It was around 12o'clock next day when I woke up to the sound of ladle hitting the pan. The oil in the pan hissed and spread the aroma of the spices it encapsulated in it. I moved my body to lay on the side when I realized my body was wet. The skin rubbing against it didn't feel pleasant and I sat up to face the back of the most beautiful creature I had ever laid my eyes on.
She was cooking diligently while her bare back faced me. I rubbed my eyes and took another careful peek at her to confirm if she was naked while cooking or I was still drunk since last night.
Yeah, she was in her gray underwear, while her front was covered with my apron.
"Morning" I said.
Madonna turned, and her face lit up," Oh! Looking at someone so cute in her 'just-woke-up' pose.Its
beautiful."
"What are you cooking?"
"Nothing too fancy. I got us some instant noodles. Just going to fry them with tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots and ginger."
"Ginger? Does it taste good?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. We'll find out."
I prepared myself for a uniquely tasting breakfast as I grabbed my towel and headed towards the bathtub. I turned on the tap and let the tub be filled with cold water. Then I turned the lights on to observe my fazed up scrawny look in the mirror.
Last night, it was something.
"Priscilla."
I was in the middle of that intimate thought when Madonna called out for me.
"Yes?" I responded as I was getting in the bathtub.
She came up to the bathroom door and said," I will be gone by the time you come out. The breakfast in on the bed."
"To meet your friend? Give me twenty minutes and I'll drive you to wherever you want."
Madonna shook her head and gave me a weak smile.
Then she said," You're half right. I am going to meet my friend. But after that, I'm going. Like, away."
That hit me like she pelted me with a bag full of rocks.
"What are you saying? What about your classes? What about athletics?"
"Listen to me. I will be in touch. About classes, I guess what I'm doing is defined as dropping out. Athletics, I'm happy with one silver medal."
This was all too sudden. After spending the night with me, when I allowed her to do whatever she wanted, she is going to leave me too?
"What about us?" I asked her in a broken tone.
"Well, I am going away to come back. You can bet on it."
She came inside the bathroom and leaned forward. So forward that we almost kissed. Her breath on my lips felt ecstatic. She extended her arm and put her hand on my nape. She grabbed some hair and pushed her lips into mine.
I was mad. I was angry. I was almost depressed again. But my body played different games with me. My mouth cooperated with her and accommodated her tongue just fine. My tongue played with hers as she explored every nook and cranny of my mouth. Involuntarily, or sub-consciously, I took charge and held her face with my arms to thrust my tongue into her mouth.
I was lost in the euphoria that I failed to realize this was a fleeting moment. We continued to lock lips for two minutes before Madonna broke it and my lips touched the dry atmosphere around it. She let go of my hair and said, "I love holding you. I promise I will be back. Just trust me."
Saying that, she went out of the bathroom and closed the door. I heard the main door opening and closing before I let out a loud scream, followed by a session of ugly crying for the following five weeks.
I crushed the can of beer I was holding while I got pissed at the cheering I could hear. I was supposed to be on that stage, but she and her friends had to come and screw everything up.
I took out my phone and called Herman," Oi, you're late. It has been eighteen minutes more than the supposed time. Where is my next beer?"
"I thought it would be wise of you to listen to them on a sober brain." Herman responded.
"Yeah, I'll behave next time. However, I want a can of beer in my hand which is not empty." Saying that, I hung up and looked at the two ladies sitting infront of me.
Madonna was looking at the ground, and I was pretty sure Kiyomi was looking at nothing. They were still holding hands, which was pissing me off by the second. I threw the beer can in between them and it hit the wall to drop down, while making clank noises all the while.
It woke Kiyomi up a little and she proceeded to ask me a question,"Why, did you decide to tell that part of the story yourself?"
"Ah, because Madonna was going to gloss over that detail. I was pretty sure about that, so I decided to describe that part of the story myself."
Kiyomi looked at Madonna, and said," Do you still like that song?"
"...…"
"….."
There was silence in the room. It was full of heavy air and potential of tears.
Fortunately, the door opened and everybody gazed over to the fourth person.
It was Cline, who was holding my beer. He walked over and handed me the can, then said," why is everyone shocked here?"
"None of your business." I shot him down the moment he asked that. I looked at him and said," Wait, it is your business." I moved my look from Cline to Madonna and asked her," Hey, you. The first person you brought to me after running away was Cline, right?"
Kiyomi was shocked at this while Madonna looked even more uncomfortable.
Cline left the room and Kiyomi posed Madonna another question," Why do you and Cline know each other. And why is there so much bad blood in between you?"
"Yeah, I want to hear that part too. I never knew exactly how you and Cline met." I said while I opened the can.
"When I left your apartment, I met with Mapalla and borrowed some money from him. Then I went to the New York Police Department to check if any individual related to music industry was in prison. I traveled a lot to find someone with even a little hold in the business, when I came across Cline. He was in prison for domestic assault on his wife and was serving his last four months. That is how I came across him."
"I want to hear every single detail", Kiyomi pressed Madonna to reveal everything.
Madonna gave up completely and started speaking again," Cline was in the California Penitentiary. When I got the wind of him, I studied about him a little. He was from San Francisco and was signed to an independent hip-hop label as in-house producer. He laid foundation for two of the artists' playing on the stage tonight. BEATBANG and WARTIME are both his acquaintance. So I decided to pay him a visit. He was in the standard orange jumpsuit when I suggested him to come with me to New York. I pitched him P.A., the upcoming artist who could potentially take over the pop music. Cline said he would only work with hip-hop artists, so I-"
"-So you decided to force my arm." I cut her off before she could sugar-coat anything.
Madonna shot me a look with burning eyes, but threw her head back down.
"Not quite. Priscilla was versatile with the genre, so we made her a suggestion and she took it."
"Madonna, don't even try to make it sound like you had nothing to do with it." I crunched my half full can.
"Alright fine. We made her rap like Cline wanted. He had a good eye for talent, and he saw that in her. Priscilla came up to the scene with a bang and has ruled the charts ever since."
"But, how did you pitch all that to Priscilla?" Kiyomi posed Madonna a legit question.
"Ah-" Madonna took a deep breath before continuing," I came back to her apartment after fifteen months. And I blackmailed her into doing it." She looked at me and said," No sugar-coating, right?"
I smiled at her statement.
She continued," I actually crept into her apartment while she was in a game. I came back and just started looking around, when I found some pouches with white powder into them in her tracksuit's jacket." She looked at me in the eyes and said," She was dealing cocaine for her pocket money."
Kiyomi rose her head in surprise and looked me in the eyes, while I looked away this time.
"I told her she didn't have to sling coke anymore because she could make enough money through music. The thing was that the day when we were supposed to record, was the day when she had her National semi-finals for volleyball."
"She basically told me to choose between her and my passion." I rephrased her words.
There was silence in the room once again.
Kiyomi broke it by asking," So, where did it all go wrong then?"
Madonna dropped her shoulders and leaned over on Kiyomi's shoulder and uttered," it all happened because of the damn international call."