I don’t know if it was the liquor or the true allure of this woman but by the end of the song, she had captured me. Others in the room must have noticed it because I found Jay at the other end of the stage laughing hysterically. I heard others laughing, too, which led me to snap out of the trance I was in. When I did, Rayna was standing in front of me laughing with humility. She was trying to hug me as a sign of professional showmanship. I could tell she noticed I was entranced. I reached down and hugged her for a while...but wanted to do more. She kept it cool so I did the same.
I started following her ass off the stage until I felt someone jab me playfully. I turned around to find it was Jay who was still laughing heartily along with the crowd. He handed me the mic and walked off stage still heavily amused. I tried regaining my composure.
I attempted to clean it up by saying, “Damn, Hov, I now know how you feel on stage!” while gawking toward the area of the stage where Rayna made her exit. “I don’t know how you can watch all that AND perform, my nigga! Daaaaaamn!” I growled looking at him. Still laughing, he shrugged his shoulders in agreement with me.
I gave a few words of thanks and left the stage feeling too out of it to spend time revealing my gratitude. I was talking with a few people when I felt someone tug my jacket. Before I could fully turn around Rayna had thrown her arms around me and hugged me tightly from behind. I turned around with a silly smile on my face.
She shrieked, “Did you like it?”
“You couldn’t tell?” Rayna stood there cheesing. I asked did she come alone and she told me that her choreographer, Jimmie and girls, Michelle and Britni had accompanied her.
“Please wave at Jimmie who made me swear to tell you that all the hard work and long hours of the choreography was well worth it once he saw the expression on your face when I came out and your reaction to the number once it was over. He won’t leave until you acknowledge him,” Rayna cried like a child relaying a message from a parent.
She pointed him out and I nodded and raised my drink, giving him affirmation of my approval. He had his hands full with what I assumed was her stage costume. He waved back and winked his eye at me. Again, the liquor forgave and excused everything that night.
It was dinnertime in VIP. I sat at a booth with Rayna, her people, Petey, his wife, Kid, Wop, Chanell and a few other heads. The party planner, Lisa, came over to inform me that they’d hired a well scored chef and she believed I’d be enjoying my meal that evening. The waiters brought out lobsters, steaks, and an assortment of seafood. They held no punches with the menu. While chowing down, an adjacent VIP booth caught my attention. There I saw Tara and two of her girlfriends. She was staring me down. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why she had come.
Back at the table, there were explosions of laughter and an abundance of jokes as usual. Everyone gave Rayna her props on her dope performance. Well, everyone except Syn. She just kept quiet while we we’re on that topic. Rayna humbly accepted the compliments. My goons clowned me on my reaction to her without missing a beat. It was all good, though. Not too long after, the emcee announced the night’s performer, my man, Mos Def.
“Ohhhhhh!” I cheered caught up in the moment. He performed several of his classic hits and he closed with a few of his latest joints. I was blown away. It became a freestyle fest after that. Common grabbed the mic and Kanye followed up. It didn’t last long enough for me but it was off the chain!
Rayna announced in my ear that she had to go take care of a few things before getting up with me later. I grew apprehensive. “Brimm, baby, I really don’t know what time I’ll be done with Petey and the guys. You want me to find out?” I asked.
“No, don’t worry. I told you that I’ll wait until you’re done,” she assured with an infectious smile.
“But I don’t want to have you waiting,” I said very concerned. I was tempted to ask her to stay with me and we’d have a better shot at ending the night earlier together rather than apart.