Southern Gentleman's Club

Singed

Subtitle: Priorities

The next morning found Meadow walking down the elaborate spiral staircase in her long, purple lacy robe. Brandon followed behind her. He'd never seen the clothing before and wondered where she'd gotten it in the first place.

Down below sat her sisters in very similar robes. Freya's hair sat in a pineapple puff. She stirred the dough just how the chef taught her. "Meadow! Just in time dawg!" she yelled in excitement. "Cinnamon rolls!"

"Keep eating like this and you'll be out another six months to work the pounds off."

"Something tells me Titan wouldn't mind if I never go back to the stage." Freya teases. Brandon takes a seat at the counter in front of them.

"Within reason, babe." They heard Titan's distinctive voice from the room adjacent to the kitchen. His leisurely footsteps followed shortly after. Jireh and Troy made their way in the kitchen as well.

"I know the last time we talked at length about it, you mentioned a rebrand. Have you given it any more thought?" Meadow asked while taking a seat next to Brandon. Jireh rested himself against the counter by the dishwasher, in direct line of Meadow's vision.

"I have but I decided to play with different ideas while you're still actively working." Freya admits. "With Luna pregnant and then taking a break to raise her baby...I've just been writing."

Meadow nodded her head. "I see the point. But...I was thinking about it randomly last night. And this is what I came up with." She hops down from the stool to retrieve her ideas book.

The room is quiet. "What is she going to get?" Brandon asks.

"Her book." Luna responds simply while rubbing her belly. "Freya may be a once in a lifetime talent, but it was Meadow, and me, who marketed her to be a household name."

Brandon cocks his head over in muted disbelief.

"Make no mistake, Tiny Mike. Meadow Freeman is a GOAT." Troy roasts him.

Meadow waltzes back in the room with her robe billowing behind her. "Okay. So, I was thinking that you do more...intimate shows. I'm seeing dimmed lights, a mic, stool, and a guitar. Sunglasses and a simple fit. That's Freya. Then...wardrobe change, Flame. One night only babbeeeee. Just to let the hoes know you still that bitch."

Freya good-naturedly chuckles at her sister's continued imaginations.

Jireh couldn't help but notice her eyes twinkling while discussing her plans for her sister. "You miss touring, Mimi?"

"Touring?" Brandon blurted.

Her face turns red. "Sometimes." She admits after a while. "But I like consistency of an everyday job, too."

Luna's ears perk up.

Meadow continues. "Consistency means a lot to me in everything I do. One thing was consistent in that life. And for me, it was knowing I was going to wake up in a different city almost every night."

"What was the longest you've ever been home?" the conversation flows as though they're the only ones in the room.

"Outside of now..." she thought. "It was right before Freya's first world tour. But even then, I was working on new ideas and such."

Before Brandon could interject, Mia and Stone enter the kitchen. "I knew I smelled food in dis muhfucka." He makes their presence known. "Good mawnin y'all."

"Mawnin!"

The wheels in Jireh's head started turning. Now he had a plan...

After breakfast, Meadow sat in the vanity room getting dressed. Her music played softly. Brandon enters from his room. He turned his back to the mirror and crossed his arms. The air is icier in the room than outside.

"You're upset." Meadow meets him head on.

"Yes." His voice is clipped, aggravated even.

"Okay, I'm listening." She continues her makeup.

"So you just keep your occupation from me?"

"I wasn't sure if you'd believe me. I never lied to you. From the jump, I told you that I was in school online."

"Yes. I know but for what? You never told me that your sister is fucking Flame." He raises his voice. "And you kekek'in with another man in my face, Dough."

"So, is this conversation about me keeping my occupation and family from you or the fact I was having a conversation with someone else?" she dabs her lips with lipstick.

"Hey! We leaving in twenty minutes." Luna walks in the room, unassuming.

"All of it!"

"What do you want me to address first then?"

"Dough!"

"Brandon. Jireh is my...boss." Her voice shakes just a little.

"Yo WHAT!"

Luna closes the door. Sheesh, baby sister.

"Yes. I work for him. He asked me to join his company when Freya extended her hiatus. I moved up here because she asked me. Luna and Marcus are having a baby. I live in downtown Ice Cliff now that my sisters are in their own relationships. Is there anything else you want to know?"

He steps away from the vanity, looking down on Meadow while she finishes her face. "If he's just ya boss like you say, what's with him calling you Mimi?"

"That's just a name he prefers to call me."

"You don't or won't correct him on it."

"I did!"

"Then keep doing it until he calls you the name your mother gave you!" He raised his voice again.

"It's just a name, Brandon! Just like Dough is your name for me. And Baby Sister is my name for my sisters."

"No. Dough is your name for me because you're soft to me, like dough. You are your sisters' little sister. Him calling you Mimi has significance. Otherwise, he would've stopped by now. And you wouldn't accept it."

Meadow keeps quiet. Brandon breaks the silence. "Is that all? Are you leaving anything else out?"

Meadow stands up and walks to put on her outfit. "No."

Brandon looks at her one more time, more burning questions on his mind. "Am I a priority to you?"

Meadow stops moving. "A priority?"

"Yes, a priority."

"Brandon, look. I brought you here to meet my sisters, my family. Whatever insecurities you are starting to have is not a reflection of our relationship. I know I kept things from you but it was only because I wasn't sure if you'd believe me anyway. I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"If you live in Ice Cliff, why are we staying here?"

"Because Ms. Mia asked me to." She gives him a duh look.

"You do whatever these people ask you to do huh?" he flops on the bed to put on his shoes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Your sister asked you to move up here, you did it. Jireh asked you to join his company, you do it. And now the matriarch asks you to stay here for the holidays and you do it."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe I don't." he shrugs.

"Let's have a good time before you leave. Please."

Doesn't matter much now, the damage is done.