Obsession

8

Beyoncé hadn't been able to sleep all night. She'd tried chamomile tea and lavender scents, turning out all the lights, and even listening to relaxing music, but nothing was helping until she called Nicki.

Thoughts about work plagued her as always, her mind replaying the events of all of the past shows. From malfunctions with the sound, to her own mistake dropping the microphone, Beyoncé's mind raced with things to correct. She knew that if she didn't fix them nobody else would, so she replayed the moments trying to troubleshoot solutions. What could she have done differently? Should she adjust the way her arms moved? Did she need to hire more people? Fire someone? She was overworked and unable to turn her brain off.

Her mind had spent the night dancing as the songs echoed through her brain, her tiny mistakes suddenly feeling colossal the second she stepped off of the stage. On her MacBook, she searched the internet, researching technology and the audience perspective, the cameras, the lighting, ways to improve the show. Touring could be fun but it could also be extremely hard work.

When the sun was rising, she knew she had to try and force herself to sleep. Her family would probably tell her to relax, that she was wasting her time worrying about insignificant things. She sighed. She was sick of taking sleeping pills - she hated how they made her feel. Someone had recommended valerian root, but that sounded unnecessary.

Instead, she picked up her phone and called Nicki. It was the early hours of the morning and she chewed her lip as the phone began to ring. She didn't bother noticing the time on her phone and simply waited to see if she picked up.

"Hi" Nicki spoke, her voice unusually breathy. She had just been woken up from another dream about Beyoncé, and was a little unsure whether this was dream or reality.

"Sorry, I wake you up?" Came the strong southern accent. Beyoncé's exhaustion made her accent revert to home, as she drawled and dropped some of the letters in her words.

Nicki shook her head, despite the yawn that escaped her mouth. "N-no" she lied, remembering this was a phone call. She was blushing as she heard the raspy voice caress her ears.

Nicki had her 'do not disturb' set to always allow calls from Beyoncé. She hadn't needed it yet, but now she was glad she had the foresight to do it. Beyoncé Knowles could never be a disturbance. In fact, Nicki welcomed any interruption from her. Waking up to Beyoncé's voice was like breakfast in bed and she wanted to thank her the best way she knew how.

"You sure? I'm sorry, I know it's the middle of the night" Beyoncé sounded regretful. She shouldn't have called. The sun was rising and Nicki was probably fast asleep and she had woken her.

"It's fine Beyoncé" came Nickis sweet voice. It's always fine, she thought, secretly and silently. She was waking up now beginning to realise this was real. She wished Beyoncé would do this more often, wake her from her dream to a dreamlike reality. "You sound so sexy Beyoncé"

A smile tugged the left corner of Beyoncé's lip as she asked Nicki if she was free and nearby. She was in Massachusetts, so Nicki being in the state, let alone the city was clearly more than coincidence. However, Beyoncé was too tired to think about that and simply sent a car to pick Nicki up from her location.

She closed the curtains, mind still in a whir as she awaited the shorter hairdressers arrival. Nicki was the perfect distraction from it all; the perfect submissive who loved to serve her. That was the thing that first drew her to Nicki - her easy submission which brought out her dominance. Nicki answered when Beyoncé called, was just as nasty as she needed, and she always reacted as if Beyoncé's pleasure was her own.

~~
Beyoncé remembered when she first noticed Nicki. It was on the night before her Renaissance album was set to be released. Nicki had being doing her hair for these music videos. 16 videos with a million different looks, some of which Nicki had been a part of creating. She had a plan for the video rollout and release but she had been stressing about everything being perfect, and exactly the way she imagined. If a hair was out of place she wouldn't sleep until it was fixed.