I couldn’t help but smile.
J. Love actually laughed, too. “I like him,” J. said to me. “He’s quick witted.”
Alvin took my hand.
“And a little possessive,” J. Love added.
“Bye, J.,” I said, dismissing him.
But before I could turn and walk away, someone yelled, “Maya, J.! This way!” I was about to go off because the paparazzi wasn’t supposed to be able to get into the VIP area. But then I noticed it was actually the photographer assigned by the party promoters.
“Yo, can I get a closer shot of you two?” he asked, motioning between me and J. Love.
“Um, yeah, that’s probably not a good idea.” I held up my hand, which was still intertwined with Alvin’s.
“Oh, come on now,” the photographer replied.
“Yeah, come on now,” J. Love repeated. “I mean, I’m sure your man won’t mind. Will you, Alvin?” he said, stressing his name to make sure he got it right.
Alvin eased in front of me just a bit.
“Dude, it’s just a photo,” the photographer said, staring at Alvin like he didn’t understand the problem.
Alvin looked at me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, but all eyes were on me, so I just shrugged. “He’s right. It’s just a stupid picture.”
Alvin gave me a look like that really wasn’t the answer that he was looking for, but he let my hand go and stepped to the side. I moved closer to J. Love and the photographer immediately began taking pictures of me with J. Love. The flash of the bulbs brought more photographers and before we knew it, there were about five or six photographers snapping away and tossing questions our way. I guess once one of them got in, the rest jumped the rope as well.
I wanted to stop and ask why they were letting the photographers in VIP, but the last thing I wanted to do was get on their bad side. But when one of them said, “Are you guys back together?” I knew it was time to shut it down.
“Oh my God, you guys make such a cute couple!” someone else added.
“Sorry, folks, I’m not with J. Love.” I stepped away from him and draped my arm through Alvin’s. “This is my man.”
In what seemed like a scene out of a movie, the whole place went quiet. Then there were a few snickers, then all-out laughter.
Then, someone in the back of the room yelled, “Are you freaking kidding me?”
Finally, a reporter that I actually did like said, “What’s his name?”
“Alvin Martin,” I said. “He’s the sweetest guy you will ever meet.” That made Alvin finally smile. “Here, why don’t you guys get a few shots of us?” I asked, pulling Alvin toward me. One lone camera began flashing as the other photographers actually started putting their cameras up and walking away. I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed in all my life.
And once again, my boyfriend didn’t seem fazed as he grinned for the one photographer.
Chapter 3
I loved hanging with my girls, especially now that Sheridan and Kennedi—my two BFFs—were getting along good. Now, since Kennedi had moved back to Miami from Orlando and was finishing up her senior year at school with us, we were three BFFs.
For the longest time though, the two of them couldn’t stand each other. Even though I’d known both of them since I was little, they just couldn’t get along. Sheridan—the daughter of mega pop star and actress Glenda Matthews—was a brainiac who pretty much did what she wanted, when she wanted, since her mother stayed on the road all the time. Sheridan’s aunts lived with her and were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but they were usually too busy traveling themselves—off Ms. Glenda’s money—to be bothered.
Kennedi was the laid-back one. Or she used to be. She’d just come off some major drama with her ex-boyfriend and was currently in therapy to get her temper under control, so she’d been trying to take everything in stride lately.
I think each of them used to be jealous of my friendship with the other, which is why they were always going at it. But thankfully, over the past few months, we all had gotten really close. And I loved it.
Today, we were chillin’ at Orange Leaf Yogurt, enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon and people watching. After making a lot of small talk, Sheridan said, “So I heard about J. Love at the club the other night. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrugged. “What was there to tell?” I replied. “J. Love was just being his usual arrogant self.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Kennedi said, smiling. “He was all up in that magazine talking about how much he loves you.”
