Beautiful Noise

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

S ix months and some change…

“Ladies and gentlemen, Eccentric…”

With both hands clasping the mic, I dropped my chin and closed my eyes before I lifted my head and offered a smile that had the crowd going even more wild than they had been when the entertainment host of Rise and Shine America said my name.

They wanted me to perform three songs, but I only agreed to one. “Whole”, the debut single from my new album Love Changes .

Every lyric, every note, every fucking part of this work was inspired by the woman who changed me. The woman I loved.

I stepped away from the mic and crossed the studio to reach the staged area that held two chairs separated by a glass table. The space was set up in a luxurious and modern style that offered comfort and class so the host, Robbi Drew, could dig into my personal life without making the inquisition feel so intrusive.

She was good; known for peeling back layers, breaking down walls, and plucking secrets from those tight-lipped and reclusive celebrities who refused to share their real lives with the world. Robbi was hopeful I would be her next victim but she was sadly mistaken.

I didn’t hide my life with Kori. We were often photographed, caught on video in intimate situations, dinners, shopping, travel, but neither of us openly confirmed anything about our lives. The blogs and media outlets crafted their own narratives more than we preferred. Neither of us cared about the positive or negative storylines that surfaced because we knew what we were.

I had been linked to a secret relationship with Shalay after she showed up at a studio where I was recording a hook with an artist she was involved with. One of many lies they narrated. They caught video of us arriving separately and pieced together a story about me creeping with Shalay behind my lady’s back. Kori and I laughed about it because Leijah was recording at the same studio that night and Kori was there with her. She was who I was there to see.

A few weeks later it was rumored that Kori left me after being caught on camera outside my crib in a heated exchange on the phone. Right after, she aggressively removed bags from the house, threw them in the back of a car, and tossed up a middle finger at the door before she slid into the backseat of a waiting car and drove away.

In reality, she had been about to miss a flight to meet me in LA where I had a private performance. She was arguing with the security company who was supposed to be fixing an issue with the system before she left. They didn’t show, so she’d cursed them out and flicked a bird at the door because she couldn’t get the system to function. You could make things be whatever you wanted. The media was paid to make simple shit complicated.

Once Kori learned that no matter how good our lives were, the world would spin things, creating bullshit stories that fit their agenda, she didn’t care so much about their opinions. We collectively made the decision to let them have it. Our lives were private and would remain private. Robbi was going to be fucking pissed after this interview ended.

After I embraced Robbi in a cordial hug, I took my seat and waited for the countdown to announce we were live. Robbi flashed a brilliant smile and did her spiel about how great it was to have me and how amazing my performance was before she began.

“Man, it feels like I’ve struck gold having you on today.”

I chuckled and casually angled my head to the side. “Yeah, why is that?”

“You’re a hard man to find these days.”

“Am I though? I’ve been around and very visible.”

She smiled smugly. “Visible and accessible are two different things.”

“Yeah… I guess so.” I tugged at my beard, offering a smile, knowing what she was getting at.

“I hope you’re ready because I have a long list of questions for you. We need answers.” She turned to the camera. “And I plan to be the first to get the exclusives.”

Good fucking luck.

“So you and Kori…” She left it lingering, expecting me to bite. I didn’t. After a long pause she added, “Are you officially off the market?”

“I am.”

I would never deny my claim to the woman who changed my entire world, but I also wouldn’t give intimate details of how or why.

She slowly raised her brow. “And what about the rumors of you and Shalay?”

“There are rumors?”

She frowned, then smiled widely. “I’m sure you’ve heard? BeatMade Studios…a couple weeks ago. You and Shalay both being there.”

“Nah, I don’t know anything about that?”

She frowned again. “How about I refresh your memory…” She pointed to the screen behind us with two side by side images of me and Shalay entering the studio. Clearly, it was me. I didn’t hide my face but my head was down and I had a phone to my ear. My arms were exposed, showing my tattoos, and my beard was unmistakable. Still, I grinned and shrugged.

“Is that me?”

