ꨄThe Debutanteꨄ

7.

3rd Person POV

...

Cookie examined herself in the mirror after she got dressed. She thought about the situation between her and Anika the day before. The look in Anika's eyes after being certain that she still had feelings for Lucious. I was almost as if a look of betrayal. Or sadness? Anger?

...

Cookie clicked her pen as she sat in the meeting room, listening to Lucious as he spoke about the scam situation. "Cookie, You'll be meeting with one of the men today. We finally have a lead. Just get some information out of them." He said.

"Well what do I do? Just sit down and start talking casually?" She asked sarcastically. "You know what to do. Get into their minds, pretend to be on their side." He said. She let out a single chuckle. In the midst of their conversation, Anika walked into the room. She scoffed at seeing the two of them interact with each other.

She sat down in the seat closer to Lucious, while Cookie stared at her, examining her reaction. "Hey, baby. I was just going over the plans for hunting down those trifling scammers. Today, Cookie is going to meet with one of their goons at 3:30." He said.

Anika turned to look at her. "Oh, then that means I don't need to attend this meeting." She said, standing up. "I'll be in the studio." She said, walking out and down the hallway, giving Cookie one last glare before leaving. Cookie looked down into her lap a single time.

Lucious let out a sigh, then shrugging. He didn't seem to pay much attention to her act, and continued to carry on the meeting as planned.

...

After the meeting finished, Cookie headed back to her office to fill out much needed paperwork. She figured that since Anika was in the studio, she could have time to work on other things. Although, that was a mistaken thought. After about thirty minutes, Cookie saw Anika brush past her room.

Cookie called out her name in what seemed like an instant. The woman stopped her walking, and let out an exhale of irritation. She turned, and backed up to standing in the doorway. "What is it, Cookie?" She asked.

"Nothing, I just thought you were in the studio working on the soundboard." Said Cookie. "Why aren't you there?" Cookie asked, looking up at her. Anika slowly walked inside, her arms crossed as she stood in the middle of the room. She pursed her lips. "Well, It seems no matter how confident I get, I truly don't have enough experience to run the soundboard without Cookie Lyon's assistance." She said.

Cookie gave an understanding nod, twisting her mouth. "Well after all, we both have different backgrounds in music." Said Cookie. "Right." said Anika plainly. "So, you were looking for me right? You weren't just going to abandon the studio for the whole day- Why would I do that?" Asked Anika. "Right. I was just asking, needed to make sure." Said Cookie.

"Well the sooner you wrap it up here the sooner we can get a track done." She said. "Yeah, give me about fifteen minutes. You can go ahead, I'll meet you there." Said Cookie. "Fine." Said Anika, turning and beginning to walk out of the room. "Anika." Said Cookie. The woman stopped in her tracks and turned to face her.

Cookie let out a light exhale. "About yesterday...-I don't care, and I don't want to talk about it." Said Anika. "But Anika it's not what-I don't care how you feel about him, He's with me now. So get over it Cookie- I don't have feelings for Lucious." Said Cookie. Anika stopped talking, and her expression seemed surprised.

"W-what?- And...I wasn't trying to kiss up to you. Well I'm not. That's not my style. Also, It's actually kind of...fake...And Cookie Lyon ain't fake." She said, shrugging. "S- so...you weren't trying to- What me and Lucious had is just a memory. We're coworkers, friends even, yes. But lovers, the both of us have moved on from that." Said Cookie.