A Cruel Summer

Chapter 9

Karlie: Hey Taylor :) did you get back to NYC ok? Free tomorrow afternoon for coffee?

Taylor: I did! Will be in the studio with Jack until 2. Meet after?

Karlie: Sounds good to me :) Bus Stop?

Taylor: My place? Or yours? It's a whole thing to go into a restaurant these days. Sorry :(

Karlie: Totally understand Tay. Come by after the studio. See you tomorrow :)

Taylor: See you then

Karlie breathes out a sigh of relief once Taylor agrees to meet at her apartment. She understands that 2023 Taylor can't go anywhere she pleases. There needs to be security measures in place, the establishment needs to be aware, staff needs to sign NDAs. She gets it, she really does.

But she can't go to Taylor's apartment. Not yet, at least. She's not ready. There's too much history there. Embedded in those walls are all of the laughs, the tears, the quiet whispers, declarations of love in the middle of the night. It's the place where Karlie both fell deeply in love with and had her heart ripped out by Taylor. The place where Taylor wrote about their love story, immortalizing it in her songs. The place where they cried together over her mother's diagnosis, where they daydreamed about the future, and broke down over the present. It was the place where they were just Karlie and Taylor, two normal girls, desperately in love with each other. It was theirs.

And, now, it's just Taylor's.

---

Karlie and Taylor are spending a quiet evening in Taylor's New York apartment. Karlie is in the living room, with a laptop in her lap, writing a paper for her Predictive Analytics course at NYU. After spending some time on the couch with Karlie, whilst feverously scribbling in her notebook, Taylor had quietly disappeared into her music room, about an hour prior. Karlie, facing a moment of writer's block, takes her eyes off the screen and sighs, needing a break.

Karlie stands, stretches, and makes her way into the kitchen. She fills the kettle with fresh water and places it on the burner, thinking some tea may help wake up her brain.

Assuming Taylor's mind is working equally as hard as her own, Karlie places two tea bags in two mugs, pouring the boiling water over each. The clinking porcelain against the counter seemed to echo the rhythm of their shared affection. A simple, yet profound gesture of love that spoke volumes in its simplicity.

She carries the two mugs down the hall and stops at the slightly ajar door of Taylor's music room. As she peers in, she sees Taylor seated at her piano, humming and gently pressing down on the keys. She has her phone placed atop the instrument, videoing herself, capturing the creative process of the sure-to-be masterpiece she is currently crafting.

Karlie gently knocks and enters the room, placing Taylor's cup of tea on the top of the instrument and taking a seat on the piano bench next to her, "Figured you could use a cup of tea, too," she says as she places a kiss on the older woman's cheek, "What are you working on?"

"Thank you, baby," Taylor says gently with a sweet smile and gives Karlie a peck on the lips, "A song for the new album. I think I have the lyrics down, just working out the melody."

"Can I hear it?" Karlie asks as she rests her head on Taylor's shoulder.

Taylor hesitates, just for a moment, before she turns to Karlie with the softest smile, "Yeah, you can hear it."

Taylor turns her attention back to the piano, gently clearing her throat, and presses down on the keys.

'My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in,' Taylor begins.