Love hurts, p.4
Love Hurts, page 4
“Well if it isn’t my super famous and very busy cousin. Your head done got so big that you can’t call your favorite person in the world back huh?” Mika joked and asked.
“Man Meek. It’s not even like that. You know I've been in the studio non stop trying to finish this album. This process has taken up so much of my time that I’m missing out on a lot of things in life. Sometimes I really miss my old life you know.”
She mumbled something under her breath but when I asked her to repeat herself she changed the subject.
“So you’re still coming to my grand opening this weekend right?”
I wiped the light makeup off of my face with a moist towelette. “Of course I’m still coming. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Mika had recently moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to the small town of Brenton, California. When I asked her why, she simply told me that she needed a change of scenery but I think it had more to do with leaving the memories of what happened between her and her ex fiance five years ago behind. The only good thing that came out of that horrible situation was Mika’s drive to start up her candle making business. She was really good at it too.
“You better not miss it. I think having a big celebrity such as yourself stop by will bring the type of buzz that I need to have a great first day.”
I placed my phone on the dresser and began to change out of the clothes the stylist dressed me in for my first primetime appearance. The show that I had the pleasure of performing on today wasn’t on a nationally syndicated network but it was a start.
“If the candles you’re selling now are anything like the ones you sent Lovie and I a couple of years ago for our anniversary you wont need me to cause a buzz. The product speaks for itself. Do you know how many people have asked us about your candles after smelling them burning in our house? They were so disappointed when I told them that you only did the candle making as a hobby and didn’t have any for sale. I’m so glad you finally got your shit together and decided to make this money.”
Mika giggled. “You sound just like Sadie’s ass right now. She told me the exact same thing.”
“That’s because it’s the truth. You see what happened to me when I stopped being scared and went after my dreams.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” The slight change in the tone of her voice caused me to stop what I was doing.
“Hey Meek. You okay? Why do you sound sad all of a sudden?”
She was quiet for a minute. I could hear whatever show she was watching on her TV playing softly in the background.
Mika cleared her throat before saying, “Kingston, I know this isn’t really any of my business but...are you and Lovie really going to get a divorce like the tabloids have been saying?”
I opened my mouth to respond to her but nothing would come out. The truth of the matter was, I didn’t know if Lovie and I were really going to get a divorce either. I mean, the last time I saw her which was a couple days ago, those were our last words to one another, but I don’t think either one of us meant it. She had indeed received the paperwork that Kayla had sent out but to my knowledge hasn’t contacted her lawyer about it yet.
“Look, you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” Mika started, “I just wanted to know-”
I cut her off not recognizing the tone of my own voice.
“I don’t want to divorce my wife Mika.” Slowly fell from my lips. “And I really hate the space that we’re in right now.”
“Are you at least trying to do something about that space?” She questioned. “You and Lovie have always been able to work through your little disagreements over the years. What’s so different about this one?”
“I honestly don’t know. I thought we were working on getting our shit together. We’ve both been in therapy for the last few weeks and I thought it was helping but the other night when I went to our house…” My words trailed off as my mind went back to the big argument Lovie and I had.
“What happened when you went to your house the other night?” Mika pressed.
I went ahead and told my cousin about everything that Lovie and I argued about. I replayed the whole argument for her in full detail, not leaving one thing out.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute! You said your assistant did what?” She yelled in my ear after I ran down the dumb shit Kayla did.
I dropped my head to my chest, embarrassed behind what I was about to repeat.
“She called my lawyer on my behalf and had him draw up some divorce papers. Divorce papers that she had a courier service deliver to Lovie the same day we got into the argument.”
“King, please tell me that you fired that bitch?” My silence gave her my answer. “Kingston You Need Your Ass Whipped DeVoe, I know you are not that damn simple minded? Not only did that girl overstep her boundaries, but you don’t want someone that sneaky and underhanded working for you. Especially not in the industry you’re in.”
There was a light knock on the door interrupting our conversation. “Hey Kingston, it’s me Kayla. You’ve been in there for a minute now and Lawrence is outside waiting for you in the do not park zone. Security has asked him to move three times already. If you don’t want to have to walk to the other side of the sound stage, I suggest you get a move on. Do you need some help with anything?”
“Nah, I’m good Kayla.” I responded, slipping into my sweats and pulling my t-shirt over my head. “I just need a few more moments to change into my comfortable clothes.”
