A Phonecall From A Friend.

3 AM. The phone rings, waking Drake up.

“Hello?” He answers the phone, his voice coated with sleep and slight irritation.

“Drizzy.” A stern, yet familiar voice spoke.

“Nicki!?” They hadn’t talked in months. The surprise of the phone called knocked the sleep right out of him. He was wide awake.

“Yeah. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What?” The anger and accusation in her voice surprised him even more.

“You heard me. What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“Nicki, what are you talking about?”

“I’m tawking about you and your little fight at the club. What the fuck got into you!?”

This whole conversation took him by surprise. He hadn’t even thought of Nicki finding out, let alone her even caring. “Nothing…” He spoke in an embarrassed tone.

“No, not NOTHING. Something OBVIOUSLY got into you for you to do that shit. Was it the alcohol? The weed? I TOLD you to slow down on that shit. Come on, man…”

He cut her off before she could venture any further into her rant. “Nicki, I DIDN’T do anything.”

“OH!? OHHHHHH!?”

“YES!”

“Then what the hell is all this shit about!?”

“I WENT…” He took a deep breath before finishing. “…I went to a club in NY. He just happened to be there. Some shit went down. That’s it, Nicki. Not a big deal.”

“No, Drake. It is a big deal. You don’t understand.”

“What is there not to understand, Nicki!? I did NOTHING wrong. Nothing happened.”

She chuckled without humor at his innocence before getting serious. Taking a deep breath, she told him what he needed to know.

“Baby…You. Are. A. Superstar. And I need you to realize that. I know you did nothing wrong, of course. Rumors are rumors and that’s what it is. But it’s time to remember who you are. Not that you did anything wrong, but sometimes you just might need to go to bed, have a early nap. You know, go to the hotel. It’s nothing wrong with that. I do it all the gahtdamn time.”

He listened to each of her words, taking them all in. Hearing the words from someone who’s in the same position as him made him feel like they were reasonable words and hearing them from Nicki warmed his heart. It warmed him to know that whatever they went through, she would still be there for him. He understood what she was saying and the knowledgeable words cleansed him of all the negativity that had been surrounding him and the situation lately.

He took a deep breath before speaking. “Thank you, Nicki. Thank you. I needed that.”

“You’re welcome, baby. Anytime.”

There was an awkward silence on the phone for a minute and Drake wasn’t ready to hang up yet.

“Why are you calling me so early?” He blurted out.

“Oh, my bad.” She hadn’t realized what time it was. “It’s 9 am here in Amsterdam.”

“Oh, that’s right, you are on tour.” He felt so far away from her now. Literally and figuratively.

“Yep!” She exclaimed

He chuckled at her happiness. “Well, I know you’re probably busy, so I’ll let you go. Thank you, Nicki. Thank you.”

“Anytime, babe. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“YOUNG MONEY.” She shouted, giggled, then hung up the phone

He laughed. Turning over to go to back to bed, something was different. He had a genuine smile on his face. Something he hadn’t felt in a while.

Cameras pt.8

 “Morning, baby.” Nicki said. She’d been awake for quite some time, replaying things over in her head, thinking about everything that’d happened and how amazing it was. She was on cloud 9.  With Drake still asleep, she had time to just admire him. She ran her eyes over and over his body countless times, just appreciating the man that he was. He gave her butterflies in his sleep. That was a feeling she never wanted to lose.

He smiled a genuinely happy smile. “Hey, babe.”

“How do you feel?”

“Perfect. How do you feel?”

“No words.”

He smiled at her speaking his thought from their night before. “I’m glad.”

She kissed his nose and hopped out of the bed. The sunlight shining through the window hit her body in all the right spots as she stretched.

“Damn, Nic.”

She laughed and picked his sweatpants and sweatshirt off the floor, putting them on. As soon as she set back down on the bed her phone rang.

“SAFAREE.” They both exclaimed at the same time.

“FUCK!” She said.  “What are we gonna do!?”

He had no clue.

“UGH, FUCK!” She grabbed the phone and answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“He…Oh, hey Nic.”

“Hi.”

“Did he tell you I was coming?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, well I’m downstairs.”

“Ughhhhhhhh.”

“What!?”

“I really don’t need you to come and get me.”

“He told me to though, that’s why I’m here.”

“Well, you can…WAIT! Don’t go anywhere. I’m coming.”

Drake’s heart sunk. He was about to get all types of upset, but she turned to him and shook her head.

“Aight, I’ll be down in a few.” She hung up the phone and turned to Drake. “Calm down, boo. I’m just going to get some clothes. Oh, wow. Wait. Do you want me to stay longer?”

“Of course I do. I’m off until next week, so you can stay as long as you’d like.”

The open option to his invitation made Nicki think. They’d have to set out some definite rules for their relationship at some time.

“Okay. Well, I’ll be back in about an hour or two.”

