Fireworks 3 and 4

Fireworks: Forever Chapter Twenty-Three

    Watching SZA work was one of the upsides to this entire mess. She was the definition of a free spirit, alternating between bouncing around the studio in her colorful crop top and short-shorts, waving her arms while singing random lyrics that popped into her head, or sitting down and writing while wearing a contemplative frown on that adorable doll face of hers. 

    Drake marveled at her for a few moments before brainstorming and noting down song ideas. 

    "Would it be tacky if I wrote a song about literally taking someone's man?" SZA asked out loud.

    "Would you care?" he countered, looking up from his notebook. "And haven't you done it before? More than once?"

    She shrugged, currently in one of her bouncy modes. "I don't know...sometimes I wonder if I'm still allowed to be myself. You know what I mean? It feels like everyone expects classier shit from me now, even though the raw shit is what got me to where I am. You know?"

    Noah played around with different beats, which served as the backdrop for her dancing.

    "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said, scratching his temple while frowning down at his notebook page. "For me, it was the opposite. Instead of wanting me to evolve musically, everyone wanted to pigeonhole me. They wanted me to keep making the same music over and over again."

    "In their defense, you went from hip hop and melodies to Afrobeats and techno," she pointed out, doubling over in laughter.

    He laughed along with her. "Touche."

    "You really tested your fanbase. Like...a lot."

    "You're right," he said, tapping the end of his pen against his lips.

    Her dancing slowed as her eyes landed on his lips.

    He caught the look and lowered the pen. "What are you cooking up for us, Noah?" he asked his producer.

    "Pure sex," Noah called back.

    SZA's smile widened and she tilted her head to the side. 

    Maintaining eye contact with her, Drake thought to himself, This is exactly why Mia hated even the idea of this.

    SZA's eyes lowered coquettishly. Then, she abruptly whirled around and started dancing again, bouncing newly derived cakes right in front of his face.

    He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Is there any way that this doesn't end up in an absolute disaster? he wondered, redirecting his attention to the notebook balanced on his lap.

    Whenever she calmed down and returned to her more studious moods, he felt relief. That was the SZA he could brainstorm with and bounce ideas off of. She was grounded during those times, focused. Whenever Noah introduced a new beat, though, she'd gasp, set her notebook aside and jump up to dance to it. That was when she was more untethered, like a floating balloon drifting out of reach. There wasn't much exchange during those times; she was too busy running lyrics to Noah's beat, changing key and arrangement of those lyrics. During those times, she was in her solo mode - and he had to switch it up and work in his own solo mode. "What are you thinking?" she asked mid-dance.

    His response only came after he finished writing out the line he had in his head. "I'm thinking we document this storyline in song form," he said, looking up at her. "How our flirtation started, how the affair starts, linger on the affair a bit and how it makes each of us feel, I write a few songs about how much guilt I feel for doing Mia wrong, and maybe those would be when you're writing your songs about how guilty you feel having taken her man away from her...then us writing songs about how good it feels to be together after so long."

    "Maybe a song where we reminisce about the old days together," she said, moving closer to him.

    Subconsciously, he sat further back on the couch. "Maybe," he said.

    "We had some good times, didn't we?" she asked, stepping in between his legs.

    "Of course," he returned after clearing his throat. "We should probably get back to this."

    "Get back to what?" she asked, her expression playful. Beautiful eyes wide, a smirk teasing the corner of her mouth. "I thought flirty photos were a part of this package." Her eyes scanned down the length of him as she spoke the words.

    He used moving his notebook as an excuse to break eye contact with her. Once the notebook was moved, he continued avoiding eye contact with her. "What kind of photos were you thinking?"

    "I don't know...maybe sitting on your lap while holding a notebook?" she suggested.

    He laughed outright. "You don't think that's a bit extreme? It's still early in all of this."

    "We have to kick the heat up a notch," she told him. "People have to be able to see the chemistry. When the affair rumors hit, they have to have seen the build up, or else it'll feel forced."

    He looked away from her. "All I'm saying is, instead of going with the first idea that pops in our heads, we should think of a few ideas."

    "Okay...how about..." She tapped her chin in thought. "I could go over, stand by 40, and bend over his soundboard. Someone else can take a picture of you staring at my ass while I'm bending over."

    Cringing inwardly, he drew a hand across his brow. "Okay. That's an idea."

    "You're just going to shut all of my ideas down," she muttered, pouting. "What the hell is the point of this? What are we doing, here?"

    "We're...trying to play along while doing as little damage to the people we love as possible," he responded.

    She waved a dismissive hand in the air. "You think I love that ninja?"

    "Solana."

    "Okay, okay. Damn, when did you get so fucking serious?" 

    "When did you get so fucking unserious?" he returned.

    She moved around his legs and plopped down on the couch beside him. "Since you're shooting down every idea I'm coming up with, how do you think we should start?"

    "More subtle," he answered. "Something simple but could be interpreted as flirting, like...me leaning close to you, like this." To demonstrate, he leaned closer to her, bringing his notebook with him. "Take this."

    She accepted the notebook and gave him a look.

    He covered her hand with his and stared into her eyes. Then, his eyes lowered to her lips. Exceptionally full lips that formed a round "O" of surprise. Smiling, he lifted his eyes back to meet hers. "We don't have to be overt with this. Subtlety will win every time. Our flirtation should be gradual, not slapping everyone in the face right off the bat."

    "Okay, you win," she said, a bit breathlessly.

    While maintaining eye contact with her, he asked Noah, "Could you do us the honors?"

    "Already on it," Noah said, with his cell phone camera ready.