Taylor Ever After?

Herstory repeats itself.

 Fatima doesn't speak.

"Fatima, I promise I will not ask you again. Speak up and speak clear girl!" her father demanded.

Charles never raises his voice at Fatima. Fatima stood too stunned to speak. "ummm. Nothing dad, I was joking with Zac." She finally said

Her father steps further into the house. "So they're still at it." He says out loud to himself.

"Wait, you knew?" Fatima was astonished. "Dad what the hell?"

Charles sat down on the couch not saying anything. Fatima sat down on the couch beside her father waiting silently for him to speak. Her heart is pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe how badly she messed up but also, her father already knew.

"Scotch on the rocks?" Fatima offered her dad his favorite drink.

"Make it a double. But neat." He answered

Fatima returns with a drink in hand and offers it to him.

"Now baby girl, you know I don't drink alone."

Fatima returns to the bar and pours herself a single. Taking a seat on the couch again she asks her father what he knew.

"Well baby. Five years ago your mother admitted to me that she had been having an affair. We were going through an incredibly difficult patch in our marriage, and we separated for 7 months. We didn't tell you because we wanted to try to make things work first. We went through counseling and even dated other people after a while. Somewhere after 6 months of separation and countless therapy sessions we had a breakthrough and your mother and I realized that we would be no good without each other so we went on a two-week vacation secluding ourselves from the world and getting back to our beginnings when we first fell in love. When we left for the trip your mother swore to me that the man she was dating would be clear that their relationship was over and he wouldn't be a problem."

Fatima remembers the trip he was talking about. Her parents went to Thailand for two weeks and didn't bring her back any souvenirs.

"Well, he wasn't a problem for a while. Everything was perfect. I moved back home, your mother and I were spending more time together, smiling more and things were so much better. Until one day I went to her office one day to surprise her with lunch, and she smelled different. His cologne was in the air. Then again two weeks later after that, I smelled it again. This time in her hair when I hugged her. I asked if was she sleeping with him, and she admitted that had been spending time with him but she insisted they weren't sleeping together. She begged my forgiveness and like a fool, I forgave her."

Fatima listened to her father spill his heart out. Her heart was broken. Her dad has always been her favorite person on earth. In her eyes, he was the strongest, bravest most honorable man to grace earth so seeing him hurting the way he is was making her disdain for her mother grow by the second, He worshipped the ground Victoria walked on and Keith was more than a friend, he was a brother to Charles. They have been close since childhood. Fatima was saddened and enraged at the same time.

"Daddy. How could you forgive them so easily?

"It wasn't easy baby. Trust me it wasn't hard but your mother swore to me that it was done."

"I hear you dad but what about uncle Keith? How'd you forgive him? You can't even tell that you guys were ever going through anything like this."

Charles looks at Fatima. "Uncle Keith? Fatima what does he.... Fatima where are the pictures?"

Fatima realizes her newest mistake. "I don't know dad. I took a nap and when I woke up Zac had moved them. I am so sorry."

"Call him and ask him where he put them." Charles is no longer his calm self. His bald head was sweating and his fist was balled.

"I can't." Fatima lied. "Zac is at a business dinner daddy. His phone will be off." Fatima no longer wanted to find the photos. In this moment she was hoping that Zac shredded them but she knew he wouldn't do that.

"Fatima Latrice." Is all he had to say. Fatima knew what it meant when he called her by her middle name.

She scurried over to the counter and dialed Zac. After the third ring, Fatima heard Zac come over the phone.

"Baby, I need you to step outside real quick."

"Is everything ok T? What's going on?"

"No. I need you to come home. My dad is here, and he knows about the pictures. Where did you put them?"

"Shit, Yea. I'm on my way. They're under the towels in the linen closet upstairs."

Fatima wanted to ask why he hid them from her but she knew now wasn't the time.

"Ok Hurry home please." The couple said their goodbyes and Fatima went back to the living room to find her father pacing the floor again. Clearly pondering a thought.

"Fatima. Why do you have pictures of your mother?"

Fatima looked like a deer in headlights. "Well. Ummm." Fatima was stuttering, trying to buy herself time to soften the blow she was about to deliver.

"Fatima! Answer me."

"A few months ago, I saw mom and Uncle Keith leaving the Carlyle hotel at 7 am together. I confronted her about it, and she told me he was there picking her up because she got too drunk to drive after having a fight with you. I let it go because I wanted to believe her, but the image of how close they were and how familiar they were kept plaguing my thoughts. So, I hired a friend of mine to follow her. This morning he messengered these over this morning." Fatima hugs her father. "daddy im sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."

"You shouldn't have had to tell me. It's not your fault."

Zac comes through the door and sees Fatima holding her glass.

"Good evening Mr. Wilson." Zac looks at his wife and then her glass. Fatima, may I speak to you in the kitchen for a moment, please?