Queen of My Heart || Taylor Swift

no body, no crime

not a romance/gxg one-shot
inspired by a comment from chickennugs13

"He did it," Este simply said.

She slid further into the seat and placed her bag down beside her, along with her umbrella.

Taylor reached for her glass of wine. "Slow down—what's going on?"

Este and Taylor sat across from each other in the booth. It was their normal Tuesday night routine: Olive Garden, eat dinner, and have a drink. Rarely have they ever strayed from it. But today, Este showed up hollow-eyed with dark bags. Like she hadn't slept in days.

Este took a swig of her wine, her answer clearly hard to recall. She sighed and weakly rolled her eyes.

"Last time," she shook her head, "you remember what you said?"

"You're saying he cheated on you?" Taylor asked, but it was more of a statement than a question.

An unusual darkness hung around the room. There was a minute of silence between them, yet it was so loud that it drowned out everything else. The rushing rain banging against the window, the noisy chattering, everything. And for a moment, the weather seemed to mimic the atmosphere. Like the blanket of dark cloud, this shadowed over everything for Este. The pouring showers like the tears she fought to keep.

She had storms in her eyes, something that Taylor never saw from her. That man really fucked up.

"He's always smelling like merlot, but it ain't mine." Este chuckled, but it was fake. "I mean, he's keeping this jewelry in our joint account, and I know damn well it's not for me. Smells like another girl and I don't even like the stones."

Taylor sat forward and looked her in the eye. "Well, what do you plan on doing about it?"

"I think I'm gonna call him out."

I think he did it but I just can't prove it, Este thought.

That night, Este went home. She didn't expect for him to be awaiting her. Not at all. In fact, she was used to him just maybe coming home at about 4 A.M.

She entered the house, which had recently been dark and lifeless. Her footsteps echoed in the silence. Este threw her stuff to the side, completely careless about where it was to land. The light switch was somewhere on the wall yet she fumbled to find it. The occasional lightning flashed through the window and was accompanied by a deep rumble of thunder.

Finally, the dim light flickered on. She kicked off her low heels and walked through the hallway. A subtle tick, tick, tick rung from the clock against the gray wall. Then, her phone vibrated against her pocket.

Taylor: hey, call me later and lmk how it goes. is he home yet?

Este slightly smiled at her friends caring attitude. Taylor has been checking in with her constantly during the time they're not hanging out together. Especially when her husband's infidelity came to light.

She started to respond. Her fingers tapped away at her phone's keyboard as she walked into her bedroom. In the safety of her own home, she was completely absorbed in the screen.

Inattentive.

Vulnerable.

A pair of gloved hands shoved Este against the wall. She clawed at them desperately as they wrapped around her throat. No room to breathe. She felt a pounding in her head, her vision slowly blurring as she became more lightheaded. But she fought, and fought. Yet she couldn't win.

Este glared up at her assailant, tears falling from her eyes. He was all too familiar. Not just a cheater, but a fucking murderer now. Yet he was the last person she saw before he slammed her head into the stone accent wall. Her vision was painted black as her body grew limp. Slowly, he let her body fall to floor.

He knelt down and felt for her breath: nothing. Her pulse? Gone.

***

Taylor was restless.

Este wasn't there Tuesday night at Olive Garden, at her job, or anywhere. She hasn't answered any messages and calls. Not even from Danielle and Alana. A few days ago, Taylor stormed into workplace and demanded to know if they've seen her. For Este not to work is completely unusual, that woman works through illnesses and deaths, even.

But what really alarmed Taylor was when she was out and saw a missing persons poster. A white paper plastered all over street poles, buildings, and fences. Este's face was printed in the center under the bold lettering of MISSING PERSON. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN? Underneath was her name, a description, and a small statement saying it was reported by her husband.

Her husband.

Yes, he's Taylor's suspect. He's the last person expected to have been around her. Plus, Este was texting and then suddenly stopped. She had to be at home, or at least not driving at the time. Este doesn't text while driving. And Taylor already knows for sure that he's not trustworthy, judging by his fatal lack of fidelity. She just can't prove it, not yet.

The next day, Taylor chose her ES 350 to "pass by" Este's house. Silent enough to stay concealed, wrapped dark enough to stay hidden in the shadows. She cautiously drove the car down the street and found a small place to park in. It was around dusk, the sun threatening to set into the eeriness of night.

The first thing caught her eye was that his truck had some brand new tires. Even as splotches of mud were littered over his truck--which seemed to be ineffectively cleaned--his tires shined. Taylor made a mental note. She didn't know what course of action she'd take after this. If it happened to be not-so-legal, she was afraid it'd spoil her plan if police found a physical note.

A second vehicle came down the road and backed into the driveway. A white nissan sentra, she learned. The license plate was obscured by the way the driver parked. But if Taylor's lucky, she can catch a glimpse when it leaves. If it leaves anytime soon, that is. A woman who appeared to be in her early 20s got out of the driver's seat. She had chestnut hair that fell just past her shoulders and was dressed in skin-tight clothes.

Taylor observed her. The woman walked up to the front door and knocked on it thrice. She waited for a bit of time. Her attention briefly wandered, but it was soon pulled back as Este's husband opened the door. He looked more disheveled than usual, yet he flashed a smile at her. His hand rested on her lower back as he guided her into the house. They both disappeared behind the front door as it closed shut.

If that's his mistress then it's a big clue. Before he always went to her, but she came to him this time. No husband who wants his wife to come back would invite his mistress over as she's missing.

The bedroom light turned on. Taylor could see the silhouette of the woman on the thin, fabric blinds. She took a seat on Este's bed and kicked her shoes off like she was at home.

No, there ain't no doubt. Taylor clenched her jaw at the sight, and she already made up her mind.

No body, no crime.

~~

A/N

Part two coming next.

Finished at 1.1k words.