Unbothered

The Scandal

"How long have you been looking at that?" Malika asked as she strolled into Monica's living room. The white interior with huge windows that let the light pour in did nothing to better her mood. She looked at her phone some more ignoring her friend's question. Malika took a seat next to Mo and took the phone out of her friend's hands.

"Monica, you have to stop! You cannot be looking at Hollywood unlocked for long periods of time. That page is simply toxic." She warned.
Monica knew better or at least she should. Their relationship had been public now and everyone was talking about how the father of her child had ended up with a woman that used be her friend. To make it worse the episodes from their reality show were airing, digging up old wounds. "They lied to my face. I asked them if they were together and they denied it." She couldn't disguise her shock. Her voice cracked and she hated that she sounded weak, even to her own ears.

"Leaving that show was the best thing for you!" Malika told her as she inched closer to her friend. "Now you can start over and let 'little Fizzle Pop' and 'May' dig their own graves." Monica couldn't help but laugh at friend's shade. It made her feel better knowing that someone was in a corner. She'd had friends but none like Malika. She'd been brave coming on a reality TV show with all the skeletons hanging in her closet but she'd needed the money and some exposure. She'd figured once she was on her feet and running, she would finally get her music career in line and start creating art like she'd always dreamed. She'd tried but between her family's issues and transitions from reality show to music, one had to die and sadly her music took a back seat every time .

"Are you coming with us to The Dollhouse tonight?"- Malika asked. She threw her arm around Monica's shoulders? Pulling her close and in that moment she didn't know much that gesture meant. "Think about it, it'd be fun and you..." she nudged Monica with a finger "...need to have some fun."

Monica sat up to look at Malika. "I don't want to bump into my ex girlfriend."
She stood up with a deep sigh. "I don't have the energy for that." She stood up and composed herself. She didn't crack, she couldn't. Her poker face sat its place, the queen of composure.

"I'm not taking no for an answer!" Malika told her, adamantly. "Or we could go to the BK2 concert?" Malika suggested, Monica could hear the jest nature of this invitation but suddenly she wanted to go. This was the last concert of their tour and she hadn't attended any of the ones prior.

"I'll go!" She responded, thoughtlessly. She got to the kitchen and filled a glass with water.

"You're willing to go to the concert?" Malika asked, she was as surprised as Monica was. Everything was already out in the open. The shaderoom was reporting on her situation almost on a daily basis. She wanted to punch her baby daddy and drag the bitch she used to call friend. The one person she thought about through all of this was her son. She wanted Chris to have stability and at some point she couldn't give it to him. She clenched her jaw at the thought of her struggles. Now, this stupid scandal is threatening her sanity. The sanity she worked so hard for.

"Why not? Christopher will be there and he wants me  to see his father perform."
She said, as she swallowed my pride. "I
Think it would be a good idea for my son to see us together."

Her friend looked at and shook her head, "It takes two parents to make a family, Mo." Malika wAlked around the kitchen island to comfort Mo. "He needs to come to the table as well, sweetheart."

"I know, I know but I can at least try to show unity of my side." She took a gulp of her water.
"You sure are calm despite the circumstances." Malika pointed out.
She was calm. She usually has a natural sense of composure but this time around, she knew this calmness she exhibited was practiced. She wouldn't let this betrayal
Get the best of her. "We're going!"

**************************************
He was going to see his kids today and perform the last concert of the year in LA. His name has been on multiple blogs alongside his ex's. Omario didn't need this, didn't need their long awaited comeback overshadowed by petty squabbles. He just wanted to be with his kids and have a successful career that he'd always worked hard for.

"O, are you ready?" The stage manager asked as walked right next time. He fixed his microphone and flexed his muscles. He was ready. "You'll open with your song and the rest of the group will join you." O closed his eyes and he let go.

"It was a great show!" O heard the bottle pop and he imagined that he wasn't in the room he was actually, imagined he was with different people. That's how he'd coped with this whole thing. He imagined that he wasn't in his body. He couldn't feel what happened to a body he didn't possess.

"O, where are you going?" - someone from his team asked. He hadn't realised that he had started moving out of the room. "Bathroom break. Got caught up in a frenzy after the show!" It was a lame excuse but he wasn't good at lying. He was proud of that. His mind was somewhere else, somewhere between pride at dancing with his son or anxiety at coming to face with two people that betrayed him. He felt conflicted, he didn't know what to feel. He had stopped looking for interviews and blogs that could enrage him. He roamed the halls of the back stage and subconsciously walked past a bathroom. He needed some space to think about the next tour. He'd always believed in positive spaces allowing free-flowing positive thinking and right now he wasn't in that space. The people around him turning him to something he wasn't and he needed to think about. As he walked around, he realised it was too empty. Obviously only a few people were allowed to access to this part of the arena but he didn't except to see no one. He was lost in his thought again when he heard it, the sound. Soft whimpers that came from a corner, behind a cleaning supplies trolly. His curiosity got the better of him and he moved closer to inspect. And that's  when he saw her. She was small and she was crying. A tissue in hand with nails too long for his liking. She wore a black long summer dress and her hair was swept in a ponytail. For a moment he didn't recognise her. He looked at a woman hiding her scars and embracing her pain. He had an instinct to protect. Then she raised her head to look at him and he saw it, her guard. The wall so tall and long it could take on the wall of China. Her eyes were from a liquid brown filled with tears to a solid brown arhat would turn anyone to stone. Monica, the father of her child was his band mate and the man who was sleeping with the mother of his children. He looked at her and new why she was crying. She'd probably seen them together and unlike him, he hadn't been able to hold it together.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." She clipped, coldly. That's the Mo she knew. The woman with no emotions whatsoever. He'd always admired her ability to zone out of a situation. He'd always felt himself sink to low levels when he had to. But her, she'd always been able to seem above it all in a petty way. He knew it didn't make sense but that was Mo. She didn't make sense.

"It is a concert and I'm guessing you bought a ticket."
She gave a wholehearted laugh. He wasn't sure if it had reached her eyes though.
"Actually, I did. After hours of shopping around for a last-minute ticket, one was offered to me." She came out from behind the trolly. And stood right in from oh him. He wasn't the tallest guy, at all! But she still had to look up at him.
"You wouldn't know anything about that, would?"
There was a hint of accusation in the question. O knew better than to play her game. This was what they did, they instigated to create drama for reality TV. He looked around for the cameras. He couldn't be too careful.
"They're not with me." She said. Her voice laced with humour. "The cameras aren't with me tonight." She put the tissue in her small black bag.
" I have to go fetch my son." She smiled at him but it quivered. They knew what tonight had done to them. O felt a need to comfort her in the moment but he couldn't give the blogs a story. If he spoke to her about their situation that is what it would turn into, a headline.
"See you around, O." And with that she was gone. A lot had happened but nothing had been said or done. And when Mo said she'd be seeing him. O felt a weird sensation overcome him. "Goodbye Mo." He murmured after she was out of sight.  He didn't want to dwell on it. He wouldn't.