Crown Heart
crown heart
. . .
The moment Kupid came into eyesight wearing that see-through number with that shit covering her nipples, a lump caught in my throat. She threw me off briefly, but I regained my composure quickly. Trae caught that shit, of course, and called me out on my bullshit with another warning about fucking the help .
When the ladies ventured onto the dance floor, I focused solely on Kupid. The way she moved her body bricked my shit up in the rugged Valabasas jeans. I even attempted to focus on other females, the ones scantily clothed. My eyes tended to dart back to Kupid.
“Trae said I need to watch you.” AD came over, chuckling.
I put my cup to my lips and took a sip. “Watch me for what?”
“He claim you fin’ fall head over heels.” AD laughed louder. His belly bounced.
I waved AD away dismissively. “That nigga don’t know what he talmbout.”
AD was grinning as he just stared. “Yeah, aight. When have you flown a bitch out on your PJ, nigga?”
“Watch that bitch shit, AD,” I warned him.
“Maaan, you know what I mean, but answer my question,” he pressed.
Snickering, I replied, “Nigga, I ain’t gotta tell you shit.”
“That’s all I needed to know.” AD walked off, guffawing.
I discreetly watched the three ladies make their way to the restroom. When I didn’t see any nigga grabbing at them, and they disappeared behind the door, I turned my focus back to the crowd. The DJ reached the mic out to me, and I hyped the crowd up. One of my songs, Straight Outta Dreamville ,began to play, and my fans out there began rapping the lyrics word for word. I stood back with a huge grin spread on my lips, my head bouncing with the beat.
I beat my fist on my chest. Trae was yelling the lyrics from the top of his lungs, and AD wasn’t too far away, rapping the lyrics, too. No matter how often we heard those lyrics, we felt them every time.
As the song ended, the ladies emerged from the restroom, and the DJ spun a slow jam. When they returned to the section, Nisha approached me while the two best friends sauntered over to the couch.
“‘Sup?”
“How you feelin’?” Nisha queried.
“I’m straight. Ready to get up out this bitch,” I told her, honestly. I nodded my head over toward the couch. “They enjoyin’ themselves?”
Nisha nodded and smiled. “Yeah, they are.” She squinted. “You can be honest with me, Crown. You feelin’ Kupid, ain’t you?”
I took a sip from my cup.
“She coo’,” was my answer.
Nisha rolled her globes. “What does Trae think?”
“You know Ion give a fuck what that nigga think unless it’s business.”
“She is business.”
I shrugged. Nisha was right, but I didn’t want her to be. I didn’t want her to tell me the same shit Trae was spitting.We left it at that and walked over to the couch. I sat down beside Kupid after asking the two if they were straight, and her sweet-scented perfume filled my nose.
We began a lil’ conversation, which led me to lean over and whisper in her ear. Kupid gently shoved me back with an elbow.
“I’m sure I can find my way around the city just fine,” she finally said.
“I’m sure you can,” I wet my lips, “but would I be wrong if I wanted to take you ‘round the world?”
Her friend beside her acted as if she’d fainted, bringing me to snicker.
“First it was the city, now it’s the world?” Kupid rebutted.
“It’s wherever,” I told her.
Kupid turned her body to face me, and my eyes shot down to her breasts. She lifted my chin with a finger.
“I work for you, and that’s it, Crown.”
“Girl, you are crazy,” her friend hissed.
“Yeah, aight,” I nodded with a smirk. If Kupid didn’t think she was gon’ be mine, she was sadly mistaken.
I had to travel the next few days, so I let Kupid work from home. The weekend came, which was her day off, so I hadn’t seen the beauty in almost a week. All I knew was that she and Nisha were communicating back and forth.
I was currently on a video set with Jania. I hopped on a track that her people had sent over and completed it in less than three hours. We were in a rented house in Miami, lying in bed with one another. The videographer moved around with the cameras, getting all the angles while Jania sang. This was the last and final scene, and then it was a wrap. The song was already a hit once it hit social media, and the speculations of Jania and I being together started up again.
Once the video wrapped up, I trekked to my trailer to grab my shit and bounce back to Heartville. As I was throwing shit in my backpack, there was a light knock on the door, and then it opened before I could even open my mouth. Jania’s head popped in.
