(18+) RED (Complete)

Ch. 65: Thai

Mia was asleep on the couch in the studio long before we were done. Somebody had tucked her into a blanket, which was good, if it wasn't for my suspicions to who that somebody was. Devon. He was a great guy to work with, and he was both creative, efficient and professional. But he had a reputation for playing girls that ran far ahead of him. He was even worse than Jermaine and Randy combined. Many of the situations were actually close to being called felonies, although he'd never been charged or arrested for anything. One thing was for sure though; where Devon was, you'd always find some kind of girl drama too.

"Hey, babe?" I said lowly, and gently placed my hand on her shoulder to wake her up. And when she opened her eyes, I felt the same crazy fluttering as I always did when I was close to her. For all my life I'd sang countless love songs that all described love in their own way, but I guess it was first now I fully understood the meaning behind those words and knew how it felt. It was mind-blowing!

"Where am I?" she questioned and looked around, and all I wanted to do was to lay down next to her, pull her close and fall asleep. Because I was tired. So insanely tired, too. After barely having slept all week and then nothing at all last night, plus working at least twelve hours a day, made me shake with exhaustion. Literally.

"We're at my studio. But we're going home now. Wanna order some Thai takeaway?"

She sat up and stretched a bit. Then she jawned and looked cuter than a kitten.

"Sure. Food will do good."

I held out my hand and helped her up, and I gave Devon one last glare before we left. He wouldn't even think twice about hitting on Mia if he got the tiniest chance. Asshole...

We said goodbye to everybody, and I received a scowl from my manager that told me that he wasn't too happy about my decision. Did I care? Not at all. In two days we would have a short public conference, where he would give the tabloids some flesh to rip apart. And in the meantime I would lay low and spend time with Mia so I could prepare her for the following storm, and our families as well.

Maybe we should do a photo shoot too? After all, it was better to take nice photos of ourselves and sell them to the highest bidder, than to have those annoying leeches publish the most unflattering pictures they could get. Also, the money would be a nice addition to the fund I was about to raise. I couldn't wait until the day 'Heal the world foundation' was a reality. The song the name was based upon was already written and was the next big project in line.

After half an hour or so, I could finally close the door behind us. I made sure it was locked too, and I already had my security team check all the rooms before we arrived, just in case. I knew for sure that we were alone.

"Living room or bedroom?" I asked, and Mia looked surprised.

"We can't eat dinner in your bedroom!" she protested, reasonable as always.

"Of course we can," I replied with a shrug. Now we definitely had to eat on my bed.

"But what if we make a mess?"

I gave her a naughty smirk.

"I'd love to make a mess with you," I murmured, and giggled when she tried to slap my arm.

"You know what I mean. Mom would never let me do that."

"How convenient that your mother's not here, then. Because if she was, I would have to make her leave. And do you know why?"