Limelight

Chapter Twelve

~~A Ruiner~~

Aaliyah couldn't fight her grin, and she felt her phone vibrate against her chest and subtly slipped it out before turning her phone on when a message notification from Jacks popped up on her screen: You sound amazing ;).

She felt her heart soften and she blushed, realizing that Jacks was already streaming the song. She was about to unlock her phone when Malcolm continued talking. "Now, Madison wanted to give a few words before we continued with the night." He said before giving Madison the floor, offering her his glass of champagne to make a toast. Madison held up a hand, shaking her head, mindfully before stepping away, as though averse to the drink. Aaliyah looked with a raised brow.

As waiters went around the room offering people champagne glasses to including Aaliyah and Xavier, she cast Xavier a glance, who dropped a wink in her direction. She cocked a brow, raising her glass silently at him. And something about the crooked smile on his lips told her that he knew exactly how this felt for her. How surreal things suddenly felt, nothing much had changed in that moment, except now her voice was out there for the world to hear. She didn't know how to process it. And it was as though Xavier had read her mind.

Madison pulled a wide beautiful smile that had everyone clapping for her again. Aaliyah clapped as well, but her mind was back on Blair. She found Jenny, standing between her parents and Madison's mother who stood next to Willa with a proud smile, clapping louder than everyone.

Aaliyah locked eyes with Jenny who, smiled dropping a wink at her, and Aaliyah smiled graciously before she lifted her eyes above them and saw Blair coming from out of the hallway leading to the stairs slowly, she leaned against the wall, a distance away from the crowd. Aaliyah let herself relax when she saw her.

"I'm not going to go through the normal round of thank yous because the people I'm gracious to know who they are," She started causing a flutter of laughter to go through the room, "I do want to say that the last few months here at Soul Fusion have been one of the greater changes in my life, and I know that success only means something when you're surrounded by the people who support you and love you, the people you call family. I can say without a doubt that I am very successful," She said with another smile, to which everyone seemed to receive well as another round of "awws" went around the room before clapping. "I also want to shout out to Aaliyah, who gave the missing piece no one knew we needed to the song and ultimately the album." She said before looking over to Aaliyah and blew a kiss, to which Aaliyah responded with a tight-lipped smile, everyone looked at her, and she made a small awkward wave in acknowledgment, "Aaliyah, you can come up and say something if you'd like."

Aaliyah shook her head quickly. "Tonight's your night, Madison," She answered quickly, trying to keep herself flushing from all the attention she was getting. Aaliyah instantly felt as though the whole room was talking about her, and she couldn't help but want to sink into a hole and disappear, but regardless of what she told Madison, this was her night too, but she would celebrate it the way she wanted to.

"Well, you're not wrong there," Madison said with a soft laugh and then everyone laughed with her, turning away from Aaliyah as though she never existed. She didn't mind though, it was getting late, she expected Jacks to be getting here soon. "So for now, let's hear the song!" And then a few moments later the intro to the song started playing, Madison's voice sounding from the speakers behind her.

The crowd dispersed after that, slowly returning to their own circles, some people staying where they were to listen to the song. Aaliyah got another text message and when she checked it, she realized it was another from Jacks: I'll be downstairs in ten.