I Hate California

eight

"You did what?!" Andrea yells shocked after finding out that her daughter just told her she kissed her ex boyfriend. 

Taylor paced around the room, it was late at night and she finished her concert. She told Joe that she was going to text him, but didn't know if it was too late. She especially didn't want to wake up Sage.

"I don't know what happened to me, just looking at him made me feel something, but all of the feelings are towards Sage. I swear." She tells her Mom still not knowing how to explain the situation. 

She knew that Joe didn't want her to be around Sage now. Her daughter had grown up to be such a joy and she had long blonde hair and blue eyes, just like both of her parents. The only difference was Sage was has naturally straight hair like Joe, not Taylor. 

"She saw me though" Taylor tells her Mom who pops her head up after hearing what she said. 

"What do you mean she saw you?" Andrea asks, setting her phone down. They were getting ready for bed and Andrea would be headed to the guest room soon. 

"While we were talking, Sage and Joe's parents came back because they had forgotten something and she saw me, asking why Taylor Swift was at her house." She chuckles remembering Sage's starstruck face. 

Andrea gives a soft smile before shaking her head, "You need to be careful Taylor, no one but our families know about Sage." She tells her daughter before heading out her room. 

Taylor sighs and gets into her bed. She grabs her phone and reads the time, 1:30 AM. 

"Hey, I'm sorry about what happened today. I don't know what happened to me, but I don't regret it. Please let me meet Sage, just for a while, but let's do it somewhere else since I won't have much time. Can I fly you two to New York City? Whenever works best for you next week?" She texts him. 

She sets her phone back down onto her nightstand and tries to fall asleep, trying not to think of the events of today. 

-

"Sage baby, come on let's get you in the bath!" Joe says walking back into his room where he left Sage to watch cartoons. 

"Daddy, this phone call keeps stopping my videos." She says frustrated at the calls he has been getting. 

Confused, he grabs his phone as he tells Sage to hop into the bathtub and sees ten missed calls from Taylor. Geez. For now, he puts his phone on silent and goes to help give Sage a bath. 

This morning has been busy for all of them, he had dropped off his parents early morning at the airport and Sage was cranky this morning so waking up so early, which explains why she got to watch cartoons on his phone. 

He never got a chance to look at all of his notifications on his phone and it slipped his mind that Taylor was going to message him last night. 

After giving Sage a bath, he combed her hair and turned on his T.V. in the room so she could watch there instead of his phone. 

"Hey, I'm sorry about what happened today. I don't know what happened to me, but I don't regret it. Please let me meet Sage, just for a while, but let's do it somewhere else since I won't have much time. Can I fly you two to New York City? Whenever works best for you next week?" He read. 

He looked over at Sage who had her full on the show and was cuddling Piggy at the same time, making sure the pig was watching as well. 

They didn't have any plans at all this summer, unless it was work related, but he did most of his work from his office so traveling was never a problem for them. He felt a little awkward when Taylor offered to fly them to New York City, like did she think he didn't have the money? 

He thought back to what his Mom told him about meeting Sage. She was right, and especially isn't old enough to fully understand the reasons on why things happened, he decided it was best instead of telling a teenage Sage. 

"That's fine with me, most likely anytime next week on the weekend would be best for us. I'm going to have a talk with Sage soon about the situation, just so she isn't fully surprised and has a meltdown just in case." He texts her back. 

The truth is, he didn't want to do any of this. He wishes he had never gone to that concert, but he knows he is doing the right thing, for his daughter, even if it hurt him. 

"Daddy, hungry." Sage says, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looks at the time and it's almost noon, which meant snack time just before their lunch. 

He carries Sage and Piggy downstairs and sets her down onto the kitchen counter. As he rummages through their pantry, he grabs an orange and a small milk box from the fridge. He cuts up the orange and peels the skin off, so Sage wouldn't have any troubles and puts it all onto her little plate. 

"What do you want to eat for lunch babe?" He asks watching Sage suck on an orange slice. 

"I want chicken!" She exclaims happily and Joe nods, he was going to make them chicken and rice. 

-

Joe hasn't been answering my calls the rest of the week and hasn't even read my other messages after he replied to the one I sent him other night. Was that too much? He literally agreed to it. I talked with my team about making sure my plane will be able to take him and Sage to New York and made sure there were no questions about it. This was my family I was talking about and I'd prefer if everyone else would stay out of our business. 

After announcing the re recording of my album 1989 (Taylor's Version), everything's been so hectic. I'm back in the city and just waiting every second from a text from Joe. They're supposed to be arriving in two days and I want to make sure everything is set, especially for Sage. I originally was going to have the two of them stay in a hotel, but the cars driving back and forth from the hotel, I didn't want to risk anyone seeing them driving to my apartment. 

Joe told me he was going to have a talk with Sage and I'm really curious to know how that went, hopefully it didn't change what she thinks of me. I adore that little girl and even more from seeing her at their house the last time. 

As I'm scrolling through on my laptop looking for possible gifts for Sage, I get an incoming face time call on my screen. I froze, it was Joe and I hit answer. 

"Hey," He says as I stare at the screen, looking at the background he is in the kitchen. 

"Sorry, I haven't been answering your texts, I promise I saw them, just every time I mean to message you back, I forget." He says rubbing his forehead. 

"No, you're fine. I have everything finalized with the flight and I'm going to have you two stay at my place, if that's okay? Sorry for changing the plans too much." I tell him, hoping he doesn't decline the offer. 

His eyes go wide, "Taylor, what if people see us?"

I shake my head, "They won't I'll make sure of it." I say sternly. 

"Have you talked to Sage about the situation? What'd she say?" I ask.

"Yeah, actually she took it pretty well. It took a lot of explaining, but we can't blame her she's still a child. At first she honestly was in denial and kept shaking her head at me, I thought she was going to break into tears," At this point I felt horrible, we shouldn't be making her go through this, but this is all my fault from my actions, years ago. 

"She told me she didn't want to see you at first, but I told her that you are her Mom and that you wanted to see and bond with her. I think at this point she forgot you were the Taylor Swift for a second, so I had to remind her of that and she was instantly on board again." He chuckles, making me break out in a smile. I needed to try extra hard for this girl. 

"I understand, she has a valid reason to feel like that." I tell him. 

We go on to talk about the details and all of the information he needs to know right before he arrives. Each second, I was getting more excited. I couldn't wait for Sage to arrive here.