' 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡 ' › D. SWING

18.

Currently, we were in Atlanta, GA working on SWV's upcoming album. They wanted to call it New Beginnings, which I found fitting since things were slowly but surely getting better for us both. Because Rhonda wanted to venture out on her own musically, I decided not to produce or write any of the records. I was mainly here as her 'MANager' and support system. Oddly, she's been sort of closed off lately. As if she had a lot on her mind. I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew she'd eventually tell what was going on whenever she was ready. She still seemed happy nonetheless. Over the past year, I feel like we had grown closer than we had ever been. I was thankful for it. It honestly felt like old times. Like we were just kids again. Before Mary Jane and the Haileys had even come into the picture. That cute little church girl, shy as ever. And that tall little church boy, handsome as ever.

I chuckled at my own thoughts as we rode in the limo, heading to Veni, Vidi, Vici to meet with one of Rhonda's chosen producers for the album. For some reason, she wouldn't tell me who it was. Quite frankly, it bugged the shit out of me but I figured it had to be for a good reason. Either it was going to have me too excited to come, or unwilling to come at all. She knew me well.

Once we had finally arrived to our destination, we climbed out of the car and all began to head for the door. Being the gentlemen that I am, I held the door open for the group and followed in shortly after.

When we made it to the table, there he was. Pharrell Williams. It had been a while since I had seen him. The last time I saw him was when he was leaving Swing Mob, telling me that he came across other career opportunities. Even though I was previously bitter about it, I completely understood. His sound was different from what Swing Mob was doing. He was into that white California shit with a hint of Hip-Hop. So far, he was making a name for himself within the industry. I couldn't be mad him. As a former mentor, I was actually quite proud. Look at this lil' nigga.

I could tell that he was nervous as to how the night was going to go whenever he saw me so to ease the awkwardness, I offered him a nod and a slight smile, "What's up, man? " The tension seemed to gradually leave his body as he smiled back at me, nodding in return. We all took a seat, joining him and the other members of The Neptunes at the table.

"Thanks for meeting with us, Pharrell. It's been a minute", Rhonda said with a bright smile, getting comfortable next to me.

Pharrell just chuckled, shrugging a bit, "Oh, come on. You know I been waiting to work with you and the girls. Speaking of which, how is the album coming along? How many songs were you needing from me? "

"Good question. So the album is basically done, we just need about 2 more songs to add. A nice ballad we can release as a single a few months after the release to help increase sales. As far as the other one, I'm not too sure yet. We can let you listen to all that we've recorded so far so that you can hear the vibes and sound we're going for", Rhonda stated, occasionally glancing over at Taj and Lelee who nodded in agreement with all that she was saying. It was nice to see her in her element. A boss. Though I'd give her a hard time back then, the truth is that I always admired how great of a business woman she was. She handled her shit and made little to no mistakes. There was a point where I was actually envious of her because she seemed to be better at managing my business than I was. My ego had gotten the best of me and due to the fact that I could not accept the fact that someone new to the industry was flourishing in the areas I wanted to, I took my frustrations out on her when I should have been asking for advice. That was something that I regretted every day. The way I treated her.