Final Chapter One Year Later
FINAL CHAPTER
One Year Later
Must not have beeeenn, paying attentionnnnnnn
Stepped right on in itttt, didn’t even noticeeeeee how deee—ee-ee-eep I wasssss
Charlie’s face stretched in emotion as she sang the song with conviction.
She felt that shit. She felt it like Demi felt her dirt all over him.
It had been a year of no contact. A year of space.
He had done what he promised and erased her fears.
Shad Brooks had been found dead in his apartment from an apparent overdose three months after the infamous sex tape, but Charlie knew Demi had been responsible.
Her life had been a whirlwind since. An abortion, a record deal, and instant fame.
The sex tape had caught everyone’s attention but her voice had kept it.
She hadn’t even dropped an album yet. She was recording a mixtape of cover songs called Idols, from artists who had inspired her to sing.
It was the most anticipated project of the year.
Day was producing, and as she sang, she saw him falling into his infamous head nod. Whenever she was knocking it out the park, he became so engrossed he got lost.
I went from the ground to the top of the clouddddd
And nowww as I look down I see where I felll into your armssss now
I’ve got looooveeeeee
All over meeeeeee
The song was so appropriate. For him. To Demitrius Sky.
The man who had freed a bird from her cage and allowed her to fly.
She missed him. She thought of him every day, hoping that he would pop in to one of her studio sessions, but he never did.
He was more of a silent partner these days.
After accompanying her to the doctor and holding her hand through the abortion procedure, he hadn’t communicated with her since.
Charlie sang the song to its end and then smiled at the thumbs up Stassi gave her through the window from Day’s lap.
They were off and on, hot then cold, but it worked for them.
Her sister was happy and that’s all that mattered to Charlie.
“Charlie, you’ve got to get out of here. You’ve got to meet that realtor so you can sign the papers for the condo,” Stassi said, as she pressed the button to speak into the recording booth.
Charlie nodded, pulling out her phone to check the time.
“Damn, you’re right. Am I good to go, Day?” she asked.
“Yeah, we can do adlibs tomorrow, superstar,” Day said.
Charlie snickered. It was their inside joke.
Her presence had grown online ever since her sex tape had leaked.
She hated it, but as soon as the tape had gotten steam, Day had dropped the video of her singing at the showcase, putting money behind it to get it on the same timelines of people who had liked the tape.
Once they heard her sing, they became instant fans and the conversation changed.
She had been the “superstar” of the label ever since.
She grabbed her bag and her keys and rushed out.
“The realtor wants you to meet her at a property she’s showing! I’ll text you the address!” Stassi called after her.
Charlie followed the GPS for a half-hour before pulling up to a gated property.
“So sorry I’m late!” she said as she hopped out of her car and greeted the woman. “I’m so glad the condo finally sold. You’re cutting the check back to Demi, right?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, arrangements have been made,” the woman said. “The paperwork is right inside.”
Charlie nodded. “Lead the way.”
They stepped inside the massive mansion and the entrance took her breath away.
“Wow, this is a beautiful home. Oh my God.” Charlie gasped as she admired the opulence of it all.
Her high-heeled boots clicked against the marble floors as she followed her to the kitchen. When she stepped inside her heart ached.
Demi sat coolly on one of the bar stools and Bails laid at his feet.
“Bails!” she yelled, dropping to her knees as her dog ran to her, barking in excitement as she rubbed all over him.
Charlie glanced up at Demi and then stood.
The smile he wore was so relaxed. He was relaxed in denim and a white V-neck shirt.
Demi wouldn’t be Demi if he didn’t have diamonds around his neck.
Maybe he was trying to freeze her, because suddenly, she couldn’t move.
Her heart raced as she looked at him, stunned.
She felt like the room was imploding. She didn’t know how to feel. It had been so long since she had laid eyes on him. So many things had gone wrong between them. So much hurt had been passed around. Still, her heart fluttered in his presence.
“Say, man,” he said, giving her a slight nod, like he wanted to speak but was too taken by her to say one word.
She didn’t know why but she loved when he said that. She could tell he was trying to gather his thoughts. Speechless. Charlie made Demi speechless.
