Having made it from selling dope on the street to his current position as CEO of a multimillion-dollar company, Lucious Lyon was no stranger to hard work. But lately, preparing for Empire's upcoming IPO while trying to cope with his recent diagnosis had him feeling like he had spent the past two weeks working a double shift while hungover. Keeping his condition a secret and trying to manage it while everything and everyone kept coming at him in all directions was not an easy task.

He had managed to successfully defend Empire's IPO launch after two artists were involved in a nightclub shootout. Then there was the situation with Bunkie, pulling a gun on him and threatening to disclose his past crimes. Lucious had certainly taken care of that, though. Bunkie, of all people, should have known better than to mess with a man like him.

Nevertheless, if one were to compile a list of all the people who had Lucious stressed in one way or another, Cookie Lyon would most definitely be at the top of it. Lucious had met most of her demands, and although she was upset about not receiving the head of A&R position, managing Jamal and Tiana seemed to pacify her.

But there was something about her recent behaviour that worried him, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Which was why he found himself sitting in his office with his son.

They sat silently for a few seconds. Lucious' eyes surveyed Jamal as though he was searching for something, while Jamal tried not squirm under his father's intense gaze. Lucious ran a hand over his face and sat a little straighter in his seat before severing the silence.

"You look good, Mal," He began. "So, how you been? And that friend of yours...Michael, right?"

Jamal was seated on the plush couch near the bar, and Lucious was seated in the chair across from him. He sighed, "Dad, come on, cut the act. You know that ain't why you call me in here."

Lucious couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips before continuing, "You know your mama don't even talk to me?"

Jamal gave his father a look that clearly said, Seriously, dad? What the hell do you expect?

The last time Cookie had spoken to Lucious about anything that wasn't business related was a little over a month ago, at the yacht party held to formally announce her return. Their interaction had started off far better than Lucious had anticipated, considering she damn near tore the skin off his face the week before. Conversation between them had come with little effort, and the way her laugh floated through the air and wrapped itself around him reminded him of old times.

At one point, they had retreated to his room on the yacht, wanting to get away from all the people swarming around them. But their once friendly banter, accompanied by hands traveling from knees to thighs, had come to an abrupt halt and took a sharp left when they got into an argument, in which Lucious professed that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Jamal never surpassed Hakeem. Upset and disgusted by her ex-husband's willingness to stagnate his son's success simply because of his sexuality; Cookie left, promising him that she would be more than prepared to counteract anything he had up his sleeve. Since then, all their conversations had been Empire related, clipped, and straight to the point.

"She mentioned anything to you?" Lucious asked. He then stood and made his way to the bar to fix himself a drink.

"Anything like what, dad?" Jamal said, watching his father pick up a decanter and fill a glass with bourbon.

Lucious took a sip of his drink and released a frustrated breath before making his way back to his seat. "Like something that might be bothering her." He clarified.

"You mean besides you?" Jamal answered, unable to suppress his grin. He had witnessed the way his mother shooed his dad away from her on more than one occasion, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't find it funny.

"Mal, I'm serious." Lucious said, giving him a steely gaze to emphasize his point.

"She ain't mention nothing to me, dad," Jamal responded. "And even if she did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Yeah well, she may not be sayin' nothing, but that don't mean somethin' ain't going on," Lucious said, rubbing his chin pensively. "She ain't been herself lately."

"Yeah...I know what you mean," Jamal agreed, recalling that his mother had been pretty uneasy lately, and he did find it strange that she had decided to work from home today. "She been kinda jumpy." He added.

Lucious nodded his head in agreement. He had noticed a change in Cookie's behaviour over the past few days. She would stand at a distance from the elevator to check out the inside before entering, she constantly glanced behind her as though she suspected that someone was watching or following her, and overall, it just seemed like something was troubling her.

He had tried to get her to talk to him, asked her what was going on, but Cookie was determined to keep him at arm's length, strutting away from him with a stay outta my damn business, Lucious.

Although he completely understood why she would be reluctant to confide in him, Lucious couldn't help feeling hurt by it. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to give up that easily. He planned to go to her apartment tonight after his dinner with Andre and a new investor.

Lucious was prepared to bang on that door until she opened it in sheer annoyance if that's what it took. He was going to get Cookie to talk to him.