Jasmine walked into the studio where Cookie was, wanting to talk to her about something. Seeing her working on a song with Hakeem, she turned to work out but Cookie stopped her.
"It'll be a few minutes. Just wait" Cookie told her and Jasmine nodded, sitting down next to her. "Might use your skills your daddy passed down to you and your siblings"
Jasmine chuckled, crossing her legs. "Okay" she sat her drink on the floor.
The music played and Jasmine listened to Hakeem rap to the beat. At least tried to. He was being too cocky and flashy.
"Hakeem got a thing for the ladies. The ladies got a thing for the Hakeem" he tapped and winked at Jasmine making her roll her eyes. "What I'm gone do with you, damn you so beautiful, how do I get you on my team?"
"Hakeem, you're on top of the beat baby. You gotta pull back" Cookie told him, making Hakeem annoyed with her already.
"Yo, like who is she to tell me what's right or wrong with my music?" Hakeem asked, looking at his father.
"I mean she's not wrong Hakeem" Jasmine spoke up. "You were going faster than the beat"
"It's not your song. This is Lucious's song" Cookie sassed back.
"Then you sing it" Hakeem threw the headphones at the glass, walking out of the booth.
Jasmine shook her head at the two as they continued bickering, not understanding how the two of them couldn't see each other's views on the way they acted.
"What the hell is wrong with y'all?" Lucious asked after he sent everyone except the four of them out the room.
"He started it" Cookie waved him off, turning to Jasmine.
"Nuh-uh, she started with all her dumb notes" Hakeem retorted back, not looking at his parents.
"That's her job!" Lucious yelled at him. "She's the producer!" He stood up. "Now y'all gotta fix this cause this isn't working"
"Hakeem, just tell your mom why you're so upset with her" Jasmine turned to the boy. "At this point, you want drama and fights to happen."
"I'm not doing this Jasmine. You out of all of us know that" Hakeem looked at her like she was crazy.
"Both of you stop the doctor Phil crap and tell that guy to get back to work Lucious" Cookie demanded.
"No! Y'all don't get it! Im about to be dead soon" he looked at the two of them. "And y'all are gonna have to work together after I'm gone and y'all can't work together if y'all ain't talking to each other" Lucious turned to Hakeem. "Now Hakeem, tell your mama why you always so damn mad at her"
Hakeem sighed as he looked at the ground and then at Jasmine, who gave him an encouraging nod.
"I'll leave you guys to talk" she stood up and walked out the studio for a moment.
She stood outside the studio, smiling at the guy with the camera.
"You're new around here" she said and he nodded.
"Ryan Morgan. I'm the filmmaker of the White Party Lucious is throwing" he said, his accent shining as they shook hands.
"Very nice to meet you. Maybe we'll see each other around while you're here" she said before he left to go film somewhere else.
Jasmine looked at the hard drive in her hand that contained the song that the sisters have been working on. Anika already looked at it but she wanted Cookie's ears. Cookie always could hear when something wasn't right and Jasmine felt like something wasn't right. The door of the studio opened and she watched Hakeem walk out.
"You told her?" Jasmine asked and Hakeem stopped to look at her.
"Yea" he said and Jasmine nodded.
"It was better to let her know Hakeem. She maybe have been gone for so long but at least she's here now. Not many people get that luxury" giving him a small smile, she brushed past him, making her way back into the studio.
Hakeem walked her walk away, watching her ass as he did. Licking his lips, he continued walking. Jasmine dropped the hard drive into Cookie's purse while Lucious wasn't looking and grabbed her drink.
"I'll talk to you another time Cookie" she said as she looked at her purse. "Cute purse" she said and walked out.
Cookie smirked as she knew what that meant before turning to Lucious. Jasmine walked the halls of Empire, heading towards the exit when she heard her name.
"Jasmine, wait up!" Turning, she smiled seeing Justin.
"Hey" she stopped so he could catch up. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to see if you were going to the White Party?" He asked and Jasmine nodded.
"Yea, I'll be there. Kind of required to be there due to family ties" she chuckled as they walked out of the building together.
"You have a date?" He then asked as they made their way down the street to a nearby diner.
"No, going solo. Not by choice though" she chuckled. "Why? Do you have one?"
"No so I was hoping we could go together" Justin looked at her as he opened the door of the diner for her.
"Oh really?" Jasmine smirked as she walked inside. "And what makes your think my dad is gonna be okay with that? Or my brother? Or my sisters?"
