21. Myome
MYOME
Don’t crack.
Don’t crack.
Don’t crack.
I kept my perfectly practiced smile on my face and did my best not to look like I was drowning.
I didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity about the hate I was getting nor did I have time to hunt Monica down and spit on her.
I had press. Radiant Reverie had committed to three interviews today then I had one with Drix that Allison arranged, one of the few she’d locked in during the negotiations of our marriage before it became real.
I would have cameras and microphones shoved in my face all day but at least our sales numbers looked good so far.
I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and hopped out of my car. Retta, Charm, and Allison were already inside, but considering they’d seen the news, they were giving me grace for running late.
“Good morning.” Allison walked over as soon as I was in the room and offered me a coffee cup.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She fixed a piece of my hair. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m holding up.”
“Mm.” She exhaled. "I was just telling the ladies that the head of A&R wants to have a meeting with the group today after we finish press.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“Is it about… you know?” I gestured around.
“I would think so.”
“Great.” I scoffed. “Just great.”
“Yeah. Great fucking job, Myome.”
“You’re one wrong word from taking Monica’s ass whooping for her, so tread fucking lightly today, Retta,” I warned.
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes but didn’t make another comment.
I checked my phone one more time before we made our way to the seating area for the beginning of our tour press.
Drix was right about getting the announcement removed and scrubbed but of course people had already taken screenshots. They weren’t shared to any of the usual blogs thankfully, which was nice. Whatever he did minimized the fallout and I appreciated that.
Knowing he was trying to handle it had me a little less stressed.
Allison made it clear I wouldn’t be answering any questions about my personal life, only professional.
While each of the interviewers were annoyed by that announcement, none of them pushed the issue.
By the time we finished our third interview, I was running late to the one with Drix.
We’d done two radio stations and a podcast as a group. Now Berlin and I were doing a couples challenge. For one part, we’d answer questions about each other and during the other part we’d answer questions about ourselves and see if our partner got them correct.
When I walked in, Drix already had a mic on and was seated, leaned back in his seat. His eyes lifted to me and he did a quick double take before he climbed to his feet and walked over.
“Hey.” He leaned down to kiss me. “How’s press going?”
“It’s going.”
“You ate today?”
“You were there this morning.” I cut my eyes at him. He dug into his pocket, pulled out a granola bar, ripped it open and held it out to me. I took a bite and he watched me chew and swallow before taking a bite. “I have an emergency meeting with—”
Berlin cut me off with a quick whistle. My eyebrows knitted together. He grabbed the microphone on his shirt, pulled it off, and tossed it to a random cameraman walking by.
“Hold on to that for me, bruh.” He looked back at me. “What kind of emergency meeting?”
“I don’t know but it’ll probably be about the divorce mentioned the other day.”
“Whose divorce?”
I looked around and leaned into him, lowering my voice. “Ours.”
“Nobody’s getting a fucking divorce, Myome.”
“Which is what I said… but this meeting is probably going to be about our marriage and if it’s even beneficial to the brand anymore.”
“Not that I give a fuck about what they have to say, but the album is doing great and the song I have a credit on specifically is killing the rest in numbers. Add that on top of the fact I handed Radiant Reverie a mothafuckin’ Bino feature on a silver platter off the strength of our marriage, they better keep their asses out of our business.
” He held the granola bar back out to me and I took another bite even while I couldn’t help the stupid smile that took over my face. “What?”
“You just want to stay married to me so damn bad.” I wagged my eyebrows and he scoffed.
“Till death.” He pulled me in with one hand and looked down at me. “Do you need me to go with you?”
“No. I’m good. I’m a big girl. I can handle a little bit of pushback from my label.”
“A’ight, but if they fuck with you, Monica’s little post on social media will be the least of their problems.” He lifted the last piece of granola bar. “Eat this.”
I opened my mouth so he could pop it in. He leaned down and kissed my forehead.
“If you don’t want to touch up your makeup or anything, we’re ready for you!” the host called out.
“Okay.” I nodded as I chewed. “You ready?”
