MIND GAMES.
Relief rushed through Cookie's veins as she drove home from Empire. Thank God for Eddie Barker. The board members were pushing, and Cookie was truthfully struggling to hold it all together. She'd learned in Lucious'...absence, that running a music entertainment company was no joke. Cookie had to work her hands to the bone at Empire, to come back home and try to stay strong for Lucious until his memory returned. It was a lot for one person to carry on their shoulders, but Cookie had been holding the load for her family for a long time now...nothing was new. She was doing what she had to do.
"Lucious?" Cookie called out as she pushed the front door open and dropped her belongings onto the table. The smell of paint wafted straight up her nose as she slowly sauntered further into the house. Her movements came to a halt when she saw Lucious in the dining room. "Uh, what the hell are you doin'?" She questioned with an arched eyebrow of confusion. A sheet stained in paint was tossed over the table, canvases with splashes, swirls, and stripes of paint stacked against the wall. Lucious was pacing around the room, mumbling to himself. He's officially lost it. Cookie concluded, shaking her head. Lord, he's lost his damn mind...again. "Lucious, where's yo' little nurse?" Cookie asked as she tentatively stepped into the mess. What exactly was she paying this 'special nurse' for? Because she wasn't seeing any improvements in 'Dwight'. The distance between them was growing further and Cookie was beginning to suspect that was Claudia's doing.
"I sent her home." He muttered, pausing his pacing to look up at her. Cookie leaned on the wall and eyed him from head to toe. While he looked nothing like her Lucious with his paint-stained attire...his vibe was different. His tone stronger, full of authority and power. His deep hazel eyes firm and alert, instead of innocent and inquisitive. "These paints," Cookie's eyes wandered around the room. "They're awakening something in me. I can't describe it. I needed to be alone." He explained before his attention drifted elsewhere.
Cookie bowed her head, getting the hint that he wanted to be left alone. Truthfully, she'd had a long day and could use a night away from...Dwight and his sensitivities. "Okay...well, I'll leave you be." Cookie mumbled with a feeling of dejection because though, she needed the break, she didn't want to be without him any more than she already was. She sighed and went to carry on sauntering to the bathroom, reluctantly, when she saw him dip his hands into the murky yellow paint.
"Wait, Cook," He hollered out. She froze. Cook. He hadn't called her that in a minute. Foolish hopefulness bounced around excitedly in Cookie's mind. Maybe he's on his way to getting his memories back. "Join me." He asked, softly, lifting his soulful eyes up to gaze at her. Cookie always felt stuck... hypnotized whenever he looked at her like that. It was a gaze so intense, her body tingled. Lucious, stop looking at me like that! I need to concentrate! An old conversation sprung to mind from their Philly days. Lucious had smirked, mischievously, and lazily drawn out; Concentrate on me. Cookie was pretty sure their baby girl had been conceived that day. Instead of studying Maths, she had been studying something a little...different. A lot more fun.
Swallowing, Cookie murmured; "I thought you needed to be alone."
"From Claudia." Lucious corrected. He extended his messy, paint-stained hand out to her. "Something's missing. Something's not clicking in my mind." He told her, earnestly, his tone laced with frustration. Cookie smiled, sympathetically. She knew he was really struggling with not being able to connect the dots in his flashes of memory. Nothing was making sense, and Claudia had...advised Cookie not to fill in the gaps for him. It was something that needed to be left to Lucious, his mind, and the 'professionals'. "I could use your help to coach me to the finish line. If you aren't busy." Too busy for Lucious? Never.
