Zatima: What if?

Antique

2 hours later...

The ladies circled around the block several times searching for Jeremiah or atleast a clue as to who could've moved the body but they found nothing

|Belinda's house|

Lori: this makes no fuckin sense! How can a body just disappear
Angela: ikr?! We've been searching for hours
Belinda: shit its almost like the nigga disappeared
Lori: I mean is he even dead
Fatima: Idk but I say we just call it a night, I'll call my contacts tomorrow and see if they can help make sense of this
Belinda: call it a night? So I'm supposed to just sleep in this spooky house while yall go home to your husbands and shii
Lori: shit all this drama that happened tonight, I forgot I had a husband and kids. They must be worried sick, it's past midnight and my phone been off for hours
Fatima: girl ik Zac must be livid too! I gotta go, we'll catch up tomorrow
Angela: B you can stay at my place for a few days
Fatima: aight bye yall, don't forget, what happened here stays here! Don't mention a word of it to anyone!
Lori: aht aht miss thing, did u forget we all drove here in your car? Imma need a ride back
Angela: me too
Belinda: Angie we'll take my car, Tima you'll drop Lori off at her place
Fatima: (checks her watch) shit I know Zac gon kill me! Imma be home after 01:00am

They all get into their respective cars and drive off. Angela texted that her and Belinda arrived safe, Fatima also dropped Lori off and she's now pulling into the garage. She gathers her belongings and takes a deep breathe before exiting her car, she notices that all lights are off except the porch lights. "Great they're all asleep! I can quietly sneak in" she thinks to herself as she slowly unlocks the door and walks in...

The side lamp of the living room suddenly goes on and there sits Zac with bloodshot red eyes indicating that he hasn't slept a wink.

Zac: so this is what we doing
Fatima: (startled) baby I can explain
Zac: do you have any idea how worried I was and why tf is your phone off
Fatima: uhh... the battery died
Zac: you must think I'm boo boo the fool!! So you mean to tell me your office doesn't have an iPhone charger? And since when do you work late without telling me first Marie
Fatima: -silent-
Zac: (getting irritated) I asked you a fuckin question and you just gon stand there looking stupid
Fatima: don't yell Zac, you're gonna wake Yanah up
Zac: oh so you do remember that you're a mother
Fatima: wtf is that supposed to mean
Zac: you know what forget it! I'm not doing this with you.

Zac turns off the lamp and makes his way upstairs, leaving Fatima standing in the dark. She wipes the tears from her eyes and follows him up, she steps into their room and sees that he's fast asleep. Fatima makes her way to their ensuite bathroom and gets undressed, she put the clothes in the laundry basket and hopped into the shower.

The next morning...

Fatima was woken up early by Yanah crying, so she decided to go downstairs and get started on breakfast. Anita joined her in the kitchen shortly after she was done preparing the meal.

Anita: good morning
Fatima: morning ma, how'd you sleep
Anita: I slept great! Looks like you didn't get enough sleep though
Fatima: huh
Anita: your eyes are red and those eyebags are heavy
Fatima: (chuckles) oh that! Yeah I uhm, I was working til late and this little girl also decided to start crying at 05:00 am

Zac silently makes his way to the kitchen, he's still visibly pissed off by the events that's took place last night and his mother instantly notices.

Anita: excuse you? Don't you greet
Zac: hey
Anita: what's wrong with you son
Zac: -silent-
Fatima: I made you breakfast, your favorite
Zac: I'm not hungry
Anita: listen here you two! Idk what's going on but yall better talk and fix it asap! Zac, that is no way to talk to your fiancé who slaved around this kitchen to ensure that you don't go to work on an empty stomach.
Zac: (smirks) she's not even my fiancé anymore
Anita: (shocked) whaaaat
Zac: yea we actually eloped when we were in Monaco, we signed a marriage certificate and got blessed by a preacher
Anita: (smiles and hugs Fatima) so you're officially Mrs Taylor?!
Zac: (mumbles) if only she'd start acting like a wife and a mother
Anita: okay imma go bathe Yanah and feed her upstairs, you two fix whatever this is

Ms Anita leaves them in the kitchen as she carries the baby upstairs. They both stare at each other in silence, Fatima can feel Zac's death stare burning a hole through her soul so she breaks the silence

Fatima: you wanna talk about last night
Zac: I ain't got shit to say to you, until you decide to be honest
Fatima: honest? Zac I didn't lie about anything
Zac: (chuckles) that's funny because I called your office last night and they told me that you left earlier than usual, so you missed our appointment with the wedding planner to go hoe around
Fatima: hoe around?! Zac I would never cheat on you
Zac: well wtf am I supposed to think when my wife disappeared to God knows where without any explanation
Fatima: -silent-
Zac: I'm really getting sick and tired of you staying quiet in serious conversations
Fatima: I know that this looks bad Zac but please just give me until tonight, I promise I'll explain everything when I get off work
Zac: (stands up and grabs the laundry basket) aight whatever Tima!
Fatima: so now you're walking away from me
Zac: no! I'm doing what you should've done yesterday when you were out hoeing around! Imma stop by the dry cleaners on my way to work

Zac arrives at the dry cleaners and hands them the basket, the lady asked him to wait a few minutes while she quickly emptied out all the pockets for any valuables.

Lady: sorry to keep you waiting Mr Taylor, this is all we found

She places an opened pack of cigarettes and an old antique watch that's engraved "Lucious T" on the counter

Zac: (surprised) there seems to be a mistake, these can't possibly be mine. I don't know anyone named Lucious nor do I smoke
Lady: no sir, I pulled these out of the pocket of the black hoodie that was amongst your clothes
Zac: hoodie?! Lemme take a look at it real quick

The lady goes to the back and comes back with the hoodie. Zac is confused because he has never seen this hoodie before, even though the lady is adamant that it came from his basket. He stops in his tracks as he remembers what Fatima came home wearing last night, he grabs the hoodie and smells it... it has the scent of a strong male cologne with a subtle hint of Fatima's favorite perfume.

Zac: mmh not hoeing around my ass
Lady: excuse me
Zac: uhm sorry about that, I gotta go. Imma hold on to this *he leaves*