Episode 4- False Imposition
Lucious walked over to the chair, looking down at his son. The other members of A&R sitting at the couch with Anika.
"I'm gonna ask you one more time." Annoyance in his tone. "What do you want?"
"I just told you." Hakeem looks up. "We could shoot a music video, pop some bottles, get some pretty girls, and then we can get some gigs."
Mercedes snorts from the chair beside him.
Hakeem sucks his teeth. "Got something you want to say?"
Mercedes shook her head, an amused smile pressed together as she continues to text.
"This whole situation is hilarious to be honest."
"I'll deal with you in a minute." Lucious points to Mercedes who scoffed. He looked back to Hakeem. "As for you. You want to run Empire one day? Cause that's not gonna cut it." He walked away from him.
"At least I got songs." Hakeem says. "Jamal doesn't have any new songs and Mercedes been gone this whole week to."
Mercedes stops mid type, raising her head.
She points across to Hakeem. "I keep telling you it's free to mind my business and yet you still do it. And Jamal been busy."
"Busy doing what?" Hakeem questions making his twin roll her eyes. "The only thing he busy doing is
complaining about how life sucks living in Bushwick, cause he cut himself off."
Mercedes sighs. "I tried to get him better but he wouldn't take it. I visit the streets, Jamal went to live there."
"Look, I'm not talking about Jamal." Lucious tells them; he looks at Hakeem. "I'm asking you, what do you want?!"
Mercedes raised a hand. "I want, to be excused from this meeting that is wasting my time.People dying by the moment."
"You disappear for a few days and think you just going come back and be lazy?" Lucious asked.
"Lazy?" Mercedes brows both raise. "I'm only three songs from a completed album. You need to be worry about Hakeemia Lyon."
"Yo, what, did you just call me?"
"You already acting like a daddy's girl." Mercedes shrugs. "Might as well change your name."
Hakeem glares at her. "So you get around your little friends and your drug dealer and think you better than somebody?"
"What Hakeem?" Mercedes head tilts. "That sounded so stupid."
"Who you calling stupid?"
"Unfortunately, what I shared a womb with."
"See, that's what I'm talking about." Hakeem points to her, looking at Lucious. "She can't answer nobody phone call but can come back with an attitude and we supposed to accept it."
"Boy you wake up with an attitude, what's your excuse?" Mercedes eyes him.
"That song you featured on my album, it's about to get cut."
Mercedes holds out her hand. "Did I jump?"
Lucious pinched the bridge of his nose when the two of them started arguing.
"Shut the hell up, both of y'all."
Anika shakes her head. "Lucious, let's just think about pushing back the release date for both of the albums so..."
"No, no, we're not pushing back the release date." Lucious shakes his head. "His album drops the day that Empire goes public. Her album comes out the day after."
"Can we talk about that?" Mercedes raised a finger. "I been working my ass off-"
"And I haven't?" Hakeem retorts.
"Don't make me answer that."
"You been stuck on these same three songs for months," Lucious snapped making her wave him off. "You need to work on that and you want these music videos, but can't give me the choreography."
"I haven't been able to find any good choreographers, I told you that."
"That's not my problem," Lucious says. "It's yours. And I expect it fixed before you want to go run the streets again."
"Right." Hakeem said to a look from her.
Lucious looked down at him. "When I need a damn amen I'll ask your ass for one."
"Why are you riding everybody so hard?" Anika throws up a hand.
"Okay, let me explain to y'all what I want." Lucious walked to the front. "I want..."
Cookie barged in the office with Porsha and a running Becky trying to stop them.
"Let me tell you what I want." Cookie steps in between the chairs of her children. "What I want is a better office not a broom closet on the 13th floor next to Accounting."
Mercedes smirks, looking over. "Hey, Ma."
"Hey, baby." Cookie smiles, she drops it quick when she looks back to Lucious. "And I would also like to have full benefits for my trusty assistant here." She motioned back to Porsha.
Lucious looked to Becky.
"Sir, there's nothing I can do." Becky tells him. "Homegirl gave HR a dead person's social security number."
Mercedes brows pull looking back. "Now, Porsha."
