Page 30 of Are You Going to Love Me

“How big? Can’t be too big if you’re trying to get me too.”

“Eden Sage. She’s that girl. Runways, magazines, brands, and hopefully some TV shows. I did that in four years. You can’t drive down the boulevard without seeing her face.”

Maximus knew, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “Aight, so tell me, in detail, what you’re going to be able to do for me. Rapis who I am, but I’m open to expanding, showing the world I’m just not a gangsta from Trae Way.”

Staysha hummed. “Well, there is this show that needs a rapper for the final three episodes. They emailed me this morning asking if I knew anyone. If you’re up for it, I can put you on.”

Maximus looked at Keon. “What you think?”

“I think it’ll get everyone familiar with your face, your voice, your brand. I say three episodes can turn into something bigger,” Keon shared.

Maximus turned back to Staysha. “Aight, look, let's see how you put this kick back together and see what this show is hitting for, and I’ll consider bringing you on. I got to get to the studio but y’all chop up this brand shit.”

“Oh, MB, one little thing,” Staysha started up, holding her pointer and thumb half an inch apart.

“What?”

“Do something with this situation,” Staysha commented, motioning circles around her face. “The afro is cool, but maybe some braids, a line up. Facial, maybe?”

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

Maximus stood up and roamed out of the restaurant in hopes of finally being played something that talked to his spirit and not the whack bullshit these producers had been trying to sell him.

fourteen

. . .

“You don’t hearme talking to you?” Eden asked, as she stood in the mirror, not liking the outfit she pulled together. Or any of the five she’d put on thus far. All in a pile, she took off the crop top and added it to the pile of garments.

“Huh?” Staysha asked, popping her head up from the iPad. “What’d you say?”

“Nothing…just trying to find something to wear. What are you so consumed with?”

“Soooo this morning I got an email about you joining the cast of Get Richer for the final three episodes of the season.”

Eden squinted and poked her lips out. “Isn’t that the show about the strippers? They want me to be a stripper? I’m not going fo-”

“Noooo, they want you to be the girlfriend of the DJ slash rapper who just got his big break. Like the part is literally yours,” Staysha shared, leaving out the part that she was trying to sell Eden and Trae Way MB as a packaged deal. Even if they hadn’t met yet, she could see it. His ruggedness matched with her softness on screen and maybe in real life. Chef’s kiss and a marketing Hail Mary. A long shot, but worth it if it made it to the end zone.

“When does it start? I mean, it’s not like I have anything else going on. Sure. Why not, tell them yes and give me three minutes of your time.”

Staysha tapped a series of keys on the keyboard she paired with the iPad and then picked up her phone to send a few more messages before looking at Eden. “Keep the Jesipi shirt on, put on some short shorts. The shirt is long enough to cover everything up. Wear those thigh-high boots you still have in the box and the black and white flannel. Keep your hair just like that.”

“You should probably add stylist to your list of jobs, too.”

Staysha smacked her lips and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Been did that. But the look is effortless. It gives I just threw something on and came here and I’m still the baddest bitch in the room.”

“I don’t want to be the baddest bitch in the room, I just want to play the back get in and get out,” Eden shared as she rummaged through her drawer and pulled out a pair of black spandex shorts. “You told them this wasn’t an all-night thing, right?”

Staysha lied. “Yeah, I told them. Relax. And to your point, you are always the baddest bitch in the room and it’s time for you to stop playing small like you’re not her. Look at all that work Natavia is doing to discredit you.”

“I haven’t really been in a lot of rooms without her there. Or that stamp of approval,” Eden shared with a slight grimace. “It sounds stupid.”

“It sounds like you had a friend you were a great friend to, and they weren’t yours. It happens. Shit I still want to trip up Gigi Watkins from the second grade.Ol’ hoe.”

Eden laughed as she walked into her closet to grab the flannel and the heels. “You got to grow up!”

“Soon as that bitch says sorry for ditching me for Sarah Rodgers. All because Sarah’s daddy was pimping out the corner store and kept her with the newest toys.”

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