Calming the storm {Kaylor}

C2: a familiar face in an unexpected place

The next day, Karlie had to go into town to run some errands. After she picked up some groceries and skincare products, she went into Tribeca to pick up some sushi for lunch. Walking into the store, she sighted an oh-so familiar face: The blonde that gave the remarkable speech last night. Quietly contemplating if Karlie should walk up to her, she didn't need to make the decision anymore: Taylor had already spotted her.

".. Karlie?", she said, unable to believe it was actually her. They hadn't seen each other in ages, but running into her and seeing those green eyes felt familiar to Taylor. Immediately, she felt at ease. "Do you come here often? I've never seen you here before!" Taylor went in for a hug, and it felt as good as ever.

"It's my first time here actually.. I know you recommended this sushi place to me once", she said, suddenly realising that that recommendation was already years old, " I don't know if you still remember that, it was a long time ago..", Karlie blurted out to make it make sense. Even after all these years, the model found herself drawn to Tay, noticing that 'spark' she didn't have with anyone else. The feelings confused her.

Karlie didn't need to be nervous: of course Taylor remembered: "Yeah, i remember, don't worry honey! It's a good place. Are you getting the California rolls? Do you need some recs on what's good here?" Before Kar could answer, Taylor already grabbed her hand and guided her to the sushi place. She greeted the chef and said, "Hi guys, good to see you again! This is my good friend Karlie, can you guys prepare my usual takeaway order for her?" The staff laughed and nodded, as the singer voiced her satisfaction, "Perfect!"

Taylor asked Karlie to sit down, as they had to wait for the food to be prepared. The tables were turned: Where normally, Karlie would be the charismatic talker, she was now quiet and a little nervous: still startled from her resurfacing feelings, she was unable to say a lot to the blue eyes sitting across from her. Taylor on the other hand, was happy and talkative, chatting about her past weeks, and letting Karlie catch up to a portion of her life. She felt so happy to see Karlie again, and just wanted to tell her everything that happened to her. The only topic she avoided was dating. For some reason she didn't want to talk to Taylor about her past lovers, though Karlie was quite open with her other friends about her dates.

Karlie listened, in awe of the liveliness that Taylor radiated. In her head, she gushed about how good Taylor looked. Then suddenly, she realised Taylor had stopped talking because she had asked Karlie a question. Karlie came back to reality and stumbled, "Uhh, what did you say?". Just as Taylor repeated what she'd said, "So, are you -", the sushi staff called them up, telling them the sushi order was ready. Karlie got up and paid, grabbed the takeaway bag and they walked outside.

Karlie and Taylor recognised that their shared moment was coming to an end. It had felt so good to see each other, almost like before. They hugged, and Karlie made a move: "So, i gotta run now, but do you want to meet up later? This week maybe?" Luckily, Taylor reciprocated: "Yes, of course! It's so good to see you again, we totally have to see each other again. I'll text you." They gave each other a final hug, and went their separate ways.

With her head full of stars and her hands full with the sushi bag, Karlie wandered the New York streets, lost in her thoughts. All she was able to think about was the question Taylor asked her before they were interrupted in the restaurant: "So, are you still good with Joshua?" Was she?, Klossy asked herself. After last night, and now this, she wasn't so sure. Feeling the connection she had with Taylor, Joshua was gone from her brain. Then she grasped a painful truth.

Karlie changed her number. Taylor had no way to reach her.

/////

After lunch, Karlie had a photoshoot to get to. Though she really wanted to focus herself more on coding and other projects, her agency IMG had reminded her she had a contract to respect: There was a minimum amount of shoots and shows to receive her salary. The location wasn't far from the sushi place, so she walked there with a steady pace, as she would be late otherwise.

She walked in with a big smile on her face, still dreaming about Taylor, and went into makeup. There, her favorite artist Emily was waiting for her, the artist who knew Karlie so well. Karlie had confided in Emily about her failing marriage with Joshua, and had explained why her expression was so flat the past few months. But now, she noticed the big smile and teased Kloss:

"What have you been up to, Ms. Kloss? Ran into an old lover? Or a new one?" When Kloss' cheeks turned a little red, Emily was surprised - it had only been a joke. "Sooo, what happened?"

The model responded as she was sitting down: "Well Em, I ran into Taylor earlier. You know, T-Swift. I was real close with her a few years back, but with Josh's family and Tay being so vocal about her issues with the White House and whatever, they kind of pushed me to cut contact with her.

But I just saw her, as I was going into that sushi place she told me about - it's really good by the way -, and she looked so happy and healthy. I just, I am mad at myself that I let Josh's family control me. She's such a good person and I never should've let the contact fade away!" Karlie became a little red again, not from blushing, but from rising anger. She blamed herself for the, in her eyes, undeniable mistake.

Emily was there to console her, and responded: "You know Karls, it's never too late to fix things that happened in the past. If you want her back in your life, just reach out to her again. Did you guys make plans to meet again?" Karlie nodded, and Emily went on: "See, there you go. It's going to be alright. One thing though honey: You need to clear your mind and figure out what you're feeling. I don't know if it's just a close friendship from the past or if it was something more. To me, it looks like the latter. And you know I'm not a fan of Joshua, but last I knew, it's a choice between one or the other. Otherwise, you'll have a lot more issues to figure out." Just as she stopped talking, Emily had finished the makeup. "You're all ready darling. Take it one day at a time, it's going to be alright"

Karlie knew she had to focus on her shoot for now, but not before thanking Emily for her support: "Thanks Em, everything you said is true. The only thing is, she said she'd text me, but I changed my number a few weeks back. How can she reach me??"

"Just ask Lil! She knows you both. See, simple and easy hun!" Emily said, with a happy look in her eyes. Karlie did feel calm after hearing the soothing words from the makeup artist / friend, and smiled. She gave Emily a quick hug, before heading into the photostudio. She was in a simple, minimalistic outfit, with the focus on her face. A make-up shoot, focusing on the bright red lipstick that Karlie had to wear. It reminded her of a certain other blonde, who looked so good with red lips. Before wandering off again, she regained her focus. Time to get the shoot done.