“Aight, let me walk you to the door.” He got up, put on some sweatpants, and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. They walked to the door in the same position, the biggest smile on Nicki’s face. She was happy. Before leaving, she reached up on her tippy toes and kissed him. He put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her back, a gentle, passionate kiss. She planted another small kiss on his lips before turning away and heading out the door.

“Oh. Wait.”

“What?”

She walked back to him and looked up at him. “I wanted to tell you this last night, but I didn’t want you to think I was just saying it because I was in the moment and everything. So… I love you.” She closed the door and ran out before he could say anything. Even if she hadn’t run, he wouldn’t be able to say anything. The love of his life just told him that she loved him. He was frozen in place for a good 3 minutes. Replaying the scene in his head, he walked back into his room.

“What a mess. Wow. We really did it last night. Damn.” He rubbed his head and started to make his bed. “I’m glad she ain’t notice the mess. Although she did do half of it.” He laughed at himself. “She was so…So good. Never felt that good with a woman before. I mean, I see why cause Nicki’s not just some woman, but god damn.” He shook his head in awe and fell back on his bed. With the bed neatly made, and his body on top of it he realized he needed a shower. Grabbing a towel out of his closet he headed for the bathroom. Before stepping into the shower, he caught himself.

“I’m about to wash last night off. Nicki’s touch off. Everything off.” He hesitated between knowing that he had to be clean and feeling attached to the feeling of last night on his skin. Compromising with himself, he stepped in front of his mirror and looked himself over once as “Nicki’s man” and stepped in the shower, letting the steaming water wash off the night before.

In the car with SB back to her apartment, Nicki sat with her head back on the seat, eyes closed, reminiscing.

“Why you so happy?”

“What?”

“Why are you so happy? You’re like glowing or some shit.”

“Really?” She’d heard the saying affiliated with her situation, but she never knew it was real and would ever apply to her. She laughed to herself, making SB even more curious.

“You got the dick?”

“SAFAREE!” She shouted, smacking his arm.

“You obviously did. I’m not blind. Y’all cute, I guess.”

“Shut up.” She folded her arms and shifted away from him.

“What, so you wasn’t gon’ tell me? Let me find out y’all gettin’ married for real and don’t tell a nigga.”

“Shut up, Safaree. No one is getting married, shut up.”

“Yeah, aight.” They arrived at her house then. Nicki ran in while SB waited in the car. Walking into her room, she picked up a duffel bag and started filling it with her clothes. 3 pairs of sweatpants, 3 pairs of yoga pants, 5 pairs of jeans, a couple dresses, lots of sweatshirts and shirts, a couple pair of leggings, some hoodies, and 9 pairs of shoes to go with all of her outfits. She started to pack the bag and remembered she forgot underwear and bras.

“Oh. Dead at me forgetting the most important thing. Hmmmm, which ones? OH. He’d like these.” She picked up all of her thongs and stuffed them in the bag just incase along with her normal bras and sexy bras to match the thongs. Adding a couple pair of boy shorts, she went to the bathroom to grab her hair and facial care. Makeup, makeup remover wipes, hair products, a toothbrush, and deodorant all went into the bag.

“Well. All set…OOP. Not.” Almost forgot her wigs. Knowing that they were his favorite, she grabbed the short black bob and the long black wig that was his absolute favorite. “Alright. Back to my baby’s house!” She headed out the door, bag packed for months, and headed back to Drake’s.

Drake was still in the shower when he heard a knock at the door.

“Nic.” He hopped out the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and headed for the door.

“Hey ba…Woah.”

“Hey. Oh. Ha. Yeah.”

“Did you do this on purpose?”

“No, I was in the shower just now.”

“Aw.” She said, pouting.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“You should’ve waited.”

“Why?”

“We could’ve taken one together.” She told him, frowning.

He looked at her. She laughed at him.

“Haha, too late now, babe!” She walked pass a frozen Drake and sat her bag on the couch.

“How long you staying?”

“I don’t know, you said until next week.”

“Aight, we got enough time.”

She side eyed him.

“That’s a big bag you’ve got.”

“Yep. I couldn’t be over here wearing the same thing every day.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Well, I actually wouldn’t mind if you wore my sweater everyday, but I get you.”

She laughed. “And I was thinking maybe I could leave some stuff here…you know, for the future.”

“The future?” He questioned, raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah, the future.”

“Mind telling me about this future?”

“Well…” She started, walking over to the couch and sitting down, bringing her knees up to her chin. “It involves you…and I…”

“And?”

“Shh, I’m getting there. It involves you and I…and a relationship.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.”

“And what is this relationship like?”

“It’s like…We date. We’re not just fuck buddies. You don’t hold all the emotions in the relationship anymore. I actually have feelings as well and the relationship is balanced. Yes, we may fight sometimes and disagree, but we love each other, so it’ll work out.”

“Are you asking me out, Onika?”

She side eyed him again for putting her on the spot like that. “This must be how he felt all those years.” She laughed at him to herself for payback and got on with the convo.

“Yes, Aubrey. I am. Will you be my boyfriend?”

