ON THE RISE, star

eight

"That Michelle Crane girl is always traveling," Simone commented looking down at her phone, watching a video of Michelle Crane on a plane, traveling someplace with her parents.

"How 'bout instead of standing there, you actually do something productive?" Star told her sister, pouring shampoo into client's hair. Simone rolled her eyes in response, tucking her phone into her back pocket, picking up a basket full of used hair towels.

Shauna and Ashley came down the stairs, laughing amongst themselves. "He did not." Shauna laughed.

"I'm serious! Pushed her right into the pool," Ashley replied. "She didn't speak to him for three days. I had to be the messenger."

"What's on my books, Cott?" Shauna asked. She tapped her fingers on the receptionist desk.

"Nobody new, child," Cotton told her. "Same old, same old."

Shauna nodded her head. "Cool." She turned to the stylists in the salon. "Y'all want something from iHop?" All at once, the stylists started listing things they wanted. Shauna waved her hand. "Just text it to me, damn. Come on, Ash. If I'm ordering for everybody, I'm not carryin' it alone."

"If it gets me out of doing work, I'll go anywhere," Ashley sighed, following Shauna out of the salon.

Sitting in the car, Shauna noticed Alexandra leaving out of the back door of Derek's house, smoothing out her hair and wiping her mouth. "So... Derek and your sister?"

"What?" Ashley looked up from her phone. She looked at Shauna. Shaun grabbed her face, turning her head to where Alexandra was still getting herself together. "Oop—" She cut herself off to laugh. "Girl, let's go."

Shauna chuckled, driving off.

Gale pulled up to the parking lot of The W, phone up to her ear. Roland had roped her into being his personal assistant for the whole week they'd be in Atlanta. Hotel reservations, dinner reservations, trips for the girls, and now, she had to check out this local singer Ashley told her father about.

Gale sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. It was going on five minutes, and he still hadn't stopped talking about everything they needed to do for the week, like she didn't already know. She sighed, "I hear you, please hang up the damn phone so I can check y'all in and do what I need to do. 'Kay?" He tried to say another word, but she groaned and hung up on him.

She walked into the hotel, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head. "Hi," she greeted with a smile. "I need two suites under the name Roland Crane."

The receptionist's eyes lit up at the mention of the rockstar's name. "Of course. U-Uh, how long is your stay? And I'll need a card to put on file."

Gale nodded handing the woman one of Roland's credit cards. "One week," she replied. "Morning check out."

"Okay, um, I'll let you know when your rooms are ready." She handed the card back to Gale. "Enjoy your stay!" the woman called after Gale as she walked away.

Mariah sat in the backseat of the car with her parents, tapping a rhythm on her knees. Rose and Michelle sat on the other side, looking over whatever designs for an upcoming fashion show, and Roland was next to her, listening to a song in his headphones. Mariah stared out of the window, watching the streets of Atlanta. For the first time in two weeks, she'd be face-to-face with her sisters; one of which cut her off from every means of communication. She had no idea why. What did she do? It didn't make sense.