A few hours had passed and each test Zac was tested for came back negative. He didn't have any doubt in his mind that they would show anything other than negative but based on the circumstance, it was a must that he got checked.
Fatima got up from her nap with Mason and he was still sleeping so she made sure he was secure on the bed before she got up.
She slid her slippers on and went downstairs. She wanted water and she was going to get Mason's bottle for when he woke up.
Zac was sitting in the kitchen since he opened the email with his results in it.
Fatima ignored his presence and focused on what she was doing. Zac watched her and tried to read her temperature. He didn't know whether she was mad, calm or tired.
"All the test were negative" he says to her as she moved around the kitchen like she didn't hear him. He waited for a response, either for her to say something or a gesture of some sort.
"Did you hear me? The results are negative" Zac repeats and Fatima continues to do what she's doing.
"Well I hope that gave you some peace of mind" she says not giving him any direct attention.
"And the same for you?" He ask
"Oh that wouldn't bother me none because you're not touching me" she says plainly. She wiped his bottle off with a napkin and grabbed her water bottle
"Fatima can we just talk" he says practically pleading
"Zac I really don't want to talk right now" she says calmly
"You told me to talk to you when the results came back and that's what I'm doing. Be fair" he says
"Be fair?" She huffed sarcastically. She placed both her water bottle and Mason's bottle back on the counter forcefully.
"Okay let's talk" she says. He could tell she was being sarcastic and she didn't want to talk.
"I know your mad" Zac says
"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed!" She says
"Can we-
"Like seriously do you have a problem?! An alcohol abuse problem-
"Fatima no! And you know I don't! The last time something ridiculous happened and I was drinking was so many years ago BUT" he says and immediately started back again because he could see Fatima ready to spit fire.
"BUT it doesnt make it acceptable-
"No the hell it doesn't!" She says
"I'm just saying, I am not an alcoholic! There's barely any liquor in the house. You know I drink on occasion! I am not walking around with a bottle of liquor or constantly buying and consuming alcohol. You know that!" He says. Fatima knew that Zac did not drink often. She would admit that there were plenty of times they were out and she would get a drink or a glass of wine and he wouldn't get anything.
"For the life of me I cannot understand why when you do drink, you cannot handle yourself like a fucking college handles their liquor way better than you do!" She shouts
"And I'm sorry! I'm apologizing for my irresponsible behavior. As a grown as man, a husband and a father I should not act like that! I fucked up multiple times and I know how that makes you feel but we are NOT going back down that road again! I want you to trust me when I say that because I really mean that shit" he says as they share a connected eye contact. Zac spoke earnestly. Not once did Fatima blink, the entire situation had her feeling many emotions. She was upset at his actions but more so out of fear. The sincerity in his voice eased her slightly. She did not want to go through the whole cycle of her being angry, hurt and insecure in her marriage. It was exhausting and hard especially since she loves her husband, with no plan to break their union.
She knows that her husband is oblivious to his own fault and he had never done anything to hurt her with premeditated intention. She always wished for him to be more self conscious but I guess that's too much to ask for when he is intelligent in other areas.
"You can sign million dollar deals, negotiate the hell out of a contract, sit in these high level meetings shìt host some of your own but as soon as it comes to what YOU do for yourself or on your free time like the Vegas shìt, you have not one damn care." She expresses
"It's crazy because I remember when we found out I was pregnant with Mia, you were so attentive and protective of me. You worried about what I ate, the shoes I wore, if my clothes were comfortable. You barely let me carry anything shit you didn't want me fucking working. You cared soooo much about me and I love the way that you love me but it concerns me because when it comes to you, it's like do you care about yourself at all?" Fatima says and her voice broke. Fatima knew she called Zac "selfish" so many times but she knew with her full heart that Zac would die for his family. He would put his life on the line for anyone he cared about, he'd bend over backwards to make sure everyone was okay. He had a caring heart and he would do anything to see someone happy whether if it was his wife, kids, friends or just family in general.
"Do you care about yourself?! Because that scares me that you were basically passed out in a club and a stranger was able to get you off somewhere private where anything could've happened to you! I just really want you to think about that. Do you care about yourself?" She asked directly and Zac took a minute to digest all of her words. She wasn't looking for a quick answer, she was looking for his truth.
"I do... I guess it doesn't seem like I do enough and I apologize because it affects you" he says to her
"No Zac, stop apologizing to me! Apologize to yourself. I get letting free, being wild and having fun but that wasn't nothing but just carelessness. And I love you, I do! But you have to love yourself way more than I love you because you cannot just bank on my love as a protector. Have more love, care and respect for yourself. I don't know what it's like to be a man, but you have two boys who you have to teach to be strong and just as caring as you but most importantly how to love themselves. How are you going to do that, when you do things like this that show you could give a damn what happens to you" Fatima says deeply connecting her words from her soul to his. He was speechless.
Everything she said to him hit him where it hurt because it was untouched. He never thought about the depth of his actions and how they reflect back on his own self treatment. She was right.
Fatima looked at him in silence before she disappeared back upstairs.
