By the time Cookie's birthday rolled around, Anika could admit to herself that she had a crush on the old jailbird. It wasn't anything serious – just something mild and sweet, like the one she had on her swim coach in high school. More admiration than anything, although Cookie being as fine as hell didn't help matters. It was hard not to get a little hot when Cookie was looking over Anika's shoulder or brushed past her when they walked by.

The transition from enemies to cordial wasn't easy. During their time at Empire, Anika was used to gritting her teeth at every stinging barb, especially when Cookie dished them out in public. But Cookie was the one who dragged Anika to Lyon Dynasty, which wouldn't exist had it not been for Anika giving Cookie crucial information on how to crash Lucious's welcome home party. Anika would be damned if she took shit from Cookie anymore, especially since Lucious was still blowing up her phone for both business and pleasure.

After Anika had taken one quip too many about her "young, high-yella ass" in front of the other employees, Anika finally fired back. "I'll be sure to have those reports hand-delivered down to your place at Shady Pines, Cookie."

"Yeah, I bet you remember where it is," Cookie shot back, not used to Anika checking her so publicly. "It's next to the local sex shop where you get your Lubricant of the Month shipments."

The ooohs and the laughter of everyone around them set Anika off. "I'll be sure to buy you some knee pads the next time I'm there, Cookie. The next time Lucious snaps his fingers at you, you'll be better prepared."

Cookie jumped out of her chair to get to Anika, which turned out to be a serious mistake. Without being blinded with a drink to her face, Anika could hold her own just fine, and she cocked her fist back and hit Cookie so hard in the face that her neck snapped back. But Cookie wasn't one to go down easily – or at all – and the women were brawling in seconds. "Give that horse back his hair, you bald-headed bitch!" Anika screamed, clutching Cookie's ponytail triumphantly as the blood from her nose ruined her dress. Hakeem dragged his mother out of the room, kicking and screaming. "You had that coming, Mom," Anika later heard Andre chastising Cookie on speakerphone. "You wanted her at Dynasty, and you got her. Now leave her alone."

Cookie's insults flowed like waves – fast, hard and numerous. But Anika could clap back so hard that she could end a fight as soon as it started. Cookie had taken so many Ls in her life – her miserable childhood, her failed marriage, her subpar parenting, the joke that was her wig collection – that there was never a lack of material. It took a while for Anika to train her Cookie Monster, but once Cookie saw that Anika wasn't going to be her punching bag anymore, their once out-for-blood arguments simmered down to petty bickering done more out of habit than malice.

Music was what kept Cookie and Anika united. While golden age hip-hop was mandatory for both of them, Cookie's non-LD music skewered towards traditional R&B and country, while Anika was meshed deep into rock and blues. Lots of late nights working together found them listening to the other person's music. Over time, it wasn't unusual to find Anika listening to Elle Dallas while Cookie was humming a Genesis tune. "See," Anika said one night as they worked on budgets with Todd Rundgren's Adventures in Utopia playing in the background."Told you that progressive rock is the shit."

"I always liked that song," Cookie admitted, referring to "Love is the Answer," the album's sole non-prog track. "But I didn't know it was a remake. This one is so much better."

They were getting to know each other better. Getting closer, or so Anika thought. Their shade turned into teasing, and then into something that could almost be considered flirting. They would tell each other than the other one looked hot, or compliment a body part, or make some sort of sexy reference to one other. Anika's bravado and bluster came through rolled eyes and blown kisses. Cookie was much more upfront, with regular offers and threats for Anika to be her bitch. "Keep it up," Anika said blandly one day, "and I might take you up on that offer. It's been a long time for me."

"Please. You wouldn't know what to do with all this anyway," Cookie laughed on the way out the door. Cookie was right, of course, because what would Anika even do with Cookie if Cookie ever reciprocated her feelings? For reasons she couldn't explain, Anika wanted nothing more than to just lie down and cuddle with Cookie. Cookie didn't strike Anika as the cuddling type.

When Cookie left with a bunch of Dynasty employees to celebrate her 45th birthday without inviting Anika to come with them, Anika had to blink back tears. She'd had no intentions of going – strip clubs weren't her style – but she planned to have a friendly rejection and some happy birthday wishes for her boss. But all Cookie did was stick her head in the door and say, "See ya Monday. I know you're staying late so you can turn this place into a shrine in my honor." Monday was Cookie's real birthday; she was celebrating it this weekend so she could have a quiet night with her family on her actual birth date.

"Have fun." Anika tried to sound as cheerful as possible. "And cover those boobs up before you get walking pneumonia, Grandma Moses."

