket. They won't know whether or not they should like the next project you drop. In this industry, there are a lot of cues that are followed. It's a major psychological game sometimes, a game that you have to learn to love playing."

    So, she played the game. Smiled at the cameras, joked around with her fans on live streams, rubbed elbows with other celebrities who gushed about her talent. She shared behind-the-scenes videos that showed what went into preparing for a tour. Footage of dance rehearsals, singing rehearsals, spending time in the studio with her famous rapper boyfriend. For further grounding, she visited her hometown prior to the start of tour. That included a visit to Bri and Desirae. It was what her soul needed, a brief reprieve before the chaos really began. Leaving them was one of the hardest things she'd had to do, but Bri declared that they'd get to see her again when the tour hit their area. 

    Right before boarding Drake's plane, Chubbs dropped the news via text that Farrah was arrested. With wide eyes, she called him. "Arrested?"

    "Her arrest has been leaked to all media outlets, including the hip hop blogs," Chubbs said, sounding like he was reading off a piece of paper. "Mention of the charges she attempted to bring against you has been made in these stories. Her credibility has effectively been shot."

    She sucked in her breath. "She has a kid, though. What will happen to her kid?"

    "Most likely family will step in to care for him," Chubbs said, sounding surprised.

    Why was everyone surprised that she gave a damn about this woman's child? 

    "This is a good thing, Mia," he told her, his tone serious. "With her credibility shot, you've been absolved from all blame. Law enforcement is inclined to believe your side of the story, since she's lied about her identity. You didn't do anything to her. She did this to herself. Your focus needs to be on this tour and ensuring your own success."

    "Okay," she said, fretting while frozen on the stairs leading into the plane.

    "You're boarding right now?"

    "Yes."

    Her phone vibrated in her hand, indicating she was getting another phone call.

    "You can answer that. Hey...keep your head up, understand?"

    "Okay." She picked up Drake's call. "I just got off the phone with Chubbs."

    "I figured. I'm just checking in with you to make sure you're not doing anything silly, like blaming yourself for this."

    "That would be such a silly thing to do," she muttered, ascending the stairs and stepping onto the plane. 

    The captain and flight crew greeted her before going to attend their duties.

    "You're on the plane?" Drake asked her.

    "Just got on, yeah."

    "Put some music on, sip a little something," he suggested. "Calm your nerves and come back to me. I'll fuck you so good, you'll be wondering what the hell a Farrah even is."