Safe and Sound

Prologue

January 2021

Taylor felt like she couldn't breathe. Today was the day. Today she was finally going to be free. Six years feeling like she had been in a prison. Six years of living in a shell of herself. Six years of being a punching bag for her husband. No more. Taylor took a look at herself in the mirror. The bruises under her eyes were finally starting to yellow. Her nose on the other hand still needed surgery to set it back to its original spot. That surgery was next week. Taylor took a deep breath as a soft knock on the bathroom door.
"Taylor?" The voice of one of her best friends called out to her.
"Come in." Justin emerged through the door.
"Are you ready?" Taylor nodded. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know. I feel like I can't breathe and..." Taylor trailed off as her breathing hitched. Justin crossed the room, pulling her into a tight hug. The tears fell out of Taylor's eyes like a broken dam.
"Hey, hey, hey. Everything is going to be okay. It's almost over."
"I...can't..."
"You can do this. You're braver than you think you are."
"I'm not..." Justin pulled her out to look at her.
"Listen to me. You are brave. You were brave enough to leave him."
"You did most of the work."
"I just helped. You found the courage to leave."
"Look what he did to my face, Justin!"
"Do you want to go back?"
"I'm never going to go back."
"Good, you are brave. Say it."
"I'm brave. I can do this."
"Good." Justin wiped the tears off her cheeks. "I'll give you another minute and then let's get this divorce finalized." Justin left the bathroom, leaving Taylor alone once again. She took a few more deep breaths before leaving the bathroom. Taylor found Justin, Erin and her parents waiting for her. She wished Christopher and Morgan were able to make it as well, but Taylor was happy to have the others to be there by her side.
"Are you ready, sweetie?" Eva asked her daughter. Taylor nodded, taking her mom's outstretched hand. They all headed towards the court room. When they got into the room, Xander was already sitting in there with his lawyer. He turned, making eye contact with Taylor. Taylor started to shake. "It's okay, honey." Taylor only nodded. She took her seat next to her lawyer.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Clark." Everyone stood as the judge walked in and took her seat. "Case 3472: Taylor Mitchell vs. Alexander Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell has requested the divorce."
"And a immediate name change." Taylor's lawyer added.
"You have a protective order against him, Mrs. Mitchell. Are you sure you're able to be in the same room?"
"Yes, your honor."
"Listen, all of this has been a big misunderstanding. My client is okay to grant Mrs. Mitchell the divorce, but I think the protective order is a little much."
"Your client broke my client's nose the day she handed him the divorce papers."
"Hearsay."
"I will have order in my court room." Both lawyers apologize. "Given everything attached to this case, I'm not only going to grant the divorce, but grant the name change request and I'm going to extend the protective order. You violate this order, Mr. Mitchell, it will be become permanent. Do you understand?"
"Of course." Xander bit out. Taylor knew he wasn't happy.
"Anything else?" Both said no. "Okay, you two are officially divorced and you are Taylor Kennedy again." She banged her gavel. It was finally over. Six long torturous years of marriage were finally behind her. Taylor let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in as Eva put her hand on her shoulder.
"It's over, sweetheart."
"It is." Taylor got up and turned around to hug her mom. She let go and turned to Justin. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me. Without you..." Taylor pulled him into a hug.
"I will always be her for you, Taylor."
"You think you've won?" Taylor looked over at her now ex-husband. "You think this the last you've seen of me, you bitch?"
"Mr. Mitchell!"
"You don't deserve a happy ending. I'll make sure of that."
***
December 2021

Taylor didn't know why she was there. When Justin invited her to the Trackhouse holiday party, she almost declined. She didn't work for the team, despite Justin asking her multiple times. She liked her current job. Plus, her and Justin hadn't worked together in a few years. Taylor walked through the doors of Trackhouse, willing herself to keep moving. She smoothed out the skirt of her emerald green dress and took a deep breath. Taylor took the route Justin had told her to take to the party. She finally walked into the room, her ears being flooded with Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You and a few different conversations. Taylor scanned the room, finally finding both Justin and Erin. She made her way through the room before finally making over to the couple.
"You made it!" Justin said, giving Taylor a hug. Erin gave her a hug right after.
"I said I would. Not going lie, it is kind of awkward."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not even a part of the team."
"You could be!" Erin said, Justin nodding.
"I'm flattered, really, but I love my job. It allows me to travel and..."
"You can travel with us, Tay. We won't stop you."
"I like my job."
"Okay, I won't ask again."
"You probably will." Taylor said with a laugh.
"I'm going to find Julia." Erin said before leaving the pair alone.
"There is someone I want you to meet."
"Justin..."
"You need to get back out there, Tay. It's been 11 months."
"And I'm fine being alone right now. Really."
"Just come meet him first. Please."
"Fine." Justin turned away.
"Ross! Come here! I want you to meet my friend." Taylor watched one of the most gorgeous men she'd had seen walked over to them. "Ross, this is one of closest friends, Taylor Kennedy." Taylor held out her hand and Ross took it.
"Nice to meet you, Ross."
"Uh, yeah, I..." Ross fumbled and Justin couldn't help but laugh.
"I'd ask you what you do, but I have covered you for work a couple of times."
"You have?"
"I work for NASCAR.com. I write some of the stories and am featured in some of the videos on the site and app."
"Right, that makes sense."
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. I think."
"I've never seen him fumble this hard talking to someone before."
"Are you nervous, Mr. Chastain?" Taylor asked, clearly amused.
"I'm going to find my wife and leave you two to it." Justin said before disappearing.
"Great." Ross mumbled.
"Am I boring to talk to?" She asked.
"Oh no! That's not it. He kind of warned me that he wanted to introduce the two of us, but I didn't realize how..." Ross trailed off.
"What?"
"Has anyone ever told you how gorgeous you are?"
"No because I'm not."
"Don't say that."
"It's true. Did Justin tell you anything about me?"
"Only that you two used together at Ganassi. And you were married."
"For six years. Been divorced for almost a year."
"He told me about the divorce. Messy I take it."
"That's putting it lightly. I don't know what exactly Justin told you to do after you meet me, but..."
"What to you mean?"
"I'm not exactly ready for a relationship right now. My marriage and divorce took a lot from me and..."
"One date then."
"What?"
"Let me take you out. Once. You pick when and where. If you have a good time and you want a second date, we'll do it. I actually want to get to know you. Justin talks about you a lot. Speaks very highly of you."
"I'm flattered really..."
"Casual then?"
"What?"
"If you're not ready for another commitment, we can casually see each other. It doesn't have to be a big deal."
"Ross..."
"Let's see where this thing goes. We don't need to be exclusive, you can see other people if you want to."
"Is that what you want?"
"I'll do whatever you want to do."

*Chapter One will be coming 2/14/24*