"Oh, so now you want me to cover my titties, Boo Boo Kitty?" Cookie waved and left, and Anika didn't cry until she got home. God, she felt so stupid! They weren't friends, and Anika never would've gone with them anyway, so why was feeling so hurt? Was it because Anika had spent weeks looking for the perfect birthday gift, which was due to come to the office on Monday, which was Cookie's actual birthday? Anika been afraid that it might get lost or stolen if she wasn't there to pick up the package, which had cost her well over a thousand dollars. Now, Anika felt like the money would have been better spend wiping her ass with it.

Anika didn't actually expect Cookie to come to work that Monday, but she did. Probably to soak up even more birthday praise, was Anika's bitter reasoning. She avoided Cookie all day, but like the narcissist she'd long been, Cookie strolled into Anika's office with a gift bag in her hand around noon. "You ain't gonna wish me a happy birthday?" she asked when Anika looked up at her and said nothing. "I don't see no posters of me…no balloons with my face on them…no ice statue carvings or anything."

The old buzzard had nerve, that was for sure. "I would've wished you happy birthday at your little party," Anika said. "Except…you know…I wasn't invited." Anika was aiming for sarcastic and nonchalant, but she sounded petulant.

"Aww, is the poor widdle Boo Boo Kitty mad she didn't get the chance to tell me no?" Cookie taunted. "Thought I was gonna ask you to pretty-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top come with us so you could turn me down and go home to your little litter box?"

"Shut up, Cookie," Anika usually would've had a good comeback waiting, but she was too hurt to fight with Cookie today. It was bad enough that Cookie didn't invite Anika to her party; did she have to come rub it in, too? All Anika wanted was for Cookie leave.

"Look, Anika." Cookie leaned up against the doorway. "I wasn't trying to ig you, okay? I didn't know you'd even want to go. Hell, I didn't even want to be there."

"You didn't?" They all sounded so cheerful and happy when they left the building that night that Anika never considered the idea that Cookie didn't really want to go.

"Buncha sweaty-ass strippers dancing to some lame-ass 90s hits? Not my style. I would've rather stayed at home and watched the 76ers play. I bet your Knicks-lovin' ass saw every minute of it, didn't you?"

"Sure did," Anika bragged, "and I dedicated their loss to your honor."

Cookie scowled. "They woulda won if I had been home coachin' my team. The only good part about the night was the cake." Cookie opened the small gift bag she was holding and pulled out a large-sized Styrofoam container. "And for your information, Boo Boo Kitty, I had them save you a big ol' piece."

Anika could feel her cheeks turning red as Cookie also removed a couple of purple napkins and some plasticware. It's just cake, geez! Anika thought, but then Cookie took out a can of cream soda, and Anika's heart almost melted. Cookie teased her all the time that Anika was the only black person alive who liked cream soda and cherry vanilla ice cream, but there was always plenty of both in the Lyon Dynasty kitchen. "So you were thinking about me, huh?" Anika asked, tiptoeing on that friendly/flirty line that they tended to dance upon.

Cookie just grunted. "Whatever. Eat the cake, Anna Mae. I got work to do."

"Wait!" Cookie turned to leave, but Anika didn't want her to go. "Come eat some with me." Anika offered, even though it was barely noon and Anika didn't really eat sweets. "I didn't eat breakfast, so…"

"Sheeeeit." Cookie tossed her purse on the couch. "Ain't got to tell me twice."

The cake was already cut into four parts, and there was more than one bag of plasticware in Cookie's bag. "Girl, what are you doing!?" Cookie demanded, watching Anika scrape thick globs of purple cake frosting from her breakfast-slash-lunch, wiping it neatly back into the Styrofoam container.

"I don't really eat icing," Anika answered, which was only half true. Anika loved homemade icing, like the kind her mother made with whipping cream and powdered sugar, but store-bought icing was terrible, and this didn't look like it was going to taste any better. "It's a bunch of empty calories."

"Yeah, but without icing, you're just eating bread."

"It's good bread," Anika complimented. "And I can still taste the frosting. Buttercream, right?"

"Girl…" Cookie leaned over and scooped a huge glob of discarded frosting with her bare finger.

"Gross, Cookie!" Anika laughed, but she had to look away as Cookie wrapped her lips around her icing-coated finger to suck the icing off. "Hey, if you'd gone 17 years with no sweets, you'd eating straight frosting, too," Cookie pointed out, opening a can of Dr. Pepper.