He walked over to her, picked her up and spun her around. “Of course I will, Nicki.” He kissed her with extreme force, now as her boyfriend. “Now that I’m your boyfriend and now that I have the time to, I have something to tell you?”

“What?”

“I love you, too.” He told her, smiling from cheek to cheek. She kissed him this time, passionately as his girlfriend. He sat down on the couch and she sat next to him, throwing her legs over his lap.

“You’re not cute for running out after you told me that this morning.”

“Boy, bye. I’m ALWAYS cute. Tuh.” She flipped her hair at him.

“Well, besides that.”

“Haha, I wanted to let it sink in for a minute. And plus, your reaction was life. It was worth it.” She smiled, showing her deep, deep dimples.

He cupped her face with one hand and rubbed her dimpled cheek with his thumb.

“I can’t believe you’re mine, Nicki.”

“Believe it, baby. I’m yours.” She looked at him, waiting for it to sink in.

“Nah. I can’t believe it’s real right now. Give me a day or two and if you’re still here, I’ll believe it.”

“Haha, babe you’re not dreaming and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Two days and I’ll believe it.”

“Haha, you’re crazy.”

“For you.”

“Shut up.” She flicked his cheek.

He laughed at her.

“So… I have a question…”

“Anything.”

“You can’t laugh though.”

“Ah, I can’t promise you that.”

“Well then I won’t ask you.”

“Noooo, babe please?”

“Promise me you won’t laugh.”

“But if I promise you and I do laugh, you’re gonna be mad.” He told her, making a face.

“PROMISE me you will not laugh.” She held out her pinky.

He sighed and hooked his pinky around hers, shaking it up and down.

“Okay. So..I was wondering…Will I ever get the…Drizzy Three Stroke?”

“…………….BAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA” Drake burst into laughter. He tried his best not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Her tone and facial expression was so serious.

“UGH. YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LAUGH!” She screamed, throwing the couch pillow at his face.

“I’M SORRY, NIC. BUT…YOUR FACE AND YOUR VOICE. YOU WERE DEADASS SERIOUS!”

“I was! I was very serious! But fine I don’t want it anymore. She picked her bag up and headed back into his room.

“Where are you going?” He asked her, laughter still in his tone.

“To take a shower. OH and since you think everything is funny, guess who won’t be getting the Nicki 5 stroke?”

“What is that?”

“You’ll never find out now. OOP.” She shut the door to his bedroom before he could say anything else and headed off to take a shower. 

Cameras pt.7

As couple hours later, sleep attempt failed, Drake was still awake. He heard a buzzing noise coming from behind the couch. He got up to go see what it was and found Nicki’s purse. Without thinking, he dug in it and found her blackberry.

“Safaree” the screen read. Drake let out a long sigh and answered the phone, stepping on to the balcony as not to wake Nicki up.

“Hello?”

“Uh, who is this?”

“Drake.”

“Oh. I figured. Where is Nicki?”

“Sleep.”

“This early?”

“She’s drunk.”

“WHAT!?”

Drake didn’t say anything.

“FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER, SON!?”

“I didn’t do anything. She did it to herself.”

“Nah, my nigga how could you LET her do that!? Fuck is wrong with you!?”

Drake started to tell SB why he wasn’t there to stop her, but he figured he didn’t need to know all of that.

“I wasn’t there. I stepped out the house for a minute. Nicki is a GROWN woman. She makes her OWN decisions. You and I both know she doesn’t even LIKE wine, so her curiosity got to her.  Don’t blame shit on me. You know damn well I would NEVER let anything bad happen to Nicki. EVER. So don’t put this shit on me.”

“Aight, whatever. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she was a little ditsy earlier. She just went to bed.”

“Oh, aight.”

“I need you to come and get her.”

“What? Why?”

“I just need you to. No questions or anything.”

“Her car is with her though. She can leave herself.”

“That’s why I’m asking you to come. You need to convince her to leave.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to. Just be here in the morning when she wakes up.”

“Uhhhh. Aight. Sure.”

“Aight, bye.” Drake hung up the phone, let out another long sigh, and headed back into the living room. Heading through the balcony door, head down, he looked up and jumped when he saw a small figure standing there.

“Who was that?”

“What?”

“Who was that you were talking to and why were you talking on my phone?”

“It rang and you were sleep.”

“Okay, so who was it?”

“Safaree.”

“Oh shit!” Nicki had totally forgotten about SB. “What’d he say?”

“Nothing, but…He’s coming to get you in the morning.”

She looked at him, dumbfounded. “Excuse me?”

“SB is coming to get you in the morning.” He reiterated with no inflection.

She charged at him, reaching for her phone. “Give me my gahtdamn phone.”

He held it away from her.

“Drake, don’t FUCKING play with me, I said give me my gahtdamn PHONE.”

“Nic, chill. Why are you getting so mad?”

“Because I’m not a fucking child. I don’t need Safaree to come and get me. I can drive myself home if you want me to leave, just give my PHONE.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? YOU JUST ASKED HIM TO COME AND GET ME, BUT YOU DON’T WANT ME TO LEAVE!?”

