Zac stood inside his front door watching Fatima step out of her car. Despite the fatigue in her eyes, she smiled when walking toward him. "Welcome back." "You sure you don't mind that I'm dropping by?" she asked, stepping into his home for the first time. She called after landing asking if there was anyway she could see them and he invited her over. "I was on my way home from the airport and couldn't wait until tomorrow. I have something I wanted to show you." Zac gestured for her to come inside and follow him into the living room. "What's going on in here? Camping out?" Fatima asked. Blankets and pillows marked the spot where Zac was hanging out on the floor in front of the television. "Something like that. Wash your hands. The baby has a surprise for you." Fatima grinned and eyed Zac suspiciously. He led her toward the half bath around the corner. "Go on. Hurry up while she's in a good mood." Fatima did as instructed, but didn't have to go far once she was done with her hand washing. "Give me your finger," Zac said, reaching for Fatima's hand. Puzzled, Fatima did as instructed. "Check this out." He slipped her finger between the baby's drooling lips and smiled. "Feel it?" "Is that a tooth?" "Yeah. I took her to see the doctor this afternoon. Saw white stuff on her gum and thought she got hurt. I didn't realize babies got teeth this young. She was chewing on everything she could get her hands on and I didn't know if something broke the skin. It's not all the way out so I panicked not realizing it was a tooth.
It turns out this is what's been keeping her awake at night. She's been teething." Paris grinned and stuck Zac's finger into her mouth. "She looks like she's proud of herself." "That's the look she's been giving me all day. Like I'm supposed to understand that growing teeth is hard work. Oh, you said you had something." Fatima pulled out a Paris hotel gift bag. The smile slipped from Zac's face. "I found this at the hotel in Las Vegas. How adorable is this?" Fatima reached into the bag. When she pulled out the infant size apron and chef hat, he sighed with relief. "I couldn't resist. You know how much she loves being in the kitchen with you. Look, I had her name embroidered on there, too. Oh and wait, here's one for you, too, since you like to match. Isn't this the cutest thing ever?" Zac took one look at the matching aprons and then at Fatima. Seeing how radiant she looked when she smiled, he admitted that it was definitely the cutest thing ever. "Feel free to stick around. I was just about to make us something to eat," he offered.
An hour later Fatima was holding the baby while seated at the kitchen island. She typed a song title and pressed enter on Zac's laptop. Jagged Edge's "Let's Get Married" began playing. "This would have to go on the list. Any song declaring one might as well get hitched should go on there." "Good point." Zac laughed from his place at the kitchen sink. He washed dishes as they had fun creating a wedding playlist fir fun. How they got on the subject, neither remembered, but so far nearly thirty songs made the cut and they had fun searching for more. "Don't forget the remix version." "Got it. See, Angela and Jake should have let us handle their reception playlist instead of Belinda. I can't believe they are doing the best of Disney. Who wants to hear "Kiss the Girl" when they came to do the Tamia line dance. Oh I know another one. Remember this?" She hit play and watched him as he listened. Brian McKnight Back at One played. Zac dried his hands and reached for the laptop. "I got one. 'Where I Want to Be.'" That's not really a love song." "And?" "Thought you were going to suggest 'I'm in Love with a Stripper.'" "Saving that for the couple's first dance." "I would hurt you if you were my husband." "Oh yeah? Then marry me tomorrow." Fatima laughed. "And risk having to walk down the aisle to Martin Lawrence singing 'Forever Sheneneh'? I don't think so." "By the way, I couldn't find a sitter for Saturday and they're moving my groundskeeper to a rehab center on the out skirts of Atlanta so they can be close to their kids. His wife is my housekeeper and is also going. And I keep striking out with the nanny thing, so that's not likely to work out before the wedding. I'm sorry." Fatima's mood change. "I understand. It was short notice. No worries." "But my mother did say she could keep her for me for a couple of hours on Friday. That is if you still want me to attend the rehearsal dinner." "I'd love that." And her smile returned.
Friday.
