"Baby!" Chris yelled as he walked into my office. "What you doing?"
"Work."
He grabbed some candy off of my desk and opened it. "You wanna know something?"
I looked up and sat my pen down. "What?"
"I love you and I need you Lauren, I love you, I do Need you" he sung
I smiled and shook my head.
"No matter what I do All I think about is you Even when I'm with my boo Girl, you know I'm crazy over you" He continued.
"Look at you, blushing and shit. Let me find out." He laughed
"Shut up. You still sound good."
"Come on, sing my song to me." He smiled
"What song? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop playing. You know you used to sing that Beyonce song to me and play in my hair until I went to sleep. Now let me hear it."
I sat there and looked at him
"I'm not leaving until I hear it." He sat back
I sighed "Fine." I cleared my throat. "I am in love with you You set me free I can't do this thing called life without you here with me 'Cause I'm dangerously in love with you I'll never leave Just, just keep lovin' me the way I love you lovin' me"
He never took his eyes off of me. He sat there and smiled. "I love you too."
I playfully rolled my eyes. "Bye Chris."
"Come take a ride with me."
"I have work to do."
"You can take a break. Come on."
"Where are you going?"
"Just come on."
I slowly stood from my chair and walked out of the building with him. He opened the car door for me and I got inside.
"I have to be back by 3 so make it quick." I warned
He nodded and pulled out of the parking lot.
I watched him as he drive and sung along to the music on the radio. I guess he could feel me staring because he glanced over at me.
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He turned down a road and all of the buildings looked abandoned. The windows were boarded up and it was barely anyone around. He pulled in front of one and turned the car off.
"Come on." He tapped my leg
"Uh..." I looked at the building then back at him. "Yea, I'm not getting out."
"Stop being scary. Nothing is gonna get you. I have to show you something."
I got out and followed behind him. He used a key to unlock the door. He flicked the lights on and the walls were covered with art. I looked around at everything and it was impressive.
"You did this?" I looked over at him
"Yea." He smiled and nodded
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Because this is something that's special to me and I wanted to share it with you. This is what helped me after I came from rehab. While I was in there, I realized that I did a lot of fucked up shit when we were together and I know I can't take it back but I do apologize for it. I was off my meds and wasn't myself. I found peace in art." He looked around. "I had to want to change myself before I allowed anyone to help me. I realized that I was not only hurting myself, but the people I loved too by not taking my medicine. Now, I take them like I'm supposed to because I know that some people just need a little extra help keeping their mind balanced." He smiled. "So whenever I'm mad or frustrated, I come here and paint."
"I'm proud of you."
"Thank you. I just wish I could've gotten myself together while we were still dating."
"Awww." I held my arms out for a hug
"I love you Lauren. I really do and I'm sorry for everything." He held on to me.
~~~~~
I packed up my final items and zipped up my bag. Today was the day I left to go on tour with Nicki. I was excited but at the same time sad because I'm going to miss my kids. I carried my bags to the front door and sat them there. I still don't know if I made the right decision. I mean it's only two months and I will get a lot more exposure but maybe Jay was right. I am pregnant.
"What you thinking about in here?" Riley sat down beside me
"You think I should go?"
"Yes. This is an amazing opportunity. I told you that. You won't be gone for long. The kids will be fine. They have me and Amber."
I sighed. Jay made it clear that he would barely be able to keep the kids because "work is so busy". Bullshit. Riley and Amber stepped up and they are going to be keeping them while I'm gone. It's not ideal but I'm grateful for them.
