Only if it's You

One

Taylor Kavanaugh was about beautiful brown eyes, curly hair covering the curves of her shoulderㅡmostly bound in a messy bunㅡand about five-and-half-feet tall. She grew to become a perfect package of her mother's Indian features and father's British tone and mannerisms.

Twenty-seven years in this world with the past seven years committed to fashion photographyㅡher dreamㅡshe was a lot more fortunate than others. Being able to spend the past seven years in the global fashion capital, Milan, she considered herself the luckiest woman alive.

Though she had long hours of work which usually stretched beyond the regular work hours and tired the hell out of her, she never complained. Afterall she was doing the things she truly loved. Work equated passion for her, it was a dream come true.

She had everything in her life, except love. But, unlike most, she thought it was better not to have it. It made life simpler. Love was something that scared her beyond comprehension. For her it was an endless series of friendship, attraction, love and heartbreak. The order. Always. And, she had no time for that sort of stupidity in her perfected life.

After yet another hectic day of shooting, she opened the doors of her home. She stepped out of her wedges, threw her handbag across on the couch and placed her camera carefully on the centre table. She decided on a glass of wine to relieve her stress and some Alfredo pasta from the other day.

She surfed the television for a while but found nothing worth watching, so, she popped in her pen drive and started watching her favourite series of all times. She absolutely loved the drama not because of the story but because of the guy in itㅡand teenage crushㅡAron Yi. Her feelings for him were the closest she'd been to love, as an emotion. She always believed that she'd forget about him, but she never did. No one actually forgets their first crush, especially when it's the one-and-only. A glance at his face took her down the memory lane. She remembered the myriad situations she'd woven around their first meeting and laughed.

Taylor very well knew that that was bound to be just an imagination, never a reality, and she'd happily accepted it. But somewhere down in her heart, she still hoped it would happen. After watching about an episode and half, she shut the television. It was Ron, her colleague. She took it in the kitchen, placed it over the oven, on speaker.

"Hey, Ron. What's up?" she asked as she did the dishes.

"Nothing. Some work-related talk that's it."

"Don't tell me you need me to shoot someone at this time. Man, it's late and I'm hell tired. I am not coming. No way." She banged the plate on the counter. Thank God it was unbreakable, else it'd add to her workㅡcleaning the shards.

"Woah! Tay, cool down. You are not called here. It's just—"

"Then what have you called me for, this late?"

"Calm down, lady. We have an excellent photoshoot for you lined up next week in Chinaㅡmajor citiesㅡBeijing and Shanghai. It'll take two or three weeks. Flight leaves next Monday. Morning ten, sharp. Okay?"

"Oh shit, shit, shit. I am so sorry. Really sorry. I have been so overworked for the past few days, I just lashed out on you for no valid reason. Apologies, Brownie."

"No worries. Next time try not to, though. You pounce like a hungry lion, and that too verbally. It hits more than your physical abuse."

She let out a laugh. "Anyway, regarding the China photoshoot, I'm on it. Don't worry. I assure you; you'll have amazing photos."

"I am just so sure of that. Don't forget about the shoot and relax a bit more. That's about it. Get some good sleep. Goodnight."

"Yeah. Thanks. Goodnight to you, too." She let the information sink in, and her eyes twinkled. "Hey Ron? You there?"