“Hey, I thought we could grab a bite before you head home. We don’t ever get to just….chill,” she said.
I dropped my bag on the table and stretched.
“Nah, Jania. I’m out. I gotta get back to the crib and check on shit.” Yeah, check on Kupid. “My PJ ready.”
Jania poked her lip out and slowly walked over to me. I froze when she got too close and snaked her arms around me.
“Jania…Whatchu doin’?” I quizzed, my brows dipping. I was genuinely confused.
“You don’t feel the chemistry between us, Crown?” she giggled. “It’s clearly there.”
Grabbing a hold of Jania’s arms as gently as I could, I removed them from around me. She looked up at me, frowning.
“What chemistry, Jania? You can’t be as delusional as the bloggers and fans. We work good together. We make magic, but that’s about it. I ain’t never tried pushing up on you, let’s be real.”
“I just thought…” her voice trailed off as she wrung her fingers.
“Don’t think next time,” I told her. I scooped my Louis Vuitton backpack up and put it on my back.
“I just thought we could give the people what they want. We’d be good together, Crown. You know this.”
“Jania, you too pretty to be standing here begging a nigga who doesn’t want you.” I brushed past her, shaking my head.
AD was standing outside, and I grilled him.
“Fuck you let her in my trailer fa, nigga?” I spat.
He held his hands up. “Shit, I thought…”
I put a hand up to stop him from speaking further. “All y’all around here just thinking.”
Irritated, I took off to the car with AD keeping up behind me.
“So, you wouldn’t hit that?” he called behind me.
I shook my head and put my AirPods in my ears. I loved my niggas, but the mothafuckas can work my nerves. I needed breaks from their asses too. Being on tour for two to three months straight, for time to myself, I checked into a hotel instead of sleeping on the tour bus. I needed space for myself. Living this life was a dream come true, but it weighed down. Drained me.
The PJ ready? I’m ready to get home.
I shot that text to Trae. His ass been missing in action during the whole video shoot.
Yeah, I’m in the rental.
Inhaling a deep breath, I exhaled with closed eyes. I didn’t pay Trae to sit up in the fuckin’ rental. He was supposed to be nearby and productive. When I came up onto the cocaine white Expedition, I opened the back door and jumped in. AD slid into the passenger seat. Laying down with my backpack as a pillow, I closed my eyes. They popped back open when one of them niggas tapped my leg. It couldn’t have been Trae ‘cause that nigga was behind the wheel, and he knew not to play with me like that. I turned my music down.
“We stoppin’ to eat or what?” AD asked. “All they had was fuckin’ fruit and sandwiches in yo’ trailer. Who the fuck they think they was feedin’?”
“I’m straight. Hurry ‘n grab y’all some shit so we can get up in the air,” I let him know.
“Damn, I wanted to hit the strip club. We in Miami, nigga,” fussed AD.
“Stay shiiiid. I’m out.”
AD smacked his lips, but nothing else came out of his mouth. Trae snickered.
I just wanted to be in my own space…in my own bed.
The next day…
Groaning into my pillow, I blindly searched for my blaring phone. I’d forgotten to put my shit on DND before my eyes had closed last night.
“Yeah?” I answered for Nisha.
“What the hell is this in the blogs about you and Jania hugged up in Miami yesterday at her photoshoot? There is a picture of her with her arms around you, Crown,” she whispered.
“Fuck!” I growled. “The girl tried pushing up on me, and I shut that shit down. There must have been someone outside taking pictures.”
“What do you want to do?” she asked me.
“Shut that shit the fuck down…without embarrassing her.”
I sat up and tossed my feet over the edge of the bed.
“What if she had someone follow her and take the picture? I think Jania loves it when the blogs put you two together,” Nisha suggested.
“I wouldn’t put it past her. Still, shut that shit down.”
“I got you. You just waking up, Crown?”
“Yeah, why?” I queried, glancing at the time. It was a little after noon.
“Just asking. Kupid has been in the office since eight this morning.”
I rubbed my face. “How you know?”
“We’ve been texting, Crown.”