I could hear her shuffle and reposition herself behind the door. Her voice a little lower this time when she spoke, “Well, if you’re having trouble getting dressed and need some assistance, I can come in and help you with that.”
Instead of responding to what Kayla just offered I turned my attention back to Mika.
“Hey cousin, would it be alright if I called you back a little later. I gotta handle a few things before my flight tomorrow.”
I could tell by the mumbling Mika was doing under her breath that she was upset.
“Yeah, you can call me back. If I don’t answer it’s because I'm busy setting up the store. If we don’t talk again tonight, I’ll see you sometime this weekend when you get here, okay?”
I stuffed the extra clothes that I pulled out back into my bag and threw it over my shoulder.
“Alright Meek. I’ll call you as soon as I land in Vegas. I have a car service picking me up and driving me out there so text me your address now. That way I can give it to the driver as soon as I hop in the back of the car.”
“Done.” She said just as the text notification on my phone went off.
“Alright cousin. I love your big head ass and I’ll see you soon.”
“I can’t wait!” She excitedly said before her voice turned into a more somber tone. “Hey Kingston, before you go,” She hesitated, “I um...I know that you and Lovie are going through your little issue right now, but I wanted to know if you would be okay with her still coming to the grand opening? I talked to her earlier this morning and she said that the only way that she’ll come is if you’re okay with it.”
“You talked to Lovie this morning?” I wasn’t surprised that Mika had spoken to my wife. The two of them hit it off the first time they met and have been rolling ever since. Sometimes people think that Mika and Lovie are related and not the other way around.
“Well yeah. You’re my cousin and everything so I know my loyalty belongs to you, but Lovie is also my family. When you didn’t answer your phone this morning, I called her. It took a few back to back calls but she finally picked up.”
“Did she sound okay?” I asked, eager to know the answer.
Mika paused for a second. “She didn’t sound like Lovie if that makes sense.”
And it actually did make sense. My wife not sounding like her upbeat, happy, and carefree self wouldn’t go unnoticed by anyone who actually knew her. She didn’t even look like herself when I was at the house the other day either. Whatever this was between us was taking its toll on my wife and I needed to remedy this situation before things got any worse.
“Of course.”
“Of course what?” Mika repeated.
“Of course I will be okay with Lovie being at your grand opening. We both need this little getaway. “ I let Mika know as I made my way to the door. “It might be our chance to really sit down and talk about what is pulling us apart. I just need to figure out a way to get us together without any distractions or any opportunity for either one of us to storm off and not work through it.”
“I think I can help you with that.” My cousin offered. “Just let me handle it.”
Mika and I talked for a few more moments before saying our goodbyes and disconnecting the calls. When I opened up the dressing room door, Kayla was standing there with a strange look on her face.
“Is everything alright?” She asked while trying to keep up with my long strides.
I scrolled through the messages on my phone. “Everything’s good. Hey Kayla, did you ever send me the flight and hotel info for my trip this weekend?”
She looked down at her tablet. “I did. I sent it sometime last week. You should have it in your email.”
“I found it. Thanks.”
“Uh...Kingston.” Kayla called out, placing her hand on my arm. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
I walked through the heavy steel doors of the studio and outside into the bright breezy day. People were bustling around doing whatever job they were tasked to do. Security guards drove by in the small tennis carts securing the perimeters. Big machines with fake props hanging off of them were slowly being driven by heading to other studio stages while small groups of tourists were being ushered around sightseeing.
The second Lawrence's eyes landed on me he hopped out of the driver's seat and opened the back door.
“Hey Mr. DeVoe, you all ready to go?”
I gave him a quick smile and head nod.
“I am. I just need to handle one last thing before we leave.” I looked down at my screen on my phone and read the response text I had been waiting for. “Kayla.” I called out instantly grabbing her attention.
“Yes Kingston.”
“As of this moment, you’re fired.”
“Fired!” She yelped.
“Yes. Fired. Any access you had to my calendar, emails, phones, and social media have been terminated. When you get back to the record label please turn in your badge and all of your electronic devices. Shelia in HR will have your check ready for you to pick up once you clear out the rest of your things.”
The shocked look on her face would’ve been comical had this been a funny situation but it wasn’t. What she did with that whole divorce paper thing was totally out of line and I couldn’t have someone who would disrespect my wife the way that she did around me or my camp like that. I would’ve fired her the day that she told me about contacting my lawyer on my behalf, but I wanted to make sure that any and all of her access to me was terminated indefinitely. I couldn’t chance her becoming disgruntled and using any of my personal information, emails, text, etc against me.
