Egypt’s Interlude
Her expression shifted into a frown, eyes low as she looked down at the screen on her phone, which was providing most of the light in my car. Her feet were again on my dashboard as if the car was hers and she could sit in it any way she saw fit. I didn’t understand how sitting like this was comfortable but I was gone let her rock since she wasn’t whining about the boredom of her life at this exact moment.
She exhaled deeply; her eyes still glued to the phone as my eyes shot over to her. She rolled her neck before peeking over at me, quickly moving her eyes back to her phone before she released another long exhale. In the short time I’d been kicking it with Egypt, I knew all this heavy breathing meant she had something she wanted to get off her chest but wanted to be asked about it before she could spill her soul. I slumped down in my seat while looking at her, preparing for whatever bullshit she had for me today. “What is it, E?”
She perked up, lifting in her seat and placing her feet on the floor of the car before shifting her entire body in my direction. “Do you think I’m cold?”
The light from her screen went out, leaving just the moon. It hit her face at an angle that made her appear angelic. I took a moment to admire her before I entertained her question. “Who called you cold?”
Her hands lifted before she shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. I’m asking you, do you think I’m cold?”
I looked down at her phone before shaking my head. “I think ya momma told you to stay off them blogs.” I reached over, snatching her phone from her hands. “That’s one thing we agree on, you don’t need to be on social media right now.”
Her face formed into the cutest pout. “You don’t have to take my phone.”
“While we are sitting here, you won’t have it.” I slipped it into my pocket while she watched. “You called me over here to complain about something the media said about you?” I was annoyed. “It’s two a.m. Egypt.” I didn’t believe her but I would at least hear her out. I was tired as fuck, so I didn’t have a lot of patience. Not for this.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Aight, so what you need?”
The car was silent outside of the sounds of Ari Lennox’s latest album playing low in the background. Her request. “You never answered my question.”
I looked at her sideways. “What question was that?”
“Do you think I’m cold?”
I shook my head. “Far from cold.”
“Then why don’t I have friends?”
I licked my lips. “You’ve been in this shit since you were what, twelve? That doesn’t really leave a lot of room for friendships.”
She pressed her shoulder into the car seat. “There are people who have been in the industry longer, who have friends.”
“Well get some friends, if that’s what you want. Don’t do that shit because some lame ass blog called you cold.”
“Maybe they said that because I am cold.”
“Oh damn! Do they know you? Y’all went to school together? How long y’all been friends?” I shook my head. “Why didn’t you call them to sit in the car with you at two in the morning instead of calling me?”
She rolled her eyes. “You keep complaining about being here.”
“You called me over here for some bullshit, that’s why. I ain’t the person you want to enlist when you need your ego stroked.”
“I never said I needed that.”
“No, you didn’t. It sounds like what you need is some friends. Someone to sit in the car with at two in the morning and tell you how amazing you are. I would do that for you but I’m tired, princess.
She smiled over at me, completely taking my thought process. “I’m sitting with you.”
“You don’t know me, love. You want me around because you don’t have anyone else.”
“We’re friends, right?”
My eyes shifted over her, my thoughts giving me the answer to that question before I could think too much about it. “The things I want to do to you are not very friendly.”
Her eyes shifted away from me. “Tell me…tell me what you want to do to me.”
I reached over, lifting her head gently so I could catch her eyes. Once she brought those brown orbs up to mine, I smiled. “We both know, I’m not much of a talker, sweetheart.”
Interlude: in·ter·lude
an intervening period of time…
There is an unspoken beauty normalcy provides and Egypt Rose craves it and everything it comes with. Though “normalcy” is subjective, Egypt has been in the spotlight long enough to know that her life is anything but ordinary compared to other women her age. Every decision is made for her from the moment she opens her eyes until the moment she closes them. She wants more.
One night.
A wrong number.
One contract lands her in the path of Axel Morrison.
In his attempt to outrun the mistakes of his past, Axel begins collaborating with his father at his construction company. The moment he encounters the sheltered singer with undeniable beauty and an overbearing mother; he vows to stay away from her.
Innocence meets raw, unfiltered attraction as Egypt tries to navigate around her newfound freedom, all the while creating unwanted chaos in Axel’s world.