"You're a big girl" he put his arm around her. "They can respect your wishes while still being there if you need them"
"True" Jasmine shrugged. "Then yeah, I'll be your date" she smiled. "Now are you gonna pay for my food or no?" She smirked as Justin chuckled, sliding into a booth with her.
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Hakeem stood in his place listening to the sing with Camilla sitting on the couch watching him. Although he was with her, he couldn't stop thinking about Jasmine. Every time he sees her, he wasn't to just grab her and kiss her.
"So they put Jamal last" Camilla said as Hakeem sat next to her.
"Jamal and I fought at the showcase. I told Mal he could go last to make it cool with us" he told her.
"Well mother thinks you sound better" Camilla told him as she stopped him from kissing her. "Why do you smell like cheap perfume?"
Hakeem looked at her confused as he smelled his shirt. Then it hit him. When Jasmine slid past him, her smell latched onto him. It might have actually been cheap perfume but Jasmine liked it better than the expensive ones. She thought they smelled better. Plus he liked her perfume.
"You were with that little girl again, weren't you?" Camilla asked, moving away from him.
"No. We just passed each other in Empire. That's it" he told her, not telling her about the conversation they had.
"You better not be lying" she told him as she's told up. "I got you something" Camilla grabbed a gift and gave it to him.
Hakeem opened it, seeing a white suit. Smiling, he took it out.
"When puff daddy used to wear suits, he told the whole world he was gonna be a CEO. If you want people to start taking you seriously, you need to start dressing the part" Camilla helped him put it on.
"I'm gonna buy you a brand new white dress" Hakeem then said as he looked at himself in the mirror. "You're coming with me to The White Party" He kind of immediately regretted that as soon as he said it but it was too late. He knew Jasmine would be there and he didn't know how she would react to see him walk in with Camilla. "It's time for everybody to meet my new queen" he gave her a kiss.
Camilla smirked as she kissed him back, her plan falling into place just as she wanted it to.
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"Hey Cookie, did you get a chance to listen?" Jasmine asked as she walked up to the woman.
"Yes I did. This song is made with a lot of emotions. It should be a ballad and not pop songish. That's why the song isn't working so once you do that, the sing should be better. What's this song for anyway?"
"We're planning on releasing an album. Won't ever happen if Anika keeps scrapping songs we do" she sighed.
"Well from now on, give them to me" Cookie smirked at the girl.
Jasmine nodded and smiled. "Thank you" she started to walk away but Cookie stopped her.
"What's going on between you and Hakeem?" She asked and Jasmine looked at her confused.
"What?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"You and Hakeem. I seen the way you two interacted yesterday in the studio" Cookie smirked.
"Nothing is going on. Not anymore anyways. He's a child" Jasmine shrugged and pulled out her song book. "Which one do you think is the next Queens hit?"
Cookie took the book, excited that Jasmine was including her in their music, and read through it.
"Keep it, let me know when you find one. I'll be helping Tiana with some choreography" she told Cookie who nodded, walking off with the book. "Anika can't know" she called out and Cookie gave her a thumbs up.
Jasmine went find Tiana and helped her practice.
"You need to make sure your moves are sharp but smooth at the same time" Jasmine told her as she watched Tiana dance. "Feel the music and go with the flow"
"Huh?" Was all Tiana could say making Jasmine laugh and shake her head.
"You'll understand once you've been doing this as long as I have" she sat on the stage as Tiana took a break. "You going with my brother to the party?"
Tiana nodded as she wiped her water. "Yea. He wanted me to go with him"
"That's good. I've never seen him this head over heels for a girl though" Jasmine laid back on the floor. "He really likes you"
"And I like him. He's really sweet. I thought he would be a prick like most of the rappers here are" Tiana admitted.
"Xavier was raised right. That's the difference. He has a father that showed him how women are supposed to be treated growing up and was blessed with four sisters. Of course he's a gentleman" Jasmine praised her brother. "And his music reflects off of him. You should hear the song he's about to release. It's amazing"
"I know, I heard it. You and your sisters vocals in the background really make it pop" Tiana nodded. "If only my vocals were that amazing"
"It is. Girl, your voice is one that people wish they had. Hell, I'd be glad to have yours. I could listen to it all day"
Tiana blushed a bit and smiled at the compliment, glad that her boyfriend's sister liked her.
"Alright let's get back to work" Jasmine sat up from the floor. "All dancers this time" she said loudly so the backup dancers could hear her.
