by Twyla Turner
They wrapped their arms around each other and held on tightly. Their faces buried in the crook of each other’s necks. Lyris felt the pulse in his neck slow to a steady rhythm. She tried to pinpoint the moment when this man had become her center. Her place of comfort. So much so that when things weren’t right between them, she felt lost and off balance.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered against his neck. “I swear it’s not that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust the universe not to steal my joy right from under me.”
“I know you worry. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you.” Gage said between kisses on her neck.
“Well, technically that wasn’t such a bad way to relieve one’s frustration. Feel free to do that again whenever things get rough.” Lyris said offhandedly.
She felt Gage’s laughter before she heard it.
“Seriously. You do realize I orgasmed like three times, right?”
“I noticed.” Gage pulled back to look at her. “You certainly know how to boost a man’s self-esteem.”
“Hey, that wasn’t me. That was all you,” Lyris gestured down to his flaccid penis. “It’s like your man meat was designed specifically for me. Like the key to unlock my many levels of pleasure.”
Gage squeezed his lips together. “Man meat? You like to make a lot of meat references when talking about Jake.”
“Wait! What?!” Lyris shook her head in surprise. “You named your penis? And you named him Jake?”
“Yeah, as in Jake Ryan. From Sixteen Candles,” Gage grinned.
“But why?!?!” Lyris asked around peals of laughter.
“Because he was the cool guy. All the ladies had crushes on him in the movie and in real life. I wanted to be him when I was younger,” Gage shrugged.
Lyris stopped laughing and cupped his face. “You’re beyond Jake Ryan. You’ve got more swagger in your pinky finger than Jake Ryan had in his entire body.”
“Technically, I’ve only been cool,” Gage used air quotes around the word cool, “for the last three years. Before that I spent twenty-nine years blending into the background. Old habits are hard to break.”
A loud knock on the door startled them apart. Gage helped Lyris jump down from the counter. He pulled up his jeans and briefs while she snatched up her girdle and put it behind her back. Gage walked over to the door and unlocked it.
“It’s about damn time,” Riley grumbled. “Our stuff is still in here and we’d like to get back to the house to knock the fuck out.”
“I’m glad you two made up.” Brandi said as she walked into the dressing room. “That sounded like some bomb ass make up sex.”
Lyris shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed.
“Not everyone heard, did they?” She asked.
“Only half the crew and a couple of fans with backstage passes,” Brandi said nonchalantly.
“Oh, dear God!”
“Ohh! But check this shit out!” Brandi began excitedly. “While you two performed the duet, the dudes that work the catwalk left Natasha’s ass up there for most of the song.”
Brandi laughed hard for several seconds.
“Anyway, I guess she was snapping and frantically waving from the rafters. They finally brought her down and she screamed at errbody!” Brandi slipped into slang to emphasize the moment. “She called up her manager or a record label exec and was crying on the phone about how humiliated she was. And how she wanted the duet removed from any further sales of her album and that she would never perform the song with you again.”
Brandi finished spilling the tea with a smug look on her face.
“Wow!” Lyris said with a cringe. “I mean, that had to be so embarrassing.”
“Don’t feel bad for her!” Brandi shook her head. “That’s what she gets for talking shit about you.”
“What? When?”
“Earlier, when I went back in the house to get your stuff, Gage was snapping on her for rolling up into his house the way she did. Told her that she wasn’t wanted and she was only here because she was jealous of all the attention you were getting. That bitch had the audacity to think you couldn’t compare to her because you’ve got some meat on your bones. And I swear, Gage was about to swing on her. But I couldn’t have my man catching a case. So, I threatened to beat her ass for him.” Brandi was in rare form.
Lyris turned to Gage. “All that really happened?”
“I told you it’s only been you from day one.”
Lyris walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Gage squeezed her back.
“Come on. Let’s go home.”
The next night, for their last show in Brazil, Gage decided to surprise Lyris. He told everyone in the band that he wanted to extend Sex & Sweat. They all agreed.
At the end of the song, the band kept playing. Gage removed his guitar and passed it to one of the stagehands standing off to the side. He walked over to Lyris and clasped her hand. Like the night he’d taught her the sensual dance of Brazilian-Zouk, with his hands he guided her body. The song had been inspired by the carnal Brazilian-Zouk music. So, it was perfect to dance to.
Lyris smiled brightly as he twirled her. She rolled her body against him and the audience cheered her on. They worked their hips to the song, giving the crowd a special treat. At the end, Gage twirled her until she was almost dizzy. Then he pulled her to him, slid his hand behind her neck, and drew her in for a kiss. The fans lost it.
Lyris pulled back slightly and breathed against his lips, “You so did that on purpose.”
“Because I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
And the last few days of relaxation in Rio, Gage made sure everyone knew they were a couple. They were inseparable. His hands on her in some way at all times. As if to reassure himself that she was there.
They spent lazy hours on the beach. They played in the pool. Gage helped Lyris with the songs she was writing for her first album. They also worked on a new duet. They spent time with his parents and the band. They snuck off and Gage showed Lyris around his second home.
