𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 (𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳)

four

taylor was exhausted from her eight-hour long shift. although the graveyard shift tended to be slower and calmer, it was the weekend and lots of party goers and drunk people stormed the store. they were also short staffed so taylor's arms ached from lugging packages back and forth and her head hurt from getting into a heated argument with an underaged girl trying to buy booze. to say the least, it was these times where she wished that she had a stable job doing what she went to school for: journalism. she only really liked the store for her co-workers and boss whom welcomed her right off the bat. selena, the manager, gave her the job right off the spot. they both had a lot in common. jack was another co-worker of hers. he was younger, in college. he was studying business at parsons. the age gap didn't prove too much of an obstacle as he was mature and a light hearted person to be around. the three of them were really good friends and hung out a lot when they could. but, they weren't at work that night so taylor was alone for the most part.

she got off at five in the morning and and quickly went home to get any sleep she could. before she knew it, it was time to pick up alina. despite her weary eyes and sore body, she was excited to see her daughter. it was 8:30 now. she got ready, jumping into a pair of baggy sweatpants and an oversized band tee. right now, she didn't really care about her appearance.

she made a quick cup of coffee and downed a granola bar before heading downstairs. she left abigail a note because she was still sleeping.

going to pick up alina from karlie. be back soon.
- taylor x

—

brandon drove her to karlie's large estate. taylor was just desperate to get this over with. she didn't really know what to expect... what if karlie wants something more? what if she threatens her again?

she went to go ring the doorbell and after a few seconds, karlie swung the door open. in a silk pajama set, karlie's looked really pretty. her hair was disheveled and a slight smile hung on her face. but that didn't fool taylor at all. she fell for it once before.

"hey. alina's still sleeping. let's whisper, okay?" she asked. taylor nodded and stepped inside. she yawned as karlie lead her into the kitchen. a chef stood near the stove, the smell of bacon wafering through the air.

wow, i forgot how easy life was, taylor thought. she would be lying if she said she didn't miss this easy lifestyle. having a chef, a whole gym... the whole nine yards. the slight dull ache in her shoulders reminded her that she chose this life. she didn't regret it but this was a stark reminder of what she left behind. maybe if karlie hadn't treated her that way and apologized, it would have been a different story.

"hey, you can stay until alina wakes up," karlie offered. taylor shrugged, "alright. is gigi here?"

"no, i sent her away last night. not the best with kids," karlie said with an easy laugh.

"oh, how was she?"

"good. we watched a movie and we played some games together. she's a really quiet baby, you know?" karlie said.

"yeah, she is," taylor mumbled. the chef offered a plate of eggs to which taylor accepted. she slowly ate them. karlie's eyes were fixated on her.

"are you okay? you look really worn down," karlie asked. there was a concerned expression on her face. taylor was confused with all of the mood swings but she just went along with it.

"uh, yeah. long shift. heavy boxes. i got like three hours of sleep," taylor said as she laughed awkwardly. she stuffed her face with more eggs. she couldn't tell if the chef was eavesdropping.

karlie furrowed her eyebrows, "that isn't healthy, taylor. you shouldn't have worked your body so hard," she looked like she was going to say something else but stopped. taylor swung her head towards karlie, the long night catching up to her.