"Yeah, I guess I would." Anika took a swig of soda and relaxed. "So, tonight. Small, quiet dinner with your sons, right?"

"And Lucious. Over at his house." Cookie rolled her eyes. "You wanna come? Since you missed watching me stuff dollar bills down sweaty dudes' g-strings and stuff."

"I definitely think I will take a pass on that one," Anika laughed. "So much for a happy birthday, huh?"

"Watch it, Boo Boo Kitty. You're talking about my sons' father." But Anika knew Cookie was being light-hearted. "Lucious really isn't bad when we're not talking business. You obviously think so, or you wouldn't be blushing."

If Cookie knew why Anika was really blushing, she'd probably slap Anika silly. "Yeah. Well. Wash your hands so I can give you your gift and you can get out of my office."

"See? I knew you got me a gift!" Cookie squealed as she bounced into Anika's bathroom to wash the frosting off her hands. "What you get me?"

Anika reached behind her computer screen and handed Cookie a flat squared-shaped package. "I didn't have time to wrap it. Actually, they just delivered it an hour ago. I know you only listen to vinyl records whenever you can."

"What in the world…?" Cookie asked as a giant, red-faced white man stared up at Cookie, nostrils flared and mouth wide in anguish. The album cover looked familiar, but there were no words on the front or the back.

"It's In the Court of the Crimson King. It's considered one of the most important albums in prog rock history. Um…" Anika pushed on nervously when Cookie's face expressed no joy – then immediately, no interest. "Kanye West sampled one of the songs for his song 'POWER,' and…I mean, since you were just starting to get into the genre…" Her voice faded.

After an awkward stretch of silence, Cookie pointed to the cover. "You know something? I thought this looked familiar. I looked this up a long time ago when I heard Kanye's song, but I never got around to checking out where it came from." Cookie smiled at Anika, and Anika could tell that Cookie was being genuine. "Thanks, Anika. I can't wait to listen to it."

"I've got it on my iPhone. We can listen to it now. I mean, when you have time," Anika added.

Cookie sat back down and picked up her dessert. "Play it while I finish my cake, Boo Boo Kitty."

Anika didn't need to turn all the way around just to turn on her iPhone, but she knew her face was as red as the man on the album cover. "Alright, get ready. It starts loud as hell."

Cookie had been warned, but she still jumped when the first few notes to "21st Century Schizoid Man" blared through Anika's Bose system. "Damn," she said after about a minute. "No wonder you're crazy, listening to stuff like this all the time." Cookie could see that Anika was seemed to be having some kind of out-of-body experience. The erratic musical arrangements touched something in Anika's half-white soul that probably didn't even exist in Cookie's. Still, it took all kinds of music to make the world go 'round. And the shit was dope.

"Touch my cake and you'll pull back a stump, Cookie," Anika warned as Cookie began to clean up. She wasn't that out of it.

"Anika, how in the world can you eat cake with no icing?" It was just one of the weird things Anika did that Cookie didn't understand. Anika ate waffles with no syrup on them, salad with no dressing, burgers with no cheese, drinks with no ice. Why bother? "Nah. I'm not letting you have any more. Not until you learn how to eat cake like normal people."

"Hey! Give me back my cake!" Anika rolled over to her desk to rescue her frosting-free cake, but Cookie wasn't having it. "Cookie! How are you just gonna take my cake away like that? It's my cake – I can eat it how I want to!"

"Nope!" Cookie blocked Anika from the dessert with her body, laughing as Anika tried to reach around her, to no avail. "Cookie! Give it back!"

"Say 'please.'"

"Please, can I have my cake back?" Anika pleaded, hands on her hips. She couldn't believe she was having to beg to get her own food back. "Pretty please? Pretty pretty please?"

Cookie scooped more icing into her mouth before she held the Styrofoam container high over her head. "You gon' taste this icing, Boo Boo Kitty." Cookie taunted Anika through a mouthful of frosting. "At least taste some, Anika! Damn!"

"Fine!" With the distorted guitar and blistering percussion and lack of oxygen still altering her brain, Anika quickly leaned forward and kissed Cookie square on the lips, just like she'd done to little Tommy Livingston back in kindergarten. Cookie's eyes grew wide – so wide that it scared Anika, who was forced to play it off. Strolling over to the office couch, Anika leaned back on the armrest, crossed one ankle over the other, and tilted her head. "Can I have my cake back now?" Anika asked coolly, though that wasn't at all how she felt.

