Adopted by Taylor Swift

Chapter 44: A Very Busy Day in LA

August 27th, 2019
Taylor's Perspective

My alarm goes off at 5:15 in the morning and I don't move. The alarm keeps ringing. I pull the blanket over my head. It keeps ringing.

Finally, I reach out from underneath the covers and grab my phone. I turn the alarm off.

Silence.
Beautiful silence.

I stare at the ceiling for a few seconds. Then I remember what day it is. Promo.
I groan.

I sit up slowly and look out the window. Los Angeles is still mostly dark. There are a few lights scattered across the buildings outside, but the sky hasn't started turning blue yet.

I check my phone. Five-thirty-seven. I have absolutely no idea how people willingly wake up this early.

I get out of bed and start getting ready. By the time I'm dressed, my schedule is already open on my phone.

7:00 - Radio interview.
8:30 - Television interview.
10:00 - Photoshoot.
12:30 - Lunch.
1:30 - Interview.
3:00 - Press.
5:00 - Free time.
7:00 - Dinner.

I stare at it.

"That's not free time," I mutter. It's basically a tiny break surrounded by work.

I grab my phone and head downstairs.

When I get to the hotel restaurant, Harry is already there. He's sitting at the table with a coffee in his hands. He looks exhausted.

"Morning," I say.
He looks up. "Is it?"
I laugh. "Apparently."
He takes another sip. "How bad?"

I sit down across from him. I show him my schedule.
He reads it. His eyes get wider as he scrolls. "Oh."
"Exactly."
"You're going to need another coffee."
"I know."
He looks at the schedule again. "At least you're done by five."
I point at the screen. "Look closer."
He does. "Ah."
"Exactly."
He nods. "That's unfortunate."
I laugh. "Very."

A few minutes later, I hear footsteps.

Astrid walks into the restaurant. She's wearing leggings, a sweatshirt, and sneakers, and her hair is still slightly messy from sleep. She walks over to the table and drops into the chair beside Harry.

"Morning."
"Morning," I say.
She looks at me. "How early did you wake up?"
"Five-fifteen."
Her eyes widen. "That's awful."
"I agree."
She yawns. "I woke up at six."
Harry looks at her. "That's still early."
"I know."

She reaches for the menu. "I'm hungry."
"Good," I say. "Eat."

Elijah comes running into the restaurant a few seconds later. "Mom!"
I look up. "What?"
"Look!" He's holding his phone. It's already open to a map. "I found three record stores."
I blink. "It's six in the morning."
"I know."
"How long have you been awake?"
He thinks. "Since five."

Astrid looks at him. "Why?"
"Because I wanted to look."
She shakes her head. "You're weird."
"You read books before breakfast."
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because books are better."
Elijah gasps dramatically. "They are not."
Harry takes another sip of coffee. "Here we go."
I laugh. "Can we please wait until after breakfast before the arguments start?"
They both nod. "Okay."

Three seconds later-
"Records are better."
"No, they're not."
I sigh. "Never mind."

---

Breakfast is actually peaceful for about ten minutes.

Then Elijah steals a piece of toast from Astrid's plate.

She immediately notices. "Hey!"
"You weren't eating it."
"I was going to."
"You've been looking at it for five minutes."
"Because I was eating my eggs!"
"You should've eaten faster."