“I didn’t say I wanted you to leave. I just think it’s best.”

She stopped and looked at him. “Wow. Wow, Drake. Fucking wow.”

“What?”

“You get me to stay over here, build ALL of my feelings up and then tell me to leave just because I got a little drunk. Wow.”

“I didn’t tell you to leave because you got drunk, Nicki. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for tonight to happen? Any idea? Years, Nicki. Years. And to build everything up, get in the mood and think everything I’ve EVER wanted was about to fall in place, then I get back and you’re drunk. Did you really expect me to have sex with you while you were drunk like that? I wouldn’t enjoy it and lord knows how upset and regretful you’d be when you woke up. You’d hate me and I’d hate myself. I couldn’t do it.” He shook his head and walked away from her.

“Well, I’m sorry to have crushed your dreams, but you’re not the only one who wanted this, Drake. Yes, I got a little drunk. Accidents happened and people do shit, it’s not the end of the world. And plus, you’re acting like we can NEVER EVER have sex again. That’s not the case.”

“That’s true, but tonight was just...” He trailed off, shaking his head of the thought of how amazing everything would’ve been. “It’s not the same.”

Nicki got an idea then. She twirled the bottom of his sweatshirt she was still wearing around her finger and lifted it to reveal just enough of her smooth stomach.

“So…this wouldn’t be the same?” She asked him, cocking her head to the side.

He was confused. “What is she doing?”

“You wouldn’t kiss me the same, or touch me the same? I wouldn’t feel you the same? Our bodies wouldn’t connect the same? My voice wouldn’t sound the same calling your name?” She waited for his response or reaction. He stared at her, not able to speak.

“Well, okay then.” She walked over to the couch where he was sitting and reached for her phone. Before she could touch it he wrapped his fingers around the back of her thighs and pulled her on top of him, making her straddle him. He looked up at her, eyes full of nothing but lust. She winked and he immediately hopped off the couch with her legs still wrapped around him and headed for his room. Not wasting one second of their time, he laid her down on the bed and started removing her clothes, lifting his sweatshirt up and off of her head. She fell back on the bed with her eyes closed, waiting for him…Nothing. She opened her eyes to find him staring down at her with a smile on his face as if she were the best thing that had ever happened to him. She giggled and rolled up on her knees so she could reach him and pulled her to him.  “Come here.” With him in her possession, she took off his shirt for the second time that night and threw it on the ground. His strong build and toned chest made Nicki realize how much she wanted him. His body was perfection, a haven, and she wanted him more than anything. She slid her fingers down his chest and stopped at his belt buckle. Feeling a bit apprehensive, she paused for a minute. It was all really about to happen. She smiled to herself, took a deep breath and moved to unhook his belt, letting his pants fall. He stepped out of them and got back on the bed, pulling Nicki in by the waist, kissing her lips with nothing but passion. Not too soft and not too fast. Slow and just passionate enough to make her eyes roll back. He reached behind her and unhooked her bra, slowly taking each strap off her arms before throwing it behind him. He laid them both back down, placing his body on top of hers. Starting with her lips, he kissed all over her body. Her neck, her chest, her stomach, all her soft spots, all her tender spots. Each kiss sent a jolt of warmth through her body. She’d never felt so…whole in a situation like this. Like she belonged with no one but him. She couldn’t wait anymore. She moved her hands to his waist and slid his boxers down. A tiny moan escaped her lips when she saw what was behind them. Never would she have imagined. Her reaction gave him even more confidence, so he decided to go all out. Rather than using his hands to take her thong off, he kissed her skin once with his tongue and all the pressure his lips could apply and removed her thong with his teeth. He kissed her bare skin once more, reached for the condom on his dresser and spread her legs. They fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He filled her and she couldn’t feel anything but him. Nothing in the world compared to how he made her feel. His movements, rhythm and tenderness had her body on a whole other level. She cried his name and he could tell she wanted more. Giving her what she wanted he went deeper and deeper. She cried his name again, but this time it was different. She pulled him back down to her, digging her nails into his back, moaning over and over again.

“Nic.” He pleaded.

“I can’t.” She cried.

He slowed it down for her, trying to prolong things, but it was too late. His slow rhythm just sped things up. She enjoyed it.

He figured he might as well make the best out of what little time they had left, despite how much he didn’t want it to end, so he went in deep again. That was it.

Digging her nails into his back again, she came, crying out his name in a broken voice. Seconds later he followed her lead, kissing her shoulder for support. Both of them were spent.

“Oh. My. God.” She said.

He smiled and rolled over, kissing her lips.

“That was…” She trailed off, shaking her head at a loss for words.

“Shh…” He told her, pressing his finger to her lips. He didn’t want the moment to be ruined by simple words. There were no words to describe how either of them was feeling. He was content with just looking at her. The look he was giving her said enough to Nicki. She could tell just how he felt and she felt the same. She kissed him once and laid her head on his chest, falling asleep.

