Lights Please II

9: Right My Wrongs

Tess

After Jermaine's show we headed to dinner with the band and crew—him and I didn't bring up the conversation we had in his dressing room earlier, we figured I was only here for a couple more hours and we didn't wanna spend that time arguing so we just ignored it.

We were back at the hotel and I was last minute packing everything for Lex and I while Cole laid down on the bed watching me.

"Come on baby, just stay a couple more days..." he mumbled. He was tired, I could hear it in his voice.

"Jay... you know I cant," I pouted briefly looking up at him. "I gotta get back to work."

"You ain't called me Jay in a minute," he gave me a soft smirk.

"That's still my name for you," I shrugged, remembering when we were in college and I used to call him that all the time.

"Well I'm gon' miss yall... I literally wish you could come on the whole tour with me." He sighed.

"I wish I could too, but I can't be in two places at once, and I got shit to do back home—" I closed my suitcase.

"The Europe leg I need you to clear your schedule please... I can't be away from you and my baby for that long." He said as he ran his hands over his face.

"I'll see what I can do bubba," I leant over the bed and pecked him. "Gimme some love so I know it's real," I mumbled against his lips and he smirked.

He leant in kissing me again, deepening it this time before smacking my ass, "I ain't tryna have you miss your flight."

"I love you," I pecked him once more. "be good baby,"

"I'm always good, you know me... outchea not causin no trouble or nothing," he winked. "I love you more baby," he said before kissing me once more for good measure. I smiled and held his face, trying to stay in the moment knowing I wasn't going to see him for two weeks until his show in North Carolina.

"Okay I gotta go forreal now... LEX--! COME SAY BYE TO YOUR DADDY,"

She came in the room holding her stuffed giraffe that she always travelled with and had her Frozen backpack on her back.

"Daddy's not comin home wiff us?" she mumbled with her thumb in her mouth.

"Getcha finger out your mouth baby you a big girl come on now," Jermaine said as he stood up from the bed and he picked her up. "you and momma gotta hold everything down for me at home aight?"

"Is you stayin here to be J Cole?" she asked, frowning. She'd learned at the show tonight that her dad was J Cole—I thought that was hilarious.

"Yeah baby, I have to work," he kissed her chubby cheeks. "you be good to your mom, play nice with your friends and be good for Dondria okay?"

She nodded. "I wuv you daddy," she said as she played with his beard.

"Can I get a kiss?" he said and she grabbed his head and kissed him before we had to go downstairs to the car that was waiting to bring us to the airport. These two weeks was about to be long.

- - - 

Jermaine

I woke up the next morning to my alarm, at 6 and called Tess on facetime. We were gonna talk last night but she was tired after flying home so I woke up extra early cause she was three hours ahead. Her phone rang twice before she picked up and I saw her sat in the bathroom doing her makeup for the day. She had all them crazy lines and shit on her face, contour or whatever she called it.

"Morning bubba," she smiled.

"Aye baby," I yawned. "how'd you sleep?"

"Good... Lex slept on your side of the bed, she was upset last night."

"Aw my baby—" I frowned a bit, shaking my head. "Whatchu got planned for today?" I then asked her.

"Dropping Lex off at daycare, running some errands then I have to be in the studio this afternoon,"

"Oh word? You gon let me hear any of what you been working on?" I asked her.

"Mhm, when it's done... I haven't really been working on my own shit as much though you know? I'm having a creative block—I just been writing for other people mainly..."

Me and Tess talked until she had to leave, but even then me and her stay texting all day. Especially with all this distance I missed her a whole lot more and we both really tried to make the effort to communicate as much as possible.

After she hung up, I rolled back in the bed and went to sleep for a couple hours. Breakfast with the crew wasn't gon be until around 11 anyway. To think I had my woman and my daughter in this hotel room with me just last night, and all of a sudden they was miles away.

I don't know what it is, but something about this tour, something about being almost 31, and having a daughter really had me thinking about a lot of shit. I inhaled the smell of Tess' weird coconut hair products that still lingered on the pillow.

---

A couple hours later I was woken up by Ib who came knocking on my door and I let him in. He dapped me up before shaking his head and laughing at the fact that I was still in a wife beater and basketball shorts. "Jus coming to check on you dawg—you good?"

I nodded, "Yeah man... I just been thinkin about a lot of shit."

"Like what?" he asked me as he sat on the couch.

I stretched before going into my backpack and grabbing a jewellery box. I pulled out the ring that I'd bought a couple weeks earlier and showed it to him. "I wanna marry Tess—it's the least she deserves you know?" I played with my dreads and he chuckled shaking his head.

"Y'all are technically already married... you got your lil family and shit—" his hoarse ass voice said. "this is just solidifying shit.... When you wanna ask her? You planned it out yet?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I got the perfect plan... I need to ask her mom for her blessing and shit first though you know... but I'm tryna do something special for her when we go to the Ville in a couple weeks—she won't be expecting it."

---

Tess

I'd had a busy morning, but I was glad Cole made the effort to call me while I was getting ready. This whole distance thing took a lot of getting used to but we were tryna make it work. I'd dropped Lex off and called Dondria about picking her up in the afternoon and what to feed her and do with her. Then, I got off the phone with my assistant Angela (everyone called her Ang though) about how my week was looking and the meetings that I had this week.

I stopped at chik-fil-a and grabbed some food before I finally made it to the studio. I got there and Bryson was sitting on the black leather couch.

"Heyyy I had to drop off my daughter sorry I'm late, I brought food though—" I said as he gave me a friendly hug.

"Aye wassup girl?" he smiled. "Don't worry bout it, you made up for it with the food."

We sat down and ate as he showed me what he'd been working on, a song called Right My Wrongs. It sounded amazing so far. I was just here to help him out with some melodies and some of the lyrics. I was loving it though—he sounded amazing.