One afternoon while they were out, a rainstorm blew in as they walked along hand in hand. They were drenched within seconds. Quickly Gage ran down a little alleyway, pulling her behind him. They tried to wait out the storm under the small eave of the building.
Gage had turned to her and asked her, “Have you ever had your pussy eaten in the middle of a rainstorm?”
Lyris’ eyes had widened. But she didn’t protest when he found himself under her sundress with her leg hiked over his shoulder. Instead, she fucked his face until she came hard with the rain streaming down her face.
Rio would always be the place where they ascended in love.
“I’m seriously going to miss it here,” Lyris said as Nathan drove them to the airport.
“We’ll come back. It’s why I bought a house here, so I can come whenever I want. Now, I has become we.”
Lyris smiled bashfully.
“Yes, my dear. You have to come back. As often as you want. I will miss you,” Adriana said sincerely.
“I’ll try. Maybe after the tour is over.”
“Yes, Gage! You must bring her back. Stay for a month this time, though.”
“You see how manipulative she is, right?” Gage teased his mom.
“I call it persuasive,” she corrected him.
They made it to the airport and his parents hugged him and said their goodbyes. His mother held onto Lyris possibly even longer than she held onto her own son.
They all piled into the jet. Gage held Lyris’ hand as the pilot steered them towards their first stop on the European leg of the tour. London.
A shuttle picked the band up from the airport and headed towards their hotel. Lyris looked out the window at the city passing by. It was a rainy night. And the city lights that reflected in the raindrops made the city glisten.
“I thought London would look older than it does. There are a lot of modern buildings,” Lyris said.
“True. B
ut there’s a lot of historical in between the new.” Gage said as he leaned over her to point out the window. “See?”
Gage pointed as they passed by Parliament and Big Ben.
“That’s awesome!” Lyris smiled.
A few minutes later the shuttle pulled up to a nice hotel. Gage stepped off the shuttle and held his hand out to help Lyris down. The moment she stepped down flashes blinded her. She squinted and lifted her hands up to shield her face from the bright lights. It took her a moment to even realize what was happening. It wasn’t until she heard the voices that it all registered.
“Gage!”
“Lyris!”
“Are you really a couple?”
“Is Natasha really going to sue you for embarrassing her in Rio?”
“Are you going to get married?”
“Are you pregnant?”
They were barraged with questions and camera flashes. Gage wrapped his arm around Lyris protectively and quickly guided her into the hotel where the paparazzi weren’t allowed to follow. Once they were safely inside the whole band looked at each other with wide eyes.
“What the hell was that?!” Gage said breathlessly. “I’ve had a handful of paparazzi come at me, but never like that.”
“You didn’t have this much drama going before,” Brandi commented.
“What drama?”
Brandi gave him a look that said, ‘Are you stupid?’
“Well, you two were in your little cocoon of love in Rio, so I didn’t want to disturb you. But let me tell ya, several videos that documented the humiliation of Natasha have gone viral. The kiss on stage the following night went viral. And Natasha telling anyone who will listen how you two set it all up to humiliate her on purpose and how she wants to sue is making headlines.”
“Fuuuuuuck,” Gage said as he threw his head back and rolled his eyes.
“As if anyone asked her to come to Rio. Or told the audience to boo her.” Lyris shook her head.
“And that’s why she’d never win a lawsuit against us.” Gage reassured her.
“But that doesn’t mean she can’t find other ways to ruin our lives.” Lyris sighed heavily. “Typical. Just typical.”
Gage gripped her hand tightly. A look of worry crossed his face.
“We’ll get through this, Lyris. I promise.” His thumb worried the skin on the back of her hand.
Lyris knew he was scared. Scared that all the drama would push her away. She would try her best not to let it. But she lived in the real world and she knew how cruel it could be.
Gage pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. The moment it came to life his screen was deluged with notifications. Lyris’ eyes widened as the screen lit up with them.
They’d both turned off their phones those last days in Rio. They didn’t care about being in contact with anyone but each other. And since they were inseparable, there had been no need for the distraction of their phones.
“Jesse, has been blowing up my phone for the last couple of days,” Gage said. “I can already tell this is going to be a shit show.”
They were quickly checked in and went up to their suites. Lyris and Gage were now sharing a room. Brandi was overjoyed that she was alone and could bring back girls to her room.
Once inside their luxury suite that looked like a full apartment decorated for an interior design magazine, Gage snatched Lyris up and walked her over to the bed. He made love to her passionately and urgently. His fear of losing her showing itself in his lovemaking. He held her tight afterward as they laid there and talked.
Gage sat up and grabbed his phone when it started ringing.
“It’s Jesse.” Gage said before answering it. He tapped the screen to turn on the speakerphone. “Hey, Jess. You’re on speakerphone. Lyris is here.”
“What the fuck, Gage! Did you really turn off your fucking phone for three days?!?!” Jesse screeched.