“Why you tellin’ me that?” I questioned Nisha. Standing, I stretched and yawned.
“Even through those dark shades, I saw how you couldn’t keep your eyes off Kupid. She is gorgeous. Like, real gorgeous.”
“Sound like you like her for yo’self.” I laughed so hard while trekking to the bathroom.
“Hell, if I went that way,” she giggled. “I think you should do something for her tomorrow.”
I frowned. “What’s tomorrow, Nisha?”
“Really, Crown,” Nisha smacked. “It’s Valentine’s Day.”
“She ain’t my woman,” I said almost in a high-pitched voice. Fuck was Nisha thinking? “Nisha…if you wanna hear me drain my shit, then stay on the phone.”
She kissed her teeth. “Bye, nigga.”
When Nisha ended the call, I placed my phone on the sink and handled my business in the bathroom. Thirty minutes later, I was walking down the hall toward the office. I was shirtless and in sweats. I thought about going to the gym and getting a workout in, but I wanted to see what Kupid was up to.
The door was cracked, and I knocked although it was still my crib.
“Come in.” Kupi laughed softly. “It’s weird telling you to come in, in your own home.” She was standing by the window sipping from a Starbucks cup. Her brown eyes took in my upper body, and she quickly looked back out the window.
I chuckled. The office smelled like a field full of lemons. A candle was burning on the desk. She looked nice in ripped jeans and a blue and white plaid dress shirt with one side tucked in and the other out.
“How’s everything goin’?” I asked.
“Um…everything is going good. I’ve been sharing your tour flyer and other events you are having and responding to emails and inboxes for your website. I didn’t know you even had merchandise. I might even buy me a shirt.”
“Shit, what size you wear? I have some boxes full of shit in my closet. You might need to start comin’ to work wit’ my face on you,” I jested, but the idea wasn’t a bad one.
“Deduct it from my paycheck. I can still work for you and support you.”
I snorted through a laugh. Kupid was a hardheaded one.
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow .
Clearing my throat, I said, “You can have tomorrow off.”
“Oh, please no.” Kupid shook her head. “I’d rather keep busy, so I have no problem coming in tomorrow.”
I titled my head and leaned against the wall with my hands crossed over my chest.
“Damn, that nigga fucked your heart up that bad?” I queried. “Let that hurt go. It’s obvious he didn’t know what he had.”
Kupid turned her back to me, and I couldn’t help admiring her round backside. That ass was sitting up in those jeans. My hands drifted down, covering my hard-on just in case she turned around.
“You don’t even know me, Crown.”
“You right; I don’t know you like that, but from what I do know, and I’ve seen so far, you’re a laid-back ass female who is about her business. You told me that nigga cheated. Unless you some crazy chick behind closed doors, I don’t understand why he could let someone like you go.”
Kupid lifted her shoulders and dropped them. “All men must cheat.” She spun on her heels and faced me, placing her cup on the desk. “I saw the pictures of you and Jania.”
I chortled and was now annoyed when Jania’s name was brought up.
“One, don’t put me in the category of all men cheat shit. I watched my dad love my mama for years, and I knew as a teenager that’s what the fuck I wanted too. Yeah, I had females here and there as a single nigga. And two, don’t believe everything you see. Jania was pushing up on me, and I had to let shorty down, and someone had to have been outside my trailer taking pictures.”
“Do you have a good relationship with your parents?” Kupid asked. She sat down in her chair, scooting up to the desk, placing her elbows on it and her chin in her hands.
“What? The best. We grew up rough, but they always put me first. They always made sure I had what I needed, so now that I’m up, I send them to see the world on vacations as much as possible. Sometimes I join them, but it’s been a while since I did that.” I ran my hands down my face.
“You don’t have time for yourself?”
“Maaan, I think it’s been almost a year since I had time for myself. I think the last vacation was in Paris, and that was in April,” I told her. I scratched my head. “Yeah, April. I’ve been on go since.”
“Take a spontaneous trip. Like, before you start the tour. Even if it’s for two or three days, do something away from music.”
Kupid sat back, and I thought about what she had just said. A spontaneous trip didn’t sound bad at all…but there was a twist.
“Come with me,” I threw out.