Page 108 of Just Like Summer

She could hear and see him wiggle out his bed and patter his feet down the hall to the bedroom Fredo and Cherayne were sound asleep in. He climbed on top of his great-grandfather and shook him.

“Papa,” he whispered loudly. “Mommy is on the face.”

Fredo popped up. “Mila, you good?”

“I’m fine. I’m headed back. My baby is homesick,” she spoke quietly, making him groan.

“The boy is fine. You can’t just run back every time he wants you,” he quietly fussed.

Truth was, she needed him too before the truth of his existence made everything complicated. “I can and I will. I’m headed to the airport.”

“Aight, fine,” Fredo groaned before hanging up.

Kamilla slipped out of the bed, got dressed, collected her things and quietly left the hotel suite. She sent Kwan and CiCi separate texts giving them instructions to provide East with security and assistance to Cairo. While she sat in the airport waiting for the next flight back home, she scheduled her emails to legal and Fahaad. Without question, she’d only have a few days to prep herself for storm Cairo.

forty-four

He woke up to nothing. Every trace outside of her lingering scent and an eyelash cluster, gone. The only number he remembered was disconnected. There was a swirl of irritation and dare he name it, abandonment. His own childhood traumas coming out to play at the most inopportune time. He had commitments. East was depending on him to be on the sound stage hyping him up as he rapped the lyrics they’d worked out the night before.

After he dressed and packed his things, he made a phone call to Fahaad. He heard what she said last night and understood it completely. She’d been working harder than her peers to get where she was. This call wasn’t to undermine her; this call was to put a connection together. When everything cleared, he wanted his talent ready and protected.

“C4, how’s the desert treating you? Found you something soft to dive into?” Fahaad asked.

“Could’ve sworn I came out here to work,” Cairo replied. “I’m gon’ keep this short because I got to get to this stage and some shit threw me off this morning. You got space to manage someone else?”

“New, old, or established?” Fahaad quizzed.

“New. Azul. Good head on his shoulders, we just got to keep him out of bullshit,” Cairo answered. “Meaning I’m bringing him back to L.O. and putting him up in a spot.”

“Aight, tell you what. I’ll get up with you on Monday, and I’ll see how this young bull moves,” Fahaad seemingly agreed.

“Aight.”

The call ended and in stride Cairo, was riding the elevator down to his room. The moment the doors opened, East was on the other side, ready to go. The men continued the ride, both in their own heads. Hitting the lobby, they strolled off, being met by CiCi and her iPad.

“Good morning, Cairo. Kamilla has given me strict instructions to assist you for the rest of the weekend. Kwan is outside waiting,” she spoke professionally, flashing both of them a smile.

Cairo scoffed lowly to himself. The audacity to steal off on him in the middle of the night but still make sure he was covered. Yeah, she still loved him and was playing the most unnecessary game of denial. This only cemented that after East won the hype competition, they were all on the first thing smoking.

“Shit, I don’t have to run? Hell yeah,” East jeered, taking off toward the breezeway where Kwan was waiting.

“CiCi,” Cairo grumbled.

“If you ask me where she is or if I can call her or give you her number, the answer to all three is no. Not because I wouldn’t want to because you’re big and scary and snarling at me. But because she’s bigger and scarier and this is the first time in two years that I’ve been assigned to the field, so I won’t fuck it up. You’ll just have to hunt your prey, and something tells me if you caught her once, you’ll catch her again,” CiCi rambled off the answer to all of his questions.

He groaned inwardly. “Fair. How about this, call the pilot and tell him we’re wheels up when we get off the stage.”

“Now that’s more like it, Mr.C4,” CiCi agreed, tapping on her screen and sashaying to the exit.

C4: tell Dania I need a hot plate of food in my hand in five hours

Nate: you gonna have me cussed out, take her with you when you done

C4: Hell nah, that’s yours to have and hold

On the sound stage, Cairo stood in the wings, watching East rap his heart out. Pure, raw, loyal talent that he was proud to have snatched up before the vultures did. The sound of hardbottom shoes entering his space caught his attention briefly.

Sincere came with his hands up. “Peace, nigga.”