My Destiny Was You. Part. 2
Three weeks later, Cookie's mind was still reeling from the intense kiss she and Lucious had shared. Albeit he'd respected her wishes and kept their relationship strictly personal and surprisingly, Cookie was...disappointed. The man she had married was persistent, annoyingly persistent at times but he never, ever quit and the fact he was taking her rejection of their reunion lying down was strange and discomforting and honestly, somewhat saddening. Had he given up on them? Damn you, Lucious. She was finally rid of the drama that embodied Lucious Lyon and yet Cookie still remained restless and unsatisfied. Was his grip on her heart that tight that she'll never truly be able to let him or her love for him go?
She collected the paperwork she needed to share with Lucious for Empire X-Stream. His new baby....her eyes inwardly rolled and sauntered to his office. Anika was lurking around Empire. She had no job role yet. Just a sad bored housewife with a crying baby Lucious refused to let her palm off to overqualified nannies. Laughably, Anika had actually come to Cookie to weasel her way into becoming Head of A&R again. Girl, please. A low scoff passed her lips at the irony. Cookie imagined a past Anika's reaction to falling so far off of that high horse she once sat upon with a smug look on that debutante face of hers, begging Cookie for scraps of her old life. Although she supposed Anika had gotten the last laugh in a way...she was married to Lucious, living in the mansion that should've been Cookie's, seated at the head of the table with a fat ring and beautiful baby girl. All things Cookie had ever wanted, that bitch had. Oh, the goddamn irony of it all.
"Hey, Lucious, I've got those reports you asked for..." She mumbled, distracted by her sullen thoughts as she sauntered into the office. The time was somewhere far gone past midnight. Most employees had gone home for the night but never her and Lucious. They were always first to arrive and last to leave. Cookie knew Lucious got just as much sleep as she did...which was little to none. The bags underneath her eyes, covered by concealer and foundation told a tale of their own. Her natural frown deepened when she looked up to see her ex-husband gulping bourbon as if were water. A look of sheer exhaustion on his face as he slouched back in his chair with his shirt unbuttoned. Music lowly thumped through the speakers, filling the empty room. "You need to sleep." She told him in a motherly tone.
"I'm fine."
"Lucious." Fine my black ass. He looked exactly how Cookie felt. Emotionally and physically drained.
"Cook, I'm fine." He insisted without much energy to back up the firm statement. "Those the reports?" He questioned, jerking his head to the folder in her hands, swiftly switching the subject back to business. Because that's all they did now...business. Cookie had insisted on it. It was 'easier' to move on if there were barriers put in place that separated their personal lives. Although, moving on seemed to be a fairy tale and not reality because Cookie just couldn't. Even when that boujie ass Politician had shown her some interest and though, she had been faintly attracted to Angelo, he just didn't excite her the way Lucious did. She could already tell that whatever relationship they would've had would simply be bleak, unexciting, and doomed from the beginning.
"Fine my ass. You look like hell, mayne," She sucked her teeth as she approached the desk and snatched away the glass before he could take another sip. A depressed Lucious was bad enough but an alcoholic one would be a kind of beast Cookie didn't want to imagine dealing with. Her ex-husband looked at her with disinterest. Smacking her lips, she threw the folder onto the desk. "There's yo' damn papers." She snapped. Why was she annoyed? Was she mad at Lucious or...herself? "Goodnight, Lucious. Try not to drink yourself into an early grave. I ain't paying for yo' funeral." She snipped before trudging away.
