Chapter 76: All I’ve Ever Known

The Final Part: Shatter Me

3 Years Later

Blake

“And what are you gonna do about it rocker girl?” She smirked as she caged me in. I locked my eyes with her and a teasing smile made its way onto my face. She knew exactly what she was doing and I loved it.

“I’d rather surrender,” I whispered and bit my lip slightly. She was looking sexy as hell today and I knew that I was gonna have a hard time focusing on set.

“Good answer. Very good answer,” she moved in and kissed me. I kissed her back as she gripped my waist.

“You always make us late,” I mumbled against her lips.

“And you never complain,” she continued to assault me with her lips. I heard a knock at the door and we pulled apart.

“Blake! We need you on set. We can begin as soon as we find Sage.” I held in my laugh and eyed her in front of me. It’s always like this when we have a shoot together.

“She’s in here,” I giggled. Sage closed her eyes and tried to hold in her laugh but she was having a hard time.

“Oh okay well we need both of you on set.” I heard him walk away. He sounded so nervous and awkward. I always found it amusing when they act like that.

“You do that just to make them feel awkward,” Sage playfully hit me.

“Hey when you have two badass lesbians on set you have to get used to it,” I grinned.

“You should come over after the shoot,” she eyed me.

“I was thinking the exact same thing,” I kissed her one more time before pulling her hand and led us out of my dressing room.  

 

Nicki

I heard my alarm go off and sat up in my bed. I looked around the room but didn’t see Aubrey. He was at work as usual. I got up and did my morning routine before walking down the hallway. I stopped for a second and admired the family pictures that were hung up. We looked so happy back then when things were so simple. I went into My’s room and she wasn’t there. I checked Levi’s but he wasn’t there either. I walked downstairs and was hit by the smell of food. I walked into the kitchen and saw Mylan flipping a pancake with Levi on the counter. “And then you flip it like this,” she explained.

“I wanna try!” He begged. She grabbed his hand and helped him flip it. She put the last one on the plate before turning the stove off.

“You’re cooking breakfast?” I asked and she turned around a little shocked.

“Hi Mommy!” Levi waved to me.

“Hi baby,” I went over and kissed him.

“I went into your room and you looked exhausted so I thought I could help give you a break today,” she shrugged.

“Thank you,” I hugged her before we all sat down and ate. “So you’re showcase is coming up in a couple of months at your school,” I looked at Mylan.

“Yeah and I’m still deciding on what to sing. I have a couple of ideas but none of them live up to my expectations. I’ll figure it out,” she shrugged.

“Don’t stress yourself out over this,” I gave her a knowing look. She tends to do that about a lot of situations.

“I know but I’m just trying to get noticed by Juilliard,” she smiled slightly.

“They would be stupid not to notice you.”

“Is Dad gonna be there?” She questioned and I didn’t know the answer.

“I’m not sure. You know that he has to work. If he could be there then he would,” I reminded her.

“It’s fine,” she smiled small before eating. Aubrey is always working these days but he’s working on a new project for his company. He has been working on this for the past year and they have a few more months to go before they will be done. I thought Mylan would end up resenting him for not being here but she’s taking things very well. She’s very mature for her age and I’m proud of her.

“Alright I have to get to work so come on Levi. I’ll see you later My,” I kissed her head before grabbing Levi and leaving. I walked into the studio once I got there and saw Mere setting up with Paris and Ciara.

“Look who decided to show up,” Mere smirked.

“Auntie Mere!” Levi jumped out of my arms and hugged her.

“He forgets about everyone else when he sees her,” Paris rolled her eyes playfully.

“Sorry that I’m his favorite,” Mere stuck out her tongue.

“I love you,” he mumbled. I found it quite adorable how he clung to Mere. The other girls didn’t take it well though.

“I love you too Levi,” she kissed him before he went to hug the rest of them. We all work at a part of Aubrey’s company. We are the choreographers and a lot of famous people come here for their music videos or tours.