“Come on, Eccentric. Are you really going to play that game?”

I chuckled. “Nah, no games from me, ever… but I’m here to discuss my single and the upcoming release of Love Changes .”

The pivot annoyed her so she tried again after smiling arrogantly. “Okay, let’s discuss Love Changes . Can we assume from the title of the album and the debut single, ‘Whole’, that your inspiration only comes from one woman now?”

“You can assume whatever you want.”

“But Kori is the inspiration behind the album. Your only muse now?”

“She’s my only everything now.”

“That means…”

“That my album drops next month.”

“You guys aren’t a secret; why not just give us something? Wouldn’t that be easier than letting the rumors fly?”

“I don’t care about rumors. They don’t move me one way or another. What I do care about is protecting mine and my lady’s peace. We share what we want, what we choose not to share exists only between us.”

She was annoyed as fuck but couldn’t react like she wanted because we were on live TV. Robbi was known for getting the insider information no one else could. I wasn’t helping her reputation but I didn’t care.

“Speaking of your lady, the release party for ‘If’ was a huge success, which I hear we can attribute to the lyrics from Cyan Indigo Bleu?”

She gave up trying to pry into my personal life and decided to go with the popularity of Kori and Leijah’s teamwork on her new album. I almost fucking laughed but that wouldn’t have helped her already irritated mood.

“The album is dope as hell but it’s not all about Ri. She wrote the songs, Lei put her vocal talents into play, and Clay’s production was on point as always. Between the three of them, something beautiful was created.”

“And you have a few features also.”

“I do. I’m honored to be a part of the project but in all honesty it would have been just as fucking dope without me.”

“That’s what’s up and I agree. Leijah has a bright future. Will you be joining her for some of the tour dates? The first stop is Miami, next month, right?”

“Yeah, she’s headlining eighteen cities. As for whether or not I’ll pull up is completely up to Lei. If she asks, I’m there.”

“She hasn’t asked?” Robbi arched her brow.

Yeah she had, and I’d agreed, but this was her tour. I wasn’t going to steal her shine. If the people showed up, it would be to see Lei. I would be a bonus.

“Nah, she hasn’t.” I smirked.

“But you’ll be there regardless, right. Leijah has mentioned several times in recent interviews that she’s touring with her songwriter, Bleu .”

Here she goes again, trying to circle back to my personal shit. “ Ri’s gonna be there. They vibe together and some of the best writing I’ve ever done was while on tour.”

“Mmmm, I bet. I’ve heard stories about you on tour .” She smiled smugly.

“That was then, this is now.” I shrugged.

I’d fucked a lot of women in multiple cities, states, and countries, but those days were over. The only woman who would share my bed, or inspire me, was the one who stole my fucking heart. She also didn’t do that shit discreetly. Kori crashed into my life with an AK and ski mask and told me to run that shit. I grinned at the thought of how she completely uprooted my life and planted herself in it.

“Is that smile a memory of what then used to be like?”

“Nah, that smile is because there’s not a damn thing on earth that compares to my now and the person who eliminated the need for what my life was back then.”

“Mmm…” she hummed, then flashed a sneaky grin. “Sounds like the lover boy has fallen in love.”

I laughed, shaking my head, but didn’t confirm or deny. My life, my feelings, my heart was only shared with the person who appreciated all three and handled them with care.

When I didn’t respond, Robbi moved on. We discussed a few tracks off the album and she tried her hand at pulling a few more personal details from me to no avail. After we wrapped I was in my car heading across town to the studio where Leijah was recording a bonus track for her album. A song inspired by me fucking my lady in the pool after she had too much wine and tested my patience by wearing some little ass bikini that was still in the bottom of my pool.

Leijah likely didn’t know that but she wouldn’t care. Thanks to Kori’s brilliant mind and the wordplay she used when writing “Deeply Rooted”, the assumption would be that the song was about an emotional pull of feelings. It was actually about how deep I was in Kori’s pussy that night.