Her phone buzzed as she stood up and looked at it, smiling as she read the text from Cookie.
Cookie 🍪 : Work from Home. For the rap part, I think y'all should put Hakeem on the track.
Jasmine cheered as she hoped she would pick that one but wasn't really happy about putting Hakeem on it.
Jasmine 💕 : sure if there's no other option to put on the song 😒
She put her phone away and looked back at Tiana, watching her start to dance again, this time with the backup dancers. She noticed that Tiana was starting to get the moves down better so she nodded and sat down, just watching.
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Jasmine stood in her home waiting for Justin to arrive so they could go to the party together. Isabella had already left with Carmen so she was all alone as she waited. She was kind of nervous, not knowing how people would react to seeing her with someone, let alone a guy. Especially Hakeem. How would he react? Hopefully, he wouldn't make a scene. There was a knock and Jasmine smoothed out her dress before walking to the door, opening it.
"Wow" Justin looked at her in awe.
Jasmine blushed at she looked down at her dress and then back at him.
"What? I don't think I look that bad" she laughed as she grabbed her wallet.
"No, you look beautiful" he smiled and Jasmine nodded.
"Thank you. You look handsome" she complimented him, grabbing Ginger before she could run out the door. "No ma'am." She chuckled carrying her back to the bedroom.
Once she got Ginger settled, she walked back to Justin, grabbing his hand as she turned off all the lights. "Let's go"
Justin held Jasmine close as they walked the halls, making sure no one bumped into her. Once they made it out the building, the two covered their faces as cameras flashed in their faces. Justin opened the car door, letting Jasmine in first before getting in himself.
"You guys deal with that all the time?" Justin asked as the car drove off.
"All the time" Jasmine nodded as she looked at him.
"That's crazy" he shook his head, watching the girl with a smile on his face as she fixed her dress.
"You'll get used to it" Jasmine shrugged, leaning back in the seat. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day"
"Why haven't you eaten?" Justin asked a little concerned. "We can stop and get you something to eat really quick"
"Anika didn't want me to eat. Make sure I look good in my dress tonight" Jasmine admitted.
"That's no okay. You could get sick or pass out from not eating" he shook his head as the car came to a stop. "You need to eat"
"I'll eat after the party" she turned at the car door was opened.
Justin got out first before holding his hand out for Jasmine, who took it. Stepping out the car, she waved at the fans that were there, walking the red carpet with Justin. After taking a few pictures, they walked in and met up with her family.
"I know you want to see the performance so once you do, I'm taking you to go eat" Justin whispered in her ear just before they got to her family.
"Oh Jasmine you look gorgeous" Shanda smiled at her youngest daughter.
"Well I am in your creation" Jasmine laughed, kissing her parents on the cheeks.
"Who's this?" Mateo asked, looking the boy up and down trying to size him up.
"This is Justin. He's a new artist at Empire. He's got a hell of a voice on him" Jasmine told her father. "Justin this is my dad, my mom, my brother, Xavier, Tiana, and my three sisters, Elena, Isabella and Carmen"
"¿Así que estás saliendo?" Xavier asked, looking at Jasmine who shook her head.
(So youre dating?)
"No, somos amigos. No es que sea asunto tuyo" Jasmine rolled her eyes at him.
(no, we are friends. Not that it's any of your business)
Oscar, who was with Elena, smirked as he watched the twins go back and forth.
"It's nice to meet you man. I'm Oscar. I'm Elena's boyfriend and this little munchkin right here is Saige, my daughter" Oscar shook Justin's hand as Saige waved cutely.
"Hi cutie" Justin smiled at Saige before Jasmine picked up the little girl.
"I missed you" Jasmine smiled kissing her cheek. "When's the next time we are gonna have a sleepover?"
"I don't know" Saige shrugged holding into Jasmine's neck. "Whenever you want to"
"Ooh how about next weekend? We can watch the new Disney movie that came out" Jasmine danced with the little girl still in her arms.
"Moana?" Saige gasped and Jasmine nodded.
"Yep. Moana" she put Saige down, moving back next to Justin.
"Well Justin, you came as my daughter's date so you better look out for her tonight" Mateo said and Justin nodded as he shook the older man's hand.
"Yes sir" he nodded with a firm grip.
Shanda looked behind them, her eyebrows creasing as he watched Hakeem walk into the party with Camilla.
"Who's that old bat that just walked in with Hakeem?" She asked causing everyone to turn and look.
