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3

"Alright everyone, we're taking a small break and then we'll hopefully be done by lunchtime!" Selena announced and clapped her hands.

Immediately, everyone in the room started moving. Some were walking towards the door to use the bathroom or get coffee, others started chatting. Taylor and Abigail remained sitting on the couch. They still had their coffees and nothing else to do, anyways.

"Are you alright? You look like you're sick" Abigail asked concerned but there was also a hint of amusement in her voice. They were in the basement room that served as a film studio for food-related videos as it had a small kitchen attached. They had been working on a video in which they tested various cake recipes.

"I may have eaten too much dough." Taylor made a grimace and rubbed her belly.

"I just wanna get this over with and eat some actual food for lunch."

Abigail took a sip of her coffee and grinned. "Yeah, me too. Wanna go eat lunch together again or did you bring something?"

The two of them had started eating lunch together every other day. The week before Taylor had worked up the nerve to ask Abigail to hang out in the afternoon too, and they had gone for coffee and watched a movie. She was relieved to have made a friend in the city.

"No, I didn't bring anything, I must admit I didn't go grocery shopping this week so my fridge is super empty. Let's just get sandwiches." Taylor laughed.

She rubbed her eyes. "God, these contact lenses they gave me are awful. I'm gonna put them out for the break, my eyes are so sore." Abigail simply nodded in response and watched her friend reach for her purse to take out her glasses, then take out her contacts and put them in the container.

"So much better" Taylor sighed.

She had been running late in the morning, having stayed up reading all night. When she had been presented with the choice of putting in her contacts or stopping by the bakery before going into the office barely on time, she had chosen warm croissants. Then she had remembered they were filming a video today and she was not going to be in it wearing her glasses. So now here she was.

If she had thought that this was all her day would bring, then she had been wrong. A minute later the door opened and an all too familiar, cheerful voice could be heard. Everyone's heads turned towards it.

Standing tall in the doorframe was Karlie Kloss.

Taylor's eyes went wide, and she readjusted her glasses as if to convince herself of what she was seeing. Next to her she saw Abigail with her mouth wide open as well. Karlie greeted Selena and two other people who had gotten up to meet her.

"Oh my God ... that's Karlie Kloss" Abigail whispered.

"Yeah." It was in this moment that Taylor realized she had never mentioned the fact that she had met Karlie at the party to Abigail. Oh boy, she thought. How do I bring it up casually at this point?

"I watch her videos all the time. She's so cool" Abigail gushed, talking to Taylor quietly.

"Yeah ... me too" was all the blonde could say. She gulped.

They watched the others talking to Karlie for a while, not daring to get up and move around the room anymore. Eventually, the group dispersed, and Karlie looked around the room. Taylor realized a millisecond too late.

Their eyes met. Taylor's eyes went wide in shock, but Karlie's lit up in recognition. She waved and made her way over.

Oh my God, no, was all Taylor could think. Her heart started beating so fast she thought she was going to pass out.

"Taylor, hey!" Karlie greeted her and smiled.

Taylor could feel everyone's curious stare on her. Especially Abigail's. She cleared her throat.

"Hey, Karlie." Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. She readjusted her glasses again, then ran her fingers through her hair.

Karlie sat down on the couch next to her. "Hey, this time you left a spot for me to sit." She winked.

Yeah, I'm gonna pass out, Taylor thought. She didn't know what to reply, so she just laughed awkwardly. She was sure Karlie was going to get up and leave again any second. She could feel Abigail's eyes boring into the back of her head now that she had turned around towards Karlie.

"How's the internship going? I've seen you in a couple of videos. Are you having fun?" Karlie started chatting like they were old friends.

Taylor opened and closed her mouth as if to practice before she could get any words out. "Yeah, I'm having fun. Today's been a little messy so far, but it's really great!" She tried to grin and hoped it didn't come out as a grimace.

Out of all the days that she could have showed up at her workplace, Karlie had chosen today. How many times had Taylor told herself in the morning 'this will be the day Karlie comes to visit' and put on extra nice make-up or worn an extra cute outfit, and it never happened. But today, today that she was sick from eating cake dough and her eyes were red and puffy and she was wearing her rainbow-framed glasses. Today, out of all the days, Karlie showed up.

"I heard you guys were doing a baking video so I had to come check it out" Karlie laughed. "But I promise, I won't judge. You guys ate a lot of cake dough, huh?"

Taylor blushed and nodded. Karlie laughed again. Taylor wasn't sure what she had done to deserve being at the receiving end of this beautiful laugh and smile, but she wasn't going to complain. If she had to eat raw dough to hear Karlie's laugh, so be it.

"Have you been working on a project of your own already?" Karlie asked, continuing the conversation. Taylor wished she could say something nonchalant like 'hey I loved your latest video' or 'happy to meet you again, what have you been up to?', but her brain was focused too much on the fact that Karlie was sitting next to her in the first place than to form a coherent sentence.

"Oh, yeah ... actually. I've been working on a true crime show. Um ..."

"Really? That's exciting!"

Taylor looked up at Karlie's face, a decision she regretted instantly. Those deep, green eyes took her breath away. How was someone allowed to be this gorgeous?

A smile formed on her face regardless. She took a deep breath. "Yeah, Emma approved of it two days ago, so I'm just doing research and coming up with concepts for a video. It's really cool" she gushed.

She thanked her brain for allowing her to say two complete sentences in a row. Karlie smiled warmly at her. "I hope it all works out the way you want it to!"

They talked for a while more, though Taylor had no idea how she handled it without passing out. She even managed to compliment Karlie on a recipe she had tried from one of her recent videos. When she received Karlie's warm, genuine smile in response, she knew she would never get enough of it.

"Karlie, there you are!" someone called and approached them. Taylor's eyes went wide again. It was Todrick, the editor in chief. She had only met him once briefly for her job interview.

"Hey girls" he addressed Taylor and Abigail with a smile, then turned towards Karlie again.

"We need to be in a meeting in five. Sorry Karlie."

Karlie got up from the couch again. Taylor felt reminded of their situation at the party. She felt that this time, Karlie was reluctant to leave as well, but had no other choice. The tall woman smiled at her.

"I'll see you around, Taylor. It was good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too" Taylor mumbled, feeling even shier in the presence of both Todrick and Karlie.

Before they turned to go, Selena approached them again. She talked to Karlie and Todrick for a little, but Todrick insisted on making it to the meeting in time.

Selena nodded in understanding. "Of course. Have a good meeting!"

Todrick and Karlie said their goodbyes to everyone in the room and left. Once they were gone, Abigail and Selena turned towards Taylor with big question marks in their eyes. They spoke almost simultaneously.

"Taylor, how do you know Karlie Kloss!?"