On Set of 'The Real Daytime'—5:00 AM
Reggie, Tamar, Jeannie, Loni, and Adrienne eagerly awaited the arrival of Reggie's sister, Athena who was guest hosting today.
As the women all gathered in the hallway, Jeannie spoke up, "Reggie, what's Athena's like? Is she like all those other diva celebs that come in with a full thirty people entourage?"
"Okay, she may or may not have an entourage, but it's nowhere near thirty people," Reggie said, shaking her head, "I think she only has three guys for makeup, hair, and clothes."
"I got here early because I didn't want to make a bad impression," Adrienne said nervously, "She's like....the top singer in the world, despite not having a solo album. This is huge for her to be here today!"
"I promise you, ladies," Reggie assured, "Athena is not scary. You could hug her all you want, she won't have her security tackle you!"
"You know what I heard?" Loni jumped in, "I heard she's married to Michael Jackson!"
"There's no way!" Tamar shook her head.
Jeannie furrowed her eyebrows, "What?!"
"I can confirm that rumor is true," Reggie nodded, "She's been married to him for three years. Or just about three years," she paused, "Did you guys not watch the Oprah Interview in 1993? Or the Diane Sawyer interview a few months ago?"
"Oh, my God! Are you serious?" Adrienne gasped, "I can't believe we're about to meet the Queen of Pop herself!"
Loni, being the comedian she is, started joking about how much money Michael and Athena must have between them, "And can you imagine what their house looks like? Probably has a gold-plated toilet or something!"
"I have to say, Neverland is pretty fancy," Reggie agreed, "I've been there a few times."
Tamar gave a flabbergasted expression, "You mean to tell me that you have Michael Jackson as your brother-in-law and you don't casually mention it every chance you get?"
Loni laughed, "If I were married to that man—with all that money, I would make sure everyone and their mama knew it!"
"Okay, just remember ladies—this is still my little sister," Reggie reminded, "We have to treat her like family. No fangirling, no bombarding her with questions, and definitely no asking for Michael's phone number," Reggie chuckled.
"Do you have his phone number?" Adrianne asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I have the house number, but not his personal phone number," Reggie said, "And yes, my husband has Athena's phone number because they know I get myself into trouble when I go drinking with your guys."
The doors at the end of the hall opened, and two men in all black and sunglasses came inside, followed by three other men dressed in Gucci suits and colorful flair, followed by a woman with long black hair, dressed in a golden top, with partially sheer material and leather pants, aviator sunglasses perched on her nose.
All the women gasped, including Reggie, who couldn't hide her excitement at the sight of her sister Athena.
Loni looked at Tamar, Adrienne, and Jeannie who all looked down at their own casual attire—sweatpants and t-shirts.
As Athena sashayed down the hallway towards them, her presence commanded attention, and the room seemed to light up with her energy. Reggie rushed forward, engulfing Athena in a tight hug.
"Welcome, welcome!" Reggie beamed, pulling back to look at Athena with pride, "Ladies, this is my little sister, the one and only Athena Tyler."
The other hosts greeted Athena eagerly, each expressing their admiration for her talent and sharing their excitement about having her on the show.
"Are you ready for Girl Chat, Athena?" Loni asked, "I call dibs on sitting next to her!"
The women all laughed, breaking the tension and settling into a sense of camaraderie as they welcomed Athena into their fold. As they got changed, their makeup and hair done, and made their way to the set, Reggie couldn't help but sneak a proud glance at her sister, marveling at how effortlessly she commanded the attention of everyone around her.
The live studio audience was in an uproar of tears and applause as they saw Athena dancing her way down the stairs with the hosts.
Once they were all seated, Athena took off her sunglasses, revealing her beautiful brown eyes, "Hello, everyone," she spoke softly.
The cameras started rolling, and the hosts launched into their lively banter, each taking turns to share their perspectives on the hot topics of the day.
