Page 26

twenty

. . .

Bonnet covered coils, blue mud pore eraser mask slathered over her face, oversized t-shirt, and her feet rubbing together as she watched Real Wives of Los Oceania.

Now that she wasn’t actively working on a million projects, she had time to catch up on reality TV.

Simply put, Eden was bored out of her mind.

Since the show wrapped, she’d reorganized her closets, rearranged her room, and living space.

Staysha was too busy to lie around and do nothing with her, so this is what she was reduced to.

A lonely, bored, has been. The thought was as depressing as it was irritating.

“Meg is so dumb,” Eden huffed. “Of course, she’s sleeping with your husband. Why else would they have her on the show?”

Eden grabbed her phone and huffed to herself. “I'm so damn bored, I’m talking to the TV expecting it to talk back.”

Navigating through various social media apps, she scrolled, reading rumors about herself man hopping from Rico to Maximus, and whatever other lies they spewed about her and her body count. Now, she’d been with every man she shook hands with.

“And this shit,” she huffed again. “These people need to get lives and stay out of my business. I don’t even have any business for them to even be in.”

Just as she navigated from screen to screen, an unknown number sent her a text.

Unknown number: how’s this? [view attachment]

“What the fuck?” she muttered as she texted back and prepared to block the number.

Eden: Who is this?

Unknown Number: Incoming FaceTime.

Against her better judgment, she answered. If she weren’t bored out of her mind and needed something else to do other than watch TV. It took the call two seconds to connect, and Maximus’ smirk graced her screen.

“I interrupted something?” he questioned.

Eden tried to make a scowl with her tight face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You got a little something on your face,” he said with a chuckle.

Eden dropped the phone and covered her face with a nearby blanket. “Oh my God! Get off my phone.”

“What Poppi tell you about answering the phone for strangers?” Maximus continued to joke as Eden unwrapped herself from the couch and whisked into the bathroom. Hearing the rush of water, he said, “You didn’t have to. You a cute alien.”

Eden held her middle finger over the camera, earning a chuckle. “What do you want? It’s like midnight. Don’t you have albums to record, clubs to be in, women to be with? I don’t know, something other than bothering me?”

“Don’t you got something else to do than sit on the couch like a granny?” he toyed. “What kind of tea were you drinking?”

“I’m not telling you,” she huffed, snatching the phone from its place on the counter. Free of the mud mask. “What do you want?”

“You to listen to that track and tell me what you think,” he shared.

“Do you say please? Like ever?” Eden pushed back. Her smart mouth wasn’t doing anything but intriguing him more. The more she tried to act like he didn’t stir up things inside of her, the more he’d poke and prod until he found the evidence that the feeling was mutual.

“Nah. Listen to it,” he softly directed.

Eden reclaimed her spot on the couch, wrapped herself back up in the blanket, and hit the audio file.

While she listened intently, Maximus watched her with the same attention she was paying his music.

He trusted her ear, trusted her opinion, trusted her.

Eden listened for two full minutes before looking at him.

“That ain’t it. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not you. It's very mainstream.”

“Heard you, pull up. I got something I'm in the middle of, I need you to help with.”

“No. Two things. Ain’t nothing open but legs, asses and gas stations right now. And you didn’t say please.”

“What you got to do?” Maximus asked in laughter.

Eden rolled her eyes. “Drink my hibiscus tea and mind my damn business.”

He licked his lips. “Thing is, I’m trying to be your business, and in order for that to happen, I need you here. Your ride is already on the way.”

“Cancel it, I’m not coming,” she sassed, knowing good and well she was going to go, pass the time and enjoy being in his space again.

“Eden.” Maximus’s baritone made her core quake and tighten. Her name had no business coming off his lips sounding like that.

“What Trae Way?” she snipped, hoping to mask the want.

“Please.”

“Uh uh. Nope. Good luck, have a good night,” she hummed, before hanging up. She stood up from her reclined position on the couch and pranced back down the hall to her room. “Calling me, looking like that, and thinking I’m about to just get dressed and go because he ordered a JoyRide.”

She fussed as she was pulling a pair of new sweats off a hanger, put on sneakers, moisturized her face, pulled her curls out of the bonnet, and into a big bun. Down the elevator, she texted Staysha, still fussing.

Eden: Why did you give that man my number? I was texting from my email on purpose.

Stay: No idea what you’re talking about.

Eden: No? For some reason, he thinks I'm just going to get dressed and go sit with him at a studio.

