The night was a success.

Until that jackoff almost ruined her high.

The listening party went off without a hitch. Everyone enjoyed her new music and they begged for more of her songs. But there were only twelve full tracks and she performed them all. No backup vocals just a backing track she sang over. She wanted a simple set, bare minimum and that's what she delivered. And they loved it.

Her assistant set up a meet and greet after the show to meet some of the big wigs at the concert, and she had no problems with that. The fans who enjoyed her music were why she was popular and well-loved all around the world. She was never a snooty, bitchy, diva with her fans. They were real people like her.

So she made her way through the crowd and was on her way to meet and take pictures with some of St. Louis' favorites, members of the Cardinals baseball team. She was never a big fan of sports, but her father took her to many Cardinals baseball games growing up so she sort of enjoyed it. Most people from St. Louis loved the baseball team because they were one of the most winning teams.

It all meant nothing to her but taking a few pictures with the team could be a good look.

"Tika, here are some of the guys," Sheila said to her when they stepped in front of a bunch of nice-looking guys. "We tried to get more here, but they're busy and have a game tomorrow, so-"

"Fine, it's great," she said with a smile plastered on her face. "How nice to meet all of you. I hope you enjoyed the show."

"You were awesome!" one of the guys shouted out.

"Big fan of yours," one of the players, a nice-sized, pretty, blond, blue-eyed guy said. "Oh, but the biggest fan of yours already left. No worries, I can handle all of you."

Of all the men she'd dated, never a little vanilla in her coffee. Something about tall men, because that made her average height of five feet six feel safe a secure with someone nearly a foot taller than her. Well, she was wearing six-inch heels tonight, and she was about eye-to-eye with him. If he was a shorter guy, she would have to look down on him.

She was thinking about staring into those pretty blue eyes, running her fingers through his hair, sliding a hand down his athletic abs, forgetting that she was calling off all men. Maybe she was calling off dating men, but rolling around in the bed with him might be nice. The man was hot!

"Big fan of yours," she lied, hadn't watched a game in years. "Thank you guys for supporting me."

"And you should return the favor," one of the other players said. "Come to one of our games. Cheer us on in the stands. Better yet, throw out a pitch."

A game that was outside, in the hot sun, for her to sweat her hair out? Beyond that, she would be bored to tears. She knew little to nothing about baseball.

"Maybe," she said to be polite.

The hot blond moved closer to her. "You will be a special guest of mine."

She smiled at him. Then he put an arm around her shoulder, moved his lips close to her, and whispered in her ear. "Then I can take you back to my crib and fuck you all night long."

The nerve! Yes, she thought he was hot and sexy and was thinking of those things too, but was that all she was to him? A roll in the bed? From what it seemed like with her past, yes.

"Get the fuck away from me, you asshole!" she yelled after she pushed him away.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Sheila was right at her side but did not react fast enough. She was sure her cousin did not hear what the creep said to her, but she knew she would take her side. "It's been a long night and Tika still has more people to meet."

"That guy is a jerk!" She stormed away from the players and made her way to find a good drink. Now her night felt ruined.

Sheila was right behind her when she made it over to Malaika with a few people she did not recognize and grabbed her drink from her hand.

"This better be strong." She gulped down the dark drink, and indeed it was very strong. Just what she needed.

"Go bring her another," Malaika said to the woman beside her. "Make that rounds for everyone. I can tell my girl needs a few."

"Maybe she should not," Sheila said at her side.

"Listen!" she said to her cousin. "My job is over, for the night. It's like an eight to five and I'm clocking out. It's happy hour and I need a few."

"Then maybe we should feed you first," Malaika said and grabbed a platter of chicken wings. "I mean, these better be fresh and fried hard."

"In this dress?" She chuckled at that, not about to eat some greasy wings. "I feel like I'm on top of the world! This is my time, is it not? I rule the fucking world."

A woman came over with a tray of drinks and all those around her, except Sheila, took a glass.

"Let's make a toast," she said, holding up her drink. "Err'body in the club getting tipsy! And I like the way they do that what there!"

Sheila slid a hand over her face with a sigh, embarrassed by her for sure. She was not drunk yet, not even a little bit, but the night was young.

"And it's getting hot in here!" she sang out in her best Nelly voice.

Everyone else joined in. "I wanna take my clothes off!"

"So St. Louis!" she yelled out loud over the music playing. "Let's get lit!"

She drank as much as she could stand, and then met a few more people who wanted to celebrate with her. She danced a bit and had a good time. Once she was a little drunk and could barely stand, Sheila and Malaika sat her in the private VIP area with only a dozen or so people. She was glad her employees were more than just the help and were her friends.

"What is wrong with wanting it all?" she blurted out, drunk and feeling some type of way. Her life was just another sad love song. She had it all, but nothing at the same time.

"Because it never happens that way. We aren't living in a fairy tale, we are living in the real world," Sheila said to her, head in her phone as she always did.

"Fuck that! I don't live in the real world, I live in Tika's world!"

Young, sexy, and rich, that was her. And not to forget the fact that she was a Grammy Award-winning singer. Despite her image of having no luck in love, she was still seen as America's Sweetheart. One of the most desired women in America. Now Hollywood was knocking on her door. Or as she liked to call it "Hollyweird." With all the movies they were offering her way, none of them seemed to fit the way she wanted her career to go.

Was Hollywood her next step? Music was her first love and always would be. With the exception of a few guest appearances on TV shows, she never gave acting much thought. This was not what she dreamed of becoming one day. This was not what she worked hard for twenty years to become. The fame was nice, she would not lie about that, but the constant scrutiny over every little thing she did made her want to disappear to a lonely island by herself.

Well, with a few of her select favorite people.

"Tika, there you are!" Orlando screamed out, walking into the VIP. He gave her an air kiss. "I feel like I could party all night. I keep getting messages about how lit the show was. We're about to be booked and busy."

"Tika, it's really late. Maybe let's call it a night."

Sheila was really blowing her high. Then again, there were only so many hours in the day, and she'd been up it seemed over twenty-four hours. She only saw her daughter for a glimpse of those hours.

"I think the Princess is too tipsy to drive," Malaika said. "Hell, so am I! Can someone make sure she makes it home?"

Home. To her baby girl who was the reason for everything. Even though her daughter's father was an asshole who publicly cheated on her days after giving birth. She was only twenty years old at the time and still new as an artist. The media was calling having a baby so young a mistake. They whispered she should get rid of her baby, or that it was the end of her career. 

She thought she would marry Franco Diaz the hot Dominican superstar rapper. When they were together, even though she was nineteen, they called it puppy love, but she was full-on in love with that man. Too bad he never felt the same about her. Maybe she jumped too fast from her first love Daren to her second love Franco.

Or maybe she fell in love too easily and needed to leave it alone for a while.