As the conversation flowed seamlessly between them, Athena's natural charisma shone through, captivating both the audience in the studio and those watching at home. Her infectious laughter filled the room, drawing genuine smiles from her fellow hosts.
When it was time for 'Girl Chat', Loni scooted over eagerly to sit next to Athena, ready to engage in some light-hearted gossip.
"Okay, first topic," Tamar said as she read the card in her hand, "There was an article recently about a woman and her husband stay connected through text messages, rather than talking to each other," she paused, "We all know that Adrienne likes to text, but do you believe in talking on the phone? Personally, I need to hear backgrounds so I can guess where Vince is at."
"I actually—I love texting and let me tell you why I prefer texting," Adrienne said, placing her mug of tea down, "One, I'm around people a lot and I can't say everything I'm texting out loud. Two, I think it gives me a chance to think of what I'm gonna say. And I need that time, because if my man sends me a really romantic phrase or something, I have to go on Google and search a quote—because I'm not romantic like that!"
"You know what I find annoying with just texting? Tone," Reggie added, "You never know a person's tone!"
"But, listen—when someone calls you nowadays, it's important, it's sweet," Jeannie added, "When my husband calls me, it's just....there's something about it that makes my heart flutter."
"I have to piggyback off Jeannie....Vince hates it when I text him," Tamar spoke up, "I'll get a straight-up attitude from him if I text him. Then we'll be arguing about texts!"
"But then there's those people who leave you voicemails that are hella long," Jeannie said.
"That's what I'm saying. That's when I pick up the phone and call you," Loni said, using her fingers to pretend to dial a number, "If it's a long conversation, I'm just going to call you back!" she paused, "Athena, what do you think?"
"Well, I was listening to all of you. One, I will say, I prefer texting—like Adrienne said, I'm around people most of the time, so I don't really have the privacy to make a phone call," Athena explained, "Two, I have to agree with my sister on her point of not knowing someone's tone over text, but I still prefer that over talking on the phone. Another thing, I think people who leave long voicemails need to sum it up in thirty seconds or less. I'm a very busy woman, I don't have time to listen to a three, four-minute message!"
"Especially with your career," Adrienne nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine how many people keep in touch with you daily!"
"You have no idea. I have my style team—my wonderful entourage, Jerome, my Head of Security, Bill who is my husbands Head of Security, Neverland staff, my family, my sister's husbands sometimes," Athena paused, "And of course, Michael. And I always answer him first because if I don't, the man will call me twenty times in a row!" she chuckled, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"She's not wrong!" Reggie exclaimed, "I've seen this happen. One time, we were at lunch, Athena and I, and Michael called her maybe four or five times. I saw it on her phone, the notification popped up—'5 Missed Calls' from her husband!"
"That man is persistent!" Loni exclaimed with a fit of laughter.
"But hey, that's how you know he loves her!" Jeannie chimed in, "I mean, not everyone would make that effort to get in touch like Michael does!"
"But adding onto what I was saying before," Athena added, "I prefer texting, mostly because phone calls make me nervous."
"They make you nervous?" Tamar exclaimed, clearly shocked, "Girl, what you mean?!"
"It's just—oh! And FaceTime especially! I can't do that—it makes me too nervous," Athena added, "It's like.....okay, so say you need to tell someone something serious.
Athena paused, "You can't really do that over text—you gotta call them. And I get it! But me, oh no, I can't do it—I will hyperventilate or pass out."
"Wait, hold up!" Loni interjected, "You mean to tell me that the great Athena Tyler, the woman who has graced every magazine cover and talk show in the country, gets nervous making phone calls?!"
Athena laughed, a genuine smile lighting up her face, "Believe it or not, it's true. It's like this weird quirk of mine," she admitted.
"Well, we all have our quirks," Reggie chimed in, "I mean, Loni refuses to eat anything green!"
"Hey, now, Reggie! Don't pick on people's eating habits," Athena shook her head, "But anyway—when a phone call needs to be made and my husband is home, I make him do it!"