Jasmine held back a scoff as she saw it was Camille. Chameleon. Whatever her name was. She turned to her sisters who all looked at her with a look, making Jasmine nodded a bit.
"Her?" Isabella mouthed with a weird face. "I knew he had mommy issues but this?" She then said out loud, Carmen laughing at her sister.
"You never know with Hakeem" Elena shook her head, turning to her brother. "You better not end up like him or I'll kill you"
"Woah there hermana" Xavier laughed. "I have a girl. Not multiple like Hakeem"
"Just checking" Elena held her hands up in defense.
Cookie, who was at the bar, turned to see the same thing the Rodriquez's seen before walking over.
"Who's your friend?" Cookie asked as she stopped in front of them.
She looked the woman up and down. Suck a downgrade for Jasmine. What was her son thinking when he got with her?
"This my girl, Camilla" Hakeem introduced Camilla.
"Pleasure to meet you Cookie" Camilla held her hand out to the the woman in front of her.
"Wish I could say the same for you" Cookie turned to her son.
"Come on Cookie. Don't be like that" Hakeem begged.
"Hakeem, it's obvious that you're seeing old Camilla here because I wasn't around but I'm here now, baby. You need to be dating girls your own age. Like Jasmine. She told me there was something with you too. I want some grand babies"
"Excuse me. You're older than I am" Camilla interjected, a nerve being struck at the mention of Hakeem's former fling, who she had hopes of running into tonight.
"Oh I don't think so, Auntie Camilla" Cookie looked back at her. "Plus I don't date boys half my age" she then sassed. "You need to stay your tired ass away from my son"
"Chill out, mom. This what I was talking about, you being bossy. Look imma date who I want. If you ain't with that then you ain't with me" Hakeem defended his girl.
"He's so tired of being stifled by you. If you don't put his lady on the song, you're not gonna use his track" Cookie looked Camilla up at down at her words.
"Lord, Cookie looks like she's about to kill the woman" Mateo said as they all watched the interaction from afar.
"Shit, she's already planning it in her head" Shanda laughed, shaking her head at her best friend.
"Awe she don't stepped closer to Cookie" Jasmine gasped as she leaned against Justin's arm. "Things are about to go down" she pulled her phone from her clutch to film.
"No" Elena said as Oscar reached over taking the phone. "No"
"You guys are no fun" Jasmine pouted and Justin rubbed her arm.
"You poor baby" he said and Jasmine smiled at him.
Hakeem stood afar watching them, jealousy and anger running through his veins. Jasmine was supposed to be his but there she was. Cuddled up with another guy.
"I'll be right back" he told Camilla before walking off after Jasmine who was going to the bathroom.
"What the hell?" Jasmine jumped as she was grabbed and pulled down the hall. "Hakeem let me go" she demanded once she saw how it was.
"I thought you said you wasn't with him" he looked at her mad. "You said he wasn't your boyfriend"
"He's not but like I also said, doesn't matter. Especially when you walked in with the same bitch you said you'd drop for me so..." Jasmine scoffed and shook her head.
"Look baby" Jasmine cut him off again
"I am not your baby. You had your chance. I don't share Hakeem. Either we are together or we aren't and you made the choice already that we aren't when I caught you in the tub with chamomile" Jasmine told him.
"Camilla" he corrected her.
"My point exactly" she walked away.
Hakeem watched her walk away, his head hurting from all of this. He wanted Jasmine but he also wanted Camilla. But he really wanted Jasmine.
"Fuck" he muttered before walking back to his girl.
Jasmine wiped her face once she made it to the bathroom, leaning hasn't the wall as she took deep breaths.
"You okay?" She heard and looked seeing Tiana.
"Yea" Jasmine nodded. "Just a little stuffy in there. Too many people" she lied.
"You've been in a room with more people. You don't have to lie to me" Tiana washed her hands as Jasmine sighed explaining everything.
"Well, I can tell you this. You can choose either Hakeem, the guy who hurt you by having another woman on the side or Justin, a really nice guy who we all can tell really likes you" Tiana threw away the paper towel. "For me, the choice is painfully clear"
Jasmine took in her words thinking. Tiana was right. Hakeem didn't respect her enough so why would she stay chasing after him when she had a good guy right there.
"You're right. Thank you" she hugged the diva before leaving the bathroom with her.
"Hey" Jasmine interlocked her fingers with Justin's as she got back to him. "Wanna get out of here?"