Cameras pt.6

They rode home in silence. The anticipation had both of them in deep thought. Drake’s anticipation of finally getting to make love to the woman he loved, the woman he loved for years. Years and years of dreaming and it was finally coming true. He was ecstatic. Despite his happiness and anticipation, he was nervous. Thoughts of not being able to satisfy the one person he’d wanted to satisfy the most and the way things would turn out afterwards circulated through his mind.

“No. Positive thoughts. That’s it. You’ve been waiting for this moment for years. Positive, Aubrey. Positivity.”

Nicki’s anticipation was made up of feeling those feelings again. The feelings of love making and the feelings of being with someone in such and intense state. It’d been so long since she’d felt those feelings. She was glad that it was with Drake. Being with him made her see that she did in fact have feelings for him. Everything was falling right into place. She was nervous about some things, but she decided not to focus on them.

“Finally, Onika. It’s been soooooo looooonnnngggggg. And it’s with him. Drake. Aubrey. Those big arms and that build. Lawd. Tonight is going to be perfect.”

She closed her eyes and started to picture everything, but her imagination was interrupted by Drake. His voice was deep yet quiet.

“We’re here.” He got out of the car, walked to Nicki’s side, opened her door, and lifted her out of the car, cradling her to his chest. She looked up at him and he tried to look down at her but couldn’t. His nerves were getting to him. She stroked his face as he unlocked the door and walked them in. He finally forced himself to look down at her and speak.

“You sure?” He didn’t even have to say it. You could feel the tension in the air. It spoke for itself.

She shook her head yes and reached for his lips, kissing them gently and getting more intense with every touch. He shifted her in his arms so that her legs were wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck.  He moved them to the couch and laid her down. She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in close. They both reached for each other’s shirts at the same time, making both of them giggle. Being a gentleman, he let her take his shirt off first. She ran her fingers up and down his abs, making him shiver. The chills gave him confidence and he pulsed forward, planting an intense kiss on her neck. She moaned and let her eyes close, taking it all in.  Adrenaline pulsed through Drake’s veins. Nicki could feel it. As soon as she felt it, her mind immediately jumped.

“CONDOM. WE NEED A CONDOM.”

He jumped, a little startled. “Oh, uh, yeah. Hold on.” He headed to his room and opened the drawer, searching for that gold square.

“FUUUUCCKKK.” He erupted from in his room. Nicki hopped up, worried, and ran to his room.

“What’s wrong, babe!?”

Her term of endearment almost put his anger out, but not quite.

“I’m out of fucking condoms.”

“…So we’re not gonna do this?”

“What!? No, we are.”

“Not without a condom.”

His heart sunk.

“Are you serious!? Go to the gahtdamn CVS and get some!” She yelled at him.

“Oh, shit! That’s right!” He ran to the living room, grabbed his car keys and ran to the door, then ran back and kissed Nicki before he left. She laughed and pushed him away.

“Go, go! Hurry up!”

He ran towards the door in a rush.

“Wait, Drake your shirt!” She picked it up and ran it over to him. He took it, kissed her once more and ran for his car. She smiled to herself and sauntered over to the kitchen to find something to do. From the corner of her eye, she saw something glisten. There sat Drake’s wine collection in a gold case in the far end of his kitchen.

“Wow. He has it in a case. That boy is crazy about his wine. I still don’t see what is so good about it.”

She walked over to the case and eyed his selection, about to head back for the couch when something caught her eye.

“Ooh! Pink wine. Yummy.”  She opened his case and grabbed the bottle of Pink Yellowglen, hoping he wouldn’t mind. “This has to taste good, it’s pink.” She got a wine glass and poured just a little. “Hmm. Not bad. A little bitter. Let’s try again.” She poured a little more into the glass and threw it back. “Woah. Strong. But it’s good.” She filled the glass again and took another swig…and another… and another until the bottle was only half full.

By the time she was finished, she was all mixed up. She spoke aloud now, slow and slurred. “Woah. Woah. Woahwoahwoahwoahwoaaaaahhhhh. That was…that was delicious.”  She twirled her way over to the couch, falling backwards with a “Woooohhhh!”

“Wheeeereeeeee is Drizzy? Whereeeeeeee is Drake? He needs to get back so we can…so we can….” She trailed off in search of something that rhymed with “Drake”. “Ohhhh, whatever.” She squirmed on the couch and fell off just as Drake walked through the door.

“Woah!”

“Nicki?”

“It is I, the Onika Marajjjjjjj.” She exaggerated the ending in her name.

“What the hell?” He walked over to her, picked her up and sat her on the couch. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing baby, I missed youuuuuuuu.” She reached up for him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted her lips right on his. As soon as they kissed he could taste the wine on her lips.

“Were you drinking?” He questioned her in a bewildered tone.

“Ummmmmm. Un poco.” She put the tips of her pointer finger and thumb together and looked up at him with an adorable smile, exposing her deep dimples.

“Wow.” He looked over to his kitchen and saw the evidence.

