Kingdom {An Eminem Story} {BWWM}

Chapter Forty One.

*A Week Later*




Tuesday
2:00 p.m.
New York City, New York




Marshall sat at the soundboard with Nathan, watching Shero as she was recording a song in the booth. Marshall nodded his head to the beat and her flow, watching her closely. He'd worked with Yelawolf on a track earlier that morning and he had to work with Jenesis later that afternoon. He also had to work on his own album, but he chose to push that to the next day. He wanted to take more time to focus on his artists.

All of a sudden, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he reached for it. He saw Alexis' name pop up across the screen and he told Nathan that he had to step out of the studio for a minute. He walked out of the studio, leaning against the wall and pressed accept.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hi, husband." She greeted him.

He gave a small side smile, "Hey, beautiful. What up?"

"Are you busy?"

"I'm in the studio with Shero and Nate, but I can talk for a minute. Somethin' wrong?" He wondered.

"No, no. Not at all. I wanted to talk to you about something for a minute. Can we meet in your office?"

"Yea, we can."

"Good. I'm already here."

"Aight, baby. See you in a minute."

He hung up with her and walked back into the studio.

"Yo, I gotta go meet wit' Lexi real quick, but I'll be right back."

"Do your thing, big bro." Nathan nodded his head.

Marshall gave him a man handshake and walked out of the studio, heading towards his office. He opened the door and saw Alexis leaning against his desk. He looked her up and down, admiring her appearance as the tangerine colored blazer and shorts suit set and white corset cami hugged her body. The white pointed toe heels and her short hair complimented the outfit perfectly.

"You lookin' good." He complimented her, licking his lips.

"Thank you." She smiled brightly.

He grabbed her hand and walked over to his desk chair before sitting down. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"So what's up?" He asked her.

"Well, I've been thinking about something for a little bit now and I didn't want to go through with it before I talked to you first." She nodded her head.

"What's on your mind? Talk to me."

"Well, you know I've been writing lyrics and slowly getting back into music. I haven't been with Royal Records since my last album and while I loved them and they were great working with me, I'd rather be independent and have my own, more or less. Something I was thinking about was possibly starting my own label and having my own music released under that. Then maybe I could also keep an eye out for talents like myself. Similar to what I do here, but it would be for R&B artists." She explained.

"Hmm." He raised his eyebrows in thought, resting his chin on his hand.

"Now, I wouldn't leave here or dismiss my duties as boss lady of Shady Records. I still plan to do what I need to here, but I want to do the same in my field of music, you know? I believe I can do it. But I told myself I wasn't doing anything without discussing it with you first."

Marshall nodded his head and pondered on what she had just told him. He took everything she explained into thought and he realized that she was completely right. She was entitled to have something to truly call hers and he wanted her to win in whatever she did. He never wanted her to feel like he was holding her back from her dreams or anything she wanted to do.

"You hate the idea, don't you?" She asked him.

"I think...." He began, grabbing onto her hand and intertwining their fingers. "It's a fantastic idea and you should go through wit' it."

"What? Really?" Alexis's eyes widened in surprise, looking at him.

"Hell yea. You deserve to have your own and I never want you to feel like you being held back from achieving that. I told you I supported you 110% and I meant that shit. To show you just how much I support you and how much I believe in you, I'll help you get it started. There's a space available here in the building on the next floor and you can have your label right above. I'll help you find some people to help you run it and you could even talk to Sandra about being the manager for the label."

"You know what? That's a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"That's why I'm here, baby." He chuckled, "We help each other out and talk about it. But I do appreciate you talking to me about it first."

"I didn't want you to think I was going behind your back or hiding it from you. We make most business decisions together."

"I know you wouldn't do that, so I ain't worried. Gimme a little time and we can get your label started, aight?"

"Ok, baby. Thank you. And don't worry, I would never completely abandon the Shady fam."

"You know you always a part of the team no matter what. What I look like kicking my wife out from the label? I'd have to be a dumbass." He laughed and shook his head, "Plus, I doubt I'd find somebody as good as you to help run this shit wit' me."

"I make you better and bring out the best in you." She playfully popped her collar and chuckled.

"That's some true shit."

