Page 47 of Faithful Rhythm
“It's fine,” she says again, and her eyes roll. “I’m just getting used to the sounds and the rhythm. It's new to me.”
She folds her arms and glances out the window. I’m not buying it, but I don’t have time to push her either. We pull to stop at the valet and I get out. I let the driver open her door so it doesn’t appear I’m giving her special treatment. We walk in and immediately are flanked by my security and brought to a separate elevator. We get in and I hit the button that reads PH1.
Jade glances at me. “Of course you’re in the penthouse.” She holds her hand out and raises her brow. “What room do us mere mortals get?”
The elevator stops moving and the doors open at the exact same time I hand her the matching room key. “Your room is on the other side. We’re sharing. I don’t trust you not to run.”
Her mouth falls open in surprise. Jade’s hand closes over the key and as I walk away, I swear I see her silently shouting expletives behind my back. The wait for this moment was so worth it.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Jade
You get in my way boy, you gonna meet a pistol today.
No, I have no soul, no heart, no conscience. I was brought here to be a monster.
A villain. There's blood on the floor, fire, bullets.
And in the midst of this my back’s against the wall, smoke in my hand, killing time.
Killing myself with regret, mistakes, a new girl with a different name.
There’s blood on the floor is it yours or is it mine though…
Ihate these songs. I hate these routines and the way I truly believe that Narissa is running Onyx’s stage production into the ground. No one wants to see a rapper, as great as Onyx, with pop genre backup dancers with a routine from the early two-thousands. They need lights, they need him front and center, dramatic and almost as violent as his lyrics. If Narissa has been running his show this way for a while now, I wonder if that has anything to do with the drop in sales? I know now that his previous label was stealing money, but maybe Onyx was also losing them money too due to this horrific stage show. It's either that or the darkness of his lyrics. No one can dance to blood being on the floor.
Not that I can tell him any of these things. I’m trying hard to keep my head down, mind my business and just dance. That is all I’m contracted to do. If Onyx wants to ruin his career and stage presence then that is on him. He has attached Narissa to the upcoming tour, not me.
“Hey Jade.” Mia slips past me on the side of the practice stage. I watch her eyes take everything in and I wonder if she can see it too. Mia strikes me as sharp and intelligent. I’ve heard some rumblings about things in her personal life, an old flame is chasing her down, but I can honestly say she keeps it separate from work. I am not at all surprised she is doing as well for herself as she is.
“Hi,” I respond and I give her a real smile. I feel like my lips haven’t made that motion in forever.
“How is everything going?” She looks from the practicing dancers to me.
“It's a lot to get used to,” I tell her. Mia’s eyes widen for a split second, and I can feel her worry, concern and caring when she looks at me.
“No doubt. This is a lot for people who practice with his team year-round. I can’t imagine it's easy being brought in this fast.”
I glance at the room again and feel my stomach twist. I want to shake Onyx and wake him up to see what is happening. I glance at Mia again, wondering how much I can trust her, or if she would just run to him.
“I’m a good dancer. I’ve been doing it since I was five. It's not a hard routine to learn, but the mechanisms of performing it are so drastically different to the actual music, the lyrics, the story he is telling.” I shake my head. “Does that make sense? I’m not trying to complain.”
Mia watches the dancers again and takes everything in. “Narissa has been with Onyx for years. I’d hate to think he wasn’t aware. I see what you are saying though. Have you told him?”
I shake my head and a sigh slips out. “He wouldn’t listen to me even if a hundred people back me up.”
A small giggle leaves Mia’s lips. “What is going on between you two? The way I see it, he would listen to anything you say and move mountains to achieve what you see.”
My cheeks flush, but I don’t get a chance to answer. Two of the guys from the band Rise Above come barreling past.
“Mia, we’re off early for once, everyone is grabbing a drink in our room. Well, except for Ocean but that's because she legally can’t drink yet.” The guy with the web tattoos speaks loudly. I recognize his stage name as Spyder. I’ve heard Rise Above perform and they are very talented. Rock and rap sometimes coexist in my brain and on my music app. While I feel rap is more poetic and can bleed lyrics into your soul, rock does tend to get my blood pumping. It's my favorite cardio to warm up to and sometimes when the lyrics are soulful enough, I find myself able to cool down and stretch to it.
“Yes.” Mia laughs, this time with her whole body, while he slings an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll be there.”
Spyder’s eyes drift to me. “You’re invited too, little ballerina. The whole crew is.”
My brow rises at the nickname. “I might.”