28. Hiss #2
"The Romi track. The one that ended up on MikkiLeaks."
She picked at her nail polish. "What about it?"
"You leaked it."
"Did I?" Still not looking at me.
"Yeah. You did."
She finally met my eyes, and there was no guilt there. Just that familiar defiance. "Prove it."
"Audio forensics did."
Her lips tightened, but she didn't deny it. "Okay." She shrugged. "So what? It's out now. Everyone's talking about you. You're welcome."
I kept my voice level. I glanced through the glass. A few people were looking our way now, no doubt wondering what we were talking about. Then I caught movement near the bar and my stomach dropped.
Romi. Standing about forty feet away, drink in hand, talking to someone but not really listening to them. Her eyes were on us standing in this private room that suddenly felt like a fishbowl.
Skye noticed, followed my gaze, then smiled. She took a step closer, closing some of the distance between us. "She's watching," Skye said, quieter now. "Guess she cares after all."
I didn't move back, didn't want to make it obvious I was trying to create space. "I didn't ask you to do that. Leak the track."
"You weren't gonna do it yourself." She took another step, and now we were close enough that anyone looking in would think this was intimate. "You were gonna sit on it forever while you made googly eyes at her from across rooms. At least now she knows you exist."
"She knew I existed."
Skye laughed, sharp enough that someone outside might've heard it. "As what? Competition? Please. Now she knows you got teeth. That's what matters."
"That's not how I wanted—"
"I don't care how you wanted it," she cut in, and her hand came up like she was going to touch my arm but stopped short.
The almost-touch somehow worse than if she'd made contact.
To anyone watching, it would look like we were having the type of conversation exes have when they're thinking about not being exes anymore.
I looked back toward the bar. Romi had turned away now, talking to whoever was next to her, but her shoulders were tight. The set of her jaw visible even from here.
"Why do you care?" I asked, bringing my attention back.
"Because I—" Skye stopped, jaw working. "Because you're out here fumbling the bag over some chick who doesn't even fuck with you like that. It's embarrassing to watch."
There it was. The real thing underneath.
"You are jealous."
"I'm realistic." She stepped even closer until we were too close for what this conversation actually was.
"You think she's different, but she's not. She's gonna use you for the moment and then move on. That's what people like her do."
"People like her."
"Yeah. People with actual power." Her voice went tight. "You're—you're new. You're shiny. But that wears off. Ask Niko what happens when the Queen gets bored."
"You can't even say her name."
Skye's jaw worked. "I don't need to. You know exactly who I'm talking about."
"Yeah, I do. Romi." I let it sit there between us. "This whole thing is about Romi. Just say it."
"Fine. Romi, your dream girl. The one you've been letting lead you around by the nose while she acts like you're beneath her. Happy now?"
I finally took a step back, needing the space, needing it to be clear that whatever this looked like, it wasn't that. "Yeah, actually. Because at least now I know what I want."
"And what's that? To get used and tossed like everyone else she's—"
"That's my problem, not yours." I cut her off. "Akasha, we're not together anymore. You don't get to have opinions on my life."
She flinched. "Right. Because you made that real clear when you left."
"I did what I had to do."
"I had to trash your fucking apartment to get a reaction," she said, voice cracking slightly on the edges. "And she just has to exist and you're writing songs about her?"
"That's not fair—"
"Fair?" She laughed, sharp and bitter. "You want to talk about fair? I was right there, Cam. Right fucking there! But I was never enough to make you feel like that."
"Being there didn't stop you from fucking Bishop, Skye.
And the bad part? You did it to hurt me.
Wanted me to lose it." A beat. "I didn't even blink.
You should've asked yourself why a thing like that didn't touch me.
" I let that sit. "It's because I was already gone.
What we had and what she has with me—those were never the same thing. Never."
"The same as what? Her making you feel seen? Please." Her eyes were bright now, too bright. "I saw you. You just didn't like what I saw!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Fuck. Maybe she was right. Maybe she did see me. The hungry parts, the selfish parts, all the shit I kept tucked away. And maybe I'd hated her for holding up that mirror. For showing me exactly who I was when I was clawing my way up.
"You were always front and center for your career. Always for your career." Her voice went tight. "So you left. The group. Me. You fumbled a bad bitch and ain't even blink. Everything—you bounce when it stops serving you."
I didn't have an answer for that. Because it was true. At least the leaving part was.
"At least I own it," she continued, voice dropping lower and meaner.
"At least when I leak shit and stir up drama, I know what I'm doing.
You? You're out here pretending you're above all this while you write diss tracks you're too scared to drop yourself.
Don't act like you're better than me because you feel guilty about it now. "
"You can't even get a feature without attaching yourself to someone else's drama, Akasha. Ever ask yourself why?"
That landed. I watched it hit.
"Fuck you, Cam," she said quietly.
"You did that. Multiple times. It didn't fix whatever this is."
She grabbed her bag, movements sharp and angry. When she walked past me toward the door, her shoulder brushed mine—another moment that would look different from the outside.
She stopped at the door, hand on the handle. "You a whole ain't shit ass nigga, Cam. And know what? I hope she does break your heart. At least then you'll finally understand how it feels. Feel free not to call."
"I won't call you either way."
"Good. Because I'm done being your safety net when you crash out." Skye looked at me for a long second, then left.
I stood there alone, my reflection scattered across too many glass walls. Through the glass, I scanned the room for Romi. Found her near the bar, leaning in close to talk to someone—her handler, probably, based on the clipboard. They were gesturing toward the exit.
Romi looked up then, like she felt me watching. Our eyes met—bang, just like that. Something sharp ticked across her face, gone before I could name it. Her eyes narrowed a flash before she caught herself and went all marble statue again. Too late, though. I'd already seen it.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but the way her mouth went flat told me everything I needed to know. She'd seen the argument with Skye and drawn her own conclusions.
Wrong ones, probably.
Shit.