Page 139 of Love U Down II

“We can do fifty percent for five but I don’t think three would be a good move.” I looked at Drix. “What do you think?”

Chamari glanced at Drix.

He shrugged. “Whatever you want to do works for me.”

“Okay.” I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face. “Well, the ball is in your court, Chamari.”

“We can do a fifty-fifty split for five years but I’ll be expecting one hell of a lead up and I want to keep full creative control for music videos and the right to veto any performance.”

“Any performance that isn’t contractual,” I clarified. “And we’d need to be notified in advance.”

“I can do that.”

“Good.”

Chamari and I spoke numbers back and forth for a while, and before I knew it, over two hours had gone by. Drix and I stoodand shook her hand before she left. As soon as the door closed tightly behind her, I spun slowly. I waited until I heard feet fade from the doorway.

As soon as they did, I squealed, bounced up and down, and clapped.

“I just negotiated with Chamari!” I beamed.

“And you did that shit like you were meant to do it.” Drix kissed my forehead and I kissed his lips.

“So it looked like I had everything handled?”

“You looked like the CFO you are and I don’t know. I like that shit.”

“Me negotiating for the album?”

“You handling shit in general but also how you led this meeting even though you’re a huge Chamari fan. I appreciate that shit. I like seeing you get more and more confident to lead shit.”

“Thank you.” I grinned like an idiot.

Drix smiled back.

I bounced on the balls of my feet again and he chuckled.

“Alright. Come on. We still have work to do though.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door.

He snickered. “Yeah. A’ight.”

“And I closed the deal. Trill Loyalty is going to release Chamari’s next album,” I announced.

“That’s fucking insane.” Charm chuckled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Thank you.” I shimmied in my seat while Hazel and Chandler congratulated me as well.

We’d finished our game of badminton and decided to grab a quick lunch. It was nice to have girlfriends outside of Charm andI was starting to really cherish our time together, whether we spent it eating, shopping, or playing tennis.

With Hazel’s career, Chandler now handling PR for most of our label, Charm working on music with Dashawn, Rome, and Alan, and me trying to head the benefit concert, we were all pulled in different directions. So it took a lot of planning for us to get together but it was worth it.

We caught up on what was going on with our personal and professional lives over the course of a two-hour meal then headed out together to go our separate ways. Charm and I had ridden together, so we said our goodbyes to Chandler and Hazel just outside the restaurant.

I linked my arm through Charm’s while we walked to her car.

“I can’t wait for this––”

My sentence died in my mouth and I did a double take when I caught sight of Monica. She was walking with two other women and I saw the moment she saw me.