47. 🅰🅱️Comfortable 🔤

As soon as we walked through the doors of the bookstore, I was at a loss for words. A.B. and I walked around and eventually lost one another. There were so many interesting areas in this place. It felt like I was actually inside one of the books. Then, a book caught my eye. It was beautiful in color and cover. I don't even think the title was in English or any language I knew.

"What did you find?"

I looked to my right to see A.B. I smiled as I walked over to him. "A really nice book cover, but it could be something crazy inside. You know they say not to judge a book by its cover."

A.B. smirked, "Did you open it to find out?"

I thought before answering, "Nah. I'm sure I won't understand it. Do you know what time is it?"

With an hour and a half left before my approaching meeting, we left the bookstore and grabbed some food on the way to Lydia's Performance Arts Studio. A.B. parked a few spaces away from the front door.

"We should eat. You got about 45 minutes until your meeting," A.B. told me.

Little did he know, I was sneaking French fries while he was busy driving. I pulled my chicken sandwich out of the brown bag and unwrapped it to take a bite. I suddenly felt guilty when I heard A.B. praying. I stopped chewing and waited till the end of the prayer.

"Amen," he said.

"Amen," I said before chewing. Forgive me, Lord.

A.B. started, "I didn't think I'd get to spend this much time with you. This will be like our second day trip."

He had a point. "This is another day trip! I can't believe you and Zeke are business partners now. That makes you and me even closer." How many times do I have to think before I speak? I quickly took another bite of my food.

"How are feeling about the record company, your music, your life in L.A. - everything?" He asked me.

I blew air from my mouth. "Where do I start? It's been fun, but it's also been strange. Like, for one, I'm living in a mansion with my own extravagant room. You have to see it when we go back. And I get all my meals cooked. Maximo is the family driver, and he takes me wherever I need to go. Best part is no one ever bothers me. I know I annoy Zeke with my questions, but he never really answers them. His brother doesn't live in the house but randomly shows up at odd times. And now Zeke's brother and assistant are dating. When Monica was visiting me, she said she saw Zeke's assistant in his room even though Zeke said no one has access to his room. I'm not as bold as Monica to ask about it.

"As far as music, I'm loving it. I've connected with a songwriter named Melody Paris or Mel Pari. And I've been able to write more music for my album. On the weird side, I've had some dreams... Well, they start off good, but then they turn into nightmares. The last one I had was about the president at RiSe Records, Ricky Santana. I found out he dated a hacker that is now harassing his twin sister who is the CEO of RiSe Records? Sometimes, I feel like I need to wear earplugs around some of those people. But my girl Aja Frost is like my best friend. It sounds crazy to say that, but that's how everything's been."

A.B. asked me, "Okay, and nothing's bad happened to you, like no one has tried to hurt you?"

His concern made my heart melt. "Oh, no! This might sound crazy, but I believe that has a lot to do with Zeke. Remember our fake relationship?"

A.B. slowly nodded his head.

Time to change the subject. "Enough about me, though. How's Mr. Dave doing?"

"He has to go to therapy in hopes of being able to walk, again. My mom is staying with my aunt to help her out."

"That's so sweet of her. I really hope Mr. Dave gets better and makes a full recovery," I told him.

A.B. added, "Me, too. I got about four people that applied for the manager position at Music Bravos. I'm going to check them out tomorrow and then schedule interviews."

I placed my hand on his shoulder, rubbing it. Yep, that's all muscle. "I believe it will work out. Just keep me updated." I removed my hand.

"Thanks, Jamie. I will." A.B. finished his food before saying, "You don't have to answer this, but I've been trying to figure out what's that in your bag." He pointed.

I looked at my duffle bag and giggled when I saw my wig hanging out of it. "That's Sia."

"Sia?"

I nodded my head as I grinned. "When I go to RiSe Records or any place as Jae the artist, I wear that grayish-silver wig and dark sunglasses. It's how people will recognize me. Without it, I'm just Jamie. I can live a normal life... like now."

"That's really smart," A.B. said, "Do you think you'll be able to keep it up?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I've thought about that, too. The only people who have seen me without the wig and sunglasses and know that I am Jae the artist is Zeke, Aja Frost, Ricky Santana... my makeup artist, you, and Rochelle."

"That's a handful," A.B. told me.

"Speaking of Rochelle, she still hasn't given me a bill. She's not gonna surprise me at the end of the year. Is she?" I asked him.

A.B. chuckled, "It's taken care of."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What time is it?"

A.B. glanced at his watch. "You got 10 minutes."

I grabbed my wig out of my duffle bag and put it on. I tried to use the mirror in the sun visor, but it was too small. I turned to A.B. "Is my wig on straight?"