“Wait a second Kingston. You can’t do this!”
I slid into the back of the car, shut the door and rolled down the window.
“I can and I have. Maybe the next time you think about stepping over your boundaries and trying to humiliate someone’s wife, you’ll think twice.”
And with that being said, I told Lawrence to pull off only to have a screaming Kayla following behind the car like a crazed lunatic. She tried to keep up with us for a second, but when she ran into a fire hydrant and flipped over it, we lost her.
“But did you really have to embarrass the girl in front of all of those people like that? She hired a lawyer and everything.”
I walked through the United Airlines terminal at McCarran International Airport on my way to the pick up and drop off location for car services.
“Simon, the girl deserved every bit of that embarrassment. She was totally out of line with the way she handled things. I told you about the divorce papers, right?” I asked my best friend and manager.
He sighed. “You did. But there was a totally different way you could’ve handled this. She’s talking about suing the record label and you for wrongful termination as well as pain and suffering. If she wins this suit this can cause a lot of unwanted attention on you.”
I continued to listen to Simon go in about the situation with Kayla but wasn’t really paying attention. My mind kept going over to Lovie and if this plan Mika came up with to get us together would work. My wife wasn’t really the type of person who liked surprises, however, for the sake of our marriage, I was hoping she would just go with the flow on this one.
“Aye!” Simon called into the phone bringing me back from my thoughts. “Have you decided on what tracks you want to present to the board for the EP?”
I shook my head. “No, not yet. I still need the engineer to rework a few songs for me.”
“If you want, I could have him-”
“Oh shit, my bad sir.” A woman apologized after crashing into my side and knocking my phone out of my hand. Before I could bend over to retrieve it she picked it up. “I wasn’t paying atten-Oh my God! You’re that singer guy. Kingston DeVoe!” She yelped once her eyes focused on my face. “I love your music. I follow you on IG and everything. Been following your career since the very beginning.”
I flashed her a quick smile and reached for my phone that she was clinching against her chest.
“Thank you sweetheart. I really appreciate all the love and support from every single one of my followers.”
“Can I please get a picture with you? My friends will never believe that I literally ran into you in the airport.”
I looked down at the time on my phone. “I really don’t have the time but if you make it real quick I think I can squeeze one snapshot in.”
The loud squeal that escaped her mouth made me smile.
“My name is Tynesha by the way and it is an honor to meet you.” She continued to ramble as she searched through her bag for her phone. The neatly twisted locs on her head swinging everytime she moved.
“Aye Simon, let me call you back in a second.” I said into my phone while peeping at the scene around me. People were starting to curiously look in our direction the more Tynesha repeated how excited she was to meet me.
Simon chuckled. “Alright man. Handle your business and call me back as soon as you get to the hotel. We still have a few more things about the EP we need to discuss.”
With that, Simon released the call and I stuffed my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. It took a few more minutes but Tynesha finally was ready to take a few selfies once she was able to get her camera to focus properly on us. After posing for a couple of shots with her, I autographed her coffee cup at her urging and thanked her for the support once again. Luckily for me no one else in the terminal cared about who I was so I left the area heading out to find my ride.
My eyes scanned the long stretch of cars lining the designated area for carpooling as soon as I stepped into the warm Vegas weather. When I didn’t see a driver holding up a sign with my name on it I walked down a bit to see if he or she had to wait in another airline section.
As I was passing through the American terminal, a familiar voice quickly caught my attention.
“What do you mean there aren’t any cars available? I called the toll free number a couple of days ago and made a reservation.”
“I’m so sorry ma’am. The representative must’ve overlooked the car availability at this location during your conversation.”
“But that’s some straight bullshit. What am I supposed to do now? Can you see if any of the other rental places have cars available?”
An uneasy smile made its way onto the receptionist face, “Unfortunately ma’am all of the other car rental places here are booked as well. If you want, I can call and see if our other location on the Northside of town has anything available.”
“No! I don’t want to have to find a way to your other location, I want the car that was promised to me when I called a couple of days ago. Is your manager anywhere around?”
“But ma’am-”
“Stop calling me ma’am!” She cut the nervous receptionist off. Before the scene could get any worse, I walked up to the counter and looked down at the one person who after fifteen years was still able to cause my heart to sore just at the sight of her.
“Lovie.” I greeted the second I stood next to her. “Is everything okay?”
