Eye Candy (7 page)

Chapter 14

I
stared at the text again, trying to get up the nerve to press SEND. But for some reason, this was a whole lot harder than I thought it would be. I knew seeing this text would hurt Alvin, but I really and truly didn't know what else to do. Nelly was moving in fast on my territory. I could try to take the high road all I wanted, but I was in the business of branding and I was starting to wonder if everyone was right that Alvin was bad for my brand.

I hadn't been able to get that hunk Ross Nixon off my mind. How Nelly had pulled someone like that was beyond me. Granted, she was cute and all, but Ross was major.

I glanced over at the tabloid magazine Tamara had handed to me on my way out the door today. Nelly and Ross were hugged up, and I'll admit it, they looked good together. And if Ross was bringing up her stock, were my friends right? Was Alvin bringing mine down?

“Stop procrastinating and send it,” I mumbled. I read the text one more time.

I exhaled, pressed SEND, and waited. I knew Alvin was at home. He'd called me about thirty minutes ago and told me he was in for the day.

On cue, not even a full five minutes later, my cell phone rang.

“Hello,” I said, trying to sound upbeat.

“Hey, Maya, what's going on?” His tone was measured like he was weighing his words.

“Nothing, babe. Just on my way home from the station,” I chirped. “What are you doing?”

He paused. “Reading this text that you must've been trying to send to one of your girls.”

“What?” I said, sounding shocked. “What are you . . . OMG. I . . . that . . . oh, wow. That wasn't meant for you.” I hoped that I sounded convincing.

“Obviously,” he said. I could just picture him pacing back and forth across his living room.

“Alvin, I am sooo sorry. I didn't mean to send that to you,” I lied.

“So, the station is talking about firing you if you don't go on a date with your ex?”

“Alvin, oh my God. I—I, no, let's not talk about it.”

“No. I want to talk about it,” he demanded. “They're seriously talking about firing you?”

I sighed, trying to act like I really didn't want to say anything. “It's the Grammys. J. invited me to be his guest—for publicity purposes,” I quickly added. “You know how Tamara and the other producers keep trying to tell me that I need to do stuff for the
Rumor Central
brand. They think me going to the Grammys would be good PR.”

“So, going on a date with your ex is good PR?” he said, like he couldn't believe what I was saying.

I felt really bad, but I'd come this far. I had to see it all the way through. “It's not even like that.”

“So, what is it like then, Maya?”

I didn't say anything.

“Do you want to go?” he asked pointedly.

I still didn't say a word.

“Answer me, Maya!”

His tone made me jump.

“Okay, yeah, of course I want to go to the Grammys.”

Silence filled the phone. “Then you should go,” he finally said.

“Really?” I said, a little too excitedly.

“Wow,” he replied like he was stunned by my excitement. But he exhaled, then said, “Yeah. Really. Since this is obviously something you want, go for it.”

I wanted to jump for joy. That was why I loved Alvin. Most guys wouldn't be this understanding. I wanted to chitchat with him some more, but now that I knew I was going to the Grammys, my focus needed to be on looking fabulous. I needed to get off the phone with Alvin so I could call J. Love and let him know. Then I needed to begin planning so that I could take L.A. by storm.

Chapter 15

T
his is the life that I was meant to live. I loved covering the red carpet, but I loved
being
covered on the red carpet a whole lot more.

“Maya! J. Love!” Paparazzi and reporters were yelling our names from every direction. And as if we were completely in sync with one another, J. Love and I turned and smiled.

He was right about one thing. We made an awesome couple.

J. hadn't seemed surprised when I'd called and told him I would go—almost as if he'd known without a doubt that I'd give in. So, this past week had been filled with beauty appointments—nails, spa, hair, shopping. Of course, my mom wasn't having me going off to L.A. with a guy, but then she had the not-so-brilliant idea to come with me (just another excuse to go shopping in Beverly Hills if you asked me). I didn't sweat it, though, because she was super excited and had found me the perfect gown in a Rodeo Drive boutique, had them overnight it, then had alterations done in twenty-four hours. She was making sure everything was on point for my Grammy debut.

