Kennedy Onika "Nicki" Maraj.
Kennedy rolled her eyes in disgust as she folded her laundry. "And just yesterday, hip-hop mogul Drake was spotted out with Lira Galore just a week after her very public, very messy break up with Rick Ross. Catch the story exclusively on E! News after this break." Not even sticking around to catch the televised gossip, Kennedy grabbed her remote and turned the TV off all together before picking up the stack of undergarments and taking them to her closet.
I need to go out, get him out of my head. With that thought in mind, Kennedy went back to her bedroom after shutting the mahogany drawer and picked up her phone off her bed. She used her thumbprint to unlock her gold iPhone 6s and scrolled down her contacts. She clicked her friend's name and placed her phone on speaker then waited for her to pick up the phone.
"You've reached Kylie, sorry I'm not available right now, please leave a na- " Kennedy ended the phone call before her voicemail could pick up and quickly typed out a message to her.
Sent >> Answer your fucking phone Kylie. I need a girls night like yesterday.
After sending the message, Kennedy took her laundry basket back downstairs to her laundry room and decided to clean up her three bedroom condo to keep herself occupied. But, even as she washed dishes, HE seemed to occupy her thoughts.
Three weeks ago
"I love you too much to let go," Kennedy heard him say as his lips left open-mouthed kisses along her neck, just behind her ear. Her own lips curled into a smile, but she quickly pulled away to look him in his eyes. "Do you believe me when I say I'm sorry"?
Kennedy paused, her smile faltered a little bit, then she reached her hand up and ran her slender fingers through his curls. "It's so hard not to believe you, I don't think I want to but I just do". She kissed his lips reassuringly which he wasted no time in deepening. He loved the feeling of her soft lips against his, the always sweet flavor of her mouth, the way her hands always pulled him just a little bit closer.
Kennedy pulled away from the kiss momentarily and pulled down the hem of her maroon slip dress, causing his eyes to follow every movement. "Why do I feel like there's a 'but' coming?" Drake asked her, not taking his eyes off of her silky thighs. He reached for her hand and she pulled it away and backed away from him, leaving him standing near the front door of her condo.
"Because there is." She answered simply and ran her hand through her own curls. She'd trimmed her hair last week, up to her shoulders and he liked it. He could see more of her beautiful face, and her hair no longer hid those dimples he loved, or her collarbone he'd always kiss.
"Your hair is beautiful." He reached out to her again and this time, Kennedy didn't shy away from his touch. "You don't want to?" Drake asked her and she furrowed her dark brows, misunderstanding him. "You said you don't want to believe me, why"?
After a pause of silence, Kennedy nodded, "Yes, I did. It seemed like you were getting pretty cozy, pretty serious with that Bernice girl." She gave him a half answer. "So Im tired of believing your bullshit lies Aubrey. So, I went on a couple of dates, nothing as serious as flying him out to Perth for vacation but we kissed, we talk almost everyday."
"I needed company, you were mad about the party. You were having meetings every week, you even sent every gift back. I didn't want to bother you, I thought you needed space". Drake removed his jacket and tossed it over the arm of her suede love seat, which he then made himself comfortable on. He patted his lap, although she missed having him near, she stood anyways.
"That's the lamest excuse ever! I'm your girlfriend, no, fuck that, I'm suppose to be the one you call when you're lonely." Nicki snatched her ring, that's she received as a gift, off of her finger and shoved it into his hand. "You don't treat me like you want this relationship. I am entitled to vacations, I am entitled to your excess free time, I COME FIRST. You can be so fucking disloyal sometimes!"
"I'm disloyal?! But you out here going on dates with niggas and shit." He pointed out, causing her to laugh.
"You're not being nationally humiliated either. I have friends asking when are they going to meet you. I have to watch your hoe-ish ways all over the fucking Internet. When my mother asked about us, all I can say is that "You wouldn't understand." Kennedy said to him quietly, her tears threatening to make their presence known. "I sound so fucking pathetic." She moved to walk away from him, but he stood up from the couch and grabbed her. He grabbed her left hand and slid her ring back on and didn't say anything else, knowing there was nothing to say. "Are you going to say something? Anything?"
"What can I say Kennedy? What can I say that's any different than what I've told you a thousand times before. You know that I fucking love you, if you don't get it by now".
