Despite being the daughter of notorious criminal, Alonso Devereux, 24 year old Zara is trying her best to maintain her image as a good girl and as an upstanding citizen.
Rotimi, is a 25 year old R&B singer who's life begins to become chaotic after...
I run upstairs to grab my phone. I call Rosa because, other than my granddad and now Rotimi, she's the only other person who knows about granddad wanting to give the business to us.
"Hello." She says.
"Rosa... I told Ro about..." My voice cracks.
"Oh my god. What did he say?"
I'm so glad that she knows what I'm talking about without me having to say it.
"Of course he doesn't like the idea. But I didn't think it would turn into an argument."
"Are you okay? Where is he now?" Rosa asks.
"No but I'll be okay. And I don't know where he is. I don't even know who I should be more upset with. Should I be mad at him for not trying to understand and walking out? Or should I be mad at myself for even considering doing this whole drug shit."
Tears start falling down my face.
"Zara, honestly you're not wrong for considering it but he's also not wrong for being mad. Think about it, when it was dad, we were just as mad whenever we would find out that he was still dealing drugs. With Rotimi is the same difference...."
Rosa has a point.
"So does this mean that you don't want to do it?" I ask.
"I don't know what I want. I still need time to think about it."
"Have you told Gavin?" I ask.
"Not yet. But I think I should go ahead and tell now before Rotimi brings it up around him. I want him to hear it from me first."
I look at the time on my phone.
"Rosa, I'm going to go look for Ro. I'll call you back later. But let me know how it goes with Gavin." I say.
"Okay, I will." Rosa agrees.
I hang up the phone and go to put some clothes on. I had packed a cute sundress to wear today but I'm not even going to try to look cute right so I just throw on black leggings, a tank and some sneakers.
I grab my keys and purse and rush out of the house. After driving for 15 minutes, I pull up to the studio. I hop out of the car and hurry inside.
I see Jason standing in the hall.
"Hey, what's up, Zee." He hugs me.
"Hey Jason. Is Rotimi here?" I ask.
"Yeah. He's in there." Jason points to a room.
"Thanks."
I walk into the room and see:
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I can hear Gavin's voice coming from the phone. I'm wondering if Rosa had the chance to tell Gavin yet before he got on the phone with Rotimi. Could that be the reason they're on the phone right now? I'm starting to doubt it because they seem to only be talking about music.
Rotimi looks at me and then back to his phone.
"Gav, I'll hit you back up in a few."
"Okay cool." Gavin says.
Rotimi hangs up and places his phone down in front of him.
"Ro, can we talk?" I ask.
He nods his head. I pull up a chair and sit somewhat in front of him.
"How did you know where I was?" He asks.
"Because I know you! ....And I looked at your calendar on your desk..."
He laughs then holds it in.
"Don't make me laugh. I'm trying to be mad at you."
"Don't be mad. I'm sorry...."
"Is that the reason you surprised me with dinner last night?" He asks, interrupting me.
"What?" I'm confused.
"Did you make dinner for me just to get me in a good mood to tell me about your grandad wanting to give your dad's business to you?"
"No! No, of course not. I did that because I wanted to. I wanted to do something nice for you. I honestly wasn't going to tell you about what my granddad said until later but I couldn't keep it from you. But I'm sorry. I didn't really take in your feelings." I say.
"You know what, I'm sorry too. I could have handled it better..."
"Yeah, you've never yelled at me like that before."
"And I don't want to ever talk to you like that. It's just that when you told me that you were considering your grandad's offer, it just made me think about..."
He pauses and his eyes start to water.
"Think about what?" I ask, looking concerned.
"You know how I used to work for your dad before Jason discovered me and my music. Well, one day, I was hanging out with my cousin, and I need to make a drop. My cousin offered to drive me... I knew he only wanted to because he wanted to learn from me. He wanted to work for your dad...."
Rotimi takes a breath.
"....I didn't want him to work for your dad because I didn't want that life do him... but anyway, he drove me. I made the drop and things just went left. The I was giving the drugs to tried to play me with counterfeit money... when I called him out he just whipped out his piece and started shooting."
"What?!..." I cling to his every word.
"I started running. Luckily for me he had bad aim. I got to my cousins car and I heard one of the bullets hit the side mirror. I hopped in the car and told my cousin to drive.... but he didn't move the car. I looked over... and one the bullets must've ricocheted into the car because my cousin had a bullet hole in his chest and he was bleeding out... and he, uhm.... he didn't make it." Rotimi broke down.
"Oh my god, Ro, I'm so sorry." I stand up and sit next to him.
He starts crying and I wipe his tears.
"It was my fault. It was my fault... I shouldn't have let him drive me... I just..."
I interrupt him by giving him a hug.
"I'm so sorry..." I say.
"That's why I was so mad. All I could think about was my cousin.. he wasn't even dealing drugs but he still died because of it. Because of me. I just can't stomach the thought of losing you... especially in that way. My heart won't be able to take it."