"Uh, sorry, but I don't do taxes." Porsha tells them.
"Look, Cookie, I will work on getting you a better office," Lucious sighs. "but right now I need you to leave mine so I can do my job."
Hakeem smirks. "Yeah, cause your little Mally Mal," Cookie brow raised, looking back. "he need all the help
he can get right now."
"Sound like a damn hater." Mercedes scoffed.
Hakeem glares. "Nobody talking to you."
Cookie let's out a slight laugh. "You know what?" She comes over to his chair and bends to his level. "You need to stop rapping like you're from the streets cause you're not bout that life." A nod behind her. "That's your sister if anybody. Not you." Hakeem gives his mother a glare when she snatched his phone. "You want to know why, No Apologies was so good? It was the best thing you ever did." The answer made him curious. "Because it was about Bunkie, and that was real for you. You rapped from here." She points to his chest putting his phone to him. "Stay there."
Anika let's out a slight laugh at this, getting looks from both Cookie and Mercedes.
"Where's your office, boo boo kitty?" Cookie walks over to her. "You know what?" She eyes Anika. "You need to just put me on in her office." Anika stands up to be face to face with her. "I know what Mercedes and Hakeem needs." Her head tilts. "And it's not some debutante with a bougie ear who doesn't want to disturb her pearls."
Cookie let's Anika's pearls fall of her finger.
"What I want," Lucious gets all of their attention. "is for everyone to be talking about Empire until this IPO is launched. What I want is everyone talking about Hakeem and Mercedes Lyon. For you two, to act like you're siblings and work together to get this done." Mercedes and Hakeem exchange glares. Lucious looked to Cookie. "What I want most of all is for you to put Donkey Kong in a barrel and get the hell out of my office."
Mercedes snorts when she saw he was talking about Porsha.
"Now that ain't right." Mercedes says low.
After getting majority of everyone out after the meeting. Lucious made both twins stay back to talk to him. He managed to get a different office for Cookie to finally get her out of his air and send Anika back to work so that he was free.
Mercedes got up from the piano.
"Well this was a nice meeting." Mercedes sighs pulling her hair over her shoulder.
Extensions added in a middle part that came to her waist. Denim jeans with a pair of black red bottoms. A short sleeved white shirt and buckled black vest underneath.
"Nice meeting?" Lucious looked at her as she sat back in her chair, crossing her legs. "When are you getting back to choreographing? I need you in there now, Mariah."
"I'm working on it."
"When?"
Mercedes shrugs. "Whenever I get there."
"I'm not doing this with you right now." Lucious says making her shrug it off. He looked to Hakeem. "Now you-"
"Why can't you stay grilling her?"
"Don't talk to a brick wall." Mercedes scrolls on her phone. "Nobody ever told you that?"
"I'm talking about you right now." Lucious rested his leg on the other. "I need you in the studio, making new music."
"All right, I'm on it."
"No, right now."
"Right now?" Hakeem face falls. "I got passes
to Titan's show in Brooklyn."
Mercedes simply shakes her head smiling.
"All the thots gonna be there." Hakeem did a little dance as Mercedes stopped typing to frown at him—brow raised. "It's good for promotion."
"We know the thots gonna be there, you just said you got tickets." Mercedes nods.
Hakeem glares over at her. "See," Mercedes smirks going back to her phone. "You always playing."
"So you dig Titan, huh?" Lucious rested an arm back over the couch. "Love it. Yeah, I think he's dope." He nods and drops his leg. "Well, at least let me check out the passes, make sure they're all-access."
Mercedes eyed her brother as she could see right through her dads intention.
"Oh, they're good." Hakeem takes them out his pocket and hands them to him. "Got four."
"Dumb." Mercedes mumbles under her breath.
"You want to know why Titan is so dope?" Lucious looked over the passes.
Hakeem took some candy. "Why?"
"He's always recording something new. He's always on tour." A slight chuckle from Lucious. "I mean, I hear rumors that the boy don't even sleep. He's the baddest rapper in the game, and I wish he was at Empire."
"He is pretty dope." Mercedes agrees.