“Say, man,” she replied.
“It’s been a year, Bird. I got the paperwork you need right here,” he said.
He handed it to the realtor who handed it to Charlie.
Charlie’s heart sank a little. Selling the condo he had purchased for her was like closing the book on their chapter in her life.
This was their closure. Charlie had been okay for a few months.
She hadn’t felt this active pit in her stomach for quite some time, but just one look at Demi brought all her hurt back.
To love someone but not be able to have them was torture.
She took the paper and she sucked in a deep breath.
A divorce decree. Two signatures. Sealed by the State of Michigan.
Demi was a single man. Charlie felt sick.
He may as well had killed her. She had wanted him almost from the first time he had spoken to her.
It had felt like love from the very beginning but she had spent the past 390 days telling herself that she had been wrong.
So many nights she had convinced herself not to call him, that he couldn’t be the one.
She had forced herself to hate him and now here he was in front of her, available.
“You got a divorce?” she asked.
He nodded. “It was time,” he replied.
She blinked disbelieving eyes up to him.
“I need you to burn me, baby,” he said. “I want to go to Charliezonia, Bird,” he said. “I missed you. Fucking missed my baby.”
“You haven’t spoken to me since...”
He thumbed her lips, stopping her words.
He didn’t need to be reminded of what they had lost. He thought of the baby they could have had often.
He didn’t want today to be about that. He turned to his realtor.
“Can you give us a minute?” he asked. She nodded and clicked away in her five-inch heels, leaving them on the first floor of the home alone.
“It’s been a year, Demi. You left me out in the world to deal for a year,” she whispered. She scoffed and shook her head.
“I had some affairs to get in order, Bird. A lot of loose ends to tie. I had a family that I had to secure. I couldn’t just leave. I had to get closure over there first, make sure my son was straight, get him comfortable with a new normal. It took some time. I’m sorry for that,” he said.
“Shad Brooks? Did you-”
Demi didn’t even let her finish the sentence.
He simply put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to cease that line of questioning.
Her instincts had been right. He had committed murder for her.
A man who went to such lengths to protect you had to love you, right?
It had to be more than lust. She didn’t even know why she was questioning it.
The way her heart beat for this man she knew they were so much more than the scandal of an affair.
“I’ve moved on,” she said. It was only half a lie. Her life had moved forward. She had fallen in love with herself, with her artistry. The pain he had left behind was shaping up to be motivation for a damned fine album.
She turned and walked out the house. It was too much. This interaction. This love she felt resuscitating, it was all just too much.
As soon as she pulled open the door, her feet stopped working.
She turned back to the house and Demi lifted out of the stool, taking steps in her direction.
Her head whipped back to the car in front of her.
Her mother’s car. The one he had scrapped.
It was pieced back together but better than it had been before and it sat with a red bow on the hood.
It was restored. It was exactly how she had remembered it being as a child.
This car had been her home. It had been her safety.
She had spent moments with her mom in this car.
He could give her a mansion worth millions of dollars and it would never outweigh the value of this car.
He had given her the one place she considered home.
“How did you do this? You scrapped it for parts,” she whispered, eyes flooded in disbelief. She couldn’t even see him because tears blinded him. “This isn’t her car. Is this her car?”
“Same car, Bird,” he said. He spoke over her shoulder, nudging her head to the side and then sliding keys in her palm.
Charlie took steps toward the car and then unlocked it, sliding into the driver’s seat. Her initials were still carved in the door frame and as she turned to stare out the windshield she noticed the box sitting near the gear shift.
Her heart stalled.
Demi pulled open the passenger side door and lowered into the seat.
“What is this?” she asked.
Demi finessed his newly-grown beard, a new look for him, one that she loved.
“A new life, Bird,” Demi said. “A new car, a new house,” he said, nodding to the massive home, and “a new ring.” He picked up the box and flipped it open.
Charlie blew out a deep breath.
“I need you to burn me, baby,” he said. “I want to go to Charliezonia, Bird,” he said.
“What are you doing, Demitrius?” she asked. “I don’t know what’s happening right now. I just know I’m afraid of the way you make me feel. Please, Demi. Just let the past be the past.”