"Some lady just came barging in to Lucious's office, completely disregarding me," Becky rolled her eyes. "Then Lucious chewed me out like it was my fault."
Fallon laughed. "What lady?" she asked. That didn't sound any of the staff. Not even Imani would barge into Lucious's office, and she was probably the most hot-headed person she knew, aside from the whining Hakeem does when he doesn't get his way. Fallon grabbed a handful of peanut M&Ms from the glass dish Becky kept on her desk.
"Girl, I don't even–"
"Fallon?" a voice interrupted Becky. It wasn't a voice she recognized. Fallon turned her head, seeing a woman in a snake-print blouse, white pants, and a white fedora.
"Do you know her?" Becky whispered as the woman approached them.
"I don't think–" Fallon was abruptly cut off by the woman pulling her into a tight hug. Fallon's hands dropped to her sides and she stood there awkwardly.
"Look at you," the woman smiled, cupping Fallon's face. "My baby."
A look of confusion spread across Fallon's face. She reached up and removed the woman's hands from her face. "Do I know you?" The woman's smile dropped slightly. Tears welled in her eyes, daring to fall.
"You don't remember me?" the woman asked. Fallon shook her head. A tear rolled down her cheek. It looked like the woman just got her heart ripped from her chest.
"Hey, you ready?" Anika asked, leaving Lucious's office.
The woman in front of Fallon quickly wiped away the stray tear and her face hardened as Anika put her arm around Fallon.
Fallon gave a soft smile. "Uh, yeah," she said. She looked back to the woman. "It was nice meeting you, Miss."
Anika and Fallon walked away, leaving the woman standing there at Becky's desk.
"You son of a bitch!" Cookie stormed back into Lucious's office.
Lucious looked up from the file he was reading. "Knocking exists for a reason, Cookie," he sighed.
"Fallon doesn't know who I am!" Cookie fumed.
"How could she?" Lucious asked, chuckling. "She wasn't even a year old when you went to jail. You can't blame her for that."
Cookie scoffed. "We agreed that you would tell her who I am." She pointed her finger at him. "You said my children would know who I am!"
"And they do," Lucious told her. "She knows who you are, not what you look like." He stared blankly at her, waiting for her to say something else. "Now," he stood from his desk. "If there's nothing else you need, I have a meeting to get to." He gathered the papers on his desk and headed for the door. "Welcome back, Cookie."
"Wait, that was Cookie?" Fallon asked, sitting across from Anika and Imani. The two stopped at a bistro for lunch, Imani tagging along with them. Imani nodded. "She looks way different than I imagined."
"You couldn't tell?" Imani asked. She sipped on her lemonade.
"Imani's right," Anika added. Imani's eyes widened. That's something she'd never heard Anika say. Especially to her. Those two would butt heads about the color of the sun if they could look directly at it. "You look just like her."
"She's just not how Dad described her," Fallon shrugged.
"That's 'cause Dad's an asshole," Imani deadpanned. Anika bumped her shoulder, holding back a chuckle. "I'm serious! He's an ass."
"Did you talk to her yet?" Fallon asked.
"Yeah, she came to Jamal's first," Imani told her. Since she and Jamal were the only ones who actually made an effort to speak to Cookie in jail, of course Jamal would be the first child she reunited with. "She likes Michael. Called him a 'little Mexican." Fallon went to say something, but only a laugh came out.
"Now I see where you get your attitude from," Anika commented. She took a sip of her tea. "I can already tell she don't like me."
"I mean, are you really surprised?" Imani asked.
"She's just threatened by you—" Fallon started to say, getting cut off by the loud, sarcastic laughter of Imani.
"I'm sorry," Imani laughed. "Threatened? Don't lie to her like that."
"I'm not lying," Fallon said. "I mean, think about it. Dad divorces Cookie in jail, and when she comes out, Nikki's in her place." Anika pointed at Fallon, agreeing with her. "What would you do in that situation?"
"I would be mad as hell," Imani rolled her neck. "That's fucked up."
"My point exactly," Fallon, stuck her fork into a cherry tomato and popped it into her mouth. "She's been replaced, and she's bitter about it." Imani sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her mother wasn't bitter, she was done dirty. She has every right to be angry. She missed out on all of her kids's childhoods. All of her kids were adults, and she missed everything. But, none of that mattered. Because Cookie Lyon was here to stay.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi! What'd you think of this chapter? How do you think Fallon and Cookie will get along as the story progresses? Tell me your thoughts!
three
Start from the beginning
