ꨄThe Debutanteꨄ

131.

...

Two Weeks Later

...

"No way! Really?!" Asked Paula from the other side of the face time. Anika was showing her the pregnancy test, and she seems to have been smiling so much that her cheeks were starting to hurt.

"I'm so happy for the both of you! Congratulations!" Paula exclaimed. "You know, you both have come such a long way and I'm so proud of you both. I can't wait to meet the mini you!" She added. Lori smiled. "So, have you thought of any names? I know it's super early but some people already have it planned out." Paula said. "Well, we actually haven't even started. I think we're still just trying to soak it all in." Said Anika.

"She had morning sickness for the first time today. I made her something that always used to work for me to calm it down. I had terrible morning sickness with Hakeem." Lori said. "Well, I know you two will be great parents. It's certain." Said Paula.

...

Lori was trying her hardest not to get too excited about the pregnancy, however. As much as she wanted to jump for joy, she remembered how much that backfired and blew up in her face. Now that the pregnancy was real, she was far more cautious and paranoid about the 'what-ifs'. Although, she didn't want to tell Anika that, out of fear of her not understanding why Lori felt the way she did. She also didn't want to put a damper on Anika's enthusiasm.

Anika's family was so excited for her, and she couldn't wait until Lori told her side.

...

While Lori didn't want to ruin the fun, the idea of Andre's business proposal was stuck in her mind. It kept coming back, reminding her that she couldn't keep holding it off and needed to say something about it.

Anika was in the bathroom, examining her stomach in the mirror while she did her hair after the shower. Lori crept in, then grinning at her. "What are you in here doing?" She asked. "Nothing..." Anika said innocently, then turning to face her. She kissed Lori's forehead, and Lori kissed her cheek.

"I have something I need to talk to you about...and it's serious." Lori said. Anika's face dropped. "What?" She asked. "It's about Empire...- Lori, no- Andre offered something-" Anika slid away from the sink, stepping away from Lori and pointing at her with an annoying expression.

"Lori, if you're coming to me about some plan to make that place stop from sinking, we're going to have a problem...!" She said. "No...it's not that. Listen to me. Andre is the CEO of Empire now, no one else. He called me about a business opportunity for us to become our own independent business owners." Lori said. "What? Lori I don't care what the conditions are! I'm not doing it and neither are you." Anika snapped.

"Anika...he's offering that we become our own company. Here in Oregon. And we partner with Empire. He wants us to find artists, weed out the good from the bad, make an EP song for them, and send them to Empire. We don't have to step foot in there at all. It'll be our own thing." Lori explained.

"Lucious got removed from the board. Everything that represented him means little to nothing, now. He's not even the face of the company anymore." Said Lori. "We moved across the country and got married. We put in all of this effort just to get him put away and somehow that company always finds a way back into our lives." Anika replied.

"Anika I agree with you and I hate to say it, but Empire is a family business. That's how it is. I want to help my boys, since they're running it now. I mean Andre has been kind enough to pay us even after we no longer work there. You can still sue Lucious for being fired from discrimination in the workplace." Lori explained. "The point is, we have the upper hand and we always will. By the time he's released, He will be too old to try to take over anything. We can reform what was broken." Lori explained.