1 month later
It's been an amazing month. Imani has been celebrating his win with Ryan and his teammates non stop. He and Ryan decided to go on a couples trip to Puerto Rico together, so that's where they are right now. It makes me happy to see him so happy.
It seems like they're in a better place now and that makes me really happy. I think Imani was just really stressed about the championships and was not prioritizing his relationship but they both look to be really happy again.
Things have been amazing with Aubrey too. He's spent the whole month working on his album and actually finishing it. I got to be in the studio with him this whole time and was fortunate enough to see him work. He's truly a musical genius. He's so talented and I'm so proud of him. I know the world is going to love this album.
Tonight is the album release party in LA because the album officially comes out at midnight. All of Aubrey's fellow rappers and musicians will be there tonight so it should be a great time.
"Baby, I got you something to wear for tonight. I think this will look sexy on you. I wanna see you in it." Aubrey said laying a dress in a garment bag his bed for me.
"Well then I can't wait to wear it for you babe." I said getting on my toes to give him a kiss.
"Are you excited for tonight? I know you've heard most of the album, but there's a couple songs I added last minute that you haven't heard."
"I'm excited baby I can't wait to hear the whole album tonight. And I know everyone else is going to love it too." I assured.
Later That Night
Aubrey and I almost finished getting ready but of course it always takes me forever to get ready and Aubrey is somehow always waiting on me.
"Alright baby, I'm ready to go!"
"Finally damn, I thought you were gonna make me miss my own album release." He joked. We made our way to the front of Aubrey's LA home and got into the Escalade that was waiting outside for us.
Once we got to the party the vibe was incredible. Everyone was enjoying the album, dancing and drinking. Luckily for me Alyssa and Chris were here partying with us. I don't really know too many of Aubrey's friend's girlfriends other than Chubbs. A lot of his rapper friends just have random hoes around and I rarely see them with the same girl twice.
Sometimes the girls are nice but sometimes they'll be trying to flirt with my man knowing they came here with his friends and he is with me.
One of my favourite songs on his new album started to play, 'Pipe Down'. I immediately pulled Aubrey straight to the dance floor and started dancing with him.
After listening and paying attention to the words I realized the song was essentially about buying my love back.
"You know I didn't get back with you because of the stuff you bought me right? You can't buy my love Aubrey, I'm with you because I love you as a person baby." I assured.
"I know baby. I'm just used to being with women that only responded to lavish gifts. I thought that would work with you too but I know better now, and I love you even more because of it." He then leaned down to kiss my lips as we rocked to the song in the background.
Aubrey spent the last 20 minutes introducing me to people. The party was just ending and only a few industry people were still there mingling and networking.
"Ah this is Lucien Grainge. He is president of the label I've partnered with OVO. Lucien this is my girlfriend Aaliyah."
As soon as I heard Aubrey say his name, my chest tightened. I haven't seen him in 10 years and somehow all the pain, fear, and disgust came back as if it was yesterday. I just felt my legs moving and somehow I ended up in the bathroom.
I just broke down crying. I never thought I'd see Lucien ever again, I actually worked really hard to make sure I never had to see him again.
Shortly after I made it into the bathroom Aubrey came in and was shocked to see me in tears.
"Baby what's wrong? Did I do something?" He asked while consoling me.
I just shook my head.
"Baby please tell me what's going on."
"Lucien...h- he, he sexually assaulted me." I finally choked out.
"It was about ten years ago, you're the only person I've ever told about This and I really don't want to talk about this here. Can we please just go home."
"Baby..." he said looking at me with sympathy. I could tell he didn't know what to say.
"I got you baby, we're going home right now." He said.
He lead me to the Escalade and just when I thought he was going to get in the back seat with me, he closed the door and headed back into the party. I could tell he was fuming and was going to do something bad.
"Chubbs you have to stop him he's going to do something bad, I can tell. Please just go stop him." I pleaded with Chubbs who was sitting in the row in front of me.
"What are you talking about?" He asked confused.
"Please just go get him now before he goes too far."
————————————————————
Aubrey's P.O.V.
I made my way through the party searching for Lucien. Once my eyes landed on him I grabbed the closest bottle smashing it on the corner of a table, making the perfect weapon for what I'm about to do to that son of a bitch.
I started waking towards him with the broken glass bottle in my hand when I felt someone grab me from behind and take the bottle out of my hand.
I turned to see Chubbs.
