SugarCOAT

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.