ʜᴇʀ ᴀꜱꜱɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴛ | ᴛᴀʀᴀꜱɪᴀ

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ

ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀꜱɪᴀ ʙᴀʀʀɪɴᴏ
ᴀᴜɢᴜꜱᴛ 20, 2020

i put laila in a bath and then read her a book until she fell asleep. after she was out, i went and took a hot hot shower. it was very much needed. i didnt see taraji in the bedroom still, so i threw on my robe and went outside where she had been for almost 3 hours. she was sitting in the foldable chair that sat in front of my pool.

"baby"

"i told you i didnt wanna talk." her voice was way shaky and raspy. i could tell she's still or has been crying.

"well, i'd like to talk to you. could you come in, please? ive put laila to bed already, and right now, i would like to just talk."

"... okay." she finally gave in. i did a happy dance on the inside.

i slid and locked the door behind us. i lead us up the steps and into my room. shutting the door behind her, taraji took off her jacket and hung it up.

"did you wanna take a shower first, or should i go ahead?"

"no, go ahead. im listening to you."

"its okay. i can wait. i- you were just standing, and i figured you wanted to get in bed." she didnt like getting in bed with her outside clothes on.

"alright, let me get this out the way, and you have my full attention afterward, deal?"

"deal." i smiled, nodding my head. even if she was upset at me, i couldn't tell most of the time because she barely acts on it. she removed her shirt, and my eyes flew to her abs, as always.

i pulled myself together and took the clothing bin to the washer since it was full and to also kill time. i ordered us pizza– once it got here, i grabbed plates for us and wine glasses.

she finally came into the bedroom. she had on her go-to night clothes, which were just boxers and a sports bra. her hair was wrapped up in a towel. i didn't realize i was staring until i heard fingers being snapped in my face.

"earth to fantasia."

"h-hey, i ordered pizza and got us wine."

"good, because i am starving, and i could use some wine in this system." she did a small happy dance as she climbed into the bed. i smiled at her sillyness.

as we ate and drank, i spoke up first, "so, i know things haven't been as great between the two of us, and that is one hundred percent my fault. my first mess up was telling a close friend something that you trusted me with, and i am more than sorry i betrayed you in that way– i know it will indeed take time for me to earn your trust back and of course im willing to wait however long."

"it was wrong on so many levels, but again if i had not said anything it wouldn't have been out– well, not as soon since you were gonna know at some point anyway. i just wish i had held onto it longer, you know"

"i'm sorry" i honestly had no other words than sorry. she feels like she can't tell me anything anymore and of course it hurts me to know that she wanted to keep that in the vault even with me being someone she is supposed to always feel like she can trust. i broke her trust and i'm gonna earn it back without ever losing it again.

"eh, things happen. i'll get over it, don't stress yourself about it or we gon be fighting."

i smiled a bit still feeling like the worst person ever. she's so kindhearted and soft it's almost unreal, "okay, i won't stress as much. i just wish i could take it all back."

"we'll get there, but..." she trailed off giving me a smirk and side eye, "when you gon make things right with yo friends?"

"if im being completely honest im not sure ill be able to have them around anymore."

"why not?"

"i don't ever want them to think it's okay to make you feel a way. no matter what was spilled bullying someone is never the answer to any question and being drunk is definitely no excuse. allowing someone back in after disrespecting my partner is like letting someone disrespect our daughter and there's no coming back from it. we could love each other from a distance, no bad blood over here whatsoever." i shrugged.

"that doesn't include tab though, right?"

i sighed deeply, "i don't know. i'll talk to her when im ready."

"tomorrow. call her and you two talk it out."

"she's not gonna talk to me." i knew how stubborn tab could get and it was gonna take her months to get over her attitude.

"as many times as she's gotten us to talk to each other and fix things between us. something gonna have to give."

"if she's willing then so am i, but i think we need some time apart to just clear the both of our minds."

"if you feel that's for the best i support it." she shrugged and drank her wine. i removed the wine glass from her hands because her eyes started to get lower.

"that's enough. let me throw this away and ill be back." i grabbed everything and made my way downstairs to throw it away and wash our glasses back out. i turned the lights down and went to check on laila before going back into the bedroom. taraji was laid back watching the tv. i climbed into the bed and before i could sit next to her she pulled me on top of her, staring up at me with those eyes.

"you're so beautifully made. perfection is what you are, seriously."

"thank you, so are you. that man above took his time with you and me both." i leaned down to kiss her.

"thank you beautiful lady." she smiled before kissing my hand.

"so..." i trailed off getting off her lap, "have you found a good movie?"

"yeah, you know anything with niam leeson in it is good."

"him and jason statham. i could watch those all day– yes both have taste i see."

"except your taste is sweet and savory."

"yeah my– wait..." i looked over at her and she laughed. i slapped her shoulder, "nasty" i laughed.

"mommy" i heard laila's little voice on the other side of the door. i quickly got up and opened the door. she stood there wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"hey, you okay?" we asked in sync.

"i can't sleep" she slightly whined.

"okay you can sleep with me and tai tai" taraji and i went to put on clothes since we barely had anything on. laila slept in the middle of us and we all were out like a light in seconds.