"Yeah," Lucious nods, looking at the passes in his hands. "Hey, Becky."
Becky walked in from her desk outside the office. "Yes, sir?"
Lucious took his gaze to Hakeem. "Happy birthday." He hands them over to Becky.
Mercedes laughed.
"Dad, that's not cool." Hakeem eyes widened. "Yo, Fr."
"My birthday's a month away..." Becky takes them and was confused until she read the title. "Oh, my God!
Oh, yes, I love Titan!" Becky hugs Lucious. "Oh, my God, thank you!"
"You'd better get going." Lucious tells her.
"Okay." Becky jogs out, she waves the tickets to Mercedes.
"Have fun, Becks." Mercedes waves her fingers, smirking.
"That's cold, Dad." Hakeem says, he glared over to Mercedes when he heard her giggling ."You know that's foul."
Lucious sits back. "This race between you and Jamal?
It's yours to lose." He tells him. "Stop treating your sister like your enemy when both of you are fighting for the same thing." Hakeem looks back at his father. "Prove to me that you as bad as Titan." Lucious holds out his hands. "That's all I want."
"Well, why you do that." Mercedes gets up. "I'm going to go do interviews for a choreographer to help me. Since I need one."
Hakeem looks back. "Wait, can I talk to you?"
Mercedes looks back. "Don't you have to go party with your thots?" She did his same little dance but stopped. "Oh wait,"
Hakeem glares making her laugh and leave out.
He looks back to Lucious. "Your daughter tripping."
"That's your twin," He points. "You figure that out between the two of y'all. I'm not getting in that."
"Why, cause you beefing with her?"
"Me and your sister don't have no beef with each other." Lucious says. "Your sister has always been like that."
Hakeem get up. "I do know her, that's how I know she hasn't but whatever you say dad." He leaves out.
Lucious confidence dropped as he looked to the picture by the couch. The photo of him and a ten year old Mercedes together holding up his number one album.
Meanwhile...
Mercedes texted her group chat as she walked the halls.
"Mariah,"
Hearing her name made her turn around to see Anika walking over.
"Yeah?"
"Listen, I got Lucious to give me the green light to help you with picking a choreographer." Anika smiles. "Thought it could be fun for me and you to do together."
"Oh," Mercedes nods trying to smile. "Well I have some names already that I sent emails to."
"I seen the ones you picked but I don't think they would be good fits."
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't mean that in any bad way." Anika shakes her head. Resting a hand on Mercedes shoulder made the young girl look to the hand touching her. "I just think we can pick some better candidates. You know?"
Mercedes gives her a fake smile and shrugs her shoulder away. "Okay." Anika took her hand away offended. "Do you even know anything about dancing?"
"I know what looks good, Mariah." Anika tells her. "So like it or not me and you have to work together. And when Lucious isn't handling you he leaves it to me. I'm really trying to make this relationship between me and you work."
"So was I, until you started to disrespect my mother."
"Your mother disrespected me." Anika says to Mercedes scoff. "Look, this—this is not about Cookie. This about me and you. So can you just cooperate and do what's best for your career. Me and Lucious know what we're doing."
Mercedes went to retort but soon just nods. "Sure thing."
"Thank you," Anika finally smiles. "I'll catch you later."
Mercedes watched her leave from over her shoulder.
Later that day....
Spending the rest of the day doing shopping therapy. All of the interviews had went terrible as the people Anika picked couldn't be anymore horrible if she asked them to. Eventually she just said yes to which ever one Anika wanted so she could leave.
The place her music and dancing felt free now felt like a cage and she couldn't take being in it anymore. It was getting suffocating inside of Empire. So when opportunity knocked to escape it, she never hesitated.
Mercedes walked down the strip with a bag in her hand.
"Now what you doing out here?"
Mercedes stopped from the voice and looks back.
Moving her hair back, her brow raised at the man cross from her.
"You following me?"
Legend shakes his head with a small smile. "Now you know I don't need to do that."
A pair of black plants and shoes, that neck tattoo exposed from the v neck shirt he wore with his bomber jacket.
Mercedes fought her smile from the answer and found herself asking. "Why are you out here?"