As soon as I entered the studio and reached the floor where Leijah was recording, a smile graced my face when I noticed Kori in the hallway leaned against the wall with the phone to her ear until I saw the frown set in place.

My protective nature kicked in and I was on her in a matter of seconds. “What’s wrong?”

Her brows pinched more and she held her finger up asking me to wait but I wasn’t trying to wait for shit. Whoever was upsetting my lady was going to have to deal with me. I pulled the phone from her hand and brought it to my ear.

“Yo, who’s this?”

“Ezren…” The agitated sound of Kori’s mother’s voice flowed through the phone and my eyes shot over to Kori who now had her arms locked over her chest as she rolled her damn eyes but I didn’t give a fuck.

“Mrs. Griffin, why are you pissing off my lady?”

“I didn’t think asking to see my daughter would classify as pissing her off.”

I kept my eyes on Kori as I spoke to her mother. They talked often but hadn’t seen each other since the last visit to her parents’ house. Her father still refused to acknowledge that he was wrong as hell for treating his daughter like she didn’t have the right to live her life. Her mother was trying but she was also still toeing the line of appeasing her husband and mending the relationship with her daughter.

“You ready for that plane ticket?”

I’d offered to fly her out whenever she wanted, to date she hadn’t accepted the offer. I had a feeling her refusal had something to do with her husband.

“I was thinking maybe Kori could come…”

“Until your husband learns to love without conditions attached then she’s not stepping foot in your home. You, however, have an open invitation to visit her at ours whenever you like.”

“How is what you’re doing any different than what her father is doing?” Her tone was clipped, but again, I didn’t give a damn.

I laughed arrogantly. “It’s very fucking different. I’m protecting the woman I love; he’s controlling the one he claims to love. When you’re ready for that ticket, let me know.”

I ended the call and tugged Kori by the waist until she was wrapped in my arms. “You good?”

She exhaled a sigh. “Yeah, I just wish she would stop trying to force the issue. If the goal is to fix our relationship, then she needs to stop trying to make me understand his refusal to be a real parent.”

“She’ll figure it out or she won’t. Either way, I got you. Don’t argue with her though. Because every time she pisses you off, it makes me want to pull up.”

“You’re gonna pull up on my mother?”

“Nah, I’mma let Gwendolyn handle her, but I will pull up on your father. I owe that muthafucker anyway.”

“I don’t want either of you pulling up. If they figure it out, great, if not, I’ll be okay.” She frowned a little and leaned into me. “I don’t want to talk about my parents.”

“Shit, me either, but I’ll do whatever you need to ensure that beautiful smile of yours is always in place.” I leaned down and kissed her, staying put until I felt her smile under my kiss.

“I love you,” she said quietly and I grinned.

“So I’ve heard. Word on the street is the hottest chick in the game is wearin’ my name …” I tilted my head and kissed the spot on her neck where my name was inked. Ezren . A reminder that Eccentric was for the world while I was only for Kori. It was dainty, discreet, and a promise of what we were.

“Bey got a chain; I got a needle. I might want to rethink this.” She brushed her fingers over my name.

“You get whatever you want. I’ll buy you an entire gotdamn diamond mine if it will make you feel how real this is for me.”

“Not necessary. I feel it in other ways.” Her eyes lowered and I laughed.

I lifted Kori around my waist. “How about we go feel it together?”

“I’m working.” She arched her brow but didn’t put up any valid effort to stop me when I started moving us toward the empty suite next to where Leijah was recording.

“And you’re leaving soon. We had a deal. You work on your career, which means you get to travel the world and make people fall in love with your lyrics. I work to make sure you keep falling in love with the man you’re coming home to.”

Kori was going on tour with Leijah and I had to finish some last minute recordings for my album followed by my own tour. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work, but we would definitely figure that shit out. Until then, I needed every minute of her time before I had to share her with the world. I also wasn’t complaining because she was existing in her moment, which was a beautiful thing. To see her shine made me so fucking proud. I also knew I was about to be tired as fuck because wherever my lady was, I was going to be.

Nothing about my life was the same but everything in my world was right and she was the reason!