SugarCOAT

53. The Explosion 💣

As tired as I was after another long day of rehearsing, I had to talk with Zeke as soon as he came home. Yes, I'm standing right outside his bedroom door. I probably could have given him some time to settle in, but I haven't seen him in over a week.

As if he already knew what was on my mind, Zeke went right into the topic of discussion. "In a few weeks, people won't be talking about it. In a few months, no one will even remember it."

I took my seat on his sofa, grabbing a pillow to get comfortable. "It's been a week, and Aja is still in hiding."

Zeke continued to talk as if I hadn't said a word. "Aja won't be performing 'Choose' with you on Friday. I talked to Ricky. He knows who did it, and it is being taken care of. He's just glad that it was a short, 20-second clip of him and Aja making out. Plus, the second video has been confirmed not to be Aja. She'll be back like she never left." He said all this while getting himself something to drink and putting popcorn in the microwave.

I had to interject. "She was topless in that video, Zeke. Twenty seconds or twenty minutes, her image is tarnished."

"It was dark. It wasn't a sextape. The only way to tell that it was Aja was her voice. Her face is blurry in the video clip."

"The second video has her song playing in the background," I continued to defend her. Maybe, it was the sound of the popping popcorn that was encouraging me.

Zeke stood in front of me. "The other video was short like the first. The woman had her back to the camera."

"But people believe it's Aja. The damage has been done. That's like if someone had recorded you and me and put it out there. No one knew about her and Ricky."

Zeke pointed at me. "You didn't know about their relationship. Aja wasn't his first and wouldn't be his last." He sighed, "This is why I introduced you as my girl. You benefit more than you know."

Now, he tells me! My facial expression must've said it all, because Zeke didn't take a breath for like a minute straight as he spoke. "Jae, this industry is not for the innocent or the weak. At the same time, I would not have chosen you if you were problematic. You're defending Aja like you know her. You know Aja the artist not the person. She's not your best friend. She's a celebrity. More importantly, she's not a victim. She knew the price for getting with Ricky, the president of the record label she's under. Meaning, she would lose more than him if anything ever happened."

The microwave announced the popcorn was ready.

Zeke finished with, "I don't know why she's making this bigger than it is. They were together two years ago. She talked to Deonte right after that, and then my brother."

My brows merged as I remained silent.

"I'm not judging her. I just know how she moves." He took his popcorn out of the microwave.

Although, I was shocked and slightly disappointed in what Zeke told me about Aja Frost, I just had to say one more thing. "Well since you know how people move, why don't you know about your assistant?" I folded my arms.

"I knew about Jaylei before I met you. I just had to wait for the right moment to catch her. I already hired another assistant. You'll meet Zaporah on Friday."

I seriously don't know anything at all. How did he already know? How did he keep a straight face this whole time? Then, I remembered his acting skills. This man needs an Oscar. Bravo, Zeke!

I asked him, "What did Jaylei do?"

Zeke walked over to me and offered me some popcorn. I took a handful. I might need the whole bag.

Zeke took a few bites before sitting next to me. "Jaylei's been stealing from me for a long time. I don't know how she got in my room without me, but once Bridgette caught her and told me, I started looking around for what could be missing."

"What did she take?" I inquired.

"Nothing for you to worry about. I changed my locks so she couldn't get in."

I scratched my brow. "What about Zack? Will she still be coming over to see him?"

Zeke smiled at me. "Have you been listening to me or only listening to what you want to hear?"

I smacked my lips.

"Zack ain't in love. He just getting what he wants out of the situation."

I stood to my feet. "Good chat. I'm going to bed."

Zeke chuckled, "Jae."

I glanced at him with my hand on the door handle.

"The woman in the second video is Jaylei."

It's official. I know absolutely nothing! I was speechless as I went to my bedroom. I got in bed, re-thinking everything. An entire hour went by and I was still awake. I picked up my phone. It was two in the morning. I took a deep breath. "Go to sleep, Jamie. Go to sleep. You can think about this when you wake up."