"Had to close a deal with someone. She runs her own hair salon here." He strolled over —the two of them walk down the street together. "Since you got to ask, it's my turn." A pull of her arm as he put himself between her and the open street. "What you doing out here?"
"Therapy."
"You know it's people in offices for that stuff."
"Uh-huh," Mercedes waves it off making him chuckle. "Thank you by the way."
"For what?"
"Giving my brother that place in Bushwick."
"It was last minute." Legend says. "You sure he ain't want nothing better?"
"No," Mercedes sighs. "He's out to prove my dad wrong and don't want that many favors that involve money. I had to beg him to let me help him. He only would agree if it was something like that."
"Your father love putting y'all through a mental struggle."
"That's Lucious Lyon for you." Mercedes eyes roll. "Him and his damn Empire."
"Thought that was your safe haven." Legend puts his hands in his jacket. "What changed your mind?"
"I don't know."
"You do." Legend looks over making her glance at him. "So what is it?"
"I don't know, kind of feels like I need to escape my escape." Mercedes says. "Too much stress over there is taking the love out of it for me."
"You know what I was told? If you don't like the way shit going for yourself. Change it." He shrugs. "You the artist right?" Mercedes brows pull as she thought about it. "Got more power than you think, mama. All about how you use it."
Mercedes found herself thinking about it. "Cookie."
"Your mother? What about her?"
"Nothing." Mercedes shakes her head. "Thank you, again."
"Anytime," Legend nods. "I found out that date you still owe me."
"It's an outing." Mercedes corrects him.
"Yeah, yeah, well I'm cashing it in this week."
"I'm listening."
"Everybody coming down to the skating rink with us. So I'm dragging you along."
"You skating again now?" Mercedes jaw dropped smiling. "Since when?"
"It's for the kids." Legend waved her off.
"Oh you're a lying." Mercedes laughed.
"Calm that down. I wanted to have something for a lot of the kids in the block." Legend said. Hearing this made her smile over at him. "Little community night you can call it. Think it would be good you come. You just apart of the community as anyone."
"I'd actually love to." Mercedes nods. A nudge to his arm with her own. "That's real sweet of you to do that for them."
Legend seen the truck and stopped her from walking with an arm.
Mercedes walks into it. "What?"
"You got business with Creedmoor?"
Mercedes brows pull. "What? No." Turning to where he nods his head, she seen Beretti walking over to them with his two security. "Can I help you?"
"Mercedes Lyon." Beretti smiles approaching them. "It's been a while. Haven't really talked to you since you were a little girl running around with your daddies albums. Saying how you were going to be big just like him. Now look at you, even better. Got him beat in looks to."
Mercedes chuckled but it wasn't with him. "Yeah well that girl is gone. And she is wondering why you're here?"
"I could wonder the same." Beretti looks to Legend who simply eyed him. "Pretty sure Lucious don't like none of this. Are you aware of who this is."
"You think she just walks with strangers?" Legend asks. "You didn't answer her question."
"I'll get back to it." Beretti nods. "I heard you bought both old strips. Trying to turn them around huh?"
"There a problem with that?"
"Not me. Tell me, how is your old friend War doing? He out yet?"
Legend smirked but it didn't meet his eyes, that glare bored a hole through him. Mercedes caught this between them.
"Listen, Mercedes." Beretti's attention goes back to her. "I came here to offer you a chance that none of your brothers will have, and that's to sign with me and Creedmoor. I already see how much you're undervalued in Empire. I'm sure Lucious has his claws into your career and music. You know uncle Beretti will give you the freedom to do everything I see for you."
"I thought I told you I'm not that little girl anymore."
"I didn't say you were."
"Then why are you flashing this fake deal in my face like a strange man in a van with candy?" Mercedes asks making Legend smirk. "You're right, my dad is all in my career but that is my problem, not yours. The one thing my dad did teach me. You stay with the devil you know, not the one coming to you with promises." Her and Beretti stare each other down. "Don't come near me or my brothers with some fake promise and dreams."
"Don't be like your father. His attitude had him-"
"Gaining an Empire that you are so troubled by that you resort to taking it down." Mercedes nods. "People only react when they're bothered. Yours speak for itself."
