UNSOLVED

12

Two weeks went by. Taylor turned her anger into productivity. She wrote and filmed two more videos for her true crime series. Only when she was alone at night, she let the tears flow freely, letting only her cats be the witnesses of her sadness.

"Is everything alright between you and Karlie?" Emma asked two days after Taylor had gone over to Karlie's house to 'collaborate'.

Taylor couldn't help but heave a heavy sigh and look down at the ground. Emma had found her in the kitchen, microwaving her lunch.

"I'm sorry, Taylor, I don't mean to intrude. But I didn't get a copy of the contract like the last time, so I was wondering if you filmed a video at all?" Emma spoke carefully as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"No." Taylor didn't look at Emma. The image of the torn pieces of the contract falling to the ground replayed in her mind. "We didn't film. I'm sorry. We had some ... personal issues. I'm sorry."

Emma took a step forward to place a hand on Taylor's shoulder. Taylor's first instinct was to jerk away, but then she realized how much she needed the comforting touch of a friend. She hadn't told Abigail. Her mum knew, but she was hundreds of miles away, as were her old friends. New York had started to feel lonely again. She turned around.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Taylor" Emma said. "But if you want to talk, I'm here. I know I'm your supervisor, but I won't judge. I'm also your friend. I hope you can work it out with Karlie."

"Thanks" Taylor mumbled quietly but looked at her feet again.

The ding! of the microwave interrupted the moment. Emma let go of her shoulder, and Taylor took out her food.

"I'll see you around, Taylor, and you can always come to my office" Emma said as she left the kitchen.

Taylor nodded in response, even though Emma couldn't see it. Once the door was closed, she sighed again.

She didn't want to talk about it to anyone who knew Karlie. She had no idea if she would out the other woman and make matters worse. Karlie seemed to be having enough of a hard time as it was. Besides, the only person in the office who knew she was gay was Abigail, and she didn't want to out herself either. Not because she didn't think the others wouldn't be supportive. She just didn't want to deal with it. Coming out at every new work place and to every new group of people was exhausting.

She took her lunch box to eat outside on a park bench to enjoy the warm and sunny weather.

***

A week after her fight with Karlie, Taylor found herself in the basement film studio once again. There were racks of clothing standing in the middle of the room, and skirts, jeans, and shirts, spread over any chair or general surface available. The video was about switching styles, and everyone had brought their favorite clothes.

"Where's Abigail?" Selena asked and looked at her phone impatiently. The other writers, interns and junior producers present simply shrugged and all looked in Taylor's direction, as if she knew where her friend was at any given time of the day.

"I don't know" Taylor said to no one in particular and blushed. "She's just late sometimes-"

"Guys!" Just then the door opened, and an overly energetic Abigail came rushing in. Her red curls looked even messier than usual, and she was breathing heavily.

Everyone looked at her in expectation.

"Sorry, I just had a Skype call. The first video of my project is being uploaded tomorrow!", she squealed.