Dinner for breakfast was beef enchilada nachos. I could just squeeze Bridgette to pieces after I took my first bite. "Mmmhh..." The sound escaped my mouth as I sat outside on the patio, looking at the green, mystery maze before me.
I took another bite. "It's gonna be hard not to go back for seconds."
"Tell me about it."
I quickly turned around to see Zeke's mother. I stood up to greet her. "Good morning, Mrs. Rivers."
"Cathy." She held a cup of coffee in her hand and took a sip. Afterwards, she pointed at me. "Either you really like this area or you've given up on avoiding me."
"No ma'am. I really do like this area."
Cathy smiled at me. "Although this is one of my favorite areas around the house, I wasn't born yesterday."
Before I could plead my case, she continued with "At the same time, I've been avoiding you, too. How else do you think you've been able to get rides from Maximo anytime you wanted? We do have more than one driver and several vehicles to choose from." She took a seat in the wicker chair adjacent to me. She pointed at my plate. "If I were you, I'd tell Bridgette to pack you some for lunch. Zell is still asleep."
I sat back down.
"I know about you and Zeke."
I tried to explain. "We should've told you--"
She interrupted me, "Jae or should I call you Jae A.B.?"
My eyes grew with surprise.
"Of course Zell still hasn't figured it out. I was watching Zeke's show and you were on there. You sing well and your music is pretty good, too."
"Thank you," I spoke above a whisper.
Cathy sighed, "This conversation is to be kept between us. I'll talk to Zeke later."
"You knew we weren't really dating?" I asked her.
"The chemistry was not there," she informed me. "For anyone to believe that y'all were dating, they had to have been born yesterday."
I smirked. So much for being an actress.
Cathy took another sip of her coffee before placing it on the wicker table. "Zeke still hasn't forgiven his father and brother..." She looked up at the morning sky. "He blames them for ending his music career."
"He told me about what happened."
Cathy looked at me. "My sons are... something else. I love them to death, but they definitely didn't inherit their behaviors from me. Zack is so smart. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA, and received more scholarships than I could count on one hand. Sometimes, he's too smart for his own good. Oh, how he would tease his brother! He used to watch the ending of movies, just to ruin it for Zeke."
Now that's just evil.
"Zack would go around the house pranking everyone, but the first time he pranked me was the last time he pranked me," she lightly laughed. "On the other hand, Zeke is determined and talented. He can learn how to do just about anything and perfect it. He can sing, act, write, and play instruments. Yet... as much as they are different, they are similar. They both can be quite stubborn and sneaky or at least they think they're being sneaky. And they love music. They get that from their father," she finished.
I asked, "Why didn't Zeke just go back to singing?"
"He has, but it's hard to hide music around here. Some of the rooms in this house talk louder than me and you, right now. This house just isn't big enough, Jamie Sawyer."
Oh, my goodness. She knows my name. There's no telling how much she's heard.
"You can wipe that guilty look off your face. I'm no eavesdropper."
I decided to go back to eating my food before it got cold.
"Ezekiel Rivers may've stopped singing, but he didn't quit on music. I thank you for that." Cathy stood up to her feet and picked up her empty mug. "Have a good day, Princess of Performing."
"You, too." I watched her go back inside the house.
This is not how I wanted to start my day. I guess I should be happy that the cat is out of the bag. I guess everyone knew about our fake romance no matter how much we said we were a couple. Our relationship was just like the mystery maze in front of me. It looked so perfect, but then again, it was noticeably fake as its color was greener than the real grass on the ground.
I finished up my nachos before going to the kitchen and asking Bridgette to pack me some for lunch. She told me that Cathy had already told her. Is it bad that I want Cathy to continue avoiding me?
After an hour of rehearsing at a dance studio, I got on stage with my band and backup singers to do two run-throughs of my performance.
The stage manager asked me, "Are you already center stage or walking to your position?"
I answered, "Center stage."
"Thank you, Jae. Okay, people! Positions, everyone."
The stage crew left the stage.
I adjusted my sunglasses and brown fur hat before holding my head down.
The lights were dimmed.
"Queue the music," I heard the stage manager say.
The drummers began to play. A few seconds later, the drumming stopped when the spotlight shined on me. "Oh, I want you to know... I've been there, done that sooo... One-two-three! Let's go!"