"I don't know what the fuck you were about to do but we gotta go. What the fuck are you doing? You tryna cut Lucien? What's going on?" Chubbs yelled at me confused as we made it back towards the exit.
"You stopped me this time but all imma say is, as soon as I can, imma kill that nigga. I don't care who tries to stop me." I said looking Chubbs in his eyes then getting into the Escalade without another word.
————————————————————
Aaliyah's P.O.V.
"You don't have to explain it to me if you don't want to baby. It's okay, I know it's hard to talk about but I'm here for you if you are comfortable." Aubrey said to me.
"It's okay. I want to tell you." I said quietly.
I cuddled up in his arms knowing I would need the physical support and comfort to get through this story.
"When I first started working with Pusha T, I was shopping him around to different labels for a distribution deal. This was like 10 years ago. We finally got a meeting with Universal music group, at first my meeting was with Lucien's son who handled more of the rap artists at the time, but when we got there Lucien insisted on meeting with us. After the meeting, Pusha was getting ready to leave and Lucien asked me to stay back so we could discuss some numbers. So I stayed, and he locked the door then he cornered me and put his Rand up my skirt and grabbed my breasts. After a few minutes I finally was able to hit him and run out of the room. I left and that day and didn't tell a single person what happened. I just told Pusha that the deal wouldn't go through and we had to keep looking. I've been avoiding Lucien ever since, that's why all of my clients now are either athletes or actors. I have very few artists because I never wanted to see Lucien or his son ever again." I finally finished fighting back tears.
Aubrey just hugged me and kissed the top of my head.
"I want you to know that I am going to kill him. And if I can't do it myself, I will have someone do it for me." he said with a blank expression.
Usually it was pretty easy for me to read Aubrey but right now I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. I was really concerned.
"Aubrey, what ever you are thinking, just stop it. This whole situation has been draining enough, I can't lose you because of it too. Please, I don't need you getting in any trouble."
"Fine."
I reached over and pulled him in for a kiss.
"lets just go to bed baby, I'm tired and I know you are too."
--------------------------------------------------------------
I woke up to the sound of Aubrey in his office yelling at someone on the phone.
"look bitch, you're going to let me out of my contract with my full payout. you and I both know it will be better off for you if you just do what I want. I'm no fun when I'm angry Lucien!" I heard Aubrey say with an assertive tone.
I got out of bed and made my way one door down to Aubrey's office. When I got in there, our eyes met immediately. He was off the phone now.
"So you're ending your contract with Lucien?" I asked.
He nodded. " There's no way I could look at that man now, knowing who he is, and what he's done to you." He shook his head.
"I'm disgusted, that he was making money off of me and all my OVO artists for all these years. I can't imagine all the other women he's done this to. Baby, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this and be quiet about it."
"I know. Its been hard, but I've had my work and Imani to distract me from it all. I know I haven't dealt with it properly, but now that I've told you its been a lot easier to deal with and I finally feel like I'm moving forward."
"Good, I don't want him to have any control over how you feel anymore. I love you baby."
"I love you too." I kissed him.
————————————————————
It's been a few hours, and Aubrey tweeted that he was dissolving his contact with Lucien Grainge and universal music group. He also encouraged any other artists on Lucien's label to do the same.
With everything going on, I began to think about if I should tell my story. I'm a pretty private person but I know that if I tell I might be able to help others tell their truth. It's a very scary and vulnerable thing to do, and honestly, I don't know if I'm ready.
"Baby, you won't believe it! I just got off the phone with Adele. She said she's going to announce she's leaving Universal. She said my tweet made her look into her contract and she saw that it was up for renewal. She said she's going to go independent and that Lucien always gave her weird vibes. But don't worry, I didn't tell her what happened to you."
"That's amazing baby! I'm glad she got out before he could have assaulted her. You know I've been thinking about going public and telling my story...but I just don't think I'm ready. I know what happens in the media to women who come forward about sexual assault. I don't think I can deal with that right now."
"I'm with you and support you no matter what you choose to do baby girl." He said.
"One day maybe I'll be ready but for now I just want to focus on healing." I explained.
"Don't worry baby we're going to get through this together. I'm going to be here for you with whatever you need." He said then kissed my forehead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheers to another chapter!!! Sorry it took a bit long but I had to change the concept of this chapter so the next two can flow better!
I hope you all enjoyed it!
Please remember to vote and comment!💖
Thanks for reading!