SugarCOAT

84. A New Attitude 💐

I asked, "I'm sorry, Ms. Demure, but what's a yes woman or a yes man?"

Erma Demure put her drink on her vanity. She clasped her hands together. "Somebody that don't know how to say no. To find out if a man really wants to be with you, you tell him no. If he doesn't change and continue to be there for you, claim you as his woman, then keep him. But if you say no and he starts disappearing like they say ghosting - don't waste your time with him, girlfriend. Let him go!"

I understood what she was saying.

"Honey, I have some stories of my own." She lightly laughed, "I was once married for one week to a boy I met in college. He was handsome from head to toe, and I never said no to him. One day, I just didn't feel good and he was asking me to do something - I can't remember, and I said no. The next day, he asked about it again. I said no. Honey, the day after that I caught him holding hands with some woman on campus. She gon tell me they just got engaged. I took my wedding ring off so fast, he didn't get a chance to apologize or explain. I let him go! You hear me?" She laughed.

I laughed along with her.

Erma continued, "You just made me think of another short-lived relationship I had with this model. We already had a hard-time communicating, but he spoke enough English to understand me and for me to understand him. That was around my After the Storm album. He just couldn't understand my schedule and wanted more time together. I kept telling him after my tour we can spend more time together. He couldn't wait, so that relationship ended. I tell ya, I got stories to last a lifetime, honey."

I don't doubt it. 

"So, where do you live?" She asked me.

"I'm here in L.A.," I told her.

Erma pointed at me. "After the noise, don't stay here. Either go back to your hometown or get you a nice place in a peaceful location. You need to recoup after the a busy lifestyle."

We talked for about five more minutes, because she was being called to do her stage rehearsal. She gave me a hug and said that I was her adopted niece. Monica is going to be so jelly. 

As I went back to my dressing room, I couldn't help but to think about all that Erma Demure shared with me; especially, the part about relationships. I opened my dressing room door to find a dozen roses in a glass vase on my vanity. I walked over to it. An envelope read: Jae A.B. 

I opened it to find a card with flowers and prewritten words on one side. The other side was was hand-written. It read: Thank you for helping. I hope to see you soon - DWayne

WHO???

Someone knocked on my door.

"Come in!"

The door opened. "Jae, the network is here for interviews. Are you available now. It should take about 10 minutes?"

I turned around to see a woman wearing headsets. 

My makeup was already done even though I wore a hat and sunglasses. "Sure."

"Follow me."

After the interview in the green room, I was directed to an area in front of a backdrop that had the network's name on it. I did a few photos before heading back to my dressing room.

"Jae," the woman from earlier called me. "The show starts in four hours. Please be dressed and backstage no less than five minutes before the top of the hour."

I gave her a thumbs up. "I'll be on time."

Thanks to my team, I was on time and my opening performance was great. Everyone in the audience gave me a standing ovation. I was nominated in two categories, but I didn't win either award. Towards the end of the show, I presented the award for Songwriter of the Year. The winner was Producer and Songwriter V.C. Penman. He wrote a lot of songs on pop artist's Danny Guillermo's album that went platinum 10x this year. It was an global hit.