“Yeah. I’m ready.” Berlin lightly tapped me on the ass and we kissed again before we took our seats.
Berlin reached over and set his hand on the back of my seat and we got started.
I let him take the lead in the conversation then we jumped into the games.
Berlin got more questions right about me than I got about him and we did well with guessing each other’s answers when it came to that section.
By the time we finished, I felt better about the day and was ready to take on Radiant Reverie’s meeting.
I was the first of the group to get there but Allison arrived shortly after.
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
“I’m good,” I said.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you really?”
“Yeah. I feel good and press went really well today so I’m counting that as a win.”
“It is a win. The album is doing great so far,” Allison offered.
“Three songs are trending right now and despite this morning’s…
transgression, it doesn’t look like numbers are falling.
If anything, they’re rising, so I wouldn’t be worried going into this meeting.
” Allison set a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever Drix and his team did worked because I can’t even find Monica’s post out there. ”
“Yeah. Chandler is good at what she does,” I shifted on my feet. “Things won’t always be this hectic when it comes to me,” I offered.
“Trust me, Myome. I believe you. I didn’t have a single issue with you or your publicity before…” She cleared her throat. “Just be careful, okay? We can spin anything if we try hard enough but… be careful.”
“Yeah, I will. Seriously. Drix is a little rough around the edges, but he cares about me. I’m confident about that.”
“Good.”
We both looked over as the door opened and Retta sauntered in. She pushed her shades to the top of her head and walked over.
“What’s up? Where’s Charm?”
“She’s on her way,” Allison said. “How are you feeling about the album release?”
“Good,” Retta nodded. “I mean, I’d prefer if it wasn’t getting a little bit of flack due to someone’s marriage but our page is getting tagged in a lot of people actively listening which is insane.”
“You could have left the front of that sentence off,” Allison sighed.
“Was it a lie?” Retta snipped.
“No, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get your ass whooped.” I glanced over at her.
“Hey! Am I late or is everyone early?” Charm halfway jogged toward us and exhaled as she skidded to a stop.
“No. We were just having a mini meeting before the real meeting,” Allison said.
“And I wanted to remind you guys that you just released your first album of three. You’re about to go on tour.
You’re going to be stuck with each other for about six years, and that’s if you can put out an album every other year.
The last thing we need is infighting, so whatever the three of you have to do to squash the drama needs to be done.
We’re all grown women and we should all act like it.
So, let’s get whatever we need off our chests and get this done. ”
“I’m good.” Charm shrugged.
“Retta?” Allison prompted.
“Look, I like the group or whatever but I feel like a lot of this group shit has been very Myome focused and I don’t like it or think it’s fair. Back me up, Charm.”
“Feel how you feel but don’t assume I feel how you do,” Charm said simply.
“Myome didn’t drug herself or propose to Drix.
It just happened and the label told them to stay married.
I don’t think she intentionally did any of that shit, and honestly, I’m down for whatever gets the group promotion.
I care more about the checks clearing than who’s on the blogs. ”
Retta rolled her eyes. “That’s another thing. Y’all are always ganging up on me.”
I sucked my teeth. “Keep in mind I haven’t even opened my mouth.”
“Also, nobody has to jump you, Retta. I’m a grown ass woman and I have my own mind,” Charm pointed out.
“And you literally just asked me to side with you so it would have been fine if you and I agreed against Myome, but because I’m good, all of a sudden you’re the victim?
” Charm crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, your issue is you thought you were going to be the main event of this trio and you’re mad that it’s Myome. That’s on you.”
“And our music hasn’t changed,” I added.
“We’ve done maybe two or three songs since this new dynamic you’re talking about and even then we each get a verse and have been switching up the choruses like we’ve always done.
The only thing different is the stupid blogs posting me but Radiant Reverie wasn’t going viral beforehand anyway so it’s not like I’m stealing something that was yours. ”
“Allison asked what my issue was and I told her. I don’t care about how y’all feel because that doesn’t change how I feel. This is turning into the Myome show and we’re background singers and I’m not going for it.”