false god

chapter 18

This coupon is good for
ONE GO IN AN UNEXPECTED LOCATION
Sorry, babe, the urge just overcame me!

Taylor had not heard from her parents for the better part of two weeks. She was almost sure that one day there would be a legal document on her doorstep which informed her she'd been taken out of the will. Or maybe, they'd simply never contact her again. Either would be preferable, Taylor considered, when she thought about how angry she was about the entire night.

She usually always caved and apologised. Taylor was never very good at letting things end on a bad note. It was part of her oldest-child syndrome, always wanting to please. Always wanting to be seen.

But usually, this apology was kick-started by her mother making some comment. Even if it was always something snide and catty, Taylor was pulled to grovel by her mom making her feel like shit.

It was not so this time.

Andrea was shockingly silent.

She'd had one lone interaction from her father. In a nondescript envelope, he'd sent her $200 bucks with a quickly penned 'sorry'. Taylor wondered if this was the last assistance she'd ever get from her parents.

Taylor tried not to over-analyze her mother's stony silence.

With Austin though, Taylor wasn't trying to ignore him. Not actively.

When Austin called the first time, Taylor was in the shower. Despite the memory of the talk at the diner rising to the surface of her mind, and that they'd left things in a better place than usual, she didn't call him back. Austin had not left a voicemail or a text, so Taylor didn't think it was urgent.

When Austin called back when Taylor was making dinner, she let it ring nearly to voicemail before her mental battle with herself had a winner. With a sense of trepidation, since Austin wasn't one to contact often, Taylor put it on speaker.

"Tay! Oh, hi!" Austin sounded surprised, as though he was not the one who had reached out.

"What's up, Aus," Taylor asked, trying to make her voice sound lighter than she felt answering. She forced a smile in front of the stove. She'd read somewhere that smiling actually made you feel happier, even if you weren't.

"Do you have plans for this weekend?"

Taylor stirred her stir-fry, "That depends entirely on what you're going to say next."

"I got offered this really fantastic training seminar for my job," Austin began. He worked in a bank as a glorified assistant, though Taylor  knew he was intelligent enough to do more, "So, Milo needs a babysitter."

"Oh." Taylor put down her spatula, "I mean, yeah, I love watching him. I honestly don't have anything else happening this weekend, so I can really spoil him, as an aunt should. When would you drop him off?" She questioned, turning to survey her apartment. She would need to clean a lot, plus vacuum. Travis's papers and books would need to be brought into his room, lest he wanted pages torn out by a toddler. They'd also need to move furniture in front of outlets, just for safety.

"Well," Austin coughed on the other end of the phone, "You see, the seminar is in Watertown, completely in the opposite direction of New York City. So, since you mentioned you don't have 'anything else happening', I was hoping you'd come back home."

Taylor clenched her jaw, "No."

"Tay, you already said-," Austin began to protest.

"No, no, no! God, how much money did mom give you to do this?" Taylor said, half-way sure he was just going to hang up now.