“Shit.” He sat down on the floor in front of the couch and just looked at her.

“What’s wrong, zaddy?” She said, batting her eyelashes.

“I can’t have sex with you, Nicki.”

“Whaattttt!? Why noooootttttttt!?”

“Because you’re drunk.”

She sat for a minute, confused.

“Soooo, because I’m drunk…you can’t fuck me. Why not?” She said in a saddened tone, letting her chin drop.

“Because I can’t take advantage of you like that.”

“Buuuuuut we were gonna do it before, so why not nowwwww?”

“It’s not the same.”

“Buuut…” He cut her off.

“Look, Nic I’m kinda tired, can we just go to bed?”

She looked at him, trying to figure him out. “Okay, lets go.”  She hopped off the couch and bounded to his room, stopping when she realized he wasn’t following her.

“Come on.”  She motioned for him to follow her.

“Um, nah I’m gonna sleep out here tonight.”

“Oh. Okiee dokieee then.” She continued to his room, not really feeling anything just yet, just a little confused.

Back in the living room, Drake was lying on the couch, upset.

“Just as things were about to start, something fucks up. I don’t get it. Maybe it wasn’t meant to happen.” The thought was too much for him to think about, so he just closed his eyes and attempted sleep.

Cameras pt.5

The sunlight broke through the window, shining right on Drake’s face, causing him to wake up. He was bewildered for a moment and a force of multiple emotions knocked him into realization.

“NICKI!” He shouted to himself in his head. He turned over, expecting to see her there, but she wasn’t. His heart sunk.

“She left. Damn.” Another idea occurred to him. “No. She wouldn’t do that. Wow. I must’ve been dreaming. Best dream I’ve EVER had.” He sighed and fell back into the pillows, throwing the cover over his head, letting out a long sigh.

“What is wrong with you?” A voice said to him from the door.

He poked his head up from under the covers. “Nicki!?”

“Um. Yes. Who else would it be?”

“Ah, nobody, nothing.” He shook his head, trying to get himself together but to no avail when he actually saw her. She still had on his OVO tee, but something was missing. His sweatpants were gone, a pink thong in their place. She noticed his staring.

“Oh. Sorry. It got hot last night and I don’t like sleeping in clothes anyway. You’re lucky I kept your shirt on.” She said, forgetting who she was talking to.

He shook his head again, at a loss for words. She was in his bed in a pink thong and his tee shirt and he slept through it.  He cursed himself internally.

“I cooked. Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no I don’t mind at all.” He cursed himself again for sleeping through her cooking in his tee and her pink thong. He got up and sauntered to the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs filled the room.

“Eggs?”

“Omelet. Spinach.”

“Ooh. Yum.” He got a plate and dug in. The flavors enveloped his taste buds, causing him to let out a low moan of satisfaction.

“You like?”

“Nic.”

“What?”

“This is heaven. Heaven.”

She laughed and walked over to him. She took his fork.

“What are you doing?”

“Shh.”

She picked up a piece of the omelet with the fork. “Open.”

He obeyed her order and opened his mouth. She slowly brought the fork to his mouth. He wrapped his lips around it and pulled back slowly.

“Damn.”

“Mhmmm.” She walked over to the couch and waited for him to finish.

“So, what are we doing today?”

“You’re staying?”

“If you want me to.”

“Of course.”

“K, so what do you want to do?”

“Are you speaking in terms of leaving the apartment, or…?”

“Not necessarily. We can if you want.”

She made a face at him. “What do you wanna do!?”

“Alright, alright. Hmmm.” He thought of somewhere he could take her.

“Studio?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want to go to the studio?”

“What for?”

“Just to go.”

“Hm. Alright. I need to shower. I don’t have any clothes though.” She made a pouty face.

“I have a sweatshirt you can wear and just wear the leggings you came in.”

“Okay.”

“There’s towels and everything in the bathroom.”

“Okay.” She winked at him before running to the bathroom. He laughed and shook his head as he headed to his other bathroom to shower. He reentered the living room and plopped down on the couch to go over the past day in his head. He didn’t get too far.

“Drake?”

“Coming.” He got off the couch and walked into his room, expecting to see her ready and dressed. She wasn’t.

“What’s u….oh.” She was wrapped in one of his black towels, hair dripping and all.

“The sweatshirt I’m supposed to wear, where is it?”

“Oh. My bad.” He walked to his closet and pulled out his favorite OVO sweatshirt with the owl on the front. He walked back over to Nicki and stood real close to her before setting it on the bed, all 6 feet 2 inches of him towering over her. He reached for her towel and she looked up at him.

“Don’t play.”

He laughed and walked out of the room.

“Hurry up, slow poke. “ He said as he left.

“Okay, I’m ready.” She entered the living room with his sweatshirt on, black yoga pants and no shoes. Her wild curls framing her face as they had the night before.

“Shoes?”

“I have a pair in my car, I’m not wearing heels with this. I refuse to look ratchet, regardless of the circumstances.”

He laughed. “Okay. Up you go.” He said as he turned his back towards her.

