Heavy Nights Like This

ch, 4

          Gretchen and the rest of Bea's friends stayed in the kitchen while she headed up to the second level of her home through the back staircase. She entered her bedroom, seeing it looked mostly like it did when she left it. She checked the bathroom, the closet, even under the bed and saw nothing suspicious.

"This is silly." She laughed to herself. She trusted Bird, but something in her mind was telling her Gretchen wasn't wrong. She decided to check a couple more places around the house, just to say she did. She looked around the second level den, then inside the guest bedroom next to the master.

          She walked into the room and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She got down on her knees to look under the bed. She looked in the closet and in the guest bathroom. "What are you doing?" Bird appeared in the doorway, startling her. "Oh, ugh, I'm just looking for something." He scratched his head, nervously looking around the room, "You lost it in here? What did you lose?" He asked. "Um, a-a pair of shoes, I thought I tossed them in here one night, maybe I didn't." She said, turning the light in the bathroom back off and closing the door. She chuckled, "Oh well, I'll find them later. The girls and I are going to head out now."

Bird walked the women to their car and he gave Bea a kiss, "I'll see you when you get home, ok?" She nodded and he closed the driver side door for her, waiting for them to drive off before going into the house. He shot up the stairs and into the guest bedroom.

"They're gone. Where are you?" He called out, looking around the room. A second later, Barbie swung open the bathroom door, "I just hid in a cabinet in the bathroom. I swear to God, I'm never coming over here again. This is fuckin' ridiculous." She said clearly upset, dusting off her pants. He sighed, trying to grab her hand. She shook her head and jerked her hand away, "I just want to leave." "Barbie, I'm sorry." He said. "Where are my keys?" She asked, almost yelling at him.

"Barb, I—" She was shaking, "I just want my keys, I want to leave." Bird left out of the room, with her following behind. He went into his bedroom and grabbed her keys from the drawer. She took them from him and was down the stairs in no time. "Dammit Barbie, wait!" His voice sent an echo through the entire house, "Why are you so mad at me? I didn't know she was coming home."

          She stopped walking and turned around, "I'm not mad at you, I'm just upset, ok?" Her voice cracked, her shaking hands covered her face. He pulled her hands down and wiped her tears as they fell, "Look, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She shook her head, "It won't, because I can't do this anymore." Bird stepped back, a bit puzzled, "We were fine less than an hour ago. We were just laughing and talking about album covers."

"Bird, you don't get it. I'm a platinum-selling artist and I'm hiding in a dusty ass cabinet from your wife like some groupie. What if she would've found me? How would that make me look? Nobody cares that you cheat on your wife, you play ball and she's not leaving you regardless. But me, I have an image to protect. My life would be over and this ain't worth it." She frowned, wiping her face.

Bird's feelings were hurt, honestly. He knew she had a point, but he didn't like to hear the truth, "So, just like that?" He asked, shrugging, "Me and you, we just— we just go our separate ways?" She blew out a deep breath. "I think so, Bird." she replied, sadly. She held the sides of his face and kissed his lips softly, "I love you."

          She got into her car, without either of them saying another word. She drove off and headed back to her hotel. She had to get back to her team before they had a panic attack. She had a couple hours before her show at Marlins Park and she was in the worse possible mental condition for a performance.

An hour before it was her time to hit the stage, she was getting her makeup done and scrolling through instagram. "What, no jokes? No warming up the vocals? What is up with you tonight?" her makeup artist, Ebony asked. Gabby, who was sitting on the couch in the dressing room quickly chimed in, "Someone pissed in her cornflakes and she won't tell us who." Barbie glared at her, "I'm fine, really. I am fine." Ebony poked out her lip, "You seem sad, babes." Before Barbie could fix her mouth to say she was fine again, her tear ducts filled with water.

"Aw, Barbie honey, what is it?" Gab said, jumping up and grabbing tissue for her. She carefully dabbed her friend's eyes as not to mess up her makeup. Barbie sniffed, "I don't want to talk about it." Gabby was shocked that Barbie was this visibly upset, she usually able to hide her emotions better. She'd only seen her like this on one other occasion. "Ok, but we're going to talk. Right now tho, you got to pull yourself together for this show." Barbie nodded and took a deep breath, "Ok. Ok, I'm fine."

She started to cry every time she thought about Bird so she wasn't sure how she was going to get through her performance, considering a lot of her first album was about him. "Can we talk about something, please? Anything." She asked, clearing her throat.

          After makeup and hair, Barbie quickly changed into her first stage look for the night. She took a couple pictures in the hallway like she always did before a show to post on instagram later and headed to the stage as the lights dimmed.

When Barbie went on stage, she realized that she hadn't mentally prepared herself. She felt a little off, like she wasn't ready. Even though this was her seventh tour date, all other days she'd had a full day to focus and prepare. She blew out a long breath, "Can I share something with you ladies?" she sang into the microphone acapella, causing the crowd to go crazy.

She stepped into the light and the music started to play, "I've been all wrong about my baby. That ain't meant for you to get me wrong, I ain't no stranger to love." She continued to sing. She started to feel at ease about her performance and tried to enjoy herself as much as possible. She performed every song from her first album, including her hit single, 'You're Making Me High' which included a sexy dance routine.

"Thanking so much, I love Miami so much!" She gushed into the mic, "I have one more song for you guys tonight, it's called 'I Love Me Some Him'." The crowd screamed and Barbie laughed, "I guess y'all know this one." She stepped away from the mic and the music began to play. She took a deep breath and immediately felt a lump in her throat. This song was Bird. She cleared her throat and started to sing, "La la la..."

"I love me some him, I'll never love this way again. I love me some you, another man will never do. I love me some him, I'll never love this way again. I love me some you, another man will never do..." Her backing vocalists sang.

"All those days and lonely nights have all gone away. I never thought the day would come when we'd be more than friends. You made me smile when I was down. You turn my world around. The way you give me love feels so right." she melodically sang. "You took the ease off my mind and put it behind. You were there for all my needs, so, baby, stay..."

She got through another verse with ease and prepared herself for the bridge, "Cause you came along and changed my life, told me things would be all right an—" her voice cracked as she let a tear fall. She took a deep breath and tried to finish, but she just let the verse finish and chorus come back on. "Thank you, Miami. Goodnight!" She said before quickly existing the stage.