Page 14 of Watercolors
Four
Ocean was true to his word.
When Aaliyah arrived back home, there were two security guards waiting for her. They kept the relentless reporters at bay and allowed her to get into a chauffeured car to go to work. At Watercolors, there was more press waiting for her and more security held them back.
Aaliyah didn’t bother to check her social media for the rest of the day and didn’t want to suddenly put any page on private or completely delete it. She also made sure to not read any comments or go to the ubiquitous gossip pages who tagged her so she could defend herself.
Defend herself from what, she thought? There was nothing to say. Ocean’s paid photographers caught them kissing and that’s it. They weren’t dating. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. They were…
What were they, she pondered. Ocean thought he was so cute and slick waltzing back into her life as if the last several years didn’t matter at all. But when Aaliyah thought about how sweet and full his lips were on hers…
Aaliyah shook her head. She would be damned if she was going to be caught up in Ocean again. She was left hanging with a broken heart and a wet ass, to boot. Never again. Never with him.
Still, Aaliyah did like having security around her. She was chauffeured to work in a AMG Mercedes. She instructed her assistant, Katrina, to only take calls regarding tattoo bookings. If they were the press, they were immediately hung up on.
Despite her wavering feelings towards Ocean, Aaliyah had an innate need to protect that man. She didn’t know if she was simply wasting her time for doing so or if she really loved him.
Love. It was a funny emotion. Sometimes people would forget how they feel about someone until they’re hastily reminded about them in a harsh way. Aaliyah wondered if she would ever stop loving Ocean Ellison.
As she and Katrina watched the news covering her, Aaliyah wondered if what she was feeling was similar to other women who date famous and powerful men. It was one thing if she was completely anonymous but she was well known in the tattooing industry.
She wondered if she was going to get an uptick in business because of her association with Ocean. Was there really no such thing as bad publicity?
“I have three pieces to do today.” Aaliyah said over a cup of chai tea sweetened with just a smidgen of blue agave. “And then, I have yoga but I might skip today’s session and go home and do it there.” She took a sip. “And then I’ll finally turn off every piece of Internet and chill until my meeting with the network tomorrow.”
Katrina smiled at her boss. She was a younger black woman, with long hair, and a bright personality. Her role in the shop was to handle all of Aaliyah’s business affairs. They sometimes talked about men, sex, and spilled plenty of tea between them.
The fact Aaliyah was unusually quiet meant something was amiss. Aaliyah was locally famous and was shouted out in enough hip-hop records where she had a respectable following online. She was a judge once in a tattoo competition show, where fans revered her for giving solid advice and not being harsh on the competitors like her fellow judges.
She never partied. There were no pictures of her popping bottles. One never heard of her getting into any fights. When people filmed at her shop, she was respectful and kind. Everyone had nothing but praise for her.
Now Aaliyah was the top story in the world of social media, where news is delivered before confirmation of the truth was given. People dissected her tattoos, her background, and wondered aloud how an Ellison ended up with her.
It was clear the newfound attention did not sit well with Aaliyah. It was one thing to have her own reality show on VH-1, where numerous other Z-list black-famous people have shows; it was a different ball game when she was the front and center news story at CNN every hour, with people talking about wedding bells when Aaliyah still wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with Ocean.
“Did you want to talk about it?” Katrina asked.
Aaliyah slowly shook her head. “It’s best that I don’t. I’m not sure where it’s going and I don’t want to comment on something unless I know where I stand with him.”
“I thought it was pretty clear,” Katrina giggled, “I mean, that was some kiss!”
“It was,” Aaliyah couldn’t help the big smile that curved her lips. “But a kiss is just that. We didn’t have sex. We’re not dating. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“So what are you?” Katrina asked. “Clearly, he’s feeling you.”
“I don’t know yet. I’m supposed to see him next month and maybe that’ll clear some things up.” Aaliyah shrugged. She was still unsure as to thewhyOcean wanted her to fly to D.C. She wasn’t going to complain, however, since it was his dime.
“So, should I start calling you Aaliyah Ellison?” Katrina teased. “It does have a nice ring to it.”
Aaliyah’s smile quickly faded away. She’d practiced saying Aaliyah Ellison for weeks as she shopped for bridal gowns and researched event planners. The memory still burned a deep hole in her heart. “No.” Aaliyah stood up and took another sip of tea. “I’m still very much Aaliyah Smith until the right man tells me to change his name to his. O never did that.”
“O…O…O…” Katrina pondered aloud until her eyeballs grew wide. “Wait a minute…O…that’s Ocean Ellison? That’s the guy you kept talking about who broke your heart and was the king of fuckboys of all fuckboys?”
Aaliyah didn’t realize how harsh she was in describing Ocean. Then again, she couldn’t feel too bad. He did deserve her scathing criticism and then some. “That’s the one.”
“Wow,” Katrina shook her head, “and you two dated for how long?”
“Six months,” Aaliyah bristled. It was the most amazing six months of her life in hindsight. He introduced her to exquisite art museums and explained the history of certain pieces. She introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and explained why Iron Maiden was one of the best metal bands in ever.