“Up I go?”

“Yeah. You don’t wanna walk outside with nothing on your feet do you? So, hop up here.”

She hopped on his back. “To the Barbie Bentley!” He carried her out of his apartment and to her car. He reached for the passenger door handle.

“Uh uh.” She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Too conspicuous. We’re taking your car.”

“Fine.” He said, disappointed. He was looking forward to driving with Nic in her Barbie Bently.

“Aww, boo. I’ll take you for a spin when we get back.” She winked at him and headed to his car. He opened the door for her and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Who’s studio are we going to?”

“Mine.”

“Will anyone be there?”

“Nah.”

“Okay.” She turned up the radio and sang along to all the songs she knew as he drove them to his studio.

“We’re here.” He got out, walked over to her door and waited for her to hop out before heading into the studio.

“Well, this is my studio.” Drake said, flipping on a few lights.

“Kay, let’s get down to business. What did we come here for?”

He shrugged. “Do you wanna throw something together?”

“I’m down. Something like what?”

“Do you wanna start from scratch or do something like a remix?”

“What’d you have in mind in terms of a remix?”

“Eh. Anything.”

“Okay. I wanna get on Shut It Down.”

“Oh?”

“Yup. But, I wanna sing.”

“Ohhhhh? Okay.”

“And I wanna make it real sexy. Like, mad sexy.”

He blinked at her for a minute. “Well, damn. Go ‘head.”

“Okay!”

She stepped in the booth and put the headphones on.

“Do you need a pen?”

“Nah. I’m just gonna sing over it for a minute. Do you have a version without The Dream?”

“I sure do.” He pulled it up for her and she closed her eyes to get into the music.

She matched her alto voice to his voice and sang along to his adlibs.

“Run that back.” He played it back so she could hear it.

“What do you think? And don’t give me any BS, I want your real opinion.”

“It’s working.”

“What’s working?”

“The whole sexy thing you were going for. Our voices sound sexy together.” She laughed and signaled him to play the track again. She adlibbed over his verse, ran it back, sang his verse over him, and added her own verse to the track. By the time she was finished, a masterpiece had been created and Nicki’s attempt at sexiness had worked well on Drake. He had his eyes locked on her in the booth. Her monster like recording skills on top of the way her voice sounded on top of the things she was saying had him turned all the way on. He put the newly finished track on repeat and walked into the booth with her. He stood behind her, pushed her hair to one side, pressed his lips to her shoulder, and planted kisses all the way up to her ear. When he reached her ear he lightly grazed it with his teeth, causing her to shiver. She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up to kiss him.

“Let’s go back to your place.”

Chapter 14. Cameras pt.4

“Would you like anything to drink?” Drake asked her.

“So, that’s the plan? Get me drunk and then fuck? Mkay, Drizzy Drake.”

He gave her a look. “I wasn’t offering you an alcoholic beverage, Nicki. I know you don’t drink. I was simply asking if you’d like something to drink…but we can follow your plan if you’d like.”

“Shut up.”

He laughed and walked back over to the couch, white wine spritzer in his hand.

“You should try this.” He extended the glass to her.

“Naaaaah. The last time you got me to drink, I almost died, so no.”

“Aw, come on Nic. That was years ago. I’m sure your body’s toughened up since then.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

He turned up the intensity of his stare and uttered the words in the deepest, sexiest voice he could.

“Please, Nicki?” The way he said her name gave her butterflies, but she wasn’t going to let him know it just yet.

“Cute. Gimme the damn glass.” He smiled a smile of success and handed her his glass. She put her lips to it and let the cool liquid run down her throat, stinging a little.

“So?” He questioned.

“Eh. It’s okay.” She handed him the glass back.

“Just okay? You crazy, Nic. This shit is spectacular.”

“Okay. If you say so.” She gave him a dimple shrug.

He rolled his eyes. “And thanks for the pink lipstick stains.”

She puckered her lips at him. “Muah! No problem.”

He laughed at her.

“Since I’m staying the night here and I didn’t bring any clothes or anything, do you have like some sweatpants and a t-shirt or something?”

Her question caught him up for a minute. She was going to be in his sweatpants, his t-shirt.

“…Oh, yeah, of course. Give me a second.” He walked into his room and picked up a pair of grey sweatpants and a special t-shirt.

“Here you go.” He said as he reentered the living room.

She picked up the black tee and looked at it.

“OVO?”

“Yeah.” He said sheepishly.

“Awesome. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Uh, back there.” He pointed to his room.

“K. Thanks.”

His room was huge. The king sized bed placed in the middle was made up of gold pillows and a black satin comforter with a gold rim and gold bed skirt.

“Beautiful.” She thought to herself as she made her way to his bathroom. Closest to the bathroom was a wall made of glass. It was so beautiful, Nicki had to pause and take it all in. Through it, you could see the whole city. Being that it was getting dark outside, the sun was setting, making the view even more beautiful. She let out a deep sigh and made her way to the bathroom.  The bathroom consisted of the same gold and black color pattern. The sink was gold with a black rim, the shower curtain of the same pattern. The Jacuzzi sized bathtub was gold as well, only the faucet and knobs black.