Beretti went to step to her. "Listen to me-"
Legend took her back as she kindly moved. The two men went to move but seen the guys from the black truck not to far lean up.
"Nah, you done." Legend tells him. "Tell your trigger fingers behind you relax. That's how you get bullets from behind."
Beretti looked to Mercedes who brow raised to challenge him.
"Mariah." Legend kept his glare on Beretti. "You done talking to him?" A calm question.
Mercedes took note of the tone and simply nods. "Yup."
"Then we gone." That smile of Legend was twisted. "Excuse you,"
Beretti stepped to the side with his hands up.
Mariah walked first as her and Legend went by them.
"Beretti knows War?"
"Long story." Legend shakes his head.
"You got a lot to explain when we talk." Mercedes shakes her head.
Legend phone went off making him stop. "What's wrong?"
His brows raise. "You know Titan?"
Mercedes looks at the phone as her eyes winded.
The next day...
Cookie stood at the head of the table in the conference room with the A&R team sitting in front of her.
"In addition to me managing Jamal..."
Anika walked in. "Sorry I'm late." She frowns instantly seeing Cookie.
"Good morning." Cookie smiles.
"What are you doing here?" Anika looked to Tiana and everyone. "This is a closed status meeting."
"Yeah, and speaking of status, I was just about to inform the A&R department that, as of this morning, in addition to handling and managing Jamal." Cookie motioned to Tiana. "I'm also handling this label's fiercest young female artists."
The claps around the table.
"Awesome news, right?" Tiana smiles up at Anika.
Anika rolls her eyes down to the young girl. "Are you out of your mind? No."
"I thought you'd be cool." Tiana says.
"On top of that." Cookie grin grows. "As of today. One of Empires top three artists and hitting billboards as we speak. I will now be managing, Mercedes Lyon."
"Excuse me?" Anika snaps, wide eyed. "Did you even clear this with Lucio-"
"Aht, aht.." Cookie stops her. "My baby girl didn't sign a contract. Meaning that she can choose whoever she wants. I was just wondering when she was going to come to me but your ass helped make that possible. I should thank you." Anika caught her words as the anger boiled. "Don't worry. Your ball and chain knows what you did. Where Mercedes talent is, is way beyond you and you don't know the pain where she sings from."
"I was around your daughter more than you."
"I may have been gone for seventeen years, but I know my baby." Cookie glares at Anika. "You and that other snake ain't taking the joy from her music. I'm not ever letting that happen and will burn this bitch down before you or him ever do that to her." Cookie glares but smiles back at the people in the room. "So from now on I handle and approve all things Tiana and Mercedes."
Right in time she walked in.
"Sorry I'm late!" Mercedes calls out.
A white suit with a corset silver glittered top and her hair in curls.
"What did you do?" Anika approached her.
"I believe I fired you." Mercedes says, she smiles at Anika's shock. "Yup." A pat to her shoulder as she walked over to her mother. "Thank you,"
Cookie flicked her cheek. "You know I got you." She looks back at them. "Now. Any, performances, appearances, recordings—everything down to these girls nail gel color. Y'all clear on that?"
Anika steps in. "We'll discuss this later."
Tiana and Mercedes looked off at that.
"No, there's nothing to discuss, sweetheart." Cookie tells Anika. "Why don't you go to the studio?" She tells Tiana. "I'll catch up."
"All right." Tiana smiles getting up. "Cedes. Me and you can collaborate for a song?"
"Sure can." Mercedes walks around to meet up with her.
"Ooh that's going to be a good one. You two go work on that." Cookie claps laughing. "With y'all fierce selves. Y'all wait to see what I do with her and my baby." She looks to Anika. "Are we gonna have some problems?"
"Cookie..." Anika tries to contain her anger. "I don't have time for this right now. I have to run a meeting.
If you want to stay, you stay. I don't care what you do."
"Okay, well, then I will stay." Cookie takes a seat.
"Good morning, everyone." Anika sighs trying to contain herself. "Um, first order of business. Kidd Fo-Fo-- we don't have him anymore.