I shook my head. The Miami Hot Gossip magazine had just come out yesterday and I prayed that Alvin hadn’t seen it. Not that I had done anything wrong, but it was just straight disrespectful. Not only had they made Alvin look like some kind of nerdy creep, but every picture they had used had Alvin lurking in the background. It looked like J. Love and I were the couple, and not me and Alvin.
“So what are you going to do?” Kennedi asked.
“What do you mean, what am I going to do?” I replied. “I’m going to do what I’ve been doing.” I slid a spoonful of the low-fat yogurt into my mouth.
Both of them looked at me like I was crazy.
I studied them for a minute. “Are you all serious? I thought you both liked Alvin.”
“Oh, we do. It’s just that everybody else loves J. Love,” Sheridan said, snickering.
“Since when do I care what everyone else thinks?” I snapped.
“Um, since always,” Kennedi replied. They started giggling like something was really funny.
I waved my spoon in their direction. “That’s not the point. The point is Alvin is my boyfriend. End of story.” I guess the tone of my voice let them know that I was getting an attitude because they threw up their hands like they were done talking about it. Of course, that didn’t last long because after five minutes of talking about some drama from school, we were right back on Alvin.
“So, you’re going to take Alvin to the Icon Awards?” Sheridan asked, referring to the biggest award show outside of the Oscars. It was being held in Miami in a couple of weeks.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.
“You’re really going to have him on the red carpet?” Kennedi asked. She was acting like I was taking Flavor Flav or something.
“And again, why wouldn’t I?”
Both of them shrugged and that made me do a double take. I dropped my spoon back into my bowl as I glared at both of them. “If you have something to say, say it.”
They exchanged glances and, finally, it was Kennedi who spoke first.
“Look, you know we like Alvin. We really do. He’s a cool guy, but he makes your stock go down,” she said.
“That’s jacked up,” I replied, stunned not only that my friends actually felt like this, but that they were sitting here talking about my boyfriend.
“It is jacked up,” Sheridan added. “But it is what it is.”
They exchanged glances again, and then Kennedi said, “Are you going to tell her or not?”
Sheridan gave her a “shut up” look and now I found myself getting mad.
“Okay, you two better get to talking and tell me what’s going on.” When nobody answered, I slammed my hand on the table and said, “Now!”
They jumped a little bit and then Sheridan said, “Look, Savannah Vanderpool told me word from the award folks is that they don’t want you on the red carpet unless you’re with J. Love.”
“What?” I said, shocked. Since when do they get to dictate who someone brings on the red carpet?
“Savannah Vanderpool knows someone who knows someone, who works with the event coordinator,” Sheridan continued. “Apparently, they like the whole Maya—J. Love thing. And when they extended the invitation for you to walk the red carpet, they just assumed you’d be walking with J. Love.”
“Why would they assume that?” I asked.
Both of them shrugged.
“Apparently, they saw the Miami Hot Gossip pics, so
they had Savannah call me this morning to get the scoop,” Sheridan said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So, I’ll walk by my dang self, if it’s that big of a deal.”
“I think they want you with J.,” Sheridan said, giving me a don’t kill the messenger look.
“Well, I don’t care what they want,” I said. I was in a foul mood now. I was sick and tired of everyone trying to put me with J. Love. Been there, done that, had the T-shirt to prove it didn’t work.
“Look, it’s probably no biggie. I’m sure they’ll be happy with you and your man on the red carpet,” Kennedi tossed in.
The way Sheridan averted her eyes and looked down, I definitely knew that wouldn’t be the case.
All I wanted was to live my fabulous life and love my wonderful boyfriend. Why in the world did everything have to be so difficult?
Chapter 4
Despite my hectic world, I enjoyed this time most of all. Just chilling with Alvin, watching movies. It was a perfect way to finish a Saturday night. We’d just finished watching Scary Movie 5 and we’d laughed like it was the funniest thing ever, even though it was corny as all get out. But just hanging around Alvin was so relaxing, and it made me say screw all that mess everyone else was talking, this was where my happiness was.
