Gwyneth Bolton - Make It Last Forever

Hesitation and hiding never appealed to Darius, so he was up-front about his lack of success. But he also let Cullen know that he didn’t intend to give up. In fact, he was more dedicated than ever to make this happen.

“I really like Karen, and I admire what she’s doing with the youth. I might try and figure out a way to volunteer at her center whenever I have a break in my schedule. You know, set up something ongoing and permanent.”

“What do you mean whenever you have a break in your schedule? There is no such thing as a break. You don’t have a break now! You should be in the studio. Time is money!”

“I mean just what I said. Hey, it’s for a good cause. It’s for my cousin’s memory. It’s the least I can do, and I’m going to do it.” He didn’t even worry about the edge in his voice. Cullen needed to hear that edge and know to back the hell up.

“Do I have to remind you that every minute you spend at that center is time away from the studio? And what about the fact that you running around in the hood without folks to protect you isn’t exactly the smartest idea. You may not be as successful as Will Smith yet, but you’re still a highly recognizable person. You wouldn’t want to end up just like your cousin by trying to do something in his memory.”

Darius could literally feel his face twisting in anger. East New York was his hood. He’d be damned if he started walking around with bodyguards in his own neighborhood. That wasn’t going to happen. And for Cullen to insinuate that he needed bodyguards or a damn entourage? That was the height of disrespect, and he wasn’t having it.

“I can take care of myself.” His tone moved from hard-edged to straight-up harsh. And sometimes with Cullen that was exactly what it took.

“If you say so—”

“I say so.”

“Well, what about recording? We don’t have a lot of—” Cullen’s entire demeanor changed, but it still wasn’t enough for Darius. He had to cut Cullen off and nip it all in the bud.

“It’s all good, Cullen. Chill! I’ll just cut back on the partying.” It struck Darius how much he really meant that only after the words had fallen out of his mouth. The only important thing for him at that moment was honoring his cousin’s memory and being able to spend more time with Karen.

“I guess if you can manage to stay on track with the recording then it should be fine.”

“It’ll be more than fine. Look man, I’m gonna catch some z’s or try to, anyway. I’ll holla later.”

“But—”

Darius just hung up the phone on Cullen. He’d made up his mind to pursue the lovely Ms. Williams. If nothing else, he had to figure out why he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he met her. And why he felt as if he’d known her forever when he only met her a few hours ago. Yeah, once he figured all that out, he’d be cool.

Cullen hung up the phone and counted to ten in order to stop himself from throwing the damn thing across the room. He must have underestimated both of them. He just knew that his phone call to the girl had turned her off enough to make her not want to deal with Darius at all. Why did Darius have to go down there and see her?

He sighed. He needed a Plan B in place in case Darius didn’t bend the way he wanted him to. He smiled. He knew just the people to call in order to keep the gravy train moving for everyone. It really paid to have dirt on people. Even the most seemingly insignificant person could come in handy at the right time.

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