“So we have to prepare for Nelly next week. He wants girls who can dance and make him look good. We have girls coming in tomorrow to audition so let’s finish this routine,” Ciara said. I dance somewhat but I don’t try to do the moves I did in high school. My knee can’t handle that. This is honestly my only escape from what’s happening in my life.

Cassie

“How long is it gonna take? I don’t have all the time in the world right now,” I spoke over the phone. I eyed the clock and saw that I was already running late.

“A few months Casandra. I’ll try to speed it up as much as I can but I can’t make any promises,” he explained to me.

“Alright, thank you,” I said before hanging up. “Come on Alexis and Brayden, I have to get you to your dad’s house before I do this photo shoot,” I sighed. Brayden came into the living room but of course Alexis was late. She finally walked to me and I rushed them into the car.

“Can I go to Auntie Nicki’s house tomorrow to see My?” Alexis begged.

“I wanna see Levi!” Brayden pleaded with her.

“Sure I’m going over there tomorrow anyway,” I pulled up to Shad’s house and got the kids out. I knocked on his door and he opened it. He let his eyes roam over my body until I snapped my fingers to get him to stop. “My eyes are up here,” I reminded him.

“I’d rather look somewhere else,” he smirked slightly.

“Daddy!” Brayden jumped into his arms.

“Wassup lil man,” he kissed him and then kissed Alexis. “You’re looking good Cass,” he checked me out one more time.

“I know I am. I’ll be back tomorrow at twelve to pick them up,” I told him before leaving. He never fails to hit on me every time I drop the kids off. I had to stop one last place before my photo shoot but I knew that wouldn't take too long. I pulled out of his driveway and headed in that direction.

Mylan

“So you’re just gonna go back out when it’s this late!?” I heard Mom yelled at Dad. I sat next to my door listening closely.

“I have a job to do and you have to understand that,” he snapped.

“You have a family to take care of too,” she shot back.

“You told me that you were okay with this. Can’t you just support me on my company?” He pleaded.

“I do support you Aubrey,” she sighed. I heard movement and then the front door closed. I got up and walked towards Mom’s room. I heard her cries and I knew that it was one of those nights again.

“My?” Levi came out of his room rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, what are you doing up?” I picked him up. It was two in the morning.

“Mommy and Daddy fighting,” he pouted.

“I know,” I wished that it would all end.

“Can I sleep with you?” He looked at me with his big brown eyes. I’ve learned that it was impossible to say no to him.

“Of course you can,” I brought him to my room.

“Ms. Maraj-Graham,” I heard my teacher say sternly. She quickly snapped me out of my flashback and I slowly pulled my head up to find her looking directly at me. “This is you fourth time falling asleep in my class. I’m sorry if my lectures bore you to death but I’d appreciate it if you actually paid attention,” she turned and walked to the front of the class.

“Damn,” I heard my best friend, Dayna, mumble.

“I know right,” I groaned while trying to wake up.

“You’re always falling asleep nowadays. What’s up My?” She looked concerned.

“My dad is always working so I help my mom out. Between that, my school work, and preparing for the showcase, I don’t have time for sleep.” I’m lucky if I get three hours of sleep.

“You need a break Mylan. It’s like all you do is work. You stopped hanging out with your friends and it’s senior year. Do you really wanna remember it like this?”

“I know but I can’t let my mom do all of this alone. My dad has just been so focused on this project for the last year. It’s been stressful and you’re right, it’s senior year. I have to do great at the showcase to be noticed by Juilliard. That’s been my dream school since I was a freshman,” I reminded her.

“I just hope you don’t overwork yourself,” she shot me a look.

“I won’t.”

Nicki

“And then we should add the pop motion,” Ciara demonstrated.

“That would go perfect with it,” I nodded in agreement. We were working until Mere’s phone rang.