"Oh my God!" Jeannie exclaimed, "You make Michael do the calls for you?!"
"Yes," Athena shrugged casually, "I can't do them. No way."
Adrienne smiled at the newly forming friendship and read another question, "Do all of you know what 'going commando' means? If you don't, it's when you don't wear underwear underneath your clothes! And a woman did a personal study where she went commando for a whole week and she actually found that she liked it!" she paused, turning back to her fellow cohosts, "Personally, I think it's nice to do that! What about you? Do you guys sleep with panties?"
"Well, no, because you're supposed to let it air out!" Loni exclaimed, "At night, let it breathe, but during the day I think you should cover it up, because you don't want the stuff in the air and the dust and debris to get in there!"
Tamar scoffed, "I think it's liberating! I mean, girls, we wear so many things that are tight and constricting all the time. It might be nice to let it all hang loose sometimes," Tamar chuckled, "But I can't imagine going commando out in public. That's just a recipe for disaster!"
"Have you ever tried to go out in public with no panties on, with your man?" Jeannie said with wide eyes, "And told him you didn't have any on? You don't get very far! That man will become an animal!"
"I know, that's what happens at night—oh, I don't wanna—okay, I will," Reggie added, "They don't like you to wear panties at night, because it's.....easy access for them if you don't wear them."
Athena raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, Reggie?"
"I mean....you'll find yourself falling asleep and then......ooh!" Reggie squeaked.
"Athena, you should do this—you should go out in public with Michael and tell him you don't have any panties on!" Loni suggested with a mischievous grin, "See what that man does!"
"I....I don't even want to begin to imagine what would happen if I did that," Athena said with a slight blush, "I don't know what Michael would do if I said 'Baby, I don't have any panties on'!"
"How does that work?" Adrienne asked, "Because I know you and Reggie were in Sorelle together, so when you went on stage in those outfits, did you wear underwear?"
"Well, number one, you don't ever want to get a wedgie on stage in front of thousands of people," Athena laughed, "And you especially don't want panty lines!"
"Okay, well, if not in public, then maybe when you go to bed tonight, intentionally leave the panties off!" Loni exclaimed, "Watch what that mad will do!"
Athena blushed, "Can we go to another topic?" she said with a laugh.
"Yeah, let's do that!" Reggie exclaimed, also blushing in slight embarrassment as she picked up the card, "Oh, lovely! This one is about panties too! Women and men have different preferences when it comes to women's panties. So, ladies, what do your husbands prefer?"
Loni burst into laughter, "Panties are panties to me!"
As the show continued and more questions were asked, the ladies fell into easy conversation—and when the show ended, they all gathered backstage.
Tamar couldn't resist a playful jab, "So, do you moonwalk like your husband too?"
Athena let out a melodious laugh, her voice carrying a warmth that instantly put everyone at ease, "Well, nobody can moonwalk like Michael."
"So, can we get Michael's number?" Loni joked.
Athena chuckled at Loni's joke, her eyes twinkling mischievously behind her sunglasses, "That number is reserved for his family and me."
"Exactly," Reggie nodded, wrapping an arm around her sister, "And if someone asked Michael for Athena's number, he would shut that down!" she said before she started an imitation of what she imagined Michael would say, "Absolutely not! That's my Athena, mine to keep away from all the troublemakers!" she chuckled, mimicking Michael's voice as best she could.
Loni, unable to resist joining this imitation, said, "Shamone, you think I'm gonna let my baby give out her number that easily? Not on my watch!"
Athena, deciding to join the joke, wrapped Loni's arm around her, "Oh, honey, I would never!"
As they shared stories and inside jokes, the bond between them grew stronger. It was a rare and precious thing to find a group of people who understood the unique challenges and joys of their shared experiences. Athena watched her fellow cohosts with affection, grateful for each of their personalities adding a different flavor to their dynamic.