Page 152 of Are You Going to Love Me

“We have a team meeting,” he stated. “I got you something to wear.”

Eden’s brows met. “I thought Staysha and Keon...”

“A week ago, you asked me to include you. I’m including you, and all your questions will be answered. I promise. I’ll even take you out for lunch.”

Eden groaned. “You mean you don’t want to stand over me and make me cook?”

“To be honest, baby, I don’t have any more patience for it,” Maximus said in a joking tone, but the sentiment was shared. Eden just didn’t have the gene needed to cook. Nor the patience. “Where do you want to eat? As a group.”

“Like with Staysha?”

“Baby, it’s been almost two weeks, and you haven’t said a word to your sister.”

Eden blew a raspberry. “So this is a setup?”

“No, it’s a business meeting. Your sister is going to be there, and I really want you two back on the same page. You know you ain’t right without her either.”

Eden cut him a weary look.

“But I’m not standing in the way.” He studied her and scoffed. “Damn, the idea looks like it’s making you sick.”

Eden muttered as she walked into the closet, “That’s not what’s making me sick.”

“What you say?”

“I said sometimes Staysha makes me sick. I’ll talk to her.” Eden offered him a fake smile only so she could end the conversation.

“Good. I’ll be downstairs waiting for you,” Maximus shared.

“Who is going to zip me into this thing?”

“I’ll do it when you come downstairs because if I do it up here, I’m bending you over the dresser.”

“I mean, I'm okay with that. We can meet up with them later and figure things out then,” Eden posed with a shrug.

Maximus swayed his braided head. “The issue with that is I can’t reschedule a meeting with Jay Lucci and Daysha. This is some real shit, baby. Being inside you is my favorite place, my second favorite place is not being on the street.”

Eden threw her hands up. “I get it. Should’ve led with that. I’ll be good.”

She blew him a kiss and wiggled her spreading body into the dress he bought for her. Made up and ready to go, Eden fell into her role as his support. The hour drive downtown to what was formerly known as Urban View Entertainment was full of Brodyand Maximus talking about upcoming shows, and Eden poring over her script, hoping to keep the queasiness at bay.

When they arrived, the office building was empty and prepped for something new. In the conference room sat Daysha, Rolani, Julius, Staysha, and Keon. They were all engaged in conversation that only paused to greet them as they strolled in.

“MB, how you feeling?” Julius greeted with a gentle brotherly hug.

Rolani followed suit. “What’s going on?”

Everyone greeted each other but Eden and Staysha. They were in an awkward standoff before Eden found a seat in the corner, leaving the actual team to discuss what was going to happen moving forward.

“I’m aight, ready to get back in the studio. Mine won’t be ready for a couple weeks. And the laptop and mic by the pool ain’t cutting it,” Maximus shared.

“Well,” Daysha started. “You can get back in the studio as early as tonight. El Jefe Records has acquired UVE as an umbrella company. JoyMusic will be our only distributor as well as exclusive streaming for all new albums. We’ll start the rollout for your album. Photoshoot, listening party, radio interviews. Online media outlets. All of that. That’s the basic stuff.”

Maximus nodded. “So what’s the heavy lifting?”

“UVE was initially acquired under a namesake we don’t want to tarnish or erase. We understand fully what Poppi meant to Eden and Staysha and to the community. We are looking forward to ownership returning to her lineage. But that comes with the diversification of your portfolio,” Daysha continued.

“And what does that mean for him?” Keon quizzed.

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