Extraordinary Love

Chapter 5

Song: Sure Thing by Miguel

Aaliyah

I rushed into the office heading straight up to the twenty-second floor. I snagged an internship here my freshman year of college, at the beginning of my first semester. There were flyers posted in the subway station, passed up because of the passengers' haste. That day I was rushing back home because I had a paper due in a few hours. I saw the words "Power 105.6" and snatched the paper down, taking it with me. About two weeks later I was in the office as an intern when I saw this tiny, petite brown girl with Asian features, waddling into the cubicle across from me. She settled into her desk chair with a carefully positioned squat, holding her belly. She sat back with a relieved sigh and gave me a bright smile.

Karrueche and I quickly became good friends over the first couple of months. I found out she was a couple years older than me and about seven or eight months pregnant with a baby boy. She was sweet and humble, just trying to find something to support her new family. I knew my plans the second I stepped into that building. This wasn't just something for me to put on my resumé. I wanted my own segment, to influence a generation with a voice uniquely my own.

I clocked in almost two hours late to work, glad that I usually worked irregular hours anyway. This job had always given me a lot of freedom and I was grateful for it. I had never been a person for deadlines and constraints.

"Hey, what's up? You're never late," Kae asked, setting a cup of coffee on my desk.

I thanked her with a nod. "My car is in the shop so I was going to walk here but I ended up catching a ride and let's just say it was ... interesting, but we'll talk later."

I picked up the coffee and walked into the booth outside the recording room. I waved through the glass at my boss, who smiled back.

Derek Reyes took over for Big Boi after his retirement. He had the weight of the entire New York music world on his shoulders and Derek gracefully prospered. People instantly took a liking to "Big Red". Guys liked him because he was relatable and funny. The ladies liked him because he was good looking and charming. The transition into the new age of radio was smooth and went off without a hitch.

Derek put Beyonce's Hold Up and pulled his headphones off, letting them rest around his neck.

"Aaliyah, I need you to run some errands for me. Pick up something for Sequoia, drop it off, and do an interview for me and then you're done for the day. And can you get me some lunch, too?"

"Chicken teriyaki with extra banana peppers, right?"

"You know me," he replied, walking towards me.

Derek had to have definitely been a heartbreaker back in his school days. He just had this certain charm about him that made you want to say yes to anything that he said. He was the type to make you let him borrow a dollar every single day; do his homework just to see that smile when he thanked you; write his name a thousand times in your notebook even though he could barely remember yours half of the time. Charm like that never went away.

I had to admit that even though he was like a big brother to me, I wasn't completely immune to him either. He was part of what made this gig so great too, that silly school girl crush that I got around him from my first day still lingered.

He pulled his car keys out of his back pocket and offered them to me. I took them gratefully; I loved driving his customized Range Rover. If I ever got that kind of money, that would be my first splurge.

His red Range was waiting in the parking garage under a big sign that read: "RESERVED FOR DEREK REYES". It was truly the car of my dreams, but nowhere close to what I could afford on my current salary. My little desk job could barely keep my '95 Honda and one bedroom. I'd have to rob a bank before I could even think about moving.

I picked up a box for Derek's girlfriend and called in his order on the way to my interview. A curious voice in the back of my head was wondering if this was the same area Beyonce lived in. It was almost impossible to find the little cut in the road that leads up to the grandiose neighborhood. Pushed back about into some trees, the place seemed to just spring into existence. A giant gate sat before the opening with a few guards waiting in the security booth.

Mariah Carey's house was about how I imagined it to be. All of her furniture was white, and a crisp white at that, without a spec of dust anywhere. Her home was as immaculate as she was. She was dressed in a satin robe and slippers, sipping a mimosa when she opened the door. The whole interview was amusing to me. Mariah was grandiose and bougie and shady in the way only Mariah could be. She talked about her upcoming album, her twins, and many engagements, and when she was finished promptly dismissed me.

~ ~ ~

Derek Reyes and Sequoia Moon lived in a giant, multi-million dollar penthouse twenty-eight floors up. Sequoia and Raven were inside putting together pieces, articles of clothing draped over the furniture.

Pulling the blue Tiffany box out of my purse, I handed it over to a bashful Sequoia. "Delivery from Mr. Reyes."

Sequoia could buy thousands and thousands of dollars worth of clothes and not bat an eye; she was chased after by every high-status man from here to there, but a gas station rose from Derek could make her blush as red as a tomato. When it came to their relationship, diamonds and pearls didn't matter, though she deserved a big rock upon her finger. They had been together for over ten years through thick and thin and everyone was just waiting for him to pop the question to her.

She opened up the box and pulled out an intricately designed tennis bracelet. "It's beautiful," she cooed.

"Hopefully the next one will be a ring," Raven commented, helping Sequoia latch it around her wrist.

"For him, I'd wait forever," she replied, admirably staring at her jewelry.

Taking that as my cue to excuse myself, I picked up Derek's club from the restaurant. Karrueche was waiting by the door when I pulled back in. I passed her the keys and food, and she rushed back inside. Slowly, I turned back around, hearing the rain pouring down outside, the noise canceling out everything else. God, I needed my car back.