It's Nice To Have A Friend - A Kaylor Fanfic -

14- Call My Bluff

Karlie

Taylor was stood in the doorway, clad in only a bathrobe. The look on her face gave away that she was surprised and confused all together and to be honest, I couldn't blame her. I was feeling the exact same way about the situation, even though I'd been the one choosing to be here. I'd finally caught a plane the night before, after laying awake for hours and feeling the need to go to New York City.

"Karlie?" She whispered in disbelief. Her eyes were the size of ping-pong balls.

"Hey." I breathed out. I felt dizzy all of the sudden. Would this have been the right decision?

"H-hi.." She said. A hand ran through her hair. For a few seconds I wondered if she was going to either embrace me in a tight hug or slam the door into my face. She didn't do either though and gave me the softest smile. "Come in."

It was all I'd needed to hear. I smiled back at her and stepped into her apartment.

"D-don't mind the mess please." She said in a haste, not meeting my eyes as I stepped by her. A strange thud came from the room next to the hallway we stood in. "Oh um.. that's Mer." She breathed out, pointing at the door at the end of the small hallway.

The thought of me barging back into Taylor's life with another woman standing in her kitchen, possibly half-naked, scared the shit out of me. "Oh sorry. I didn't know you had company. I'll just- I'll go and-"

A loud, high-pitched chuckle came out of her mouth as she met my eyes again. "She's.. my cat." She said, taking a few steps and opening the door. "Meredith." A grey, big eyed creature walked into the hallway, sniffing my pants.

I breathed out in relief and smiled, my cheeks having gained a significant amount of warmth. "I see."

We walked into Taylor's cozy living room and she pointed me towards the couch as she took off to the kitchen to fix us two cups of coffee. I hadn't even known she drank coffee, but apparently, with the busy life she had these days, she'd gotten used to the taste she'd often called 'disgustingly bitter' back in the days. She handed me a bright pink mug with the exact right amount of milk I liked. I thanked her as she sat down on the other end of the deep-red couch, her blue eyes on me.

"Right.." I said then, after having taking a sip from the coffee that, of course, burned my tongue. "You're wondering why I'm here." I said. Her blue eyes glanced over my outfit shortly as I looked up to meet them again. I was wearing the same clothes as I'd worn to work the day before, a neat, grey suit with a feminine blouse underneath. Her eyes did linger a little long on the cleavage I showed, but I chose to ignore the feeling it gave me.

"I- I-" Taylor stuttered, her eyes looking into mine now, before averting to the coffee in her cup. "Honestly.." She sighed. "I'm just really happy to see you and- I- wanna know how you are." She said.

The smile on her face told me she'd spoken the truth. She was wearing a set of glasses I'd never seen before. It reminded me of the time she used to wear her glasses back in middle and high-school. I took a sip of the hot coffee again and noticed a smile played on my face. It was good to see her. Better than I'd even dared to hope. "I'm good." I said honestly.

We stared into each other's eyes for a long while then. Green met blue from the other side of the couch. She looked away first, her cheeks a warm shade of pink, like I remembered them to often be. "There's probably a lot we need to talk about huh?" She said softly. She hid part of her face behind the giant pink mug in her hands. The colour matched with the ends of her hair, I then realised.

"Probably." I nodded.

Silence surrounded us however. It was comfortable and familiar.

"How long are you staying for?" She asked after some time.

I'd booked a one way flight and hadn't really thought of it yet. I shrugged. "I don't really know." I admitted.