Stay: Oh yeah, so what kind of JoyRide he ordered your bougie ass?

Eden stepped off the elevator and spotted the platinum JoyRide under the pavilion of her building.

Eden: I wouldn’t know because I’m not going

Stay: So your Joy360 pin is moving because you’re having a dance off through the lobby?

Eden: I don’t know why it’s moving. Maybe it’s a glitch

Stay: Have fun

Eden: I won’t because I'm not going

Eden strolled out of the building and climbed into the back of the blacked-out SUV.

All of it was out of her norm. Sure, there were men she went out with from time to time in some grand fashion because they wanted to be seen.

With Maximus, it felt genuine. It felt like he liked her for her, and he wanted to be around her off the strength of that alone.

So here she was, walking into the studio, trying to school the butterflies in her stomach.

“I feel like I’m sixteen,” she scolded herself. “Damn near thirty and giddy. How was your grandmother a gangsta, and you’re about to go out like a simp?”

The door to Studio B opened, and Maximus appeared in the hallway. His intentions were to meet her outside and walk her in, but Eden’s nerves had her moving quickly.

“You know, for someone who ain’t here, it’s nice to see you,” he spoke, leaving only a couple of inches of space between them. “You need anything?”

“Nope, because I’m not here,” she quipped before she offered him a half smile. “You gon’ let me hear what you got cooking, or are you going to stare at me all night?”

With a swipe of his tongue over his full lips, he allowed her some space to walk past him. Maximus allowed himself to be elevated by the softness of her scent, and like a puppy, he followed the cloud into the studio.

“Gary, this is Eden. Eden, my engineer, Gary,” Maximus introduced.

Contrary to what Maximus had presented himself to be, she was expecting a studio full of women, clouds of smoke, and liquor everywhere. From the looks of it, he had locked himself in here in hopes of coming out with something organic to who he was.

Politely, Eden offered a wave before sitting down in a chair out of Gary’s line of sight and out of the way of the sound board. Maximus made note of that. Any other woman in her position would’ve come in loudly and opted for being seen and heard.

“Play back that third track,” Maximus stated, as he took a seat on the other side of Eden. He needed to observe the way the music resonated with her. If she didn’t respond, he was scrapping it and starting over.

Eden’s ears were tuned to the raspiness of Maximus’ voice as it came through the speakers.

“I gotta whole lot of shit on my chest. Trae Way. Been movin’ through life with a chip on my shoulder. Saw some bullshit made my heart a little colder. A nigga got visions and dreams, but I keep a clip in the holster.”

Eden nodded her head before nudging him. “Stop it real quick.”

Maximus got Gary’s attention, and the music paused. “You ain’t fucking with it.”

She caught a glint of defeat in his eyes. “Gary, you mind giving us a second?”

“Nah, do your thing,” Gary said, as he stood and gave them the room.

Once alone, Eden turned to face him full on. “Why are you doubting yourself?”

“You can hear it?”

She nodded. “Hear it, see it. Almost like you don’t know if this is what you deserve.

I don’t know your life story, or all your struggles, and you don’t need to tell me.

What you need to do is put it all on this album.

Don’t leave anything behind either. Now, as far as this song goes, I like the intro.

You could use a female voice to say Trae Way.

I think that’ll be dope. Who you know who will pull up right now? ”

“You,” he shared. “You should do it.”

“Uh uh. Boy, I am not going in there. I mean someone like Sadi G or-”

“Eden Sage,” he said plainly. “You here. Your voice is smooth, and you seem to know what you talkin’ about.”

“Nope,” Eden said, swaying her head. “You already got me here, and I am not going in that booth.”

Maximus stood up and held his hands out. A softness over his face eased her protesting. As Eden placed the palms of her hands in his, he gently pulled her to her feet. “I think your no lowkey means yes.”

Eden rolled her eyes and removed her hands from his. She stomped into the booth and sat down. Maximus entered and grabbed the headphones. “You know my services aren’t free.”

Before he donned her ears with the headphones, he let a grin cross his lips, showing his teeth. “How you want payment?”

Eden’s cheeks flushed as the headphones were placed on her head. Playfully pushing him away, she fought a giggle. “Oh, get away from me. You get on my nerves. I tell you no, and somehow you get yes.”

“Sounds like some Trae Way magic to me.”

“Anyway, get Gary in here so I can record this and go home where I’m supposed to be.”