Empire State of mind

Chapter Twenty: Tension

Shelby's POV

I smile as Zendaya and I play back the song we've been working on for hours at this point, I look at her and see she's smiling too which makes me feel good about our job

"This sounds great Shelby, Sam is going to love this and Labrinth will love it too" She says and I smile as we both jam to the music

"Yea I hope so, we spent so long doing the song that it's close to midnight now" I say causing her to jump and look at the time

"Oh shit well I gotta film tomorrow so I gotta go" She says and I get up

"Ok let me walk you to the door" I say and she nods and collects her things before we both walk out of the booth, we start talking about the plan to release it and how I can contact Sam for a check up

The front door opens to reveal Jania sneaking into the house causing Zendaya and i to stop and Jane sees us and looks confused

"Hey baby.....Zendaya....what are you guys doing" She says as she smiles at both of us but her gaze lingers on  Zendaya's hand that's on my shoulder, is she jealous

"Hey Jania right, your girlfriend is an amazing artist and I was here because she asked me for help and to join empire" Z says as she looks proudly

"Yea she's gonna sign tomorrow potentially, isn't that cool baby" I say, Jania looks between us and nods

"That's great well I'm going to head upstairs it was nice meeting you Zendaya" She says and then with that she's up the stairs and into her room

"Well she's not happy to see me" Z says as she laughs a bit, I chuckle and shake my head as I open the door

"Maybe but you know we're together so I ain't worried about you, get home safe Z" I say as  she nods and hugs me before heading to her car, I close and lock the door before walking upstairs and to Jania's room where she's on the phone

"Yea I made it home safe.........it was great talking to you today....ok Goodnight, bye" She says before hanging up, I raise my eyebrow at her as I watch her smile and put her phone down

"Who was that" I say causing her to jump when she notices me there

"A friend, met him today at Empire.......what were you doing with Zendaya" She says changing the subject

"Recording a song for Euphoria and trying to get her to come to empire, which by the way, you were kinda weird downstairs like can you explain that" I say confused

"She's a little touchy for my taste" She says and I roll my eyes

"Yea and that person you were talking to was a too friendly" I say back

"He's not friendly like she was" She says and now I'm really on my toes, she failed to mention this person was a guy

"Well Z wasn't friendly with me like that......don't feeling like doing this with you right now" I say, she's being weird and I don't like it

"Fine....I'm sleeping in here tonight ok" She says and I just nod and walk to my room, something is up with her and it has to do with that guy that she met but I have to trust her
———————-

I sit in the elevator with Jamal and Hakeem, there's some shit happening and Andre is missing and Jamal isn't even bothered

"Man forget that shit with that girl, Andre is missing and some shit is going down" I tell him causing him to roll his eye and smack his lips , I look at Hakeem and he nods in thanks since Jamal too worried about that artist right now

Suddenly the door opens and Andre walks in

"Bro where was you at, Dad is lookin for you" Keem says as he looks at Dre, we look down and see he's holding a bag

"What's this man" I say and go to grab it but Andre moves it away and smirks at us

"Got a new car my brotha, a Lamborghini, y'all sign any artist, I take of things man I take care of everybody" He says, I don't know Andre that well but something is off with him

"You bought a new car" Keem says

"With the slushy fund money" Jamal finishes

"I watch as Andre continues talking but I watch his movements and his speech, it's like something isn't right with him right now

Suddenly Andre swings and goes to hit Jamal he's pulling him off Hakeem, I push Andre back and he glares at me and flies to swing but I punch him causing him to fall on his ass

I pin him to the elevator as Jamal and Hakeem try to control the situation but suddenly the elevator light goes out and the emergency light comes on

Jamal and Hakeem start looking for solutions but I continue to look at Andre who's freaking out, I go to calm down but I stop as he just talks to himself

What the hell is up with this guy
——————

Jania's POV

I walk out of the booth and to the sound board, I start working on the song I have recorded that Giveon helped me with yesterday

Suddenly I feel arms around my waist and and I smile a bit but move them off me, I turn around to see it's Giveon standing there smiling at me which catches me off guard

I thought he was Shelby

"Hey J" He says and I smile awkwardly at him and give him a small hi before turning back to the sound board

"So you still workin on the song" he says as he sits in the chair and looks at me

"Yea I am.....it's hard work" I say and he looks at me and tilts his head

"Why are you acting weird today" He says curiously as he sits next to me, I sigh and turn towards him while putting some space between us

"Look I'm getting a vine from you that I'm not reciprocating and I'm in a relationship so can you please respect that" I say before going back to the sound board

"I can do that but what else is in your mind.....you seem to be thinking about something else" He says as he looks at me

"If I need tot all to someone about something then I'll tell my girlfriend but can you please leave cause I have work to do" I say politely, I don't want to be rude but he is looking at me with these eyes that are making me uncomfortable

"Sure...sorry" Giveon says before getting up and leaving the studio, i sigh and continue to work on a beat but sigh and run my hands over my face

"How am I gonna tell Shelby this" I say to myself as I pull out my phone and go to text her but shut it off, I'm still iffy on Zendaya and if she's come to Empire I gotta deal with another girl in her face

Suddenly I hear footsteps coming and a voice coming down the hallway

"Yea I'm on my way.....I'm coming alright Anika, you got me in a tough spot so don't rush me" I hear the female say, I get up and look out the window of the studio door to see Tiana in the phone

She starts walking again and I duck so she doesn't see me as she continues to walk past and her footsteps grow quieter and quieter

Tiana's leaving empire....I have to tell Shelby

A/n ok so y'all finna be upset but I'm gonna make things a bit different because we'll I have too, I'm sorry for not updating in so long but I went through some things and it has to do with the story so yea I'm sorry but I have to for myself

Update: I'm redoing they shit I started in this chapter and continued in the next one so bare with me if some shit isn't adding up, Im not trying to rewatch this whole episode 😂

Enjoy:)