Page 3 of Beautiful Harmonies

“Well, shit, were we looking at the same man? There was no ‘seems’ about it. That man had done stared the clothes off her beautiful ass,” Tiana added.

We all laughed as we got off on the sixth floor. I had to admit that I was hoping he was interested, simply because I was a woman who liked compliments from sexy men. However, I wasn’t desperate, nor did I need validation from a man. I knew I was a beautiful woman. Although I was flattered that he thought so, he didn’t tell me anything I wasn’t already aware of.

One thing I wasn’t was naïve or gullible. I supposed that was two things. Just because a man said I was beautiful and expressed an interest in me didn’t mean my legs would automatically spread. My parents raised me to be responsible in all aspects of life, and I took heed. I’d been in the industry for seven years now, with a squeaky-clean image. Industry men literally made my skin crawl at times.

They were so rude and forward but pretended to be someone else when the cameras were rolling. They were creeps, rapists, male chauvinists, and so many other things. I refused to be a victim. Plus, my daddy didn’t play that shit. Until I turned twenty-one, one of my parents was with me at all times. My mama still traveled with me since she was my hairstylist, but she chose to do her own thing now instead of “crowding” me. That was her choice of words.

My parents and I got along well. They were strict but allowed me freedom at the same time. They said they taught me well and would trust me until I proved to them they couldn’t. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty-one years old on my twenty-first birthday. That was the man that caused me to experience my first heartbreak. I thought I could date a regular ass man still, and I was so wrong about that.

Although he was young, cheating was cheating. He claimed I was on the road too much and couldn’t spend enough time with his self-absorbed ass. After that, I knew I would have to date a man that understood the nature of the business and that was mature enough to handle it. Cody was a cheater by nature. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was right there in Lafayette all the time. He still would have fucked someone else.

I hadn’t seriously entertained anyone else… meaning I’d been celibate for two years. Cody was the only man I had been with, despite the temptation out there. No one was offering athing I couldn’t provide for myself, besides dick. Rubber dick wasn’t the same as the real thing, but it sufficed for now.

Most guys thought they could impress me with their money. That wasn’t the case. I’d been a millionaire since I was eighteen years old. My parents knew I would be a star and had started grooming me at the age of ten. I took a liking to country music simply because it was what my daddy listened to. He also liked blues, but I didn’t think my voice had the grit to properly sing it.

I loved the blues. I loved quite a few genres of music. Country music just called me. I enjoyed the storytelling, and I felt like I could execute it well. A lot of my friends in school were white, so I could imitate their twang pretty well. People were thoroughly confused when they would hear me talk outside of the records. On my albums, if I had a speaking part in a song, I maintained the country twang. So, when I did interviews and talked in my normal voice, they were caught way off guard.

When I got to the studio, the engineer smiled as Tiana and Mulan sat on the couch. “I didn’t think you were going to make it,” he said.

“Yeah. Sorry I’m late. Traffic is horrible out here. I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad on the weekend though.”

He frowned slightly, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was my first time speaking to him in person. We corresponded by email to set up times for the sessions. I chuckled at his facial expression, causing him to laugh as well. One would think he’d heard my normal speaking voice by now.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kamari. I hear the voice on your albums a lot more than I hear your normal voice. It catches me off guard every time I hear it.”

“It’s okay. Are we ready?”

“Yes, ma’am. You can head on into the booth whenever you want.”

I nodded and went to the booth, hoping to complete this session within an hour or so. We needed to get back to our hotel to get ready for tonight. Before I could turn my phone off, it rang. When I saw my mama’s number, I answered. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank God.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There was a major accident on Interstate 405. Since you didn’t text to say you had made it, I got nervous.”

“I’m sorry I forgot to text. This R and B superstar distracted me.”

“Girl, who?” she asked in a lower pitched voice, causing me to chuckle.

“Deontray.”

“Oh wow. He’s a cutie. I love his locs.”

I slightly rolled my eyes as she continued. “You’ll have to tell me about him when you get back. Have a good session.”

“Okay, Mama. You know God is protecting me, right?”

“I do, baby. I just don’t want to be tested in that manner. He may choose to allow something to happen that I’m not ready for. Let me know when you’re on your way.”

I chuckled. “Okay, Mama. Love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

We always said ‘love you’ before hanging up. We never knew when it would be our last time talking, so we always made sure those were our last words before ending the call. I stared at the phone for a moment, thinking about what I would tell her about Deontray, before snapping out of it and starting my session.

God truly liked making things happen that we called coincidences. Deontray and I were arriving at the red carpet at the same damn time. When I glanced over at him, his eyes were already on me. He had a slight smile on his face as he headed to the carpet. I was hoping he didn’t wait for me. The media could misconstrue anything.

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