Redemption | A Drake Duology (2016)

F & D • 12 • Memories

Aubrey

For the last hour, Roman sat quietly next to me. Her eyes were on the stage but I could tell that she was far from focused. Everything about tonight was overwhelming and she was put on the spot a few times. They asked questions about her personal life that most people didn't know about. Stepping in, to her defense was my first instinct but I didn't. I wanted her to handle her own and she did—very well. From time to time Chubbs would joke around with her to ease her mind a bit but she was still a bit uncomfortable.

She was used to this type of attention but she wasn't used to the crowd it came from. Her targeted audience was much more appropriate than mine. They actually cared about her craft rather than her personal life. She never had to worry about cameras being up her ass whenever she stepped outside of her front door. That was all about to change. I placed my hand on her thigh rubbing it gently and she responded by placing her hand on top of mine. We waited for things to wrap up before disappearing. I took home more awards than expected. I debated on whether to attend the afterparty or not. I wasn't in the mood to socialize or take pictures. I'd done enough of that today.

"Is it safe to say that you're my new personal shopper?" Roman said walking out of the closet in a new outfit. "This is super cute!" She was having the time of her life in rummaging through everything in there.

"It is," I eyed the black, long sleeved, mesh top that she only wore a bra under and cursed myself for buying it because I didn't want anybody else to see her in it. It was too sexy; just like the white high waisted jeans she matched with it. "That's what you're wearing tonight?"

"I'm not wearing anything if you don't cheer up," She pouted.

"I kind of like the sound of that," I pulled her into me running my hands up her sides. "I don't want anybody else seeing you in this,"

She chuckled placing a kiss on my nose and pulling away from me. "I'm serious babe—" My phone going off interrupted her sentence. She reached over and passed it to me. It was my dad. I was anticipating his call after running into him at the awards. He was up for a night out on the town but I was really considering cancelling. He needed to spend some alone time with his girl friend anyway. The man never took a break. You would think that he was the celebrity. I ignored the call and placed my phone back on the night stand. Roman sighed and lifted my head with her index finger.

"Don't be like that," She said.

"He just wants to know my plans tonight. Nothing important,"

"Okay," She shook her head a bit. "You wanna skip the party and talk to me about whatever's going on with you?"

I didn't respond. I just tossed her the keys to the Lambo. "Pack for two days," She instructed before making her way down to the garage. I did as so and let Chubbs know that I was leaving. He was usually in charge of keeping an eye on the estate when he wasn't traveling with me.

I joined Roman in the car and allowed her to lead the way—all four hours of it. The route looked very familiar but my brain was too cloudy to try and figure out where we were headed. It felt a little weird sitting on the passenger side. I didn't let anybody drive my baby. This was Roman's first time and she was doing pretty good. Occasionally, she'd look over at me to make sure that I was okay.

"You look uncomfortable," She pointed out.

"These aren't the best seats for traveling. I can't lean back much so my back is killing me,"

"We're about ten minutes out. You'll be able to stretch out,"

I nodded and waited for us to arrive. It took exactly ten minutes. I looked up from my phone and for a second I was stunned. We were parked outside of the cabin I brought her to a year after we met. It looked the exact same, not even a wear or tear on the outside.