Fireworks 3 and 4

Fireworks: Forever Chapter Eleven

    SZA grimaced while watching Mia leave the room. "I'm...sorry," she apologized.

    "You didn't do anything wrong," Drake said. "There's no need to apologize."

    "She's pissed at you."

    "She's pissed at me because she knows who I am and where to find me," Drake told her. "I'm an easy target. She doesn't know the identity of the people she really should be pissed at."

    After blowing out a puff of air, SZA muttered, "Seeing how gung-ho she is about taking them down, that may be for the best."

    "Have you ever thought about going against them?" Drake suddenly asked her.

    "I think every last one of us has thought about it at least once," SZA theorized. "Did I ever take it past that brief thought, though? No. I wouldn't even know where to start."

    Drake nodded his head slowly, then lowered his eyes while thinking.

    "What?" she prompted him.

    A smile teased his lips.

    "I know your ass."

    The thoughts he was having, he didn't even want to give a voice to them. 

    "Hey." She snapped her fingers at him.

    He laughed at her. "No need to treat me like a fucking waiter. I'm just thinking."

    "It's obvious that you're thinking. About what, though?"

    Bracing an elbow on the armrest of the couch, he brought a hand up to stroke his chin. "What she's trying to do sounds crazy to us because of how deep we are into this, but...I don't know...I guess I can't help wondering...what if we could take them down?"

    She gasped and moved from her armchair to the spot on the couch Mia had just vacated. "You aren't seriously considering..."

    He looked towards the open entrance to the living room. "A lot of people wouldn't know where to start, because the puppet strings attached to us are so fucking long," he began. "But... I've made it to a position where I know exactly where to start looking - if I were going to entertain an idea as crazy as trying to take them down."

    "Are you going to tell her that?" SZA whispered.

    Honestly, there's only one acceptable answer to that question - especially since I've told Solana. But that is a loaded question. Telling Mia that would result in her demanding to know where to start. If I denied her that info, she'd never forgive me. He sat in contemplation for a while. 

    "You haven't decided," SZA said, answering her own question based on whatever it was she saw on his face.

    "You heard how passionate she was," Drake said. "Am I crazy for believing that she's actually capable of taking them down?"

    "She's one person," SZA reminded him. "In comparison they're a massive group of some of the wealthiest people in the world."

    "Still...no one would be wise to underestimate her," Drake said.

    SZA smiled at him, a bit of awe touching her face. "You've grown so much, from that boy I used to know."

    He laughed. "We've collaborated since back then - more than once."

    "And during those times, you were still emotionally immature as shit," SZA said. "Unless... unless pretending to be emotionally immature as shit was a storyline the execs gave you."

    The absurdity of that idea caused him to explode in laughter. "No, I...no, Solana."

    She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice speaking her name.

    He caught the action and cleared his throat. "So...assuming she's going to make good on her word and go along with this, how are we going to play this? Any kissing we go for should probably be real, for the sake of cameras. Fake kisses are too easy to spot. Everything else can be acted out or hinted at. Making out, sex."

    "That sounds fine with me."

    "I could post content to social media that has something of yours in the background," he suggested. "People study the hell out of my photos and videos. A few people would catch it, post about it, and everyone else would catch on. They'd feel smart and proud of themselves for even catching it."

    "You just came up with that?" she asked him.

    "Shit like this is easy," he said. "Like you said. I've staged relationships before. All I've had to do in the past is get pictured walking with a girl in a public street. Everyone automatically assumes I'm fucking her. We honestly don't have to do much to get people to talk - we probably don't even have to kiss for that."

    "But the kissing part would be fun," SZA said, scooting a little closer to him.

    He could smell the faintest hint of her perfume, felt the slightest touch of her hipbone against his side. "Hey. Chill."

    Her light, tinkling laughter brought back memories that he struggled not to get lost in. "Relax. I'm just playing with you."

    "Uh huh."

    Her eyes sparkled as she flashed him her most innocent smile.

    "If we're going to do this, I need to know that you're going to take it serious," he said. "This isn't fun and games. Mia is really bothered by this shit, and I don't need anymore drama."

    "I'm not here to cause any," she promised. "Girl scout's promise."

    "You were never a girl scout," he muttered.

    "Figure of speech, keep up." She intentionally bumped her shoulder into his before standing up. "When do you want to start with this?"

    Never. It's only going to cause trouble. "Give me a couple of days to smooth shit out with my girl."

    "You really love her, don't you?"

    "More than I ever thought capable."

    She stared at him for a long time before nodding and backing away from him. "Call me with the first play."

    "Will do." He followed her to the front door, and even escorted her to the chauffeured car that was waiting for her.

    At the very last moment, before climbing into the car, she turned and threw her arms around him. "I know I'm a bit of a wild child sometimes, but everything is going to be fine."

    It was possible that whatever Mia was feeling was contagious...because for whatever reason, he felt like nothing would ever be fine again. Still, he hugged her back, to be polite.

    Unbeknownst to the two of them, twenty yards away a cluster of camera shutters got to clicking.