CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
surprise

Jamal

"You must feel proud of yourself, huh?" Lucious asked angrily.

"I really don't care if you're upset," Jamal said.

"I am upset, son! You disobeyed my decision!"

"I'm glad I did because everyone loved the song! Even Ma!"

Cookie scowled at Lucious. "But of course you don't love it, Lucious. Because it's about me."

"Cookie, this doesn't concern you."

"Yes it does. You didn't want Jamal to perform because you didn't want him to show his appreciation for me."

"I deserve appreciation too!" Lucious declared before pointing at Jamal. "I was by your side for seventeen years, Jamal!"

"I would've been by his side if it wasn't for you, Lucious. Don't go there," Cookie argued.

"Well you weren't, Cookie! I was! So you're being ungrateful, Jamal!"

That actually made Jam scoff. "You still haven't told Ma thank you, so no, you're the ungrateful one. And it's funny how you expect me to write a song about you after the torture I had to endure for seventeen years."

"I'm still your father!"

"I'm still your son! Who cares if I'm gay?!"

"Lower your voice," Lucious hissed.

"Let them hear for all I care. I'm done caring about how you feel because you don't ever care about no one but your damn self," Jamal said harshly.

"You know what? Maybe you should write him a song, Jamal. So he can stop acting like such a damn baby!" Cookie dissed.

Jamal nodded. "If you want me to write a song about you, Lucious, I'll do it. But it won't be a nice one."

Lucious got in his face now. "Get out of my face, Jamal. You're a disgrace."

"If I'm a disgrace, what the hell are you?"

Lucious tried to lunge at him, but Cookie stepped in. "Don't touch my son, or your death's gonna come early!"

Lucious was about to argue with her, but they heard that man say, "Okay, we have our final performance of the night! Give it up for Tiana and Hakeem!"

"Come on, Jamal. I gotta watch my other son perform," Cookie said.

"Let's go."

They linked arms and glared at Lucious all the way out. He was fuming, but did they care? Nope. And they never would.

Hakeem

Hakeem and Tiana were just introduced to the stage, but he was pacing backstage because his part wasn't until the end.

Hakeem rubbed his hands together nervously. He wasn't nervous to perform; he was nervous about the surprise he had for Tiana at the end of his verse. No one knew about it, but he was gonna be big, and it was gonna make people talk. He just hoped Tiana wouldn't freak out.

The music started playing, and he peeked on stage. Tiana was standing in the center, wearing a beautiful white dress. Hakeem was matching her, and he had picked the color white for a reason.

Tiana sung her first verse while doing her slight choreography like she had rehearsed. Then she sung the chorus while pointing right at Hakeem.

TIANA:

I'mma leave it up to you
Boy, you got a lot to prove
Show me why I should go all in
Tell me how you're worth my time
You can help me change my mind
Show me why I should go all in

He was gonna show her, alright.

The instrumental played while Tiana swayed left to right, and now it was Hakeem's turn to rap. He made his entrance and the audience went wild.

All in!
Chips up, all in with my hands out
Yeah, last time didn't pan out
Why? Cause it really wasn't planned out
But me and you stand out
Stand out like a diamond in the rough
I got tricks up my sleeve, and a lining in my cuff
I'mma keep on trying til you budge
Leaving everything up to time, it ain't enough

Tiana walked away from him like they had rehearsed, but Hakeem grabbed her arm and reeled her in. Then he held her face as he rapped, meaning every word.

You thinkin' I'mma violate our trust
Like the old me did, that annihilated us
I know that I was sus, but yo
Life ain't as simple as a yes or no
One thing I know is I adore you
Two things, I know I'm good for ya
I'mma give you more proof than a good lawyer to show you that I'm loyal
Girl, you know you royal...

Tiana should be singing the chorus one more time, but she was frozen in place just like everybody else. Why? Because Hakeem had kneeled down and pulled out a ring.

Everyone was in so much shock. He could hear them wondering if he was proposing or not, but he was gonna let them think what they wanted. However, Tiana wasn't moving, so he slipped the ring on her finger and stood up.

Everyone cheered for them, and Hakeem guessed that was their cue to exit the stage. Tiana wasted no time; she hurried backstage and he followed her. "Hakeem, you have some serious explaining to do!" Tiana exclaimed.

Cookie appeared with Jamal and Ro. "Yeah you do, boy! Did you just get engaged?!"

"Okay, when I said you would propose to her at the end, I didn't think you'd actually do it!" Jamal said.

Royalty hit him. "You gave him the idea?!"

"Not intentionally! It was a joke, and he ran with it!"

Hakeem rolled his eyes. "Chill. It's a promise ring, not an engagement ring."

"Then why the hell did you get down on one knee?!"

He shrugged. "Lucious wants people to talk about Empire? Well, they're gonna talk."

"So that was just for show?" Tiana scoffed. "If that's the case-"

She took off the ring and gave it to him. "No, keep it."

"Why? The show's over."

"Because that's really for you. It's my promise to never do you dirty again," Hakeem told her.

Royalty felt awkward. "Alright, I think we need to give them some privacy."

His family was quick to leave after that. Hakeem put the ring back on Tiana's finger and spoke his piece. "Look Tiana, I meant every lyric I just rapped. I fucking adore you. I always have."

"Then why say I'm not good enough for you?"

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to play hard to get. I wanted you to chase me, but you didn't, and I knew I fucked up. So I chased you instead."

Tiana just huffed. "All of this drama could've been avoided if you were honest from the start, Hakeem."

"Well, I'm being honest now. I'm ready to go all in with you, if you still want that. I hope you do."

"Just because I was mad at you, doesn't mean my feelings went away," Tiana replied. "But I don't know, Hakeem. I don't wanna end up hurt again."

"I promise that ain't happening. That ring proves it. And it wasn't cheap, by the way."

Tiana giggled and looked down at the ring. "Yeah, I see that."

He laughed too. "So, you wanna give this a shot?"

"The world already thinks we're engaged, so why not?"

"Don't worry. I'mma fix that." Hakeem kissed her, and it felt so damn good to finally be kissing her. He should've been stopped playing hard to get because Tiana was so damn perfect.

When the kiss was over, he looked into her eyes and made her another promise. "You won't regret this."

At all.