“Beautiful” She thought again. She stood in front of the mirror and looked her self over. Her makeup had run a little from crying so much and her long blonde wig was in disarray, fly aways everywhere.

“Oh my.” She thought, embarrassed that Drake had seen her like that. She sighed once more and got down to business.

10 minutes later she reentered the living room. Drake looked up and had to do a double take. One, because of how his OVO tee looked on her. Oh, the many times he’d dreamed about seeing her in his logo tee, and nothing else. He’d have to deal with the sweatpants for now, he thought to himself. Two, because she didn’t reenter looking exactly as she had before. Yes, the makeup was off and so were the clothes, but something else was different. A beautiful mess of black, wild curls framed her face. It had been years since he’d seen her hair, her real hair. He was in awe of it.

“There’s a wig in your bathroom, so don’t be too startled when you go in there.”

He softly chuckled at her, still at a loss for words. She walked back over to the couch and plopped down. The lights from the city shining through the large glass wall on both sides of his apartment set the mood just right.

“So, what do you wanna do now?”

“Whatever you’d like.”

“Nah, you invited me to stay. I’m your guest, so you must entertain me.” She snapped her fingers at him as a Queen would her servant.

“Ah, yes, Queen Onika. Follow me.” He took her by the hand and led her to the balcony, opening it for her.

“Here you may sit, my queen.”

“Thank you, good sir, now be gone.” She said in Martha’s voice, snapping her fingers again.

He laughed at her and sat on the chair on the other side of the balcony, both of them facing the city.

“This is beautiful, Drake. So beautiful.”

“I know.” He said, staring intently at her with a gentle smile.

She side eyed him and laughed.

“You know, I’m actually glad I stayed. This is nice. Relaxing. Thank you.”

“Anytime, Nicki. Anytime.”

“Is this usually what you do when you have girls over?”

The subject change caught him off guard. “I don’t have girls over, Nicki. I have women over.”

“Shut up, you know what I meant.”

He laughed. “Not exactly. I mean, yeah we talk like this and what not, but I usually have them over here for a reason. A certain reason.”

“Oh.”

There was silence for a minute.

“I mean, if that’s what you do, that’s what you do. Fine with me.” She said, trying to make the mood relaxed again. Also trying to cover herself. At this point, she wanted him, but she didn’t want to be just another one of those “certain reason” girls.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“How those “certain reason” girls must feel afterwards.”

“Nic, they come over here for the same reason I invite them. They know what they’re getting themselves into.”

“So, you’re saying you’re not responsible for any feelings they may have afterwards?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Okay.”

“Why are you asking?”

“Just thinking. I mean, I don’t know how good you are in the bedroom, but I’m pretty sure you’re good enough, and that has to leave the girls with some type of feelings afterwards.”

“Oh. Well, I won’t speak on my bedroom expertise, but as for…”

She cut him off. “Why not?”

“That’s just something you’ll have to find out for yourself, but as for the girls and their feelings, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Huh. I see. So, if I do happen to find out for myself one day and I just happen to catch some feelings afterwards, you wouldn’t be responsible for them? Okay.”

“No. That’s a whole other story. I’d take full responsibility for each and every one of those feelings and do whatever I had to do to keep them there.”

That caught her off guard. She took a minute to respond. “Um. I’m kinda tired.”

“Okay.” He opened the glass door for her. Nicki headed to the couch and laid down.

“All I need is a blanket and a pillow and I’ll be out of your way.” She smiled up at him.

He blinked at her, just stared at her for a minute.

“What?”

“Do you really, truly think that I would let you sleep on the couch? Really, Nicki?”

“Well, I’m not going to kick you out of your own bed.”

“Yes, you are.” He walked over to her and picked her up, not even giving her a second word.

“What are you doing!?”

He ignored her and walked into his room, sitting her down on his bed.

“There.” He grabbed a pillow and a blanket and headed for the door.

“Goodnight.”

“Um.”

“What? Do you need something?”

“Yes. To know where you think you’re going.”

“To sleep.”

“Your bed is right here.”

“But…”

“But nothing. Just come get in the bed.”

He was frozen in place for a minute. He couldn’t even feel his legs as he walked over to the bed, his arms as he lifted his shirt off, his hands as they unbuckled his pants and exchanged them for basketball shorts, his fingertips as they lifted the satin comforter, his whole body as he got in the bed next to her.

“You’re warm.” She told him.

“Sorry.”

“No, that’s a good thing.” She snuggled up to him and wrapped her leg around his waist, nestled her head into his neck. His warm scent enveloped her, relaxed her.

“Good night.” She said to him and kissed his neck once before shutting her eyes.

“Night.” He whispered to her. “I…” He started to say, but her tiny snore interrupted him. He smiled to himself, kissed her forehead and shut his eyes, contently drifting off into sleep.