A.B. smiled as he looked at me. His eyes. His nose. His lips. Those teeth. Sir, please don't make any sudden movements. He said, "It's a little off."

"Please, fix it," I begged.

With his hands, he straightened my wig. "There you go."

I laughed at how this could look - A.B. adjusting my wig.

A.B. dropped his hands, and his fingers hit my lips. "Oh, sorry!" He patted my lips.

We looked at one another and it escalated from there. Soon, we were all bent over with our stomachs aching from laughter.

After a minute, we were finally sitting up straight. We looked at one another, trying not to laugh.

"I didn't mean to do that," A.B. smiled at me.

I cleared my throat. "No, I know."

A.B. took the key out the ignition, turning off the car's engine. "Definitely don't want to mess up that pretty face."

Did he just call me pretty? "My face looks a lot different, huh?"

A.B. looked at me and examined my face. "No."

"Are you sure?" I pointed at my faded blemishes.

"Jamie, you look the same. You always look great."

Jamie, you better not. Don't blush! Man, I can't help it. I thought people only saw my acne when they looked at me. I watched A.B. get out the car and walk over to the passenger's door. He opened it. I got out the car. "Thank you." I put on my sunglasses.

We walked inside the building, greeting the woman at the front desk.

"Hi, Jae! You can head up to the studio. I'll let Lydia know that you're here."

"Thank you," I told her as A.B. followed me up the stairs.

"I needed this mini-workout," he admitted.

I added, "Right. These steps ain't no joke."

We finally made it to the fourth floor. Once inside Studio 4D, I put my bag down and began to stretch.

A.B. found a chair nearby and sat down.

"If you need the restroom, it's down the hall on the right side."

"Thank you. I'll be back." A.B. got up and left the room.

Seconds later, Lydia Sinclair walked in the room. I began to do vocal warmups. Soon, I was singing.

"This time, I want a ballad," Lydia told me.

With my eyes closed, I thought of what I could sing. Surprisingly, the song came to my mind and the words came out as if I sang it everyday.

"I love the, the Lord... He heard my cry..." The words just came out with ease. Every word I sang, I believed. This had always been a song that I adored, but I never really understood the meaning of the words until now. By the end, I was completely comfortable. I opened my eyes to see A.B. with his eyes on me.

We smiled at one another.

"I haven't heard any of my clients sing that song in years. That was beautiful, Jae A.B."

A.B. narrowed his eyes at Lydia.

"Now, I need to see that live performance for your song 'Choose' and is the other one called 'Home?'" Lydia asked me.

"Yes." I stood up and walked to the center of the room.

"Start when you're ready."

I cleared my throat. Seconds later, I performed my one woman show. Every now and again, I would look over at A.B. His facial expression never changed. He looked entertained and that made me put in more effort.

At the end, Lydia applauded. I think this is the first time she hasn't given me any critiques. "Jae A.B., you were wonderful today. Keep bringing that to practice, and you'll have a perfect performance."

A.B. and I left the building. When we got to the car, I asked him. "You're quiet. What are you thinking?"

"A lot!" He admitted as he unlocked the doors. We got in the car. He asked, "Jae A.B.?"

I chuckled, "I know, I know. See what had happened was..."

We both laughed.

I continued, "I told Ricky Santana that I was Jae. When I signed my record deal, I saw 'Jae A.B.' but I think I was just too excited to really just pay attention to it. I think when I was telling Ricky how to spell my name, he thought I was saying Jae A.B. instead of J-A-E."

"So, it's spelled J-A-B?"

"It's spelled Jae as in J-A-E. Then, A.B. is like the second part of it."

"I can see how that happened. E an B sounds similar."

I had to ask. "Are you okay with it, though?"

A.B. started the car. "Yeah. I like it, actually."

I put on my seatbelt as he got onto the road. "I'm glad you're okay with it."

"What matters is that you like it," A.B. quickly glanced at me before looking back at the road. "Where are we headed to now?"

"Oh, we need to go to the RiSe Tower. I'm meeting with Aja Frost and the team."

When we got there, I guided A.B. to the parking garage. He stopped the car at the entrance doors. After some thinking, I decided it would be best for A.B. to leave instead of sitting quietly like he did in my first meeting like that's no fun for him.

"Call me when you're ready," A.B. told me.

"I will. What are you going to do if you don't mind me asking." I was curious.

He chuckled, "Go back to my Airbnb and sleep."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "I thought you were gonna say something else."

"Jamie, I want to spend time with you. I'll have my ringer on when you call. Okay?"

For some reason, this was feeling like a relationship. Maybe, I'm putting too much thought into it. "Okay. I'll call you when I'm ready." I waved at him before turning to walk in the building. Even when I got in the elevator, A.B. was still watching me. He really is a bodyguard. Now, I have a visual for when I sing in the studio.