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Tempest's POV
Taraji's house looked like a Christmas wonderland with a different tree lighting up every room in the house. The gingerbread house-scented candles she had lit in the bathrooms and the kitchen made the air smell like holiday cheer. She extended an invitation to me to have Christmas dinner at Fantasia's house, but I politely declined. I don't want to intrude and feel like a third wheel. I don't think Fantasia wants me there anyway. She doesn't trust me, but her trust doesn't really matter because I've got Taraji wrapped around my finger. She's so desperate to make up for our father's mistakes that she can't see that I'm using her. She's the perfect victim- too compassionate and kind for her own damn good. It almost hurts me that I have to do this to her, but I promised my mom that I would avenge her for when my dad chose Taraji and her mom, and left us with next to nothing. It's the only way I'll earn my mother's love, and nothing is more important to me than that. She wouldn't have left me if I wasn't such a screw up. I can't screw shit up this time.
After going through my morning routine and dressing myself in a comfy lounge set, I sat down on the couch to watch The Grinch and indulge in one or two of the Christmas tree-shaped cinnamon rolls Taraji baked before leaving earlier. It doesn't feel like Christmas, and it's probably because I'm all alone. Growing up with a poor mother and an only halfway-present father, December 25th was nothing but a cruel reminder that I had a sister out there getting all the love and attention that I craved while I was left with her scraps. It makes me bitter knowing that Taraji's mom protected her from knowing about me, but my mother didn't care at all how knowing about Taraji would hurt me. She wanted me to know just so that I could be filled with hatred like her, and now I am, and it feels like the only way I can get it out is by hurting Taraji, even if I don't necessarily want to.
When my mom started calling me right when I was thinking about her, I knew that the universe was a comedian. I smiled softly at her contact picture that filled my screen, wishing that her picture would come to life and walk off of my phone screen just so that I could have her there with me. All I've ever wanted was her approval, and if my plan for Taraji works, I'm finally going to get it. All I can hope is that our conversation consists of her uplifting me and telling me that she's proud of me instead of telling me everything that I'm doing wrong like she usually does on the rare occasions that we communicate with each other. She's so obsessed with Taraji and her life that I sometimes think she wishes that Taraji would have been her daughter instead.
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Tempest: Hi, momma. Merry Christmas.
Lynette: How are you progressing so far?
Tempest: Taraji is opening up to me slowly but surely. She's been through a lot, so she's naturally cautious, but I can tell that she's trying really hard to be the big sister to me that she couldn't be when we were younger. She's actually a really humble and down-to-Earth person. She's not a snobby Hollywood diva. She couldn't help it that dad-
Lynette: I don't want to hear any of that, Tempest. Are you forgetting that she's the reason why your father was never around for us? Every Christmas and every birthday, your father wouldn't show up until well into the late night because he was spending all his time with her and her mother! You need to remember that the next time you get to feeling bad. Who cares what she's been through? You've been through things too, and most of it was all because of her.
Tempest: It seems like you have more hatred for her than her mother. Taraji was innocent in what happened between you, her mother, and our dad.
Lynette: None of that matters now. I know that you're not going to go against your own mother for someone who's basically a stranger. Have you gotten access to her finances?
Tempest: No, but I am staying in her house. I know that she's going to press me about getting a job, so maybe I can use that opportunity to gain access to her money. There's a bit of a problem, too.
Lynette: What is it?
Tempest: She has a fiancé, and her fiancé doesn't trust me at all. She seems to be able to reach Taraji in a way that no one else can, so she has a lot of influence over the decisions that Taraji makes. If she gets in Taraji's ear and tries to warn her about me, Taraji is most likely going to listen.
Lynette: It sounds like you have to break them up. That shouldn't be a problem for you. You've never had an issue using what you got to get what you want.
I cringed at the implication that my mother was making, momentarily remembering the times as a preteen and a teenager when I had to sleep with grown men just to get a plate of food. I bet that Taraji has never had to do anything like that. Because she was the daughter that my father chose. Not me. Her. That's what I need to think about when I start feeling bad for her. My mother is absolutely right.
Tempest: I don't think it's going to be that easy. You don't understand, the love that they have for each other is like nothing I've ever seen. It transcends reason.
Lynette: You're younger and beautiful. Make it easy. Use the fact that Taraji trusts you but her fiancé doesn't to come in between them. Taraji feels like she has something to make up to you, so take advantage of that.
Tempest: Alright, I understand what I have to do. I love-
She hung up before I could say anything else. I sighed, tossing my phone to the side on the couch. Maybe in another lifetime Taraji and I could have actually been friends, but in this lifetime that we're living, she has to pay for taking what should have belonged to me and my mom, and I'm coming to collect her debts.
