The Singer's Girl

Chapter 11

CAROLINE'S POV

Fall was in full throttle that afternoon in New York City. Orange and red leaves were hanging onto trees by threads until a wind gust from a fast car would come and knock them into the air. I expect the air was crisp and dry, but the air I was breathing was air conditioned. My spiny chair was facing a huge window in this office building so I could look out at the city. Behind me was a business meeting.

Taylor had gotten a floor of this building rented out for this meeting today, everyone was sitting in spiny chairs around a large table, I was the only one not facing Taylor. I was sitting by Andrea, who had just flown in, since two very important looking men were sitting to the left and right of Taylor. I think I just got drug along to this because Taylor didn't know what else to do with me, they were going through the next week's plans so everything would run smoothly.

All of the mechanics behind everything that Taylor did, like the business meetings and the emails and the phone calls seemed weird to me because that's the parts the fans don't see. All they see is Taylor performing every night, but her career held so much more than that. And I realized that now that I've been with her for so long.

If zoned out the meeting long ago and now I was left with my thoughts, watching the New York City traffic below. My life was so different not too long ago. When my dad told me he was being deployed I never would've guessed that now I'd be sitting in on a Taylor Swift meeting, but not really caring what they say. Because Taylor Swift is just Taylor now, a normal part of my life.

I decided that I was having a good day, so I thought about my dad. I loved thinking about my dad on good days because although it hurt, it didn't hurt as much as usual and I wouldn't have an anxiety attack. I wondered what he was doing right now, was he with my mom? Or was he also sitting in on this meeting? Or were they both also sitting in on this meeting? I got the chills when I thought about the fact that that was an actual possibility.

My parents get to watch over me from heaven, they get to watch Taylor be my parent, they get to watch me have bad days, they get to watch me have good days. And then somehow my mind shifted from my parents to Grace, I thought about Grace a lot lately. I had been going through a hard time for months now, and she had been going through a hard time for almost just as long.

Sometimes I had days where I never wanted to get out of bed, sometimes I had days where I wanted to punch a wall, and sometimes I had days where every word I said was hard to say without letting tears escape my eyes. It was sad to know that she's the same way, even though we don't usually show it to each other, we each have our own life's and our own tough times.

I wondered what my mom thought of Grace, actually I wondered what my mom thought of me. I hadn't seen her in forever, what does she think of teenage Caroline? What does she think of Taylor? She must know that I love Taylor more than anyone. She can be a mother and a best friend at the same time and that's exactly the type of person I needed. My mom must realize how great Taylor is, she has to.

I heard the rustling of papers outside of my thoughts and I spun back around to face the table and see that everyone is packing up to leave. I looked around for Taylor and when we met eyes she smiled at me.

"How has school been, Caroline?" Andrea asked me as we were getting up.

"Fine." I said, which was the truth, I had friends now so it wasn't as bad as it used to be. Soon Taylor walked up to us and started talking to her mom. Andrea would be staying with us tonight before all the crazy things started happening. Right as we were about to leave the building Taylor was stopped by her security and they whispered something in her ear.

"Hey mom, will you take Caroline out to the car? I'll be there in a second." Taylor said and Andrea and I got in the next elevator that was going down. On the bottom floor of the building I could see paparazzi and fans through the glass windows. The paparazzi never failed to spook me, but maybe this time it wouldn't be so crazy since I wasn't with Taylor.

I walked right next to Andrea through the doors and as we got outside there was a commotion, the commotion wasn't from the paparazzi, it was from the fans holding up their iPhones and video taping our 15 foot walk to the big black vehicle. The sound was still heard from inside the car, but it was muffled.

"Why don't you sit right here so your mom can get in over there." Andrea told me, pointing at the middle seat. At first I was confused when she said that my mom could get in, but then I realized she meant Taylor. I moved to the middle seat and just as I did there was another huge commotion outside. I looked through the window and Taylor was walking through the doors. This time the paparazzi were taking pictures and screaming too, Taylor stopped for photos with a few fans before she got into the car with us.

She put her arm around my shoulder, pulled me close to her, and kissed me on the forehead all in one motion before she put on her seat belt and we headed down the road. While we were driving Andrea and Taylor decided that they wanted to go out for supper.

"Is that alright with you, Care?" Taylor asked, looking down at me.

"Yeah." I said, the reason I was okay with going was because its another thing I would get to do with Taylor before things got more crazy than they are now tomorrow. Even if we did have to face the paparazzi again. It was a half an hour drive to the Chinese restaurant we were going to, I sat between Andrea and Taylor the whole time, listening to them talk and only jumping into the conversation when I absolutely had to.

After about fifteen minutes of driving I leaned toward Taylor and let the side of my body rest on hers. I was unusually tired and longed for the bed that I was sitting and watching Surprise Homecomings in just this morning.Taylor felt me cuddling up to her and lifted her arm up so she could put it around me, still keeping up the conversation with her mom. Then I heard Taylor half whisper/half mouth something to Andrea that I couldn't make out.

"Are you tired, Caroline?" Andrea asked, laughing.

"Yeah." I said, not bothering to move out of my comfortable position. Taylor softly kissed my head and rubbed my shoulder. I was a 15, but I would always let Taylor do this. I hadn't had a mom in so long and now that I do I'm not going to keep missing out.

When we got to the restaurant the paparazzi was getting there too. I pulled myself off of Taylor and ran my fingers through my hair once before I followed Taylor, and Andrea followed me, out of the car. Before Taylor's feet even hit the pavement the cameras were flashing and clicking and people were shouting, and to put it bluntly; I didn't like it. It gave me stress and anxiety when all these loud, scary people were closing in from all directions, trying to get pictures of us.

Taylor knew this, so she took my hand as we walked into the building, it did make me feel better. That way I knew I wouldn't be separated from her. It didn't take more than 10 seconds to get from the car to the building, but with the paparazzi hounding us it felt much longer.

I wondered what my real mom thought of paparazzi, my dad and I had spoken about it over the phone once last year, but my mom must have some type of opinion on all of this. I had viewed death differently when my dad died compared to when my mom died, so now I couldn't help but go back and wonder all these things about my mom. And it killed me not being able to know what she thought of the paparazzi swarming Taylor and I whenever we weren't in Nashville. I mean, it wasn't Taylor's fault that it happened, I just wanted to know that my real mom was proud of how the paparazzi situation was handled when I was around.

And I didn't need reassurance that she was proud of me, I wanted to know that she was proud of Taylor. I wanted my mom to be able to be here to tell Taylor how great she's doing. After all, I was my parent's only child, and I hope they know that there's nobody better than Taylor they could've left me with.