"Well, I know you gotta get back to working with Shero and Nate, so I'll let you get back to work. Carmen has another artist for me and her to check out, so I'm about to head out with her."

"Aight, baby. I'll probably be home late tonight." He nodded his head.

"That's fine. I know you got a lot to work on, so I'll see you at home."

"You know it."

Alexis got off of his lap and Marshall stood up from his chair before being pulled into her tight embrace.

"I know I say it a lot, but I really do appreciate your love and support when it comes to me and my business moves. I didn't get that a lot from you know who back then and for you to still be on my side even when things went sour between us years ago means more to me than you could ever know. I just wanted you to know that I'd never take that for granted." She confessed.

Marshall smiled to himself and rubbed her back, "I'm always here for you, baby. You know that. If you didn't appreciate me, you think my ass would still be here?"

"Definitely not. I know you." She chuckled.

"I told you I got your back on whatever. Now start putting your plans together so I can help you be the boss lady you already are."

Alexis smiled wider and cupped his cheeks in her palms before kissing his lips tenderly. He held onto her hips and pressed his body closer to hers. She slowly pulled away and ran her hands down to his chest.

"Let me get outta here before I start something in here." She told him.

"Yea, you betta. Cause the way them tits and them legs lookin', I'm two seconds from bending you over." He bit his lower lip, placing his hand onto her ass.

"That sounds so tempting. But aren't you tired of me?" She chuckled.

"Hell nah. I never will be."

Alexis smiled and kissed his lips again, "I'll see you later."

"You got it."

She released him from her embrace and he stared at her smooth legs as she walked out of the office. He shook his head, chuckling softly to himself.

"That woman knows she sexy as hell." He said to himself.

He walked out of the office and walked back into the studio to finish working with Nate and Shero.

Later that early evening, Marshall bobbed his head to the music as Jenesis sat in the chair beside him, rapping and singing along to the new song that he'd wrote. The song was called "Don't Understand". It was about his love and his passion for the music game and how he sacrificed a normal life and a few relationships to chase his dream of being an artist. It was his way of telling people that they didn't have understand why he was going so hard for his dream or why he gave those things up and why he cared so much about it.

He had a perfect understanding and that's all that mattered.

Marshall definitely knew exactly where he was coming from because he went the same route. Others didn't understand his vision or his dream back then and he was content with that. He had a few that shared the same dream and understood exactly where he was coming from and understood his love for the game of hip-hop. His wife being one of those people.

He paused the music and leaned back in his chair, propped his arm up as his forefinger rested against his chin.

"So what you think, Em?" Jenesis asked him.

"I think you got a track folks can relate to. Especially aspiring artists. Everybody done been there where they chasing their dream and shit and folks can't understand it. They can't follow why you going so hard and only focusing on that. You think about it and you wonder if you gotta start listening to them, but then you think again and it's like, fuck that. I want it and I'm going for it." Marshall explained.

"Man, that's exactly it. You get it. Sometimes you gotta go with your mind and your heart and do you."

"True shit. You ready to record?"

"Hell yea, man. Let's do it."

Jenesis walked into the booth and placed his headphones onto his head, adjusting them over his ears. He gave Marshall a head nod, letting him know that he was ready. Marshall pressed a button, playing the beat and allowing Jenesis to release his creativity onto the mic.




Marshall walked into the house, closing the door behind him and heard Alexis singing in the dining room. He silently walked towards the dining room and saw Alexis with her earbuds in, listening to something on her phone as she wrote in her notebook.

"Cameras around, push the negative away. Chin up, back straight, stand and wave. After the flashes, the clouds surround. Wrapping me up, pushing me further down. The cries I'm fighting, the anger is haunting. Trying to fight through this battle, but the voices are taunting. You don't know what I'm feeling, all the sadness I hide. Cause I keep it concealed, behind a hidden smile. No matter the torture, the persona is first. All you'll see is the blessing, but never the gifted curse. When I'm feeling my worst, I only show you the best. The love you get from me's true, with my heart begging to rest. Cause a hidden smile is a beautiful lie, a hidden smile is a honest try, a hidden smile is a hurting soul, doing a job just to stay alive." She sung.

