DELICATE. [sequel to golden.]

13. almost (sweet music)

i'm almost me again, she's almost you

"I don't care what Spielberg used to do, I'm China Mu'fuckin McClain. That means something."

Cameron popped one eye open at the sound of China arguing in the kitchen. She'd been ridiculously busy for the past 2 days so he tried hard to stay out of her way. He had to admit, though, she looked really cute when she was rustling around. He could only gather but so much information but it sounded as if a huge event and movie filming were happening at the same time. All hands were on deck. Even Taj found himself on the phone, working out deals and threatening to come on set if they didn't get it together.

Cameron sat up from the couch slowly and turned off the tv. He stood up and tiptoed his way out of the living room, through the dining room, and to the entrance of the kitchen. He stood there for a while, just watching her pace the kitchen with her phone in one hand and her laptop balancing skillfully in the other.

"I don't care about the budget... I get that... Okay but this was a company built on the principles of the art being first. So we're not cutting corners. You have expense reports and company credit cards for a reason. Now I am very busy please don't call me unless it's dire next time. Thanks."

China hung up the phone and rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. She put her laptop on the counter then sat down in a barstool, resuming whatever she was working on. Cameron walked all the way into the kitchen, letting his presence be known. His footsteps were light but loud enough for China to hear.

"Oh, hey babe. Did I wake you up with my bitching? I'm sorry." she said without looking up from the monitor.

He bit his lip and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. "It's okay," he walked over and sat in the barstool next to her. He watched her side profile and the concentration in her face. His eyes traveled down her body next. She had on a cropped hoodie type of thing and some leggings that did wonders for her shape. Then there was her hair. It was frizzy and all over her head and he thought she looked cute. Nana Jo was supposed to hot comb it a month ago but China couldn't find any downtime once they got back from the beach. It was okay though, she somehow managed to pull off the wild look very well in his opinion.

"What are you working on?" he asked after watching her fingers for about two minutes.

"I'm working on a video montage of you doing... stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" he chuckled.

"You're being honored at the NAACP awards for your philanthropic efforts. Since you can't be there, I'm making a video presentation instead."

"Wait! What? I wanna go!"

China finally looked away from her computer. "Are you sure? There's going to be a lot of people. So many cameras. And you'd have to make a speech."

"Okay," he shrugged a little. "So I'll only do the carpet for like 5 minutes or not at all. I'll stay in the green room until I'm called for. And I'll read my speech off a paper."

China thought about it for a second. She didn't think it was a good idea. But the joy in his face made it hard to give him a solid no. "I'll talk to Kat about it and see if Zendaya is up for writing your speech."

"Kat's still around?"

"Yeah, she does PR for you and your company now."

"Well, Thank-"

"And I'm calling Dr. Josephine to see if she thinks you're ready for something like this. If she says no-"

"I won't go,"