"News-fucking-flash!, that's my POINT! I don't fucking get it, you haven't shown it. You just dropped 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' a month ago! Your fourth major body of work. It'll be weeks before we see each other, and you act like you don't care. The few months that we've been together, I can count on one hand the number of times you've taken me out in public. You changed once we made shit official, this isn't the Aubrey that flew me out to his mansion. Every time , you convince my dumb ass to be more and more lenient with you and now I have a fucking promise ring on my finger. This is no relationship, I'm not the woman you love. I'm a stupid side-piece with a false ass promise ring!" This time, Kennedy took her ring off and threw it at him but it fell somewhere behind the couch. "Not anymore. I hate this relationship and I can't...I-I don't-" Kennedy stuttered, her tears were finally pouring. This was nothing new between them.
Every time he would come see her, she'd throw a fit, he'd fuck her senseless and they would be good for whatever amount of time she gave them until the cycle started all over again. "Kennedy, I love you. You know that so why do we keep doing this? I love you and only you. I don't love them. I don't want them."
"I can't do this anymore." She was finally able to get it out and the devastation on his face nearly crushed her already broken heart. "I can't be with you. Just...just go, please."
Drake stood and enveloped her into a hug and her cheek was pressed against the cold metal of the chains he wore around his neck. "You don't mean that, baby let's just sleep on it and-"
"No, I hate this relationship, I hate the woman it's made me. This isn't me! I'm allowing you to sleep with other women, while I sit back like a weak bitch". Kennedy pushed him away for a third time in all the fifteen minutes he'd been at her house. "And I hate that you ruined me, that you made me like this. This woman I don't even know. This insecure, nagging, pathetic shell of the woman I used to be. You broke me down and I can't...I can't keep doing this anymore. If you love me then let me go. Don't do me like this, the way our dads did our mothers because right now, you're just like the man you said you weren't going to be. I could've went back to Safaree for this bullshit"
"Kennedy, you're saying stuff you don't mean right now and you're angry." He told her. She was hitting below the belt but he knew he deserved every bit of it. Still, that didn't stop him from trying to keep her from walking away.
"No, I mean it Aubrey! You're just like your father and I hate that about you. I hate you." Her voice held so much conviction that he felt like he had been slapped in the face. So, without another word, he turned around, grabbed his jacket and left, not even giving her another look.
•••••
Kennedy didn't even realize that she was standing there, tears dripping from her chin and into her dishwater. Sighing, she wiped her face with her t-shirt before finishing up the kitchen and moving on to her living room. So many good memories happened on that couch. To her relief, it wasn't long before her phone began ringing: Bitch better have my mon-. Kennedy answered the phone, rolling her eyes at the obnoxious ringtone Kylie had set for herself for whenever she called Kennedy's phone. "What's wrong boo?" Kylie asked her, not even bothering with a greeting.
"I just...it's been a month and I can't...I need to go out, I need a one-night-stand, I need something to take my mind off of him for tonight." Kennedy sighed and Kylie sighed in sympathy. Their break up took a toll on her friend, and Kylie was one of the many who noticed. Being Nicki's co-worker and good friend, she knew he was the person who freed her mind from Safaree. The day he barged into the shop, proved to Kylie that he had a hook on Kennedy.
"That's all you gotta say babe, I'll leave Marcus at home and we can go out tonight, maybe for some drinks, just you and I. That sounds good"? Kylie asked her and Kennedy smiled through her tears.
"Yeah, that sounds great. I hope I'm not interrupting any plans or anything. I know Marcus hates sharing you."
Kennedy could practically see Kylie rolling her eyes at her words, "Oh please! When he made this official, I told him you and I were a package deal. Just like I'll drop everything for him, I'll drop everything for you. I owe you at least that much. You're the reason why I'm as successful as I am today." Kylie said to her and Kennedy nodded, understanding. "So wipe those tears away, put some concealer on those red eyes of yours and I'll be there in an hour. I'll see if Jason wants to tag along."
Kylie didn't wait for a response before hanging up. Didn't she say just the two of us? Kennedy shook her head, thinking of her crazy friend and her sometimes short-memory. If Jason and Kylie, were coming along, Nicki knew she was about to have a wild night. She was the oldest of the three of them at 27 and Kylie was the youngest at 22. Jason fell somewhere in between the two.
"Alright," Kennedy muttered to herself. "Tonight you will go out, have some fun and keep your mind off of him." The pep talk worked for all of an hour because she hadn't been in the club a whole ten minutes when she heard his voice blaring through the speakers.
At first she hadn't been paying attention but it was like her brain and ears were on autopilot and made her become consciously aware of his next few lines: "I know a girl I should propose to, but we just on some different shit. She on some up at 9AM already cookin' in the kitchen shit".
