Whiskey, On The Rocks

thirty

Travis

I didn't pay the voice any attention, but Taylor's shoulders stiffened so I looked up. She turned her head, and I saw the change the second we realized who was sanding there. Taylor straightened up, pressed her lips together.

"Mom." She whispered to the woman who had stopped still just outside the edges of the party.

"Taylor." Andrea murmured back. "Are you serious? Are you engaged?" But she answered the question herself immediately, looking at Taylor's left hand where she held her glass of champagne. Her eyes found the engagement ring that now rested there. 

"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked.

"I'm not allowed to come and visit my daughter?" Andrea countered. "I went to your apartment but there was no answer so I thought I might find you working here. I didn't think I'd find your engagement party."

"You could have called." Taylor mumbled, obviously not happy at this surprise visit.

"You could have called. How come I didn't know about this?"

"Because it happened an hour ago." Taylor rolled her eyes. "And the party was a surprise, it's not like I knew about it beforehand." So Andrea turned her gaze on me, a demanding, silent question. I wasn't about to play nice. I knew how Taylor felt about her mother.

"I invited Taylor's closest friends, people I thought she'd want to be here." I said in a cool, calm voice. Andrea's eyes narrowed, but I didn't back down. 

Family didn't always mean blood. I loved my brother his girlfriend and I had an okay relationship with my parents, but I'd found family in other places. So had Taylor.

"Taylor, honey you're too young to get married." Andrea sighed at her daughter, completely ignoring me.

"Do you think I'm too young to start a family as well?" Taylor asked.

"Yes of course." Her mother sighed, shaking her head. "You're still a teenager."

"Well that's too bad." Taylor said a little sharply. "Because I was pregnant." Andrea's eyes widened, dropping to Taylor's stomach. "Well not anymore obviously." Taylor sighed, wilting a little.

"Hey, it's okay," I murmured, rubbing her arm. I didn't want anything to bring this down for her. She'd been so happy, and we grasped any happiness we could.

"Can we not do this?" Taylor shook her head at Andrea as she let go of my hand. "This is our engagement party. You might not be happy about it, but I am."

The pair started arguing and I stood there a little awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket and I reached for it, checking the message I'd just received. Skimming it, my eyes widened.

"Shit." I breathed, causing mother and daughter to stop and turn around to look at me.

"Everything okay baby?" Taylor asked softly, placing a hand on my arm. 

"We have a problem with the tap in the downstairs bathroom." I told her. That got her attention. It didn't actually mean we had a problem with any tap. That was a signal that we had to drop everything and go. I'd given the regular team the night off for the party, leaving only Taylor, Sabrina, and I as well as a few others on side.

"Oh." Taylor breathed, putting her glass down. I caught Sabrina's attention and she caught the vibe in a second, rushing over. Andrea looked bewildered as I handed Sabrina my phone, letting her read the message.

"Okay, I'm on it." Sabrina passed my phone back. "The others are drunk so it'll have to be you two. I'll be in your ears from here."

"Let's go." Taylor said, and Andrea grabbed her wrist as the three of us turned away.