“Hold on,” she hopped up and grabbed it. “Hey Munchkin…..Ryan? What are you doing with her phone? Put her on the phone….I do not have time for your games today….Hey…..Do you want me to come over? Are you sure? Alright I’ll call you later to check up on you guys. Tell Nessa that I’ll be over there some day this week. Love you too,” she hung up and we all looked at her.

“Who was that?” Paris asked.

“My niece, she’s sick so I wanted to make sure that she didn’t need anything,” she put her phone away.

“We might as well take a break. We’ve been practicing on this routine for hours. We almost have it done for tomorrow,” I told them.

“Perfect,” Paris sat down and grabbed her water bottle.

 “So how are you and Aubrey?” Mere questioned.

“He’s still working on that damn project. I never see him anymore and it’s annoying but I get that he has to work. I can’t really be mad at that,” I shrugged.

“You’re better than me. If I had a husband then I would’ve beaten his ass if he tried that with me,” Paris shook her head.

“And that’s exactly why you aren’t her,” Ciara added in. Ciara was one of Blake and Paris’ sisters. She moved to New York and we’ve taken her in as the baby of the group.

“I’ll be fine,” I sighed.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” Mere looked over at me.

“I don’t think it’s to that point yet. I hope it doesn’t get to that point but if it does then you’ll be the first person I call,” I assured her. I looked behind me at Levi. He was coloring but he got up and walked over to us. He moved and sat right in Mere’s lap with his coloring book.

“Is the sun yellow or orange?” She chuckled and helped him color the picture.

“Are you sure you’re okay with everything Drake has been doing?” Paris gave me a knowing look. I sighed and looked down at my nails.

“I get that he has this job and he wants to keep on expanding his project but he also has a family. He tends to put all of his attention on one thing at a time. I just get lonely you know?” I admitted.

“You have me Mommy,” Levi smiled at me.

“Yes I do.”

Drake

“Alright so we have to have this in by Monday and it can’t be late. If anyone messes up, you’re fired. I don’t care what your excuse is. You’re dismissed,” I told my team. They all left except for Shad.

“Damn man you acting like you did nine years ago before you started coaching the dance team,” he joked.

“I gotta get this expansion going before the end of the month,” I sat down and sighed. I don’t have any time to myself anymore. I come in early and leave out late.

“Do you even have time for your family?” He asked me. I don’t have time for anyone right now but they understand.

“I have to fully commit myself to this project. They understand that this is only temporary,” I said.

“You gotta be fully committed to your marriage also. You always say that it’s only temporary until you have a new project and another one. By the time you might be done Levi would’ve graduated high school,” he gave me a look but I ignored it.

“Don’t be over dramatic,” I brushed it off. My family understands so I don’t have anything to worry about.

“So are you excited about Mylan’s showcase? I know she’ll do a good job,” he said as I packed up my stuff.

“What showcase?” I scrunched up my eyebrows. Mylan hasn’t mentioned any showcase to me.

“You don’t know about the showcase? That’s all Alexis has been talking about since Mylan told her. I thought you knew,” he looked at me weird.

“Oh is that the little talent show she’s doing?” I went back to packing up.

“If you call performing in front of a huge crowd and a bunch of college scouts a talent show then sure let’s call it that,” he said sarcastically.

“College is far away,” I shrugged.

“Dude wake up. Mylan just started her senior year. College is right around the corner. Do you even know what school she’s aiming for?”

“Who keeps up with that? She’ll make a decision and then I’ll know,” I was sick of everyone making me out as the bad guy. I’m not required to know every little detail. I have more important stuff to worry about.

“You might wanna open your eyes because you ain’t seeing shit. I know more about Mylan than you at this moment. I’m not even her dad but I know more. Shouldn’t that make you feel some type of way?” He asked.

“Naw it doesn’t and I don’t have time for 21 questions today. I need to get home so I can get some rest. I gotta get up at six,” I reminded him.

“Wake up bro,” he shook his head and walked out. I got home around twelve and saw Nicki fast asleep. I changed out of my clothes and climbed into the bed. I have just six hours before I have to go back to work. This is tiring but it’ll be worth it.