Still Here

Chapter Three

Keanna rolled over in her sleep and pulled the covers back up to her shoulders. It was five in the morning and she wasn't due to wake up until six.

Aubrey had been up since four and he was dressed and ready to go. He sipped his coffee and sat in the chair nearby her bed, waiting for her to wake up. He still wanted to talk about Kendrick.

His phone went off and he scrambled to silence it so he wouldn't wake Keanna. But it was too late.

"Why are you watching me sleep?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"You weren't supposed to know," Aubrey replied.

"That doesn't make it right."

"You're just so beautiful..."

Keanna shook her head and turned over, her back facing Aubrey. "Shouldn't you be at work?" Her voice was muffled due to her face being in a pillow.

"Not for another half hour," Aubrey said, checking his watch to verify the time.

"You wanna talk about Kendrick, don't you?" Keanna asked.

"Where'd you even meet him? And why is he at Shiloh's orientation?"

"We work together, first of all," Keanna said, finally sitting up. "He wasn't doing anything that day so I invited him."

"He has to mean something to you if you took him to orientation. That's really important to Shiloh."

"If it's that important, why weren't you there?" Keanna countered.

Aubrey got quiet and sipped his coffee. She had a point.

"Are you together?"

"No, but he's backup."

"Oh my god," Aubrey grumbled.

"Be quiet. He's a nice guy."

"He's backup? Meaning if I don't marry you, you're leaving me for Kendrick?"

Keanna stared at Aubrey for a good five seconds without saying anything. That was a yes.

"Keanna, that's ridiculous. What about Shiloh?" Aubrey asked. He didn't know if he'd ever see his baby girl again if Kendrick came into the picture.

"What about Shiloh?" Keanna laughed.

"Why are you laughing? This is a legitimate problem!" Aubrey cried.

"It's a legitimate problem for you. I take care of my child," Keanna retorted, kicking the covers off.

"Shut up."

"Huh? What was that? Do I hear remorse?" she laughed.

"You know I'm really upset," Aubrey said, slamming his coffee cup down on the dresser. "All of a sudden I'm second place. It used to be Keanna and Aubrey now it's Keanna and Kendrick. Jesus, your names even sound good together."

Aubrey rubbed his face and took a deep breath. He couldn't let this happen but he wasn't sure if he wanted to marry Keanna.

"Just go to work." Keanna got out of bed and walked over to him. "I love you."

"More than Kendrick?"

Keanna smiled and kissed Aubrey, hoping to reassure him. "More than Kendrick."

He rubbed her cheek and left her alone, hoping to get to work on at a decent time.
  ♤♤♤
"Hey, Aubrey, I mean, Mr. Graham," Donovan greeted, handing Aubrey a coffee as he walked in. He didn't know what to call him.

"Morning, Donovan. First day. Are you ready?" Aubrey took his second cup of coffee.

"I think so."

"You'll be fine. Let's go upstairs."

Aubrey led Donovan to the elevator and they went up to the third floor where Aubrey made a sudden sharp turn, throwing Donovan off track. He meant to do that.

"You good?" Aubrey asked, stifling a laugh.

"Yeah. You just turned really fast."

"I've got places to be," Aubrey simply replied, opening the door to studio A.

"Ayyyyyyeeeeeee!"

The studio erupted in cheers and applause when Aubrey entered, making it sound like a crowd was in the room when there was only four people. Aubrey greeted all of them and then told Donovan to take a seat.

He looked around the room and saw one person he recognized. Donovan's a big fan of PARTYNEXTDOOR who was sitting across from him.

"This is my new assistant, Donovan. Donovan, this is Chubbs, Noel, Ryan, and PARTYNEXTDOOR, but we call him Jahron or Party," Aubrey explained.

"Oh yeah, I know Jahron," Donovan said. "I'm a huge fan."

"Thank you. Nice to meet you, Donovan. You seem better than the other assistant," Jahron replied, eyeing Aubrey.

"Oh he is. So what's going on over here?" Aubrey stood up and surveyed the four men.

"Party's working on a new song," Ryan beamed. He does no work. His only job is to make sure Jahron is the center of attention. He's also Aubrey's cousin.

"I have something. Wanna hear?" Noel asked, fiddling with the sound board. Noel was the audio engineer when Aubrey was rapping and was the first on board to work for Aubrey's record label, OVO Sound.

"I thought it wasn't ready," Chubbs interjected, crossing his arms. The muscle of the group and was Aubrey's bodyguard back in the day.

"Nah, I'm ready. Listen to this."

Mellow tempo music flowed from the speakers, instantly calming the once rowdy atmosphere in the room. Aubrey nodded his head in approval.

"What's the name of this song?" he asked Jahron.

"East Liberty."

Aubrey nodded again, very impressed with what was going on in this room. Jahron usually needs motivation to get things done but he must be really invested in this particular piece of work.

"Any suggestions?" Noel inquired, fading out the track.

"No, it's great. Keep working. But I will say-"

Aubrey's phone began to ring and he absentmindedly passed it to Donovan who hesitantly accepted the device. Ryan mouthed, "Answer it."

"Mom" was calling.

A/N: *chants* keep scrolling! Keep scrolling! I'm not even gonna ask, Isabelita...sorry if there's typos. Just know I apologize for those in general lol