“Are there plans to tie the knot?” someone shouted from the crowd of media people.

“Wow, can I get out of high school before you start trying to marry me off?” I joked.

“Yeah, I'm not the marrying type,” J. Love said. “But if I were to get married, it would definitely be to someone like her.” He smiled and pulled me closer, and the paparazzi ate it up. If Tamara and the others were worried about my stock, this should definitely bring it back up.

“Right this way,” our escort said when we reached the end of the red carpet.

I let J. lead me into the coliseum, to our seats on the third row. I was no groupie, but if I was, I would've done a little dance when they sat me down with Pharrell on one side of me and Kevin Hart on the other.

“Hey, what's up, J.?” Pharrell said, standing and greeting J. Love.

I did a little wave at him as J. Love dapped him. “It's all you,” J. replied.

“Congrats, man. I heard Hype Lee was directing your new video,” he said.

J. nodded. “Yeah, that's a big deal.”

“I still need to holla at you about that collaboration,” Pharrell said.

“Oh, you don't have time for me,” J. Love joked. “You too busy being happy.”

“I make time for you, my man,” he replied.

They laughed and joked some more. J. spoke to several other celebs and introduced me to a few, before taking his seat. I loved how J. Love just commanded a room. People respected him everywhere he went.

This would definitely be a night to remember. I think the best moment came when J. Love finally took the stage. He gave a performance that rivaled Usher and Chris Brown's much-talked-about previous performances. He was on point and I sat there smiling like I was his proud girlfriend or something.

“He was so good,” the girl behind me leaned up and whispered after the crowd had given J. Love a standing ovation.

“Thank you.”

“You two make such a cute couple.”

All I could do was flash her a smile.

After J.'s performance, we went to a commercial break and someone with an earpiece and a clipboard came over and lightly tapped me on the shoulder.

“Miss Morgan, Mr. Love requests your presence backstage,” the man said.

I smiled proudly as I followed the man backstage. There was a lot of activity going on backstage, and I almost passed out when I passed Beyoncé in the hallway. But I wasn't about to be a groupie, so I just said, “Hey, how are you?” as I passed.

She gave me a genuine smile and replied, “Fine. Thank you,” before disappearing around a corner.

“In here,” the man said, motioning for me to go into an oversized dressing room.

“Hey, you,” I said, tapping on the door.

There were several people in there, including a few I recognized—his business manager, his publicist, and a few of his boys.

“Hey, I would've brought you back earlier, but I wanted you to see it from the audience,” J. Love said as a sound guy removed his microphone from under his shirt.

“No, you were fantastic,” I said.

He leaned in and kissed me, and it actually caught me off guard.

“Thank you for coming here. You made this night special.”

“No, thank you for having me. I'm having a wonderful time.”

“Did you see Shaun Robinson from
Access Hollywood
outside?” he asked.

“No, what is she doing out there?”

“She wanted to interview us. She said everybody is loving us. So much so, that the people at
Essence
want to put us on the cover of next month's—”

“J. . . . ”

He held up his hand. “But we're not going to talk about that right now. I told her we'd get with her later, but I told you, girl. Me and you are so good together.”

I just stood there and smiled.

“Next year you're going to have to make sure you're here, because I know your boy will be nominated, not just performing. My album didn't drop in time to make this year's nominations.”

I had no doubt not only would he be nominated, but he'd win.

He hugged me again, and said, “All right, baby, let's get changed then we can go and enjoy the rest of the show.”

 

“So, did you enjoy yourself?” J. Love said as we sat in the back of the car heading back to the hotel. I really wished that I could stay in L.A., but it was finals time and I didn't have a choice. I was on the first flight out in the morning. What was so jacked up was that my mom was staying a few extra days to shop.

“I did. I had a nice time. So, thank you again for inviting me.” I slipped my stilettos off.

“I told you. Did you see the way everyone ate up our appearance?”

