Work Text:
Aisha paced up and down the polished, wooden floor of her living room. She was bored, very bored. Unfortunately, this was not a rare occurrence these days. Ever since giving up her music career by faking her death, the former R&B singer had felt incomplete. As if something was missing in her life.
Growing up on the Row, she had always dreamt of making it big. Getting out of the ghetto and making a name for herself. And by pure luck,
after one faithful karaoke night, she was given an offer to make that dream a reality. Young and naive as she had been back then, the girl agreed and signed up with Kingdom Come Records, the biggest music label in town at the time, which she later found out was actually run by a gang called the Vice Kings.
At first, it was everything she had hoped for. Aisha was able to record in a professional studio, meet other artists, go on tours and perform in clubs and on stages, had fans that adored her and her music, and she was finally able to buy whatever she wanted.
However, all that glamour came crashing down when the smoke and mirrors faded away, and she realised the mistake she had made.
The contract trapped her, and despite being wealthy, she wasn’t making nearly as much as other talents made. On top of that, her sudden rise to fame had estranged her with her friends. The people she had grown up with, who had supported her in her early life, couldn’t recognize her anymore.
So when Johnny offered to help her by faking her death, she jumped at the opportunity. She only wanted to get out, no matter the price.
But she was paying that price now. While she did have a lovely, spacious house on Misty Lane, as well as a lot of money saved up from her career, she still felt empty. It was a hollow existence with little substance.
Aisha looked around her home, gazing at the many framed posters and golden records that decorated the bright walls. There was a reason she had hung those up. Part of her missed the life she had so desperately wanted to escape from. In hindsight, she realized that it had not all been bad.
She loved singing, she loved her fans, and she loved expressing herself through her music and inspiring other young girls whom she saw herself in. What she didn’t miss was the slimy music producers, the stalkers, and the media. But she now understood that you couldn’t have one without the other. The good came with the bad. You remove one, and lose both.
But it was too late now. The world thought her dead. She couldn’t just re-emerge from the shadows and come back as if nothing happened.
Years ago, she had yearned for an ordinary life, but her life was far from it. She couldn’t even leave the house without putting on a disguise.
No more karaoke nights either, the last time she had tried, people had gotten suspicious of her.
As trapped as she had felt under the Vice Kings, this new house was nothing but a gilded cage. There was no escaping this reality.
But at least she had been able to reconnect with her old friends. She had Johnny to keep her company again, so maybe things weren’t all bad.