Almost 30 years ago, little Tommy Livingston answered Anika's kiss with a shove that sat the little island girl on her rear end. It was hurtful and humiliating and stuck with Anika even now. There was no telling what Cookie was going to do, so when Cookie briskly crossed the room to come for Anika, cake box still in her hand, Anika braced herself for the blow that she just knew was coming. It never came. Instead, Anika's mouth was flooded with the taste of buttercream frosting mixed with Dr. Pepper. Cookie's kiss was warm and sweet and all-consuming, but not pushy or overbearing. It was perfect.

Anika felt dizzy and drunk when Cookie set down the birthday cake and wrapped her arms around Anika, pulling her close. She likes me! Anika's mind screamed as the music got harder and faster, and so did Anika's heartbeat, and so did Cookie's kiss and hands up and down Anika's back and arms. Cookie likes me! Inspired, Anika opened the cake container that Cookie had set on the coffee table and scooped a bit of frosting on the tip of her finger. She traced the icing on Cookie's lips, like lip gloss, then slid her finger into Cookie's mouth, watching Cookie suck the sweetness from Anika's finger before reaching in for another sweet, sticky kiss. Cookie also took a scoop of frosting, but she put it on her own lips, not Anika's, and pushed Anika down on the couch, lifting her dress up past her waist into order to straddle Anika better while she unbuttoned Anika's blouse. Soon, Anika's neck and the top of her chest were covered with lilac-colored lip prints.

Just as Anika wrapped her legs around Cookie's waist to bring her closer, a knock on the door scared Cookie and Anika out of their kiss – and out of their minds. "Hang on!" Anika shouted, buttoning up her blouse. She couldn't even look at Cookie, whose head was ducked low as she pulled down her dress. Anika was halfway across the room in just two strides before she realized that she'd kicked her shoes off when she let Cookie between her legs. Too late now. "Hi, Porsha," Anika greeted with all the confidence of a second generation debutante, praying that Porsha wouldn't notice Anika was barefoot. "What's going on?"

"Is Cookie in he…" Porsha stepped back, then gave Anika a strange look. "What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Anika was too late to catch on.

"What's that purple stuff all over your face?"

"What are you ta-" Oh, shit.

"Porsha!" Cookie called from inside Anika's office. "Is that you, girl?"

"Cookie!" It was too late. Cookie strolled to the door, every bit as poised as Anika was, then stopped cold when she saw Anika's face. Like her own, the bottom half of Cookie's face was smeared with purple coloring. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. "I'ma leave y'all two alone," Porsha drawled, stepping back and closing Anika's door behind her, but not before shooting Cookie a bitch-you-nasty look.

Anika couldn't even look at Cookie as she went to turn the music off. "You were right. The icing is good." Anika brushed past Cookie to get to the bathroom so she could wash her face. She tried to sound casual, as if Cookie Lyon hadn't just blown her mind and fulfilled her fantasies with nothing but delicious buttercream kisses. But Anika's voice was shaking, and so were her hands.

"Anika." Cookie's voice from behind her was gentle, almost loving, but Anika still dropped her gaze when their eyes met in the mirror. Cookie walked behind Anika and wrapped her arms around Anika's waist. "Anika, what took you so long?" Cookie asked kindly, then kissed the nape of Anika's neck.

"I don't know," Anika confessed tearfully. Anika dared to look up at Cookie, whose chin was resting on Anika's shoulder. Her smile was so beautiful. Purple, but beautiful. "I like you, Cookie. There. I said it. I like you." It was like a boulder had been lifted off Anika's chest.

"I know," Cookie wasn't bragging, just affirming the obvious. Anika could barely speak five words to Cookie without blushing, and she'd been wondering for the longest when Anika was going on act on her feelings. Sure, she could've told the kid to go for it long ago, but Cookie was in no mood to be some bicurious debutante's play thing. If Anika wanted Cookie, Anika was going to have to come get Cookie. Now, here they were.

"And I… this isn't-I mean…Cookie…" How could Anika explain this? What was the way to say Cookie, can you hold me? without sounding like she had certifiable mommy issues? "I'm just not trying to have birthday sex with you, okay?" Not that Anika would've minded, but that wasn't what she was looking for just yet. "I want to get to know you better for now. I think you're smart, and funny, and…"

"Go on," Cookie prompted cheerfully when Anika stopped talking.

"Never mind," Anika mumbled. After all, it wasn't like Cookie said she liked Anika back. "Move," she ordered, shoving past Cookie to get back to her office desk. "Just forget it, Cookie."