"No, good riddance." Did y'all a favor, as far as I'm concerned."
Anika eyes her for the interruption. "As I said, Kidd Fo-Fo, he's not on our roster. So: who do we have,
who can we get, who's making noise, who's filling up the hip-hop blogs?"
"Titan, basically." One of the men says. "Nobody else exists. He's making a fortune for Creedmoor. Outselling every genre."
"Yeah, but we don't have Titan, so we need somebody else." Anika tells him.
"Y-Y'all don't understand the difference between the real deal and a poser." Cookie scoffs. "Get some
authenticity up in here."
Anika walks around the table. "We need somebody like Titan."
Lucious walked in. "I don't want someone like Titan.
The Empire wants Titan." Cookie nods. "Bring him here." He looks to Anika. "Calhoun, can I see you for a second?"
Cookie sits up. "Don't worry about it. I'll take it from here."
Lucious sends her a thankful nod and leaves with Anika.
"So how do we go about getting Titan?" Cookie asks.
One of the men raised their hand. "Your daughter knows him."
Cookie brow raised. "Oh do she? She left that part out." She sits back snatching up her phone. "Little slick ." The phone rang a few times before the person picked up. "Mariah Aretha Lyon." Cookie grits through her teeth. "Get your ass back down here!"
Hanging the phone up, she drops her frown to smile back i the wide eyes staring back at her.
Meanwhile...
Lucious sat with Anika on the couch, talking to her.
"Lucious I'm sorry that I lost Mariah to Cookie."
"I seen that coming and you didn't lose her." Lucious says. "I still get a say just as Cookie does. But now you know why I've been so hard on you. And been pushing Hakeem and Mercedes so hard. I need my successor positioned and I need our company to be stronger than it's ever been. I need you to be stronger."
"What does Titan have to do with this?" Anika asks him.
"You heard them in the A&R meeting, he's the most authentic artist since Tupac. They're not talking about Empire. They're talking about him."
"I know what I'm saying, baby. He's with Creedmoor." Anika explains again.
"Well, that's our added bonus." Lucious says.
Anika started to catch on. "Because if we poach him from Creedmoor..."
"That's a bullet to Beretti's head. Especially after he walked up on my daughter the way he did." Lucious shakes his head. "I give it to him he's smart to pick her talent wise, but wrong child. Mariah may be pissed but she ain't a fool."
"You're right." Anika nods. "That's brilliant." She smiles. "Okay. I'll sign him."
Lucious shakes his head. "No, no, no. I told Vernon to handle this. Um, he's involved in some gang beef and it's just dangerous."
Anika sighs. "Lucious, stop treating me like I'm some damn baby doll."
"Nobody's treating you like a baby. I'm treating you like you're my..."
The door opened as Cookie, Vernon, and Mercedes walked in with Andre and another executive.
"What's this I hear about you trying to steal an artist from a competing label?" Menchel voice raised to Lucious.
Mercedes plopped in the chair as her mother sat on the arm.
"You watch your tone in my office." Lucious tells him. "Everyone steals artists. He just tried to steal my own daughter from the company."
"Yeah, it's a part of the game, baby." Cookie says.
Mercedes scoffed. "Better get with it or your artist get took."
Cookie slid her a low five for that.
"Not right before a public stock offering." Menchel tells them. "I'm obliged to caution against unsavory business practices."
"Mr. Menchel's right, Dad." Andre speaks making Mercedes roll her eyes. "Poaching a jailed thug? It just sends the wrong message."
Mercedes smiles up at her brother. "Anybody in a different zip code, pants a little low, and sing rap is a thug to you ain't they?"
"I was right about yours."
Mercedes hums. "Oh, okay. You right."
"She's with a thug?" Menchel motions to Mercedes.
"That thug my brother is referring to now owns both strips that had every higher bidder in New York wanting them." Mercedes points out. Andre glares making her give a careless shrug. "What?"
"This is madness." He says.
Vernon speaks up. "I tried to tell you cats this is a potentially great PR move.
"Truth is we're not poaching him." Lucious gets up—going to his desk. "We are saving his life."