"But Jamal's about to perform" Justin looked at her confused. "Don't you wanna watch it?"
Jasmine looked at the stage where Jamal was preparing before shaking her head.
"Nah, there's so many cameras here. I'll see it online" she said before Justin nodded.
"Okay then" he smiled before they left, hand in hand.
Xavier watched them leave before looking at his dad.
"I cannot believe you let them leave together" he said and Mateo looked at his son.
"What? Am I supposed to have a fit or something? Your sister is 18 now. She makes her own decisions. I'll just be here if she needs me" Mateo explained but Xavier wasn't having it.
"Leave it. She's fine. He's a nice guy" Tiana grabbed Xavier's arm before he could go after his twin sister.
"But what if he's not? And we are all just sitting here nonchalantly while something happens to her" he huffed as he was made to sit down.
"You're thinking the worst which means it'll happen" Oscar told him. "You gotta think positive"
"And you're only thinking like this because it's Jasmine. You weren't like this with Oscar" Elena then spoke up.
"Hell yeah. No offense but she's my twin. Not just any sister. I have to make sure she'd good at all times" Xavier explained.
"So where were you when she was getting her heart broken by your best friend?" Isabella spoke up, making Mateo, Xavier and Oscar look at her shocked.
"What are you talking about?" Xavier asked confused.
"His best friend? You talking about Hakeem?" Mateo then asked, fuming inside.
"Yea. Since she's your twin, why didn't you notice? It should have been a sign when you guys went on that drunk rant that night and he brought up Jasmine in a sexual way" Carmen rolled her eyes. "Oh wait. You were too drunk to realize and just laughed it off"
"I'm gonna kill him" Xavier looked for Hakeem and started walking towards him but was stopped but everyone.
"We aren't trying to make you feel bad or hate him. We just need you to understand that you can't protect her from everything. Let her live. Figure out life on her own" Isabella then told him.
Xavier nodded and calmed down a bit but Mateo wasn't. He looked at his wife who didn't seem upset.
"You knew?" He asked and Shanda nodded.
"Yea. She called me crying one night about it. She made me promise to not tell you" Shanda admitted and Mateo sighed.
"I have some sneaky and stubborn kids" he mumbled and they all laughed at him.
Jasmine and Justin sat in the penthouse munching away on the food that they picked up along the way. Since Jasmine was so hungry, it didn't take her long to finish the food.
"You sure you didn't eat only today?" Justin took the trash putting it in the garbage.
Nodding, Jasmine sipped her drink.
"Yea. I was just extra hungry. Anika has us on this diet where we can have only certain foods so she'd kill me if she saw what we just ate" Jasmine chuckled as she stood up to go wash her hands.
"She shouldn't be doing this. It's not healthy and it's not okay" Justin shook his head, tying the trash bag and pulling it out of the can. "I'm gonna go throw this away for you" he said before walking out to go downstairs.
Jasmine smiled and blushed as she watched him. She can feel herself falling for him and falling fast. While he was gone, she grabbed her heels from the floor, taking them to her room where she looked for some comfortable clothes. Once she changed, she walked back out to the living room, smiling at Justin as he walked through the door.
"Thank you for doing that" she told him as he walked towards her.
"You're welcome" he stopped in front of her and they kind of just looked at each other.
Not that either of them minded. Just taking in each other's beauty. Jasmine looked away first, looking at the floor.
"Wanna watch a movie?" She asked quietly but Justin heard, nodding his head.
"Sure" he went to the living room with her, sitting on the couch.
Turning on the tv, Jasmine found a movie for them to watch, cuddled up with each other. Jasmine was fast asleep halfway through the movie while Justin had his arm around her so she didn't fall. He smiled to himself as he looked at the girl he was gaining feelings for. Justin picked her up carefully and carried her to her room, laying her in the bed.
"It's late. Stay" she mumbled, grabbing his arm.
Chuckling, Justin sat on the bed. "I have nothing to wear to bed"
"Xavier has clothes he left here. In my closet" Jasmine turned to him. "But only if you wanna stay"
"You want me to stay, I'll stay" he kissed her head and went to the closet, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.
When he stepped back out, Jasmine was falling back to sleep . Laughing, he made his way to the living room, laying on the couch. Putting on another movie, he turned it on low so he could hear incase Jasmine woke up and needed something, eventually falling asleep himself.
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I need a little help on Justin's Face claim guys.
Chris Brown
Kieth Powers
Zion Kuwonu
Other
Thanks xoxo
-author