The Act|| Tarasia

Chapter Thirty Five

Taraji's POV

As Fantasia and I sang the last lines of Shug and Celie's duet, I knew that the kiss was fast approaching. We took a short break to change into our costumes that Celie and Shug would be wearing in the theater scene, returning to set after roughly 3 minutes. Blitz called action, and there was no more time left to think about it. As Celie imagined herself singing with Shug, I turned to face her, placing my hand on her thigh as the script called for. Her eyes locked onto mine, and in them I could see how afraid she was to mess up. I resisted the urge to grab her hand because the script didn't call for it. We leaned into each other slowly, our lips pressing together in a feather-light kiss. She discreetly nibbled on my bottom lip a little, and I could only hope that the camera didn't catch it. She just can't help herself. Our lips had parted just as swiftly as they met, but I felt the passion hotter than fire all the same. It made me wonder if anybody else in the room felt it. I prayed that we would have to do a second and third and fourth and fifth take, and however many more takes my lip could handle until they fell off of my face from numbness. Unfortunately, Blitz thought the first take was perfectly beautiful and authentic. It took me a minute to realize that everyone was clapping for us. Fantasia blushed while I just brushed off the praise, playfully rolling my eyes.

Blitz: Beautiful ladies, just beautiful! The way you two just performed that scene made me miss the feeling of what it was like to fall in love for the first time. This is what acting is all about, people! That almost felt real.

Oprah:*mumbles* Yeah, too real.

I shot Oprah a glare while she simply looked me up and down. Fantasia didn't notice. She looks up to the woman so much, damn near idolizes her. Once upon a time, I did, too. Now I finally understand why they say you should never meet your idols.

Blitz: That's a wrap for the day! You two ladies were perfection, and I don't want to mess with perfection. Go enjoy the rest of your day, you deserve it.

I couldn't believe that we spent the whole work day shooting only one scene, but there were a ton of sophisticated visual effects, not to mention choreography and music that went into creating the scene. I went to my trailer to change into the comfortable Juicy sweats I had brought along with me, and when I walked in, Fantasia was there. I wasn't surprised to see her with a bouquet of flowers for me, but the kind gesture still made me smile from ear to ear like it was the first time anybody had ever given me flowers. 

Taraji:*smiling* What are you trying to do woman, build me a garden?

Fantasia: I always get flowers at my concert. It's like a reward for putting on a great show, and you put on a great show. You held your own singing with me. I want to take you out to dinner tonight so we can talk, and I mean really talk. It's obvious that we're never going to be just friends, so we need to figure out what we can be. We can't do it alone, only together.

Taraji: I agree. Thank you for the roses. They're beautiful, I love the heart shape. I'll see you tonight, ok?

Fantasia: Yes you will. Wear something sexy for me baby.

I shook my head, laughing at her as she walked out the door. She's always doing something nice for me. I should do something nice for her. She was right about us never being just friends, and I don't even know why I tried so hard to push that agenda. It was never going to work. We're kindred spirits, souls tied to one another. We're connected on every level-mind, body, and soul. Whatever happens, we're going to make it work. We're going to be happy and not think about the consequences. And when the consequences do come, we're going to face them together. I was drunk last night, but I meant every word I said. I am completely and desperately in love with Fantasia, and I'm tired of pretending like I'm not. Everything changes tonight.

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone pinging with a notification. Opening it, I saw that an unknown number had sent me a video in my messages. When I pressed play, my mouth dropped to the floor. Someone on set was spying and caught every word of my conversation with Fantasia right before our kissing scene. I called the mystery person, but they didn't answer. They did, however, text me.

Taraji: Who are you? What do you want?

???: I'm your worst nightmare, and I want you to suffer.

Taraji: Is it money? What's your price?

???: My price is your pain. Tonight I want you to meet me at 53rd Avenue. Come alone. If you tell anybody about this, I will leak that video for the entire world to see. Everyone will call you a homewrecking whore. Your career will be over. Your little girlfriend's career will be over. I know you don't care much about her husband, but think about her children. They'll be destroyed seeing their mommy and daddy torn apart.

Taraji: And if I don't show up?

???: You will. Wear something sexy for me baby.

A chill ran down my spine. They had used the exact same words Fantasia did. Could they be watching me right now? Could my phone be bugged? I looked around as paranoia set in. My only choice is to follow their instructions. This is Fantasia's first big movie, and I love her too much to ruin this opportunity for her. Her family doesn't deserve to suffer because of our affair. Her kids are innocent in all of this, and I can't let them be dragged into a bad situation. I've made my bed and now I have to lay in it. Whoever this person is, they only want me. There's no reason for anyone else to get hurt. Fantasia's going to be so upset when I stand her up tonight, and she's probably never going to want to see me again, but if this mystery stalker ends up killing me then it won't really matter. I think I would rather die than live without her anyway.

I caught Fantasia just as she was about to leave. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind her car. I looked around to make sure we were completely alone before crashing my lips onto hers. She moaned into my mouth, grabbing the back of my head. I couldn't breathe as our tongues intertwined, but I didn't air. I just needed her. She stared at me in bewilderment as I finally pulled away.

Fantasia: Anybody could have walked by and seen us. What did you do that for?

Taraji: I just wanted to. I didn't want to wait until tonight to show you how serious I am about you. Look baby I don't know what the future holds for us, but I know that my future won't mean anything if you're not in it. I love you, ok? No matter what happens, I need you to understand that I love you.

Fantasia: I love you too, Raj. Is everything ok? You're kinda scaring me.

Taraji: Everything is fine. I just needed to get that off of my chest.

Fantasia: I love you, too. We'll see each other again tonight.

She had no idea how wrong she was. And I didn't have it in my heart to tell her.