She continued to sing her lyrics, her voice slowly starting to crack with emotion. Marshall felt his heartstrings being tugged at with every lyric and every beautiful note she hit. She wrote the last few lyrics in her notebook and pulled the earbuds out of her ears, covering her face with her hands. She silently cried and sniffled softly, wiping her tears away.

Marshall walked closer to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her up from the chair. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her close to his body, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. She exhaled and wrapped her arms around him, holding onto him tightly. He picked her up bridal style and carried her into the living room. He sat down on the couch, placing her on his lap and held onto her as she buried her face into his neck. He knew that she was probably just having a moment, but whenever his wife wasn't smiling and feeling down, he knew what she needed from him.

A hug and a few kisses.

He grabbed her hand and planted kisses against it, intertwining their fingers. She sniffled softly again and kissed his cheek.

"I'm ok, baby. Really." She told him.

"I know. But you know me."

"I know. Whenever I'm not feeling the best, you come to the rescue." She chuckled softly, "I appreciate that. You know that."

"Yea, I do. I gotta admit, though. The song is beautiful. That's some of the shit you been workin' on?"

"Yeah, kinda." She nodded her head.

"It's sounding good."

"Thank you."

"You know what vision you got for your album?"

"I think for this album, I'm just gonna show my more vulnerable side and keep it 100% real. But like Visionary, I'm not rushing it. I'm gonna take my time and make sure every track is flawless. I want it released on my own time and through my own label."

"What you wanna call your label?"

"I was going through names and everything and I think I wanna call it "U.N.I.T Records. Unbelievably Natural Inspiring Talent."

Marshall gave a small grin, "I like that a lot, baby. It definitely fits."

"You think?" She smiled.

"Hell yea. That's you, for sure. I knew that the first time I saw you."

"You've always been one of my biggest supporters. I love you even more for that."

He smiled slightly bigger and licked his lips, caressing her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her lips tenderly.

"Go on back in the dining room and get back to yo' writing."

"I will after dinner. I'll make some baked ziti with sausage and some garlic bread."

"Damn, that sound good right now. Yea, hurry up." He playfully tapped her ass.

She laughed and kissed his lips again before getting off of him, walking into the kitchen. Marshall got up from the couch and walked upstairs to change his clothes and to take a shower.

An hour later, Marshall and Alexis were sitting at the dining room table as they enjoyed their dinner in comfortable silence. He looked over at her and he could tell something was going on inside of her head.

"What you thinkin' about?" He asked her.

"Nothin' really...."

He raised his eyebrow, "Be honest with me."

She sighed, "I.....I'm thinkin' about going to see Dante tomorrow."

Marshall felt himself getting angry and he dropped his fork onto his plate.

"For what? What you need to see him for?" He scowled.

"I want to know why he did what he did. Why did he care so much about getting me back when he's the one who gave me the ultimatum and slept with my cousin? I doubt it's because he wanted me. I feel like there's a more fucked up and petty reason to what he did and I demand answers."

"I don't want you to see him. He fucked up enough in our lives and he's where he needs to be. I'm just kinda starting to get you back and I don't need you seeing him triggering shit again."

"I know you don't want me to and I know you're protective of me. But I need to do this for me. It's important to me and it's important for my sanity. I need closure. Please just let me do this." She pleaded.

He scoffed and shook his head in disbelief.

"Do whatever you want. You a grown ass woman." He chided her.

"Please don't be mad at me. Understand that I need to do this."

"Only thing I'm understanding is that my wife wants to see the motherfucker who assaulted her and put her in the hospital. That's what I'm understanding. Any other shit, I ain't understanding. Do whatever, aight? Just don't come crying to me when you're done."

He shoved his chair back and got up, grabbing his hoodie jacket that rested on the back of the chair. He slipped it on and went to grab his keys from the coffee table as Alexis followed behind him.

"Marshall....please." She pleaded again.

He could hear her voice trembling like she was about to cry again and it nearly broke him to hear that. He couldn't bear to see her cry again. He grabbed his keys, ignoring her calling his name and walked out of the door. He got into his blacked out Range Rover and pulled out of the driveway before pulling off.