“So you want to watch another one?” Alvin said, as he popped the disc out of the Blu-ray player.
“No, I’m not going to be able to stay much longer. My mom will call out the SWAT team looking for me soon,” I replied. My parents stayed super busy—my dad running the Morgan chain of hotels, and my mom spending the money my dad made from the Morgan chain of hotels. But they still tried to keep track of my whereabouts and would seriously get to tripping if I didn’t come home at a decent hour.
Alvin placed the disc back in its case, and I grabbed the remote and flipped it to MTV.
“So finish telling me, when is the new design going to come out?” I asked.
Alvin was working on yet another patent. This time, it was something that would revolutionize the Internet experience, and he was super excited.
“Soon. My attorney is working out some last-minute legal stuff,” he said. He was just about to say something else when I noticed his eyes zoom in on the TV.
I turned to see what he was looking at. One of the MTV VJs was interviewing J. Love. I groaned and reached for the remote to change the channel.
“No,” Alvin said, putting his hand over mine to stop me. “Let’s see what your boy is talking about today.” He took the remote from me and turned the volume up just as the VJ said, “So you’re really feeling her?”
My eyebrow rose. Feeling her? J. Love was so disrespectful. Flirting with me yesterday and raving about some other girl today.
“Oh, I’m definitely feeling her,” he told the female VJ. “In fact, I’m in love with her and she’s in love with me, too. She’s just in denial right now.”
“That is so sweet. You’re a man after my own heart,” the VJ said, before turning back to talk to the camera. “Well, you heard it here, ladies and gentlemen. I asked J. Love about the women in his life and he said there’s only one woman he wants, so Maya Morgan, girl, you better get this man.”
My mouth fell open and Alvin lost his smile. Who in their right mind went on national TV and proclaimed his love for a woman who wasn’t his? I stared at the TV, dumbstruck.
“Yeah, you know my boys might not be feeling what I’m doing,” J. Love continued, all but taking the mic back from the VJ, “but Maya is my soul mate. I feel it right here.” He tapped his chest, and the VJ swooned.
“Oh my God! You’re, like, so perfect!” she said.
I reached for the remote, grabbed it out of Alvin’s hand, then snapped the TV off.
“He’s so perfect, huh?” Alvin said, his nose turned up in disgust.
“Come on, Alvin. Really?”
“Whatever, Maya.” He stomped out of the living room. Why in the world was he mad at me? I hadn’t done anything.
“Seriously, you’re going to be mad at me because of something J. Love did?” I asked, following him.
He spun around, a serious expression on his face. “Maya, you need to shut him down.”
“You don’t think I tried that?” I told Alvin. “Every time he calls and texts, I shut him down.”
Alvin cocked his head in shock. “So he’s still calling and texting?”
I wanted to kick myself in the mouth. “I mean, sometimes he calls . . . you know, just to check on me.”
“Oh, and you didn’t think that was something I needed to know?”
“Really, Alvin? We’re going to seriously fight over my ex?”
“Yeah, when your ex is all over TV talking about he’s in love with you.”
At that moment, I wished I could get the nerdy Alvin back because this one that was trying to jump bad was actually not a good look.
“Look, Alvin,” I said. “I don’t want J. Love. I want you. I’m here with you. I can’t control what he does.”
“Whatever, Maya.” He actually waved me off like he was dismissing me or something.
“I just don’t believe this,” I said, standing and grabbing my purse. “When you get out of your funky attitude, call me. I’ll be at home.”
I stomped toward the front door. And then I was shocked when he actually let me walk out the door without trying to stop me.
Chapter 5
I couldn’t believe I’d wasted twenty minutes lost in my thoughts. Alvin had called me before I went to bed last night. He’d apologized for getting jealous and we’d made up. But I couldn’t get J. Love out of my mind. Several blogs had picked up his MTV interview and now it was all over the Internet. Why was he going so hard to get me back?