“Jess, calm down. I just didn’t want to be bothered for a few days. I’m allowed a break. And you already know that Rio is my partial break during the tour.”
“Yeah, but that’s when shit’s normal. There’s nothing normal about this. Do you know she’s threatening to sue you?”
“By she, I’m assuming you mean Nat. She doesn’t have a fucking leg to stand on. She showed up out of the blue and to my house unannounced. She tells me she wants to do the duet after Lyris has already become a staple of the show. Fans are in love with her. It’s not our fault that the audience didn’t want to hear Nat. We didn’t coerce a hundred thousand people to boo her. She humiliated her own damn self.” Gage snapped.
“Well the label isn’t happy.”
“How are they not? The show wasn’t fully sold out before the tour started. Now, every venue is sold out and record sales skyrocketed. And many fans are calling for a re-release of the duet as a single with Lyris and me, which will bring even more sales. I fail to see the issue.”
“Well, a large section of your fan base is calling for a boycott of all your music and tour.”
Lyris’ eyes widened. Gage looked at her and shook his head, silently telling her not to worry.
“Bullshit, Jess! If the tour is still sold out and record sales are still rising, you know that’s bullshit. That small fucking group probably aren’t even my fans. Those are Natasha die-hards. And the rest are racist, body shaming, assholes, and you know it,” Gage raged.
“Well, whatever they are, they’re making some waves. The label is nervous. When you get back, they’d like to have a meeting with you.”
“The label doesn’t know a good thing if it jumped up and bit them in the ass.” Gage grumbled.
“Well, they are interested in meeting with Lyris. They realize their mistake in passing her up and only offering her a backup gig.”
Gage looked over at Lyris and he winked at her. She fell backwards onto the fluffy bed and pillows they’d already destroyed with their lovemaking.
Is it really about to happen for me? Can I really have it all?
~~~
The next morning, Lyris took a deep breath before turning on her phone. The screen lit up and like Gage’s phone, her notifications blew up. She had several emails from different record labels wanting to chat with her about signing a record deal. She had several text messages from Serena and Sebastian apologizing for ghosting her when she needed them a few weeks ago. And she had a million and one notifications on her social media pages.
With trembling fingers, Lyris opened her Gram app. There was an outpouring of love from all over the world. Mostly from black women and/or plus-size women inspired by her journey. But there was also a flood of vitriol. Pure hatred by people who felt like she didn’t deserve a solo career or Gage. Super fans of Natasha sent a torrent of hate messages. Black men who never had a problem with other black men who dated outside their race, called her the white man’s bedwench, among other nasty things. Bodyshamers told her that Gage was too good for her and told her to kill herself. And racists who felt that she was too dark and too ugly to be with Gage, sent her death threats.
The love and the hate were nearly equal. But one weighed on her far more than the other buoyed her. Lyris knew she should focus on the love. On the women she was inspiring, which had always been her goal. But hatred often spread and infected others like cancer.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked when he looked up and saw her face as they sat at the table in their room eating breakfast.
“It’s nothing,” Lyris shook her head.
“Lyris, don’t lie to me. You have this adorable inability to hide a single thing you’re feeling from your face.” He reached across the table and clutched her hand. “So, I can see that you’re upset. Just tell me.”
“I finally checked my phone.” She began and then fell silent.
“And?”
“And half of it’s wonderful. So many women have been inspired by me.”
“That’s good!”
“I know. But then the other half is awful. Like the worst of the wo
rst. Name calling, bodyshaming, telling me to kill myself, death threats… The list goes on.” Lyris lowered her head.
“Lyris,” Gage said sternly.
She didn’t look up. He got out of his seat and came around to crouch beside her.
“Lyris, look at me.”
She did. But she could barely see him with the tears clouding her vision.
“Don’t you ever believe any of the shit those assholes are saying!” He clutched her arm and shook her gently. “Do you hear me?”
“Yeah,” she said softly.
“Every single person who attacked you is a miserable piece of shit. Every. Single. One of them. No one who is enjoying their life and happy would stop to spew that kind of hatred at someone. Let alone someone they’ve never even met before. Don’t let miserable people pull you down into that abyss with them. Block them. Report them. Turn off your messengers and the comment sections. Stay off of social media altogether if you have to. But don’t let those fuckers win. Jealous miserable people hate to see others winning. And that’s really why they’re mad. Because you’re fucking winning, baby.” Gage finished with a smirk.
Lyris couldn’t help but smile at his passionate speech.
“You’re right.” She took a slow deep breath and let it out in a fast burst. “You’re right.”
“Damn right I am!” He said as he cupped her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. “And I’ll even hire someone to handle your social media. Like an online brand ambassador to check your stuff and report and delete that negative shit before you see it.”
“That’s actually a good idea. Otherwise, I’ll probably never want to get on social media again.” Lyris looked at her phone like it was evil.
“Then it’s done.” Gage said, standing back up and reaching for his phone. “I’ll text Jesse and tell him to hire someone immediately.”
Lyris smiled as his thumbs flew over the keys on his phone.
“I love how protective you get.”