The band began to play the beat to my song "Easy." After performing the whole song twice, we were given a break. My stomach growled when I got back stage, causing someone to laugh.
I turned around to see Deonte Way. "You heard that?"
"Yeah, I heard that." He took a few steps towards me. "I can take you to get something to eat after our set."
"Our?" I was surprised I even heard him say that.
Deonte nodded his head, "Yeah. Didn't your team tell you? Aja couldn't perform with me. She had a schedule conflict. I apologize for the last minute notice, but your team said that you would be happy to perform with me."
Now it makes sense why my rehearsal time was extended from three to five hours. "Of course I'd be happy to help, but I don't know your song like that."
"You honestly didn't know we were performing together?" He started to look disappointed.
"I knew I was scheduled to stay here longer, but I thought it was for extra time to rehearse. I didn't know it was for a second performance."
"Can I trouble you to perform with me this one time? You don't have to dance or be on stage the whole time. You come in on the last minute of the song to do the hook while I repeat it to you. Then, we can freestyle at the end." Deonte put his hands together. "I ain't too proud to beg you, Jae. I'll get on my knees in my new jeans."
I chuckled, "You still gonna feed me?"
"Oh, most definitely."
"Deal." I held my hand out to him.
He shook it. "We go on in two minutes. Just listen to the hook. When I point to you, you'll come on stage, already singing it."
"Easy-peasy," I told him.
I should've known something was up when my band and backup singers were packing up to leave. Why didn't Colby tell me I would be doing two performances? We gotta communicate better.
The stage crew gave me a microphone as Deonte's rehearsal began.
He sang the hook: You're all I need / I want you, bae / You're all I see / Come my way / You're all I need / I want you, bae / You're all I see / Come my way
Chorus: And when I see your face / Our bodies embrace/ I fall in love / And when I kiss your lips / My hands caress your hips / I get a taste of love
Now, I was confused. Which part am I supposed to sing. I quickly pulled out my phone and Google'd the lyrics to Deonte Way's song "You're All." Well, that didn't help. At least now, I know the lyrics.
"Aww, girl come here... My girl!" He pointed at me.
I immediately turned into the Princess of Performing as I did a sultry walk onto the stage. "You're all I need..."
Deonte smiled at me, "I want you, bae."
"You're all I see..."
"Come my wayyyy..." He sang.
I repeated, "You're all I need..."
"I want you, Jae!"
"You're all I seeee..." I posed in front of him and dropped half-way before walking to his right side.
Deonte looked at me. "C'mon, baby, come my way... I watch you... watching me..."
I hummed, "Mmm... you think I won't say a thing.... Oh, no, no. 'Cause boy, you're all I want."
"You're all, you're all, you're all I need..." He pointed at me.
I copied his cadence. "You're all, you're all, you're all I see..."
Deonte sang, "Jae, you're all, you're all, you're all I need..."
"Deonte, you're all, you're all, you're all I see..."
He added, "Will you let me...get a taste of love?"
I quickly sang, "I'm all yours and some...hmmm-mmm."
The music faded out.
A few people cheered. I clapped along with them.
"I knew you would kill it!" Deonte pulled me into a hug.
I dusted my shoulder. "It was a piece of cake."
Deonte chuckled, "Hey, Rachel! For the second rehearsal, instead of two spotlights. When Jae comes in, turn off my light and put it on Jae. Follow her as she walks to me."
"Got it!" The stage manager told him.
We went through the rehearsal a second time, and Deonte did even more vocal riffs, runs, and some. He was trying to make me work. I shouldn't have said it was a piece of cake.
"Jae, you're all, you're all, you're all I need..."
I put my hand on his chest. Then, I looked at him. I was catching my breath before singing, "Deonte, you're all, you're all, you're all I see..."
He smiled. I think he knew. "Will you... let me get a taste of your love?" He placed his hand over mine.
"Yes, I'm all yours... and some..."
"and some..." Deonte sang in unison with me.
The music faded out and all the lights were back on.
"It's a wrap. Great rehearsal!" The stage manager told us.
I handed Deonte my microphone. "Do you know what time it is?"
"What?" He asked me.
"It's time to eat!" I ran off stage.