Underneath It All by Erica Mena Read Free Book Online Page B

while I was pretty tipsy.
                  I don’t know why I finally answered his phone call, maybe it was because I was having such a good time that night, maybe it was because I was drunk, whatever the reason I decided to pick up the phone.
                  Once we said hello to each other Raul asked me if I was XXL’s November eye candy and I told him yea. He then told me that Joe wanted to speak to me and before I could protest he had given him the phone. I don’t know what Joe expected but he clearly felt like talking to him should be some kind of honor. I mean, I knew who he was but I really didn’t give him too much thought. He asked me if I was from the Bronx, started telling me that he thought I was fly and that I was pretty or what not and I cut him off mid sentence and asked to speak back to Raul. The phone got quiet and eventually Raul came back. I don’t know what was said between them during the moment of silence but I told him that I wasn’t really trying to hear what Joe was saying and that I had asked to speak back to him instead.
                  He told me that he was away in Miami but he would be coming back to New York soon and when he did he would hit me up. Two days later he did just that but this time he told me to pack a bag and that he would be on his way to pick me up. He had to go to Puerto Rico on business and from there he would be going back to Miami and he wanted me to go with him. I couldn’t believe that this man was offering to take me to Puerto Rico. I think I agreed because I had never been and I was excited to travel and see sights I had never seen before.
                  After we hung up the phone I rushed to the mall to pick up a few outfits and I told my mother that I had booked a job and I would be gone for a few days. Given that I had never given her pause or reason to doubt me before she didn’t protest. I walked outside and he was standing in front of this black on black Range Rover and he took my bags, put them in the backseat and I got in the back of the truck. He had someone driving the car and I guess I expected to go to La Guardia or JFK but we were pulling up to a clear port and there was a private plane waiting for us.
                  I couldn’t believe it. Not only was I going to Puerto Rico but I was also going to be flying on a private plane! I don’t know what it was about him but when we boarded I took a seat right next to him and I stayed there the entire time. It was something about being near him that gave me a sense of security. Once we landed we went to the hotel and I saw the set up. I wish I would’ve been brave enough to tell him to get his own room but of course I wasn’t.
                  I went in the bathroom to change and when I came out I could see the disappointment on his face. I guess he was expecting me to either be naked or in some kind of sexy lingerie but instead I was wearing spandex leggings and a t-shirt. I wasn’t even thinking anything sexual so my choice of pajamas didn’t bother me. He had ordered a bottle of champagne, which was on ice on the nightstand. I was tired from the flight so I crawled in the bed and once he joined me, surprisingly he didn’t try anything. Instead he scooped me up, pulled me close to him and held me the whole night. I remember waking up the next morning feeling like I didn’t want to get out of bed. Not that I was sick but just because everything seemed so perfect the night before and I wanted to stay in that moment forever.
                  Joe had a show that night and it was the first time I was able to be back stage. I was able to see what went into performing live and once he went on and the lights went up it was something I just had to experience for myself. The crowd seemed to adore him and I wanted that. I wanted to be the person that they had paid to come see, that they had waited in line for, I wanted to be the