Game of Chance

Chapter 19

“Turn the radio on, Stella,” Contessa requested.

She flipped the knob until she found the station they usually listened to.  “What for?”

“Just wait,” she replied.

“Let me guess.  It’s a surprise.  From Marshall.”

“Maybe,” Contessa said while suppressing a grin.

//

“Oh, this is it!” Contessa squealed as she recognized the first few beats of the song.

“This is what?!” Stella whined.

“Okay, Marshall wrote a song…and this is it.”  

“All right…”

They listened until the beat started to taper off, and Stella spared a glance at her friend, only to find her with a huge, satisfied smile on her face.

“And the verdict is…” Contessa trailed off and looked expectantly at Stella.

“It’s a great song—but that’s not something new for him…”

“I knew it!  I knew it,” she repeated, softer this time.

“I love the beat; damn, where’d they come up with some porn shit in the back?”

She laughed.  “They didn’t.  The beat didn’t, originally, have all of that.  Well…  Marshall and I got a little…carried away in the studio and some switches were flipped.”

“No fuckin’ way!” Stella screamed.  “That’s so not you and him!”

“It is!” Contessa insisted.

“That’s crazy!”

//

“Get any feedback yet?” Marshall asked.

“I don’t know why you look like you’re gonna piss your pants, Marsh.  It’s a good song,” Dre replied smoothly.

“It just feels wrong.”

“A lot of your shit is wrong, but you put it out anyway.  That’s the whole point.”

“Whatever.”

“Let’s discuss business instead of your woes about the song.”

“Fine.”

“You need to get a contract signed by your girl.”

“Huh?”

“Saying that we have permission to use her voice in the song.”

“That feels so…”

“Low?”

“Yeah.  She’s not gonna sue me—”

“You don’t know.  Maybe you guys have a misunderstanding in a month, and she’s after you for revenge.”

“It’s not gonna happen!”

“Marshall, as a business man, you have to secure your assets.  She will understand; if she doesn’t, maybe she’s not for you.  But you gotta cover your ass.”

“If she comes after me with a knife, I’m sending her to you—”

“Oh, I’d love to see her in action,” Dre said, raising his eyebrows.

“You’ll never see her in that kind of action,” he ground out.

“You are so whipped, Marsh.”

“No way, man.”

“No way?” Dre replied with disbelief.

“Well, maybe a little.”

//

“Did you hear the song?” Marshall asked over the telephone.

“Uh huh.  I was there for the premiere hearing,” she replied proudly.

“I just bet you were.”

“Everyone loves it,” she told him.

“Apparently.”

“I told you it’d be a hit.”

“So you did,” he hedged.

“You know you like the song.”

“I’ll admit it’s starting to grow on me.”

“I knew it…”

“You love being right, don’t you?” he surmised.

“I’m always right.  What’s not to love about that?”

“Always right?”

“I’m female, therefore I’m always right.  You gonna tell me different?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Good boy.”

//

“Contessa, calm down!” Stella urged as she saw her friend whiz by her at a frenzied pace.  “I doubt he’s gonna care about whether your apartment is clean—”

“Stella!  It’s not him I’m trying to impress… it’s his daughter!”

“You didn’t tell me he was bringing her!”

“Well, he is!”

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

“No, what?”

“He’s totally falling for you.”

“Oh, I already knew that,” she grinned.

//

Contessa felt her heart stop as she heard a knock on the door.  She leapt up from the couch to peer through the eyehole to make sure it was Marshall on the other side.

“Hey,” she said happily as she opened the door.  “Come in,” she offered and gestured with her arms.

“Hey,” he replied with a smirk.

“Who’s this pretty little girl?” Contessa asked.

“Hailie, this is Contessa.  Contessa, this is my daughter, Hailie.”

“Hey, Hailie!”

“Hi, Contessa,” Hailie replied nervously.

“You want me to show you to your room?” Contessa asked.

Hailie looked up at her father for an answer.  “Yeah, let’s see the place where you can throw all your dolls around, huh?” he nodded and answered, sweeping his daughter into his arms.

//

“Hold up,” Marshall said, catching her elbow in his hand.  “Come here,” he commanded.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he replied and bent his head for a kiss only to be met with the soft skin of her cheek.

“Hailie’s right in front of us—”

“She knows,” Marshall said pointedly.

“She does?”

“I’m not gonna lie to my own daughter—”

“Good,” she murmured and kissed him slowly, methodically.

He sighed contentedly.  “Damn, I missed you.”

“Likewise,” she smiled.

“Are you two just gonna stand there and kiss all day!” Hailie whined.

“No, baby, we’re comin’.”

//

“Daddy, can we watch a movie?”

“Why don’t you ask Contessa—”

“Sure, why not?” she interjected.  “What movie did you wanna watch?”

“Do you have any Disney movies?” Hailie asked shyly.

“Oh, do I ever!  I love Disney movies,” Contessa replied brightly.

Marshall’s jaw dropped.

“Here, let’s go and pick one out, all right?” Contessa suggested and the two girls went towards the bookshelves.

“Daddy, she has soo many Disney movies!” Hailie gushed.

“I told you, I love them.”

“What’s your favorite?”

“You’re gonna make me choose?”

“Uh huh!” Hailie teased and stuck out her tongue.

“It’s a tie between Cinderella and Mulan.”

“Oh, Cinderella’s my favorite!”

“What a coincidence!  Want to watch that one?”

“Yeah!” Hailie cheered.

//

Once they popped the film in, and everyone settled themselves to watch, Marshall leaned over and whispered, “Please, don’t tell me you bought all those just for our arrival—”

“I meant what I said:  I love Disney.”

He rolled his eyes.

“I do,” she hissed.

“Then you and Hailie are gonna get along great.”

“I hope so,” she replied but bit her lip in worry.

“She already loves you,” Marshall assured her.

“Shh!” Hailie yelled.  “The movie’s on!”

They laughed, and Marshall pulled Contessa into the crook of his shoulder so he could hold her better.  He was too fixated on remembering the delicate features of her face to notice that Hailie had looked up from her position on the floor and smile.

Chapter 20

Author: zines@aol.com

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These stories are for entertainment purposes only.  They are completely fictitious, and the authors mean no harm to EMINEM, his family, friends, or anyone else that may have been depicted as a 'real life' character.  No money was made on the fiction here, either directly or indirectly, i.e. paid advertising. In other words - it's just a bunch of shit we wrote for fun. Please don't take it seriously.