“Yeah, we do make a cute couple.” I smiled at him. “Too bad we're not really a couple.”

He looked at me in all seriousness. “Well, that can be changed.”

“Come on, J. . . .”

“
I know. I know. You got a man
,” he said, singing a popular line from one of his chart-topping songs. “You know how I feel about you. But I'll keep it strictly business. I can do that because I know that sooner or later, you'll come around.”

“Whatever.”

He flashed that cocky expression. “I told you, I always get what I want.” Before I could protest, he changed the subject. “But I did want to talk to you because I want you to be in my new video, the one Pharrell was talking about.”

I struggled to contain my excitement. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, the studio is pumping a lot of money into this record. It's my new cut, ‘A Love Like This,' mixing some old-school beats, with the new-school flavor.”

“It sounds like it's gonna be hot.”

“It is, but I know how we can make it hotter.”

“How?”

“Have you as the star. We had Taraji, but she got a movie she's shooting and I thought who's as hot as Taraji? And it dawned on me that I knew someone hotter.”

My eyebrows raised. Taraji was quite hot for an old woman, but of course, I was hotter.

I leaned back in the seat. A video?

“I'm not a video vixen, you know?” I felt the need to remind him.

“Of course I know that. I just want you to take the part. So what do you say?”

A video? I was just complaining about
Rumor Central
and wanting to try something new. While I'd never want a career as a video girl, it might be fun to do.

“You know, I think I'd like it,” I finally replied.

“You know, I know you would,” he said. He pulled me closer to him and I couldn't help it, I snuggled in closer. “I told you, girl, you and me together . . . we can conquer the world.”

I don't know why, but his words actually made me sad. Maybe because a part of me felt like he was right and since my heart belonged to another, there was nothing I could do about it.

Chapter 16

I
t was about to be some major drama in my relationship. When Alvin called me today and simply said, “Are you back home? I'm on my way,” I knew things were about to get ugly. I'd gotten home from L.A. early this morning. J. had wanted me to stay, but I was down to the wire with the grades. I'd struggled through the day and was so tired. I just wanted to get home and rest, but it didn't look like I'd be resting any time soon.

“What's up?”

He refused to say anything else or answer any questions and I knew this wasn't going to be good. I glanced down at the
Miami Hot Gossip
magazine. The headline screamed at me: B
ACK IN
L
OVE
.

J. Love and I were snuggled up together in the cover photo like we truly were in love. I knew that's what had my boyfriend on fire. The minute I'd seen the picture this morning, I'd known there was going to be trouble. I didn't even remember when it had been taken, but we were definitely all up under each other like we truly were back in love.

The doorbell rang and our maid, Sui, made a beeline to get it. But I jumped up.

“I got it!” I snapped.

Sui just shook her head at me and turned and walked out the room. Luckily, Sui had been with us long enough to mind her own business, so she headed back upstairs without saying a word.

I swung the door open. “Hey,” I said, trying to be perky and smiley. I was still tired because of that early-morning flight. I'd gotten to school in time for my fifth-period final and then I'd come straight home, hoping I could rest before having to deal with this mess.

Alvin didn't say a word as he pushed past me.

“Well, hello to you, too,” I said, losing my smile.

He spun around to face me and waved the rolled-up
Miami Hot Gossip
magazine in my face. “Seriously, Maya?”

“What?” I said, playing dumb. I took the magazine, opened it up, then acted like I was just as shocked as he was.

“Don't try to act like you haven't seen this. You've been at school all day. Somebody told you about it. You could've called me and warned me.”

“I haven't seen it. I don't know anything about this,” I said, defensively.

“Whatever, Maya.” He pointed to the table behind me. “So, why is the magazine sitting over there?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. Sui reads that mess. I hadn't had a chance to look at anything. Why are you trippin'?”

He thumped the magazine. “You're really gonna ask me why I'm trippin'? My girl is on the front of a gossip rag with her ex with a headline that reads, ‘Back in Love.' You don't see anything wrong with that?”