Andre turns back. "To me, it looks like payback for Beretti stealing Kidd Fo-Fo and trying to steal Mercedes."
"Didn't nobody even like that wack mother-"
"Mariah." Vernon and Cookie's voice stopped her.
All she did is show her hands in defense.
"He didn't steal Kidd Fo-Fo." Cookie throws up a hand. "Lucious dropped him cause he's wack. Like Mercedes was trying to say," A look down to her made her daughter avoid her gaze.
"Because he was too controversial." Menchel adds in.
"No, because he wasn't good enough." Lucious says. "Look, Titan's narrative is real. He needs to be here." He had a seat at his desk.
"Beretti is gonna come back at us hard." Andre stressed to them.
"So?" Mercedes shrugs. "You saying it like we should be scared."
Cookie nods. "Exactly. Let him. Pulling up on my damn child, must have lost his mind." She smirks. "It's about time we kicked that fake-ass pimp to the curb."
Lucious smirks at the two of them. "And Beretti, the last thing he's expecting us to do is to hit back. He thinks we're gonna play nice since we're launching the IPO." He looked to his friend. "Vernon, when does Titan get out?"
"Ha," Mercedes laugh. "Dad,"
"What?"
Vernon shakes his head. "That boy ain't getting out. He's on a no-bail hold. Previous gun charge. Lawyers ain't doing jack. And his face is all over magazines and Web sites. And Beretti is still making money."
Anika stands up fixing her dress. "I will go to BCC."
Cookie sputters out a laugh as Vernon himself laughs.
Mercedes snickers, hanging her head.
Lucious cracked a small smile as he had to hold in his laugh from her saying this.
"Andre, can you check with your contact at the mayor's office and see if she can get me a private meeting?" Anika asks picking up her bag.
Vernon rests his hands on the chair. "No, baby girl,
you ain't going nowhere." Cookie laughs looking down to an amused Mercedes who shakes her head. "These cats are real. And you can't handle that."
"This is the dumbest thing I ever heard." Cookie pats her daughters shoulder making Mercedes look to Anika amused. "Lucious," she gets up and walks over to his desk. "You really gonna send this bougie debutante to the county jail?" Cookie rests her hands on his desk. "Man, are you stupid?"
Mercedes sighs. "Ain't nobody gonna touch Titan when he's in Brooklyn Correctional. He shot Cashville's top drug dealer."
Lucious brows raised at the information his daughter knew already.
"And how do you know that?"
"I got my resources, you got yours." Mercedes shrugs.
Vernon nods. "These cats are fighting over territory.
"They want revenge." Mercedes says to Vernon's nod. "Which means," she looks to Anika. "You can catch a bullet just saying hi to them outside of a supermarket."
Anika looks to Andre who simply shrugs as he knew Mercedes would know stuff like that better than him.
"Vernon," Lucious sits up. "I need you to set up a meeting for Anika and Titan's manager where she can slide him an offer somewhere in their hood."
"You sending her where?" Mercedes got up. "Dad. Why can't I go?"
"No." Lucious points to her. "I'll go with her to make sure she's safe. Mercedes you get your butt in that studio." Both her and Cookie had their arms folded. "Cause you and Cookie, you're both gonna stay out of this."
"Dad, I literally know Titan and the people around him." Mercedes hand falls at her thigh. "This could go a lot quicker."
"I said no, that goes for you and her." He nods to Cookie.
"You know I can handle this, Lucious." Cookie says.
"What you need to handle is your client." Lucious tells her. "I hear he's having a little trouble since he's been waving his little rainbow flag around, telling everybody he doesn't need my money. Go handle that. You," he points to Mercedes. "Studio. Now. Your mother got 50% of you, I'm the other 50. So get going."
"Can't stand you man." Mercedes walked towards the door but stopped to look at Anika. "Go to the the county jail. Girl, and you going send her to the hood?" Throwing up a hand she leaves. "That's like sending a rich white girl with a Chanel bag."
"Might want to tell your new artist to go make music to." Lucious says. "You wanted her so bad. Have fun."
"Whatever." Cookie leaves. "You know me and Mariah right!"
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Episode 4 will continue when the next update is posted!