Little Swift

Part 11

TAYLOR POV

I sat on the sofa waiting. Maisie was at school for the day before her dance this evening and I was waiting for Adam to arrive. Even though it was last minute he got everything sorted perfectly and was meant to arrive at my house at about 2.30PM. The plan was to pick Maisie up at school for 3PM before going to home for dinner and getting ready for the dance at 5PM (it was a nursery school dance after all). I hadn't actually spoken to Adam since Monday evening, but we had planned all this over text message. Adam was obviously pulling out all the stops, going as far as asking what colour dress Maisie would have so they could match and what her favourite flower was.

I watched the hands on the clock, running through what I wanted to say to Adam as I waited. It felt like the longest wait in my entire life. My thoughts started to drift to my birthday in a couple of weeks and to Christmas. It would be my first Christmas with Maisie and I wanted it to be perfect but not over the top.

I was snapped out of my mental planning by the doorbell ringing. I calmly stood up from the sofa and walked to the front door, quickly checking my hair in the mirror before rolling my eyes at myself – it wasn't like I was going out anywhere and Adam has seen me in sweatpants without make-up so that shouldn't matter.... I opened the door and immediately smiled.

There, right in front of me, stood Adam. He was grinning excitedly and carried a small overnight bag and a cardboard box with a card on top of it addressed to Maisie.

"Hi!" Adam said simply.

"Hi! Come on in!" I replied, moving back to let him in. "Do you want a drink or something? We don't have to leave for another 20 minutes to collect Maisie. We have fresh orange juice, tea, coffee, flavoured water...."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Could I have a coffee?" He asked, following me into the kitchen and standing there, looking unsure of what he should do.

"Sure thing. Why don't you take a seat at the table or we could go into the living room?" I suggested, watching him look around a little and then sit on one side of the kitchen table, both obviously feeling slightly awkward.

It was pretty silent for a couple of minutes as I made the coffees and brought them over.

"So, um... thank you so much for coming over for this. In the interest of total honesty, I told Maisie you couldn't come even before I called you and she was in floods of tears. I couldn't get over my own stupidity.... My mum's the one that got me to call you." I divulged to him, looking at my mug of coffee intently.

"Well I'm glad you called. I'm so touched that she wanted me to come and can't wait to surprise her. But, Taylor, I think we need to talk about what happened. Before Maisie's around and you get out of talking to me." Adam said, reaching over and taking my hand, making me look up at his concerned eyes.

I took a deep breath – this is what I and bene bracing myself for.

"I felt so stupid that night. We had just agreed that we would be friends, that's it. Then I went and let the few drinks I had had and the excitement of the night cloud my judgement and direct my actions. I'm really sorry, Adam. I know it's not what you wanted to happen." I said, watching him frown.

"Sorry for what? It's my turn to be totally honest now. I only agreed to just be friends because you wanted that, Taylor. I knew how much Maisie's happiness means to you, and I didn't want to jeopardise it." Adam said taking a deep breath and closing his eyes as he spoke. It was my turn to frown in confusion. "I love you Taylor, I've realised that even more recently. Not loved in the past – love as in right now at this moment in time. You are an incredible person and just being around you makes me the happiest man on earth. I will admit that I was shocked when you kissed me, after you were so adamant days before that nothing could happen between us. But I wasn't angry at all. The week after that I checked my phone incessantly to see if you called or texted - I wanted to hear from you – it was so often that the guys caught on. The last week or so has made me realise the reality of it. I need you and Maisie in my life – whether just as friends or hopefully something more."