Music Heals All Wounds

Chapter 21

Amon

"I just feel like her timing sucks, you know? Like you had all this time to find me a feature artist and the minute I go and find someone and we finally get the song completed, now you wanna pop up with somebody?" Essence vented as I remained silent in the driver's seat. I had mastered the multi-tasking skill of focusing on driving while also actively listening to her verbalize how she was feeling because I've done it enough times. I wasn't trying to add my two cents in just yet, not until she was done talking. "And it's honestly not even about the person she chose because Constance is Constance, her name speaks for itself, but I've already made a commitment to Naomi."

"Maybe you—-"

"And it's not like I'm unsatisfied with her verse, if anything it's the complete opposite. I couldn't have picked a more perfect person. But Drew's my manager, she's the expert here and I can't lie, she's right. If I go with Constance's verse, the EP will get more exposure and reach a larger audience therefore it'll be a larger bag. What do you think?"

I glanced over at her before planting my eyes back on the road. "Are you done?" I asked her, not wanting to give my opinion until she had got everything off her chest. Once she nodded her head, then I continued. "I feel like you gotta think about what's really important to you, not just as an artist, but as a person. You're a new face in the music industry and everything you do right now is gonna set the tone for your entire career. You don't wanna burn any bridges this early in the game, so just think about it."

"What would you do?"

"This ain't about me. It's your decision to make." I told her, not wanting to influence her choice in any way. The truth is if it was me, I would have to go with the person that I was already locked in with. I was a man of my word and everybody else would just have to deal with it. I could understand why she was conflicted though, it would make sense to choose the person who had the bigger name.

"I don't know. I'm tired of talking about it." She said before switching the subject to something else. As I neared the exit to my house, I put my blinker on to switch lanes. Essence sat up in her seat once she started noticing the unfamiliar neighborhood. "Where are we going?"

"You said you weren't ready to go home, right?" I asked, looking at her for confirmation. "My house is close by, so you can just chill there until you're ready."

"I didn't even know you had a house out here." She said before an impressed look spread across her face as I pulled into my driveway. "I think I'm going into the wrong career field. Clearly I need to be doing the same thing you and Eli are doing because damn."

I let out a laugh before getting out of the car, then going on her side to open the door for her. She complimented the house some more as we made our way to the door and it made me feel good. I took pride in having nice things because I worked my ass off for it, so it was deserved. I owned a home here in Atlanta and in Baton Rouge. My family was well taken care of and I made sure to give back to my community often.

"You want something to drink?" I asked while making my way to the kitchen. Essence busied herself with taking a look around the house which was fine with me. It was a reminder that I needed to finish getting the rest of the place furnished. So far only the downstairs area was decorated, the upstairs space was still looking bare.

"Yeah, I do." She shouted from the living room. As I was making our drinks, I noticed she got real quiet and it made me wonder what she was doing. My curiosity didn't last for long because a second later she came prancing into the kitchen holding two small picture frames. "Look at what I have here. Aww, is this baby Amon?"