Chapter 15
Charlie’s heart was broken. Demi hadn’t been home in two days, and every time she called, it went directly to voicemail. Her chest felt hollow like there was a knife in it that she couldn’t quite pull out.
She didn’t have anyone to talk to about this.
She was terrified to be a mother. She had no guidance in that department.
She had lost her mom at an early age and she hated her stepmother.
Who would guide her? Who would be her support system when it was time to pursue her career?
What if Demi’s love changed after they shared a baby?
She wouldn’t be able to handle abandonment and a baby.
She was scheduled to terminate this pregnancy in two days but her mind was all over the place.
She needed to talk to him, see him, and cry to him, but he was M.I.A.
His absence just reinforced her belief that he would fail her if she kept this baby.
The more time passed, the more her anxiety tortured her.
She had chewed the acrylic clear off her nails.
Her nerves were so bad, and her cuticles were damn near bleeding.
All her lash extensions had come out from the flood of tears she had cried.
Things hadn’t been this bad between them in a long time, and she wanted it to be over.
She just wanted to get back to love, to their routine, to long showers and longer nights.
She couldn’t handle this level of miscommunication.
Being in her emotions had her making the worst decisions.
She was supposed to be dressed and on her way to an interview at a major radio station.
Day was meeting her there, but Charlie hadn’t even climbed out of bed yet.
The only time she could pull herself on her feet was when she was rushing to the bathroom to throw up.
She didn’t know if it was the baby or her nerves making her so sick, but she was falling apart.
Her phone was going off every few minutes.
Call time at the station was ten, and she was officially late.
She wondered if her career even mattered if she didn’t have Demi.
She might as well give him a baby because, without him, none of this felt worth it.
He was the one who believed in her. He was the one who found her singing in a dive bar.
It was his connections and complete infatuation with her voice that pushed her into the studio, to begin with.
The doctor had scheduled an emergency D I can’t give you the vision.
You got to let me know that you’re serious about this shit cuz this ain’t for play for me.
I make millions in this shit, and some skirt that Demi’s chasing ain’t about to derail what we’ve built.
You want to be a housewife or a superstar, Charlie? ”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Call time has been pushed. You got three and a half hours to get here. If you miss this interview, I’ma consider the decision made. Get your shit together, baby girl.”
He hung up, and Charlie immediately redialed Demi. His voicemail felt disrespectful at this point. She had heard it so many times that it now made her angry.
“Fuck it,” she said stubbornly. She had nothing else to do except to do her job. With a heavy heart, she put her car in drive and chose herself, at least for the next few hours.
“Welcome to The Morning show with Baby and Miss Mix; we have a special guest in the building today.” DJ Baby and his beautiful gossipy co-host had the influence to make or break her career, and Charlie couldn’t even focus.
“Unt uh, we got a late guest, that’s what we got,” Miss Mix added in, laughing.
“Aww, man, here we go with the hazing,” Day interjected. “We ain’t gon’ start this. We gon’ keep it G up here.”
Charlie was so glad he was by her side. He was literally helping to build her career from the ground up, and even through the confusion and the chaos, he defended her in moments like these.
“You know it’s all love up here,” DJ Baby stated. “New artists got to be broken in. She was late but she showed up looking how she looking, and I can’t even be mad.”
Charlie gave a half-hearted smile. “Aww… thank you. I’m so sorry, guys. I wasn’t feeling the best this morning, but believe me I’m honored to be here.”
“So tell us about yourself, Charlie. You literally hit the scene out of nowhere. Everyone knows you from your social media covers. You have over three million views just from singing other artists’ songs. Who are you as an artist, and where did you come from?”
Charlie paused as she contemplated her answer.
“I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. Umm… I’m a normal girl, you know?
I’m the girl who just loves music. Like I did this for free in a smoky-ass bar, so this is my art.
It’s my passion. The right person just happened to hear me sing, and it became a passion for him too. ”
“And this right person just so happens to be the co-founder of Dynasty Records, the married man whose wife outed your affair in a sex tape awhile back, right?” Charlie was taken aback.
She looked at Day for help. They weren’t supposed to ask that.
It was on her list of things she wasn’t comfortable addressing.
But, of course, these stations made promises that they never planned on keeping sometimes.
When the mic came on and the listeners tuned in live, they shot their shots to get the latest salacious story. Charlie couldn’t avoid it.
“Y’all know better,” Day said, displeased.
“No, it’s fine, I’ll answer it,” Charlie said. “Maybe once we talk about all the stuff that don’t matter, we can actually get to the music because the music is really good.”
“Yeah, of course, but you got to clear up the rumors first, sis,” Miss Mix said.
“Y’all saw the sex tape. That wasn’t no rumor. You also saw why that man loves me,” Charlie said, smiling.
“I know that’s right, girl!” Miss Mix shouted. “You did put your thing down on that man, but what about his wife, sis? We do not support side chick society around here.”
“Demi and I met, and we started something beautiful, but it was private, and I don’t think either of us took the time to ask the right questions.
He didn’t take the time to evaluate his place in his marriage or even to tell me that he was married.
And I was so smitten that I didn’t even think to ask.
We just kinda met, and then boom, the next day we knew we were in love. ”
“So you didn’t know he was married?”
Charlie shook her head. “Listen, the sex tape was something that was never supposed to leave the privacy of two people in love. It was an intimate moment. I didn’t know about his wife at that time.
When I had the information, I acted accordingly.
We both decided to let it go.” She was trying very hard not to throw Demi under the bus.
“But you’re signed to his company. You’re with him now. His own son basically called you a homewrecker at your event.” Miss Mix wasn’t holding any punches. Charlie felt sick because the world just didn’t understand that this was so much more than a fling.
“I think it’s important to keep kids out of grown-ass conversation. What I won’t allow anybody to do is turn that little boy, DJ, into a soundbite used to stir mess. I mean, is your name Miss Mix or Miss Messy cuz you dancing real close to being inappropriate?”
“I’m just following the story, sis. It’s all over social media.”
“I bring my artists up here, and this what you let her do?” Day asked the execs behind the scenes who were standing around in silence.
“No, it’s fine. I got it, Day,” Charlie said.
“DJ is a child. He is someone I care about very much, and we aren’t going to sit here and go back and forth about what he said.
His feelings are his feelings, but he is a kid, so he doesn’t have all the information.
I entered his life in a less than perfect way. ”
“As a side chick,” Miss Mix clarified.