That next evening, Tony hosted a small gathering at his penthouse. The guests included a mix of artists, producers, and influencers. The energy was electric as his cover of Darling Nikki played over the speakers, drawing nods of approval from everyone in the room.
"Man, this track is something else!" One of the producers said, "You're carving a lane for yourself, people are gonna eat this up."
Tony raised his glass in acknowledgment. "That's the plan." As he said that, his long time friend, Elijah Floyd, greeted him.
"Nigga, this shit's off the hook!" He exclaimed in an excited manner while towering over him. "Can't wait for that album."
"It's on the way brotha, on the way. Here, let's talk in the guest room where the pool table's in." Tony says.
Elijah excuses himself from his girl and they head inside the guest room.
"Rack em up so I can whip ya little ass like I used to." Elijah taunted
"You never beaten me in pool ever but say less. Anyways, how you been?" Tony asked while blowing smoke from the blunt he had.
"Chillin, just out here living life man. That's all I can do." Elijah answered "This photography shit been a doozy."
"Yeah, I still have some photos that you took of me during my last tour, those were great shots. You've been getting booked from other artists right?"
"Yeah, I shot a cover for an album a while ago actually."
Tony racks the balls and Elijah hits the cue ball with the pool stick. Then, it was Tony's turn.
"How's you and that one girl I hooked you up with?" Elijah asked
"Angel? We're good. It's nothin serious though, we just friends." He answered as he hits a striped ball into the corner pocket.
"Friends? You smashed though, right?"
"Oh on various occasions, but she didn't want anything serious so we're just friends.
Then, Louie came into the guest room.
"You assholes playing without me?" Louie joked while hugging Elijah "You know he's ass at pool, why are you playing him?" He asks Elijah.
"Okay, first? I'm not. Second, fuck you." Tony laughs at his friends "But, I been thinkin ... Why don't you be my creative director?" He asks Elijah. "I want you to oversee everything."
Elijah smiles at his friends' offer.
"Plus, you're smart as shit too." Louie adds "I like the idea."
"You really mean that bro?" Elijah responded. "It'll be an honor."
Back inside the party, Camille walked in wearing a black dress and her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, showing her natural beauty. She looked around for Tony, who then spotted her coming out of the guest room.
"Camille!" Tony called out, grabbing the model's attention.
"Tony! Hi! Told you I'd make it." She says with a smile and hugs him. "I saw the song dropped 2 hours ago, I listened to it on the way here on Spotify."
"You like it?" Tony smirked
"I loved it, I can't wait for the album."
Across the room, Louie watched Tony work the crowd, his confidence palpable. He couldn't help but smile. He was stepping into his own, and the transformation was fascinating to witness.
"You know," Louie says to Elijah "I think this is the start of something big for him. Bigger than I've imagined."
Elijah nodded, "Yeah, but it's also risky. To start with something like a Prince cover? That takes balls."
Louie shrugged "It's something he wanted to do. All we can do is support him."
Elijah laughed, clinking his glass with Louie's "You never lied."
Tony and Camille sit outside the balcony, overlooking the city of Los Angeles to escape the noise for a moment.
"I started modeling when I was a kid." She begins "my mom was a model and an actress and I wanted to follow in her footsteps." She explained further.
"Understandable, I became a singer because I grew up around music. My dad was one of the sound engineers on Bad."
Camille's eyes widened "Bad? As in-"
"The tour, not Michael's album." Tony clarifies "he would talk about Michael all the time. My mother, she's .. a makeup artist."
"So you have music royalty in your blood then." She smiles
"Guess you can say that. I never met Michael unfortunately, but he's one of my inspirations."
"And he's a Moonwalker." Camille says.
"You didn't recognize that big ass Thriller poster in the living room?" Tony pointed.
"Could barely see it with the sea of people inside."Camille responded with a laugh.
Then, the door slides open and it's Angel, Tony's friend Elijah mentioned earlier.
"Tony!" Angel says as she hugs him tight "I missed you."
"Hi Angel." Tony smiled awkwardly at Camille who smiles back at him. "This is my friend Camille." He introduced her.
"Hey." Camille extends her hand out to Angel.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Hi, I'm Angel." Angel smiles and shakes Camille's hand. "Would it be okay if I talk to Tony privately? It's personal."
"Fine with me." Camille shrugged as she looked at the superstar.
Angel grabs Tony and takes him back into the party, leaving Camille out on the balcony outside. The party dies down and people begin to leave, as Tony still remained upstairs in his bedroom. Then, Elijah went upstairs to check on his friend.
"Aye bro-" he knocks on the door 3 times and hears moans coming from inside the room. "Tone!" Elijah shouted.
"... Nigga, I know you can hear me!"
"We're busy! Go away!" Angel says from inside the room.
"My bad bro, you out?" Tony asked
"Hehe, yeah man. Everybody's out, I'm about to go home."
"Ight, be safe bro. Love you!"
"Yeah, I love you too, wear a fuckin' condom you madman!" Elijah laughed and leaves the penthouse.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Roze
General FictionFollow the journey of an R&B artist who embraces his individuality and dives into his most personal and provocative creative project yet.