"We can leave you know," She heard Kylie say to her as they sat in their little VIP section. Jason was somewhere off dancing while Kennedy and Kylie needed a break because Kylie's feet were hurting.
"And go where? He's Drake. His music is everywhere. I can't escape him. He does that shit on purpose Kylie! I won't accept his calls so he puts it in his music, he forces me to listen, forces me to forgive him and I don't want to."
"Why don't you just call him? You're hurting yourself babe. Obviously he still loves you. It's been almost a month and you're just now hearing this song? I told you to listen." Kylie said to her and Kennedy rolled her eyes.
"He's my least favorite person right now, fuck what he has to say and fuck his music. He can't go writing songs, begging for me in one breath and then saying shit like this!" Kennedy threw her hand out in the open air, referring to the atmosphere as well as his lines.
I don't deserve it. She's just a little too perfect, she's just a little too worth it. I don't deserve her at all, no not at all. I only text her, man I never call. I'm still a canine at heart, I'm a dog. "He knows how to get under my skin. He says shit like this in his music, yet he's in rap beefs over pussy! That's not the Drake I know, the Drake I fell in love with."
"Listen to yourself!" Kylie snapped, shocking Kennedy. "He's not the same Drake because he's not with you. He's trying to fill a void, can't you see that."
"Whose side are you on?" Kennedy asked her plainly and Kylie smiled before kissing her cheek. "No, don't be kissing on me, fake ass." Kennedy cut her eyes at her. "Taking up for his yellow, carpet colored ass." Kennedy rolled her eyes and Kylie couldn't help laughing, knowing she was dead serious.
"Just promise me, the next time he calls or texts, answer him. Baby it's time to let bygones be bygones. Put your foot down and make him listen, make him be what you want him to be like you did for him. It seems to me like he's willing to. He's only parading those girls around for your attention."
And as if he somehow knew she was talking about him, her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced down at her phone. An unsaved number flashed across her screen but the area code was a dead give away. 416. Kennedy tapped her finger on the 'End' button, sending his call to her voicemail which earned her a glare from Kylie.
Not even a whole ten seconds later, her phone vibrated again, this time because of a text message.
Inbox << I'm here in New York.
The text was simple, but still suggestive, causing her to sigh. She stared at her phone, at the text, letting the insertion cursor blink. She didn't care that it appeared to him that she was typing a reply, when in reality, she was very indecisive at the moment. "Talk to him." Kylie gently nudged her with her shoulder. "Text him back, I'm gonna go get Jason drunk ass off the dance floor."
Sent >> What do you want me to do about that?
Inbox << Come see me please? Or I'll come see you.
Sent >> Now what would Lira say about that? I take it she's not with you? Or maybe, she's somewhere receiving gifts until you come back to fuck.
Sent >> Seems like you've been here for a minute now. At least long enough to be spotted out and about with one of your stripper girlfriends.
Kennedy knew it was childish of her to send him that but she didn't care, not in the least bit.
There was a long pause after that. Her phone had a grey bubble, indicating that he was typing but that was five minutes ago. In that time, Kennedy had gotten a drink and took a good sip of it and Kylie had returned with Jason.
Her phone vibrated and she looked down at the open conversation.
Inbox << Dinner tomorrow? My place or yours?
Inbox << Let's do your place. I miss your cooking.
Sent >> I don't cook for another woman's man. Sorry nigga.
Inbox << I don't belong to anybody.
Kennedy read the text message and rolled her eyes. That's just like him to say some shit like that. She quickly typed back a reply and locked her phone.
Sent >> Good to know. I guess we have nothing to talk about then.
Inbox << I didn't meant it like that and you know that. I'll send a car for you at seven.
Kennedy read his message and didn't bother responding. She didn't care that he got a notification that she had read his message. "Happy now?" She eyed Kylie who smirked and took her drink from her hand and lifted her glass to her nude lips.
"Stop being childish, talk to the man. You never know what he has to say,"
"I guess you're right." Kylie gave her a smile. "We'll see tomorrow."
Sent >> Don't send a car for me, YOU come get me and don't be late.
We'll see.
•••••••
IMPORTANT: Lauren from chapter three is Kylie... I changed her name. Jason is the make-up artist from chapter fourteen.
If you don't read the entire chapter, you'll be confused.
I'm addicted to updating this book, but this will probably be my last for a few days.
Also, I want to give a big thanks to fyesdricki for developing this concept & allowing me to make alterations. Great Co-writer ❤️