Calming the storm {Kaylor}

Chapter 9: It's here!

With the anger that came after her fallout with Joshua, Karlie felt a need to release. She hadn't gone out in ages, but felt this was a good time. She called up a few friends and created a group: Lily, Gigi, Cara and Behati were all in town and ready for a good night out. When she called Lily, Lily had insisted that they would bring Taylor too. Karlie, of course, did not hesitate to make that a reality. She quickly called Taylor, who seemed down for a fun night.

After getting ready for the longest time, not knowing what to wear, Karlie finally felt ready. She wore a tight, cropped, black top. She felt her best accentuating her best features, but never going too over the top. Some magazines called her a 'natural beauty', and natural was indeed the look she was going for.

Before leaving, she saw a text from the P.I. she had hired to look into Joe. Though she was really eager to find out if he had shady business going on, she decided to look at it later, not wanting to ruin her party mood.

They had agreed to meet at Gigi's apartment before going to the club, and when Karlie arrived, everyone was there already. It looked like they had gotten the party started before she arrived, as there were already a few empty wine bottles on the table. This is going to be fun, Karlie thought. Quickly, she greeted everyone and was handed a glass of wine.

Taylor approached her with big eyes. Thinking something was wrong with her top or that her bottom half looked funny, Karlie looked down in confusion when she could find no obvious fault regarding her outfit. She met Taylor's eyes, and said, "Hey Tay, good to see you! Why are you looking at me like that?". Taylor blushed, and blurted out: "Like what?! You just look good, that's all." They locked eyes for a brief moment, before Behati got the whole group together and started chatting away.

[...]

They had been dancing for a few hours now and had had many drinks. They had switched clubs once, but found the right club for the night. Karlie felt good, with a buzz from the drinks she'd had, and got her mind off all other stuff going on in her life. Cara and Behati were dancing together, flirting as they always were, though nothing ever came of it. The others were getting new drinks at the bar, though Taylor was still with her and the other 'happy couple' on the dancefloor.

The singer had never looked so good. Her top was off-shoulder and showed off her prominent cheekbones. Taylor's makeup was subtle but highlighted her beautiful face. Karlie was, to put it simply, in awe. She found herself moving closer to Taylor and saying (more like screaming), "You having a good time?". Taylor smiled at her, moved an inch closer and motioned Karlie to take her hand.

"Come on, no time for talking! Time to dance, beautiful!" And with that, she grabbed Karlie's hand herself, because the tall blonde had been too flabbergasted to make that move, and they started dancing together. The DJ did his best too, and put on a strong house beat. Combined with the alcohol, it was the perfect mix to create a certain atmosphere. Karlie and Taylor moved ever closer together, still touching hands. The singer turned herself around, and started dancing against Karlie. Her hips moved on the beat of the music, and they felt completely in sync. Just like that, Lily came back with another round of shots, which they took. The moment had passed, but it had felt so good.

A few moments later, they were dancing again, and a man approached them. He was tall, objectively handsome, but had a certain arrogance surrounding him. He approached Taylor: "Hey beautiful, you've been looking great all night. Would you like a drink?" She quickly responded, and to everyone surrounding them, it was clear that she wasn't interested. She said: "Thank you, that's very kind. I'm not interested though, sorry. Have a great night!"

The situation turned a little more awkward, as the man did not want to back down, not accepting 'defeat' in his eyes. "Come on, sweetheart, just one drink! What have you got to lose?" Not wanting to make it any more uncomfortable, the singer added that she was not available either. "Sorry, I'm seeing someone". "Oh yeah, why isn't he here then? If he exists he wouldn't leave you, would he?", the man added. Karlie overheard and stepped next to Taylor, putting an arm around her waist. "Sorry dude, it's clear that she doesn't want you. Right?!"

When after this many attempts, the guy still did not back down, and he responded: "Well, she said she's with someone, but I don't see him here. So I just want to buy her a drink, alright? No harm in that." Karlie had fire coming out of her eyes, furious that this guy did not want to take a hint. She thought of a plan though, and added "Who said it was a guy?". With that, she turned Taylor around and kissed her, passionately.

Though Taylor was visibly surprised, she played along and adjusted quickly. She pushed her lips back against Karlie and made out with her. Karlie felt so many things in her body, and it just felt so good. She forgot about the world around her for a second, when she realised that the harasser still looked at them, surprised. He walked away in defeat.

[...]

Karlie thought back to last night, as the night had come to an abrupt ending when there was a brawl in the club, and the personnel wanted everyone out. In the midst of this chaos, Taylor and Karlie were in different taxis, as both with a few of the other girls, and did not speak extensively for the rest of the night. They didn't have a chance to talk about the electric moment they had shared.

When making breakfast, Karlie suddenly remembered that her private investigator had messaged her about the results of shadowing Joe for days. She quickly finished her omelette and called him. The investigator informed her that Joe was not having an affair, as he had suspected before starting his investigation. This was Karlie's suspicion too, so it was interesting to hear that this was not the case.

The truth turned out to be even more surprising though. It was not another woman Joe was in business with, but rather, a certain entertainment manager. Joe had been meeting with Scooter Braun 3 times in the span of five days. The investigator had been able to tap conversations, and was surprised to find that the topic of those meetings was Taylor. Scooter was on a mission to destroy her reputation, and he had found his perfect insider: Taylor's boyfriend. Joe was promised fame and more acting jobs with Scooter as his manager, if he helped him destroy his current girlfriend first. Joe, naive as he was, had agreed. He had been spilling details about private and intimate conversations, which Scooter wanted to use, distribute via the press, to create negative sentiments about Taylor.

After hanging up the phone, Karlie felt sick to her stomach. Her gut feeling about Joe had been right, though not in the way she expected. This meant one thing though, especially after last night: She had to talk to Taylor, and quickly too.