The Greatest Romance Ever Sold

6

The next morning, I could feel Aaliyah holding me from behind and I snuggled back into her. My eyes shot open when I realized that who I was snuggling up to was much larger than Aaliyah, and manlier. I looked down and saw finger tattoos knowing it was Marty. "Man, get the hell off me!" I yelled and I sat up in bed quick. Marty laughed. "Good morning." He was wearing a suit. "When did you get in here? How long have we been-" I was breathing heavy. "Where's Aaliyah?" I started asking so many questions. "Hey, hey relax. Aaliyah went to her aunt's house. I just got in here five minutes ago. Man holding you feels like I'm holding a girl." He said and I got out of bed. "I'm actually glad you're here." I stripped off my shirt to change. "Okay? Are we not going to discuss the fact that you allowed me to hold you?" "No. Look, Marty. Today's the day..." Marty cocked an eyebrow snatching the shirt out of my hands and turning it the right way. "It was inside out, sorry." "It's fine. I'm nervous. Okay, so Aaliyah is going out and I'm going to propose to her tonight."

Marty laughed. "Ahh, okay. I thought tonight was like...y'all's sex night or some shit." I rolled my eyes. "No! Who the hell has sex on a specific day?! Don't answer that. Anyways, look...I need some help." I pulled my shirt on and went into the bathroom. "I don't have time to shower. I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep." I sat on the bed beside Marty and pulled my heels on. "Well, Aaliyah is gonna be gone for awhile. Her dad is here and he wants to speak to you. As soon as possible, too." I gasped. "Wait...that's a good idea!" I said. Marty was confused as I stood up and started pacing. "I had a good idea?" Marty asked. "No, look...I'll ask her dad for her hand. You know, like in the olden days. Remember, there used to be courting days. You-" "Okay stop...The idea was good until you brought up the courting shit. Aaliyah is not like that. It's cute and all, but all the movies and TV shows she watches has nothing to deal with 'courting'. If you really wanna ask her the right way, do it in a way she'd least expect it and make it memorable and beautiful. She loves music. Write her a song." The corner of my lip twitched. "Okay, but what if she hates it?" Marty rolled his eyes.

He went over to her dresser drawers and slid the bottom one open. There were a few of my CDs in there. "She's known of you for awhile. I'm not saying she's a fan or anything, but there's times she's played your songs in my car and that was before I was even working for you. I'm telling you...write her a song." I didn't really like the idea...but I did. Maybe I could combine our ideas together in a way. I nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll think of something. Come with me to talk to her dad." Marty nodded and we left Aaliyah's bedroom. "Ah, Prince." I blinked. We hadn't said a word and her father already knew I was there. "Marty. You boys have a seat." He pointed to the couch in front of his chair and reached over to turn his radio down. My hands were shaking, my eyes were blurry because I hadn't quite woken up yet. Rosie came in and sat down with a smile on her face.

Marty was taking up half the couch cushion by himself and I was sitting with my legs and arms crossed. It was silent. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. "Prince, check that bag over there." He pointed under the coffee table to a brown bag and I leaned down to slide it from under the table. Once I looked inside, I saw a picture frame wrapped in decorative paper. "Is this for me, sir?" I asked. He nodded and I almost wanted to state my beliefs, but Marty seemed glad that I was opening this gift. I reached inside and pulled the picture frame out.

Behind the thin glass was a picture of my mother and father standing outside of Maxime's Supper Club in New Orleans with his band. She was pregnant with me. I stared at the picture noticing my looks in my father and my mother. "I'm sure Aaliyah told you a fib last night about Rosie and I going to soccer practice, huh." I was confused. "Yes...but how did you know we were coming back?" Marty snickered. "Me. I called Rosie. They went yesterday morning to fly to New Orleans to get that for you." I looked at Rosie who was smiling. "I told you there was something there in New Orleans. I just didn't know that was your mama in the picture with her. I thought it was his first wife." I smiled. "No, sir. That's my mother." I had never seen this picture before. "Th-Thank you so much. I didn't expect this." Rosie stood up. "We were going to give it to you after you came back from Minnesota. We just weren't expecting your home tour to be so brief." Rosie said as she went into the kitchen. So she told them I was going on a tour instead of telling them the truth. "Oh...right." I glanced at Marty while I put my picture back in the bag.