Anika heard the running of water, and Cookie reappeared a few minutes later – a lot less purple, but still very beautiful. Anika was typing furiously at her desk though her tears. The room was so quiet and Anika was so distracted when Cookie said, "C'mere, Kitty," Anika had forgotten that Cookie was still in the room. But there she was on Anika's couch, her body stretched out and waiting.

Cookie's voice was hypnotic, and Anika did what she was told. For a few minutes, the women laid together quietly. Cookie stroking Anika's hair made Anika feel like she was in heaven. This was her daytime fantasy coming to life. But Anika knew that Cookie wasn't the kind of woman to be content with just lying there with her, like Anika was.

"Listen to me, Kitty." Cookie was touched and saddened by how loud and hard Anika's heart was pounding, largely because Cookie knew that a part of Anika's fear was due to Cookie. There was something so sweet about Anika now that she was away from Lucious and under Cookie's care. Even with everything Lucious had done to destroy her – and Cookie, too, if Cookie was to be honest with herself – Anika had managed to rebuild herself and come back stronger. Still, Anika needed to be protected as she came into her own. Now Cookie was determined that everything she had taken from Anika, she would instill in her again. "Anika, I never said anything about having sex with you. If you want to take things slow, we can do that. Okay?"

Inwardly, Anika breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. But not too slow, I promise."

"No rush." Anika nestled her head on Cookie's shoulder, and Cookie kissed Anika over her eyebrow. "But while we're moving at this slow-ass pace, tell me what all you like about me."

"Cookie, you are such a ham." Anika rolled on top of Cookie, lying flat on top of Cookie's stomach. "I like how your eyes make your fake eyelashes look like moth wings," she teased. "I like your nose when you're not looking down it at me. And I love how good your lips…look…in…purple," she finished, punctuating her last few words with kisses. "Now. What about me?"

"I never said I liked you, Boo Boo Kitty," Cookie teased. She was surprised to see the hurt look in Anika's eyes, so Cookie took Anika's face in her hands. "But just in case I didn't make it clear, I like you. I like the way you comb your hair. And I like those stylish clothes you wear."

"That's a DeBarge song, cheater." Cookie shrieked as Anika tickled her until they nearly fell off the couch. "Okay! Okay!" Cookie cried when she couldn't take it anymore. "Let's see. I like how driven you are. I like how you support what I'm trying to do. I like how good were to my sons while I was away." Cookie pressed her fingers against Anika's lips before the matter of Hakeem – the son Anika was a little too good to - became a topic. Anika kissed Cookie's fingertips, and she knew that all was forgiven. "And I like that you like me."

With Cookie's orders to Porsha that nobody call or knock on Anika's door under threat of death, Cookie and Anika spent the rest of afternoon getting to know each other better, catching each other up on their lives, listening to music and kissing, kissing, kissing until they fell asleep . They were awakened by the alarm clock on Cookie's cell. "Oh, shit!" Anika gasped. It was a quarter to six, and Jamal was slated to pick his mother up at 6:30. "You better get out of here!"

"I'll call you when I get home," Cookie promised, reaching for her purse and coat. "Gimme a kiss," she called, reaching for Anika one last time before she left.

Anika obliged. "Hey, if you want to come over my place for a little dessert after dinner…"

"Oh?" Cookie raised an eyebrow. "What happened to taking it slow, Ms. Calhoun?"

"What, you can't just come over for a little something sweet after dinner?" Anika asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Sweet. Uh-huh." Cookie kissed Anika one more time. "Bye, 'Nika. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Cookie." Anika shut the door behind her. She leaned against the door and pursed her lips together, still tasting Cookie's buttercream kisses. "She likes me," Anika whispered out loud, and she loved the way those words sounded in the air. "Cookie likes me." Then Anika let out a soft, quiet squeal from behind her hands. Me! Cookie likes me!

Anika's joy faded a bit when she noticed that Cookie had left her birthday gift behind. So she was just being nice after all, Anika thought a little sadly. But before she could make peace with that, Cookie burst back through the door. "Forgot my album," she explained, snatching her record out of Anika's hands. "See you soon." Cookie kissed Anika on the lips and was gone again, as quick as a breeze.

Me. Cookie likes me.

Cleaning up before she left for home, Anika stuck her finger in some discarded icing and licked it before throwing the container in the trash. The icing was fine, but it tasted so much better on Cookie. Inspired, Anika quickly locked up for the night and dashed to her car, hoping she could make it to the local grocery store for some whipping cream before the traffic got really bad. If Cookie really was coming over for dessert that night, she was going to find out what homemade frosting tasted like, and Anika planned to make enough for both of them to do whatever they desired to do with it.

END