It had been raining when they arrived at the hotel after the wedding rehearsal. Fatima had forgotten she left her phone in the pocket of her coat and went back to retrieve it. She wanted to have it near in case Zac called. She didn't miss any calls, pleased because that meant he should still be on the way. "Are you kidding me? Fatima would have never included a plus one even if I said she could. She's obsessed with that company. I seriously doubt the one she claims is coming tonight will even show up." The conversation Fatima overheard as she exited the coatroom inside the hotel sounded like many others she caught wind of by mistake. The way Angela put Fatima down no longer hurt. It pissed her off. The old Fatima would of snapped but she didn't allow what they said to bother her. Stopping, she leaned against the wall inside the coatroom not wanting to interrupt Belinda and Angela."I'm just glad we got out when we did. Fatima doesn't know what she's doing. We could have made so much more money without her."
Angela surprised her. Once Belinda's yes-woman, she rarely dished her own jabs. "Well now we will both be moving on to bigger and better things. She can spend her nights alone at the office tending to her cry baby ass customers. I still can't believe she turned down that opportunity for a reality show. Sales would have gone through the roof if she said yes." But sales already had been good. Fatima balled her fists, uncertain how to handle the anger building inside her as her "friends" carried on. "Why cry over spilled milk? Her loss is our gain. I brought all the celebrity clients and you took all the pictures. We made Styles by Fatima, not the other way around. When I get back from my honeymoon, we're going to brainstorm and build our own company from the ground up." "To our own future success." Fatima watched Angela and Belinda touch flutes in a toast. At first, Fatima thought she was probably imagining things. Sales were booming , and clothes were flying off the racks at stores the day of release, but something was off. Then one day she received an email to her personal account. When Styles by Fatima first began and she either worked out of her one-bedroom apartment. She was always accessible to her customers. She didn't have the resources to set up the business she had today. Never did she expect to surpass her goal by more than five hundred thousand dollars. That was when she asked Angela and Belinda to join her company and with their influence she moved on to her own domain and an email address that made her look more "professional" to customers and companies seeking her clothes. She now lived in a three-bedroom townhouse and rarely did she ever bring work home with her anymore. She had two assistants to keep her schedule and workload intact.
Before Fatima could approach Angela and Belinda, the next remark stopped her. "Isn't that Zachary Taylor? Damn he's fine as fuck. What's he doing here?" "Angela, you know him?" "Maybe he's a friend of Jake. You know, since he knows so many people." Fatima stepped out of the coatroom seeing him with the hostess. Angela and Belinda saw her and smiled. She glared and their smiles fall before both women looked away. Zac, wearing a tailored chocolate colored suit, strolled casually in their direction. Once he reached them like a man on a mission, he took her hand in his. "Sorry I'm late. I wanted to make sure my mother would be okay with her."
When he leaned in, she expected him to place a light kiss on her cheek to greet her. Instead Zac's mouth moved to cover hers. His lips brushing against hers, teasing her into parting them. He pulled her closer and she let him in, deepening the kiss. His tongue swept against hers tasting her, teasing her, until she pulled back. She took one last nip at his bottom lip, savoring the way he felt when he made her body tingle. There was nothing awkward in that moment, and when he stared down into her eyes once the kiss ended, his beautiful brown eyes were dark with desire. The simple act caught everyone by surprise and when he looked at her again, she knew that would be just the beginning. Just as he leaned in for another, Angela asked, "Fatima?" Rubbing the back of her neck, amused seeing her friend's mouths hanging open, Fatima let Zac pull her in close to him. He took over the introductions. "You must be Angela and Belinda. Fatima's told me a lot about you." "Ladies, this is my date for the evening, Zachary Taylor." "Thank you for inviting me to your rehearsal dinner."
Fatima didn't want to stick around for any small talk. What she wanted to do was leave and discover more from the man that just kissed her to see if she could convince him to do it again. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked as they stepped away. "You looked upset when I walked up." "I'm fine now. Your timing was impeccable."
