63. Show Up & Show Out 🎭

When I came out the bathroom, I almost fell out in laughter when I saw my cousin wearing my wig and sunglasses. "Monica!"

She stood as stiff as a statue.

"Monica, stop it! Take my wig and glasses off before you make me late to my rehearsal."

She brought her hand up to her mouth. "Don't make me! Don't make me choooose!" She dramatically sang.

I chuckled, "No, ma'am! This is your final warning."

Monica smiled, "Cousin, I thought short and easy about this, but we family. I really came back here with you to be your unofficial official assistant until you can hire a real one or one that I trust. And after everything you told me, I'll also be your security. And because I'm so famous, I have to wear a disguise. That's when I bought a similar wig and sunglasses on Amazon."

I put my hands on my head in disbelief. I shouldn't be, because this is Monica I'm looking at. Yes, my crazy cousin. "Moni, I love you... but you can't go anywhere with me looking like my twin."

"Girl, we look nothing alike. I'm thicker than you." She stuck her left leg out, trying to emphasize her nonexistent backside.

I shook my head. "You are gonna make me late." I walked over to my chair, opened my luggage, and found my wig and sunglasses.

I immediately text Colby that I had an intern assistant that would need a badge to enter the RiSe Tower with me. When he asked for her name, I knew I couldn't give her real name.

Me: Monique English

He replied that it'll be ready in half an hour at the guarded entrance. That was too easy. We left looking like Thing 1 and Thing 2.

After listening to Monica's hype song 10 times in a row just so she can get into character, we arrived at the RiSe Tower. One of the guards walked over to the car. I rolled down the window and retrieved Monica's badge. I handed it to her.

Monica was all smiles. "That's my VIP pass?"

I rolled the window up. "Something like that."

"Who the hella billa fonte is Monique English?"

"You! So quit whining and get ready to win an Oscar," I joked.

We soon arrived on the set of Late Night with Greg Wright. One of the team members gave Monica and I a tour from the dressing room to the stage. I told myself to take it all in which wasn't hard to do. It wasn't as big as it appeared on TV. At max, the studio audience probably held around 200 people. The performance stage and the talk show stage combined was the size of the average school's auditorium stage. I'm so glad I'm not a dancing singer.

"Is this my seat?" Monica asked as she sat in a corner, aisle seat on the front row.

"She's my assistant," I stated.

Monica applauded, "Woooo! Yes, Jae A.B.! You better sing it, girl!" She stood up and shouted, "Sexual Chocolate!"

Did she lose her mind? I gave Monica a stern look, and she slowly sat down.

"Jae A.B., the band is ready when you are," another person told me.

I walked over to the stage and stood behind the microphone.

The same person gave me an ear piece and clipped the monitor to the back of my pants. Once I had the ear piece in, they asked me to speak into the mic.

"Sound?" They asked.

"Sounds good," I replied.

The drummer counted us off. Knowing that I was doing the same performance that I did at The Power House put my nerves at ease. There was no way I would be able to make any changes or try anything new with the performance being tonight. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

All the instruments came together. I opened my eyes and sang, "Yes, I'm falling faaasst! No, I don't care how it laaassst!"

The band showed out and my vocals showed up as I looked out to the audience.

Monica was acting a fool, jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics to my song Home.

I snapped my fingers, "Baby! Let meee take you home! Pretty baby, I'm what you waaant!"

It was a wrap after that, because time ignored me and kept on ticking. Wednesday morning had Monica and I downstairs drinking coffee. We barely spoke as we got in the Range Rover. Maximo drove us to the radio station.

While the music played, the two hosts of KDLA 103, Pabloco and Gigi greeted me. As the song was ending, Pabloco adjusted his mic and said, "It's a beautiful morning! You're listening to KDLA 103. I am the one Pabloco."

"And Gigi!"

I took a sip of my reheated coffee.

"You guys know exactly what time it is! Here with us in the studio is a new comer. She had two top ten hits that you guys request every day."

Gigi added, "May I add that even though she's sitting next to me, she's still as much of a mystery as she comes across on TV."

Pabloco chuckled, "That's so true! Let's give a warm welcome to our beautiful guest - Jae A.B." He pressed a button and the sound of cheers followed.

I grinned, "Oh, wow!"

Gigi said, "Miss Jae A.B., thank you for coming on our show and blessing us with your presence. How are you this morning?"

I answered, "Alive and very grateful." I took another sip of my coffee.

"She is killin' that coffee," Pabloco observed.

"Why are you worried about her drinking coffee? It's 5:30 a.m.," Gigi told him.

I nodded my head.

"I have to ask how do you like your coffee?" Pabloco smiled at me.

I thought before answering, "Hot with a lot of creamer."

"Ooh, what's your favorite creamer?" Gigi asked me.

"I don't have one, but the one in this coffee is French Vanilla."

"Okay. Keeping it simple," Gigi continued, "Now I just have to know where you are from, because I hear an accent."

"Me, too. I think you're from Georgia," Pabloco said.

I replied, "That's a really good guess."

"Is he hot, warm or cold?" Gigi asked me.

"Warm, but that's all I can tell you."

Pabloco said, "I had a feeling that this was going to be a very non-telling interview."

I lightly laughed, "Non-telling?"

Gigi said, "To be fair, Jae A.B. doesn't even post on social media. Like, the only videos that I found of you were posted by fans from your performances and music videos. Are you anti-social media?"

"No, I like social media. I just don't have the time to dedicate to it, and I don't want one that is ran by my label. If I'm going to be on social media, I want it to be genuine," I answered.

Pabloco nodded his head, "That's good. Can you tell us about the rumors?"

"What rumors?" I pretended to be clueless.

Gigi chuckled, "I love her!"

"There's photos of you and Zeke Rivers at Ricky Santana's birthday party. Since I have a feeling you won't tell us, I'll ask this... are you single?" He inquired.

"I am a solo artist."

Pabloco hit his microphone causing it to move. He readjusted it.

"Oh, my goodness! I really do love her!" Gigi exclaimed.

Pabloco shook his head. "Please give us something, Jae A.B. Can you tell us how Ricky Santana leaked the videos?"

I took a sip of my coffee.

"That means something!" Gigi pointed at me, "She just took a sip of her coffee."

"I recall Aja Frost being featured on your record. You two are signed to the same label. Why hasn't she performed the song 'Choose' with you?" Pabloco asked me.

Gigi said, "You know she's not gonna answer that. I think she might answer this though. When can we expect the album?"

I pointed at Gigi. "Now, you're talking. You're speaking my language."

Pabloco and Gigi laughed.

"What month is this?" I thought for a few seconds before answering, "Expect an album early next year."

"What can we expect from the album? Who are some of the features?"

I looked at Pabloco. "You can expect to learn more about me. I wrote 90% of the songs. It's definitely a love album, not like romance, but there are some relationship songs. It's a very eclectic project. Perfect example with my two songs 'Choose' and 'Home' one is 90s rap inspired and the other is 70s funk inspired."

"So you got every decade represented?" Gigi asked me.

"Somewhat, but I will say that once you hear it, I will no longer be a mystery to y'all."

"Y'all!" They repeated after me.

We all laughed.