10th Commandment | Revamped

Chapter 6

Monday morning

Taraji got a surprise package from someone unknown the previous night, and it left her in tears as she drifted off to sleep. This morning, she came to work looking like she was ready to tackle anything, but her mind was miles away. Her fingers were entwined, gently massaging her temples as she stared at that envelope, tears streaming down her cheeks, lost in her thoughts.

A sudden knock on the door startled her, making her gasp and wipe her eyes in one quick motion. Quickly, she gathered herself, grabbed the envelope, and tucked it away in her purse. “Yeah, what’s up?” she asked without meeting the person’s gaze.

“Morning! You’ve got a board meeting with the new sponsors in 10 minutes,” Fantasia informed her. “Uh, just tell Phoebe and Miranda to handle it. I must have my notes around here somewhere,” Taraji replied, rummaging through her things, clearly not in the best headspace this morning. She appeared overwhelmed and frazzled.

Fantasia picked the iPad off the desk. “Is this it?”
Taraji paused for a moment and nodded, still avoiding eye contact, not wanting to face Fantasia directly.

“The last note,” she said, but Fantasia sensed something off. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, I’m fine,” Taraji replied a bit too quickly. Fantasia glanced at her but saw her avoid looking back.

“Alright then,” she said, and quietly exited the office.

The meeting turned out to be a disaster. Taraji's team dropped the ball, leading to a tense report when they returned to the office. “Do you have any idea what I went through to secure that meeting... and you blew it?” Taraji snapped at them.
“We’re really sorry, we just weren’t ready,” they replied.
“Just leave my office, please,” she said as they sulked out.

Taraji tried to reach out to the sponsors to set up another meeting, but it just didn’t pan out for her. By the end of the day, everyone else clocked out and headed home.

Fantasia clocked out early to grab Taylor and Kiana from school. After dropping Kiana off, Taylor remarked, “That’s not the way home.”
“Nope, just a quick pit stop at work. You need to check on your sister and remind her that she has you—whatever she’s dealing with, she can overcome it.”

“Is she still crying?”
“Yep. How bad was it yesterday?”

“She was just sobbing in her room for hours and didn’t eat anything. It really got to her. I’m worried,” Taylor admitted. “She’ll come around. She just needs to know you’ve got her back, and that’s everything she needs.”

Taylor hopped out at the building and made her way to the office while Fantasia waited in the car.

“Hey sis,” Taylor greeted upon entering. “Hey, little lovebug! Just got back from school?”
“Yep! My chauffeur, aka bodyguard, just dropped me off,” she said, grinning.
“Ahh, so that’s Fantasia?”
“For sure! She’s the best driver ever. She knows how to handle NYC streets like that girl from ‘Taxi’—pretty impressive!”

“That can’t be safe,” Taraji joked.
“It is, though! Unlike that girl, Fantasia’s car is totally indestructible.”

“So why did your unpaid bodyguard drop you off here? Did you lose your keys again?”

“Hold on,” Taylor said as she rifled through her backpack. “Found them! I asked her to stop here because I was worried about you. Can I take you home?” she said sweetly, and Taraji nodded. Taylor grabbed her things and shuffled them into her purse. As they exited the office, she insisted, “No, parking is this way—”