N.E Heartbreak

Chapter 9

Chapter 9
Jacqueline

1988

"What's up, Bob?" Ralph daps Bobby as Cassie, Brooke, and I enter the room.

"Hey Rizzo. What's up y'all?" Bobby smiles at everyone. His eyes land on Johnny. "My replacement? Got them steps up, J.G?"

"Something like that." Johnny nods. He quickly glances over at Steph who is staring out of the window.

"Man, I liked the moves y'all were doing. It looked dope as hell." Bobby says after a moment of silence.

"Yeah. Unc put together a good show for the tour. The new music has great choreo." Ricky nods.

"Speaking of tour, I'm joining y'all. I thought I'd give the good news in person." Bobby smiles and everyone just stares at him.

"So we have to deal with your damn ego?" Steph asks as she turns from the window.

"What's your damn problem, girl?" Bobby asks, obviously upset by Steph's reaction to his news.

"You and your fucking ego." Steph answers with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Steph, chill. Bobby is just being Bobby." Ronnie tries to defuse the tension.

"Nah. You got my replacement dicking you down. He may have my spot but he can never be Bobby. Only Bobby can ever be Bobby, Stephie." Bobby says.

"Whoa, man. It's not even like that." Johnny tries to defend himself.

"Bobby, chill, man," Ralph steps up to his friend. "Bob, why don't we go outside? Talk for a minute?"

"Nah. No. No. I'm good," Bobby glares at Steph. "Like I said, I just came to give the good news in person. I'm out."

Bobby walks out of the room. I look at Steph but she's back to looking out of the window. I run out after Bobby.

"Bobby! Wait!" I shout. I catch up to him as he's walking out of the door.

"What?!" He snaps as he turns around. His face softens slightly when he sees that it's me. "What do you want, Jacque?"

"Don't be mad at Steph. She's just confused right now." I say.

"About what?" Bobby asks.

"Everything. We're still questioning a lot of stuff in life, you know? Nothing feels right but everything does. She's stressing herself out like usual. You just popping up with those girls got her upset. That's all. I'm sure if you call her and set up a friend date, she'll be fine. She does need her best friend." I say. Bobby just stares at me.

"I guess. It was good to see you, Jacque." Bobby hugs me before leaving the building. I sigh in relief before jogging back into the studio.

When I open the door, however, it's not the dance studio anymore but a backstage door.

"Come on, Jacque. It's almost time to perform," Brooke says when he sees me. He takes in my confused look and just nods. He leads me to where the girls are standing looking just as confused. "Just skipped a few days, ladies. You're about to do a performance from your new album for Soul Train. A single called 24K Magic. You've been staying up for days promoting this album. We have one more interview tonight for BET."

We just nod as Don Cornelius introduces us. We step on stage and start singing and dancing to the song. I sing lead. When we finish, Don asks us about the new album and upcoming tour with New Edition that we are co-headlining. We quickly leave the building for the limo waiting for us outside.