Fireworks 3 and 4

Fireworks: Forever Chapter 6ix

    "It's been too long since I've seen you face to face," Oliver remarked, giving Drake a complex handshake before claiming one of the seats facing the large desk. "Do you know why Mia called this meeting?"

    Drake shook his head. "She refused to tell me, but she seems to be...in rare form."

    "I wonder if it has anything to do with the label meet," Oliver murmured, stroking his chin.

    Mia breezed into Drake's home office, the expression on her face taut.

    Drake's eyes followed her as she moved to sit beside Oli. "Babe...you okay?"

    It took a few moments before she was willing to raise her gaze to meet his. That alone let him know that something was wrong. His mouth set into a grim line as he lowered into his seat. "What's up?"

    "The record label you guys are working with is evil," she stated flatly.

    Oliver shifted in his chair while exchanging looks with Drake. "Tell us everything."

    She did. Animated, with quick-moving hands and exaggerated facial expressions. Fast words. Wide eyes. Disbelief. Anger. 

    Throughout the entire explanation, Oliver used the index and middle fingers of his right hand to rub at his temple. As soon as the explanation was given, he shifted his eyes to Drake. "We should've gone in with her."

    "Easy to realize that now," Drake said.

    She looked between the two of them. "You don't sound shocked at all."

    Drake's fingertips idly tapped on the top of his office desk. "This isn't the first time they've tried to pull this."

    "Is it the first time they threatened to frame you for murder? How can you be so calm after hearing something like that?"

    Oliver cleared his throat. "There is a lot about this industry that you still need to learn."

    "Well...we're not going to live out that stupid storyline," she mumbled with a firm shake of her head. "They definitely approached the wrong one with that foolishness."

    Her declaration was met with silence. Oliver and Drake were having a conversation with only their eyes. Oliver turned to Mia, but Drake gave a curt shake of his head. 

    After a few moments of silence, Mia looked at Drake. "I mean...we're not going to cooperate with them. Right?"

    "That is probably a question that won't be answered in this conversation," Drake said slowly. "This conversation is the first of several. There are some things that I should have explained to you earlier on. I just...didn't know your career would take off so quickly."

    "All of those conspiracy things people talk about...the Illuminati and all of that..."

    Drake laughed and raised a palm facing outward. "Hey. There are more conversations that we need to have, and we will have them. I just need to speak with Oli before letting him go."

    "I'm not leaving this office until you tell me that we aren't going to do the stupid storyline," she insisted.

    "I...can't tell you that."

    Her eyes hardened. "So, you're willing to pretend you're fucking SZA for clout and attention?" she asked. "Or did you want to fuck her for real? Daniel made it clear that they don't care whether you pretend to fuck her or actually do it. Did you want me to give you a hall pass for this bullshit?"

    "Mia-" he started.

    She launched out of her chair. "No!" she cried out. "Is that what I signed up for when I started dating you? Not only do I have to deal with paparazzi and interviews about you, but do I also have to act out these silly little stories? All so what? So a couple of independent artists don't get the least bit of shine? Shine they probably fucking deserve? How can you condone anything like this?!"

    "Baby."

    She whirled on her heel and stormed out of the office.

    Groaning in frustration, Drake covered his face with both hands and leaned back in the desk chair. "Why the fuck didn't I go with her?" he asked himself aloud. "Why didn't I explain some of this shit to her? Fuck."

    "Everyone has been tight-lipped about the conference," Oliver said. "And everyone has been acting a little skittish. I don't know...it seems different this time. The labels seem a lot more desperate than they've been in the past. She's concerned and maybe she should be."

    Drake rolled his eyes.

    "She had to sit in a stranger's office and listen to them essentially threaten to frame you for murder if you didn't comply," Oliver stated matter-of-factly. "That had to be a shell shock for her. You and I can talk on the phone or via video chat. You need to go get her before she leaves the property. After this, I'm not sure you'd be able to get her back."

    "Thanks, man," Drake said. "But maybe I should just let her go. I'm not sure what I'd say to her once I caught up to her."

    "Come up with something," Oliver advised, "or risk losing her."

~~~~~~

    Mia had nearly made it to the front door of Drake's estate by the time he caught up to her.

    He slid his hands in the pockets of black slacks as he approached her. "I should've never let you attend that meeting alone."

    "The way you and Oli are handling what I heard in that office is making me feel like I'm the crazy person in all of this," she muttered, her arms hanging limply at her sides. 

    Those words tugged at his heart. With a sigh, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I know you want an answer right now, but this is part of a larger conversation. I promise you and I will have that conversation. Until we have that larger conversation, I can't make any promises as to what we will or won't do."

    "I don't like this," she mumbled, turning around in his arms and burying her face in his chest.

    "I don't either."

    "But you're considering it. I can tell."

    I'm more than considering it, but she doesn't know why, he thought miserably. "Will you wait for me while I wrap things up with Oli?"

    "I feel like I need to get out of here," she said, tilting her head back and peering up at him. "Not even just out of this house. Out of this city, out of this state. Shit, maybe out of this industry."

    He laughed and tightened his arms around her. "No, the industry needs you."

    "Ugh."

    "Will you wait for me?" he asked again. "You can have a drink in the meantime, relax some."

    "Like that's possible," she said, but the tone of her voice was already softening. So was the look in her eyes.

    He lovingly caressed her cheek. "Go upstairs. Wait for me. Call for whatever you want from the kitchen. I'll be right up."

    She didn't make a move, and neither did he. "Don't let me go yet, please."

    "Okay. I won't." Pressing tiny kisses to the top of her head, her forehead, her brow. Adding a few more kisses to the tip of her nose. He couldn't bear losing her, but after the conversation he had to have with her, he just might.