Find Myself Again

The Event

"Hi Taylor," I say as I get out of the car.  Taylor doesn’t respond or even turn around to look at me.

“Taylor, is everything ok?” I ask as I start to walk towards him.  When I’m about ten feet away from him I stop when I see him start to move.  As soon as I see Taylor’s face, I realize something happened. His face is pale and his eyes are red. Oh no, this isn't good.  He starts to walk toward me slowly with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.  He stops a foot in front of me, just staring. I’m frozen not knowing what to do.

"Taylor, what happened? Are you ok?" I ask in a quiet voice. His eyes don't leave mine when he shakes his head.

“I shouldn’t be here.  I’m sorry for bothering you.” Taylor murmurs, and then turns to starts up the driveway.  I stand there watching him completely baffled on what I should do.  Something is seriously wrong, I can’t let him leave like this, I think, as I run after him.  I reach for his arm and he spins around, pulling it out of my grasp and stares at me, his eyes are about to spill with tears.

"Do you want to come inside,” is the only thing I can think of to say, but the question makes him look tenser.

"Have you eaten?" I quickly ask trying to ease his nerves. He shakes his head. "When's the last time you ate?" He looks like he's lost weight.

"Yesterday morning" he whispers, surprising me.

He speaks!

"Please come inside, I’ll get us dinner." I murmur but he looks hesitant. "We don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to. We can eat and watch tv." I state trying to make it seem like it's no big deal. He nods and we head toward the house.

When we reach the front door Taylor stops and turns to me.  “How about you order dinner and I’ll go grab your luggage out of the car.” Taylor mumbles.  I’m hesitant to say yes due to the heartbreaking look on his face, but smile and nod then head into the house. 

Once I’m inside I pick up the phone and dial up to the main house.

“Hi, it’s Sam.  What did the Hammond’s have for dinner tonight?” I ask the chef.

“Spaghetti, and there’s a lot of leftovers.” The chef replies.

“Sounds good.  Can I get two plates of spaghetti, and two cokes?” I ask.  “Actually, bring a couple beers down as well if we have any.”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll be down shortly.”

“Thank you,” I say, then hang up the phone.

I watch Taylor walk up the steps and onto the porch with my luggage. I open the door and he walks in past me setting the suitcase against the wall next to the shoe rack.  He takes his shoes off, setting them on the shoe rack, and then I follow him into the living room and we both sit on the couch at opposite ends.