Even my cousin Travis had weighed in. Since we were only a few months apart, Travis and I were extremely close. He’d lived with us for a while a few months ago, but he’d moved back home to Brooklyn, New York, because his mom was really sick. We’d been keeping in touch via text and Instagram and he’d just texted me, Do u getting back w JL? Lol.
I quickly typed back. No. Hes so out of order. Call u later.
I wished I had time to call him then, but it was like I was always too busy and running here and there.
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than my assistant, Yolanda, poked her head in my office door.
“Excuse me,” Yolanda said. The look on her face told me her news wasn’t going to be good. Her lips were puckered up, like she was in the middle of a disgusting kiss, and she wouldn’t look me in the face.
“Um, please tell me you’re just tired, constipated, or something,” I said, dropping my cell phone back into my purse.
Yolanda didn’t say a word as she handed me a letter-sized envelope. “Your tickets to the Icon Awards are in there.”
“And I’m sitting in a prime spot, right?” I said, taking the envelope. No way was I going to make my debut at the Icon Awards sitting in a jacked-up seat.
“Um, I don’t know exactly where the seats are, but, um . . .” She shifted nervously.
“But what? Spit it out,” I said, tearing the envelope open.
“I do know that they’re in the balcony area,” she said, taking a step back as if I were going to lash out at her.
“Balcony!” I screamed as I jumped up from my chair. “Are you freaking kidding me?” I pulled the tickets from the envelope and almost passed out when I saw balcony printed on them.
“I don’t—”
I cut her off. “Oh, I don’t think so! Maya Morgan doesn’t do balconies! You need to get on the phone right now!” I yelled.
“Th-that’s actually what I’ve been doing for the last thirty minutes,” she stammered.
I could tell that she was nervous as all get out, but she had reason to be because I wouldn’t even go to the awards ceremony, before I sat in somebody’s balcony.
Yolanda continued. “I talked to the planning producer and they said that the seating was speci
fically done—”
I interrupted her again. “Well, who is they? They obviously don’t know who I am. You need to talk to a supervisor or something.”
“I did, because I knew you weren’t going to be happy.”
“You’re doggone right I’m not happy!” I screamed, slamming the envelope down on my desk. “I’m Maya Morgan and they want to put me in the balcony?”
“The booking producer said they could find you one seat up front.”
“One seat?” I said, raising an eyebrow. Now I knew what this was all about. If I leave Alvin at home, I can get a decent seat. If I want to bring my man I have to sit in the balcony? Part of me wanted to go off and tell all of them what they could do for me. But I wasn’t going to go out like that.
“Fine, if that’s how they want to play the game, that’s how we’ll play it.” I grabbed my earpiece, checked myself in the mirror, then headed back to the studio. We were doing a story today on pop star Rickey Gold’s spiral downhill. All that money must’ve been going to his head because he was straight losing it. Today we had an interview with some stripper whom he’d allegedly assaulted so I needed to be focused.
“Do you want me to keep trying?” Yolanda asked.
“You know what?” I told her right before I left out of my office. “Don’t worry about it. If they think they can break Maya Morgan, they need to think again.”
I made my way onto the set and tried to get my head together.
“Stand by, Maya,” the director, Manny, said, giving me my cue as the Rumor Central theme music started playing. “And five, four, three, two . . .” He pointed at me and I began talking.
“What’s up, everyone? It’s your girl, Maya Morgan, and have we got the scoop for you.” I delivered my signature intro with my signature flare, then went on to give the scoop on Rickey Gold. Even though the show was good, my heart wasn’t in it and I couldn’t wait for this show to wrap up.
I had built up my show by breaking all the hot celeb stories. I’d caught a lot of flak because when I’d started, the producers had given me the whole “you need to bring the dirt or get canceled” speech. So I’d sold out a lot of my celeb friends and it had created major drama. But the more popular the show got, the more power I got, so I had told them that . I’d bring dirt, but not from my own backyard. The ratings were down a little, but I was still at the top of my game.
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