Forbidden Ties (Malik & Coco Spin-off)

|28| FLASHBACKS

TWO YEARS & A HALF AGO

•Kimia David's•
"Kim"

I stared at my phone watching as more and more people DM'd me. Each message consisting of them saying how much they loved my new song. Within the five hours I'd been sleeping Back To Me had been streamed everywhere. It was an instant success and hit.

People had already began making edits to it, recording videos to it, Tik Tok's, Snaps. Even if I wanted the song gone it was already out into the world and so many different versions were already created of it.

I'd put my blood sweat and tears into that song. I let the words sit in my head for over a year before ever letting them hit the paper. I never even wanted another soul to hear it. I knew that nobody would understand. Unfortunately my current money hungry boss Xavier had overheard me playing it in the studio one day. He had this rule that anything made in his record headquarters was owned by them. Of course he couldn't take credit for the lyrics but he could release the song. The song was on their computers and made in their studios.

I could always take him to court for it but I knew it'd be a process. I'd have to prove that he didn't help me not once with the song, I'd also have to prove that the song was made before I'd ever came to work for him.

I hate myself for trusting in him. I ended up jumping head first into this industry and being like any other naive starting artist. My parents picked Xavier because he was the best of the best, and because of that I didn't thoroughly read through my contract. For my entire time working for him he's kept me out of the booth. I've been at a desk writing songs for others. That's until he heard Back To Me a song giving away every detail of me and Malik's relationship in a metaphoric type of way.

I bore my heart into that song.

And the fact that he'd fuck me over like that? It made something inside me flip a switch.

As I walked throughout the building I heard record execs and artists congratulate me on the song and how good I sounded. I just ignored them stomping my way into the studio that Xavier's assistant told me he was in. When I walked in I could hear my voice fading out of the speakers, each note beautifully hurting me and bringing back old memories and causing fresh wounds right over the old ones.

"You fuckin' serious X?" I question. Cussing wasn't in my nature usually but since college I'd changed. And now I'm seeing that I'm going to have to be worse if I'm going to not be fucked over in this industry.

He ignores me turning up the volume. "X! X!" I scream to which he doesn't answer. I grab ahold of the back of his chair yanking him around so he's facing me.

I watch the twenty year old white man stare up at me with no sign or remorse. I reach behind him stopping my song. "Why would you release that shit? Huh?"

"Com'on you work for me Kimia. That's technically my song-"

"No the hell it's not. You didn't write not one lyric! Didn't put together not one beat! You can't take credit for my shit that's illegal." I call him out.

"You work for me, you made that song in our studios, on our equipment. I control what gets released and how it gets released." His sharp words hit me straight in the chest.

I shake my head my eyes watering which doesn't phase him in the slightest. "Don't start the water works sweetie. In this line of work be prepared to get fucked over, literally if your a woman."

My sadness is instantly replaced with anger. The feeling of betrayal and how I naively placed my career in the hands of the devil. I glance behind me seeing a hard gold circle statue sitting on the table. I pick it up feeling the weight in my hands and launch it in his direction making it fly straight past his face and hit the equipment. "What the fuck-"

"Give me what the fuck you owe me Xavier!" I shout grabbing another I do the same thing again this time breaking the glass.

This time he stands up grabbing me in an instant he wraps one hand around my neck cutting off my airway and uses the other to shove my face against the hard wall. My cheek smacked the wall and I could instantly feel blood coming down my mouth. I lifted my leg up kneeing him in the crotch causing him to let out a loud scream and release his hold on my neck. As he dropped to the ground holding himself I held onto the wall trying to take deep breaths. By now security was rushing in. "Grab her! Grab her!" Xavier screams.

But one look at the red marks on my neck and the blood coming down my mouth and they knew who they needed to be taking. As he was dragged out he made sure to yell things at me. Consisting of how I'd never be nothing and how he can ruin my life.

"Oh my god," one of the interns Vincent expresses as he sees me. We'd always spoken whenever I'd come in to record so I guess you could call us friends. "Do you want me to call the cops?"

"No!" I say too quickly. I spit blood onto the ground.

I knew I could easily ruin his career. My parents have more money than he'll ever have and are more successful than he'll ever be. But I also knew how this would look, and the things they'd say. This incident would be talked about during that entire court process and all those trials and even after that. I knew I'd rather deal with the aftermath of this experience and the trauma it'd leave than having more negative attention drawn to me.

I'd gone through too much for this song.

I wouldn't continue to go through more.