I wanted to tell him that he needed to remember who he was talking to and lower his voice, but I knew the picture was bad and he was pissed, so I was going to give him a pass.

“Since when did you become jealous?”

“Since my girl started blatantly disrespecting me,” he snapped.

Sometimes, I missed the nerdy Alvin. He'd always shown me that he had a little
umph
in him. But since we'd officially gotten together, I'd seen less of that and more of the do-whatever-I-say Alvin.

“It's no big deal. You know how the media is,” I said.

“Yeah, I know how you guys are,” he said. “But you gave them the ammunition.”

“I didn't have anything to do with this.”

He opened the magazine to the centerfold picture and shook it at me. “Look at your face, Maya. Look how you're looking at him. You look like you're in love.”

“That's called acting,” I replied. Alvin was right. The picture was so out of order. I didn't even remember taking it. “Look, I'm really sorry. I wasn't trying—”

“Why do you need to act like you're with someone else when I'm supposed to be your boyfriend?” he asked, interrupting me.

“I was just playing it up for the cameras.” I sighed, but I really wasn't in the mood for arguing. I was exhausted and the last thing I felt like doing was arguing with my boyfriend.

Alvin stopped and stared at me.

“Do you love him, Maya?”

I cocked my head as my mouth dropped open. “Are you really asking me that?” I asked. “Of course I don't love him. I'm just playing a role.”

“Yeah, at my expense.”

I huffed as I plopped down on the sofa. This conversation was getting real old. “You told me you were okay with me going with him to the Grammys.”

“I was okay with you going to the Grammys. I wasn't okay with this!” He waved the magazine again.

“You do know this is all part of what I do?” I said, glaring up at him and wishing I could make him disappear, at least until he calmed down.

He was silent for a minute before saying, “Well, I don't know if I can handle this anymore.”

That made me stand up. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He tossed the magazine at the table and tried to flex. “Meaning, I'm sick and tired of you and your ex, and you're going to have to show me some respect.”

“Are you threatening me?” I stepped closer so he could look me in my eyes.

He didn't flinch. “Take it as you want. I'm just telling you. There will be no more outings with your ex.” I immediately thought about the video J. wanted me to do. That I
wanted
to do.

I sighed, then turned and walked away. “You're really overreacting,” I said.

“You heard what I said.” That made me raise both eyebrows. Alvin was about to get straight cussed out.

“Uh, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I'm not the one,” I snapped. Forget being nice. Yes, I was wrong, but I wasn't about to let him talk to me crazy.

He sighed, too. “Look, Maya, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'm just really pissed.”

“Okay, but you're pissing me off, too. I know you're used to saying whatever you want to your girl, and she takes it,” I said, referring to his ex, Marisol. That crazy chick had tried to kill me, literally. She'd run me off the road trying to get me away from Alvin. She was out on bail, pending her trial, but as far as I knew, she was off minding her business. She'd loved Alvin something crazy. And although I'd never seen Alvin talk to her crazy, she was so weak and passive when it came to him. So, she'd let him get away with it. Me, on the other hand . . .

“I chose you over Marisol, so we don't even need to talk about her.”

“Oh, don't act like you did me a favor,” I snapped.

He exhaled in frustration. “That's not what I'm saying at all.”

“So what are you saying? Because Marisol was your little puppet and you could say or do whatever, you think you can say whatever you want to me?”

“Now who's overreacting?”

I pointed a manicured nail in his face. “Don't get it twisted, Alvin. I'm still Maya Morgan.”

“Yeah.” He stared me down but didn't flinch. “And all Maya Morgan cares about is maintaining her star status. You all up under your ex bothers me. That should mean something. But you're right. You're the diva, but I'm starting to think maybe Maya Morgan might need to be by herself,” he said, then turned and stormed out of my front door.

I didn't know how to act. In the year since I'd known him, Alvin and I had never had so much as a minor disagreement. Now, we were having something this major? I let him go, and my gut told me if I didn't clean up this situation with J. Love, things with Alvin were going to go from bad to worse.