Limelight

Chapter Thirty-Four

~~Everything~~

This was a side of fame Aaliyah hadn't experienced yet.

          After her performance and once the album finally dropped at eight that evening, she was led through a backway back to her room that was booked for the night, for a costume change.

          Hair and makeup had more or less become white noise, interviews, and talk shows and photo shoots were a little like routine, even when she stared at herself in the mirror in one of the booked rooms of the Waldorf after she had finally managed to slip into her satin spaghetti-strapped dress that clung to her curves and reached her knees. It was a simple forest green number with criss-cross back straps and a considerable V-neck plunge. Her blonde hair went pretty well with the dress, and it was interesting to see what she looked like with straight hair that fell to her mid-back, and also weird to see her stand at five-ten in her five-inch black Louboutins. She hadn't worn heels this tall before, she had to pace around the room a couple of times to get adjusted and make sure she didn't topple over herself at any point. Her hoop earrings and gold chain glinted in the light too, and her makeup was a work of art. She was instantly floored by what she looked like, but dressing up fancy wasn't anything new to her.

          And as overwhelming as everything still was to her, it didn't really compare to when she walked down the red carpet laid out for the evening, her arm linked with Malcolm's in his tuxedo before a red velvet rope separating paparazzi flashing their cameras at her and asking what she was wearing. Malcolm stepped to the side and let her stand alone for pictures, and even as she posed and flashed her most charming smile, she couldn't ignore the pang in her heart when she wished Jacks was here with her.

          And the ballroom where the party was being held was swanked out entirely in her honor. Banners and posters with her album cover were hung along the walls, a backdrop on the stage where she had been only up to an hour earlier was a slideshow of Aaliyah's photos and videos of her performing or goofing off in the recording studio, and showing the process of her album creation. And Aaliyah couldn't help but be speechless at the door as she looked around the room filled almost to the brim with probably over two hundred people.

          Aaliyah knew that she tended to massively underestimate the level of her fame, maybe it was her normal self-deprecation, but even when she was being realistic she never imagined her album release to be so anticipated. Her phone had been buzzing incessantly since the album drop and though she hadn't seen it all she knew they were all about. It was a strange feeling.

          The second she stepped into the room with Malcolm on her arm she was instantly approached by waiters holding silver trays with champagne flutes and stuffed mushrooms like she even knew what they were before tonight. She took a champagne glass, more out of wanting a form of courage to tide the onslaught of journalists which like Callie had said hours before would be vying for her attention.

          She managed to take them on one at a time without having a mental breakdown like she thought she would have before Malcolm managed to calm her down.

          She remembered his words religiously. "If you ever feel too overwhelmed just remember that you look around the room and you'll find someone who'll be here to anchor you," He said in a soft voice, "You're never alone. The people you love, you carry them with you, and the people who love you, won't ever let you go."

          Some of the questions were the standard, "how do you feel," "what has it been like getting this far," "what's next for you?" Aaliyah managed to tackle them pretty easily, it became a bit more of a struggle when some of the journalists would delve into more controversial topics like colorism and Weekly Hot Topics. She managed to keep her cool and give her honest opinion about it without condemning the magazine and managed to satisfy her reporters.