Catching Feelings

Chapter 28

After their talk at dinner, Raven drove Drake to the airport. He found himself missing her as soon as he stepped foot on the airplane. All of the curious glances he was receiving from the curious passengers were a bit unsettling. You'd think he'd be used to it by now, but nothing is more awkward than having a complete stranger stare in your face trying to figure out if it's really you. In an attempt to take his mind off of his current surroundings, he took out his phone and casually flipped through it. He found himself going through his photo looking at the selfies he and Raven took when they were fooling around on the way to the airport. He smiled as he relaxed in his plush first-class seat and stared at all of the crazy faces they were making. Their faces weren't the only thing that held his smile, it was how he got her to open up to him. He finally had gained her trust. The only thing he had to do was keep it.

It was coming up on two weeks since he'd last seen Raven, and he was beginning to miss everything about her, her smile, her laugh, her touch, even that sarcastic wit of hers, but especially her touch. Drake had been without contact with a female's body for ten days and seventeen hours to be exact. The two of them managed to talk every night, and he would sneak in Skype chats whenever he was alone, but it still didn't make up for the real thing, and he was starting to get antsy.

It was a late night in the studio, which was currently filled with smoke and music. Drake and 40 were in the middle of laying down some tracks. Drake was currently in the booth rapping into the mic, while 40 did his thing on the other side of the glass. When he finished his verse he stepped back away from the microphone and nodded his head to the beat as it continued on for a few seconds until it stopped.

40 leaned forward in his chair and hit the intercom button. "That was tight, you ready for the playback."

"Yeah, play it back." Drake took his headphones off and stepped out of the booth. He walked over to where 40 sat behind the engineering table and sat down next to him.

The track played back, and both of them bobbed their heads along. As Drake sat there listening, he checked his phone for any missed calls, but there were none. Raven hadn't called him all day, and whenever he called it went to voicemail. He even tried texting her, but there was no response.

"I like that," said 40. "I think we should do another take, but save this cut." He spoke loudly over the music. When he didn't get any response, he turned to face the man beside him, who was looking like he was caught in the middle of a daydream. 40 tapped Drake's leg getting his attention. "What's up, did you hear what I just said?"

Drake's head popped up from the phone in his hand. He'd only been listening to half of what Noah was saying, but he played it off as he did. "Uh, yeah, yeah, it's tight."

40 merely shook his head, "You weren't even listening. That's because your head is in New York." He joked while messing around with the soundboard. It had become evident to everyone that he had changed since New York. He was becoming a locked-down man. "What's up with your girl anyway, when's she coming out here?" he asked.

Drake grabbed the pipe to his hookah and took a puff. He inhaled the smoke, holding it in his mouth for a few seconds, and blew the cloud into the air. "I wouldn't know, she ain't called me all day." He leaned back in his chair letting the smoke mask his face as he wonders why she wasn't returning his call. Drake tried not to let his mind wander too far and overreact to certain possibilities. He'd done enough dirt to women in his lifetime too, but wasn't quite ready for karma to come back on him just yet. The hookah pipe was once again raised to his lips and he took another puff.

For a half a second there, 40 was tempted to clown him for sitting there looking like a puppy whose owners went on vacation without him, but he tried to ease his frazzled mind instead. "She's probably just busy, don't trip." He replied.