Back to me

Chapter 4

Taylor met her publicist, Tree, for dinner once a week. This week the restaurant of choice was a small French place not too far from her home.

The singer spotted a head of red hair and slid into the both across from them.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." She removed her coat and neatly hung it on the hook that stuck out from the booth post.

Tree glanced up from her menu with a smile. "You're fine; I just got here myself."
Taylor began to look through her menu as well.

As she was reading through the appetizers section, Tree questioned her.

"Anything interesting happen today?"

She hummed as she recalled the day's events. "Well, this morning I saw Meredith and Olivia sharing a bed, that was exciting. And then there was this girl name Karlie, she switched phones with me."

The enthusiasm of Taylor's voice increased as she continued to talk about the girl. "She goes to Juilliard, and I think she's a dancer. And she's so tall-- taller than me!"

"Wait, what do you mean she switched phones with you?" Tree asked.

Taylor set her menu down as she explained. "We both set our stuff down on the counter when we were ordering our coffee, and I accidentally took hers. So I called her and we traded back."

"Do you have her contact info?"

Taylor's confusion showed on her face. "It's probably in my call history, why?"

"You should invite her to lunch or something, as a thank you. She saved us a lot of trouble, do you know how bad things could've gone if someone was able to get into your phone?"

Taylor nodded in full seriousness. "You're right, they could've gotten a hold of my cat-selfies."

"Uh, yeah..." Tree was thinking of something along the more disastrous outcomes, but that worked too.

"I'll call her tomorrow, it's the weekend so she probably won't be too busy." Taylor grinned, glad to have a reason to contact Karlie again.

Their waiter eventually came around and Taylor spent the rest of that evening enjoying her meal with Tree.

---

Saturday mornings was Karlie's designated workout time. From nine to eleven she was pushing her body to its limits.

While on the treadmill, her phone rang. Karlie glanced around and the other gym-goers, who were listening to their music. Only a few hundred feet away from finishing her last mile, Karlie decided against stepping off to answer her call.

She pressed the mic button and greeted the caller with her usual perky tone. "Hello?"
"Hi! This is Taylor, we met yesterday when we-"

Stunned, Karlie lost focus of her workout. Taylor Swift was calling her? That was absurd!

Too busy processing the thought of Taylor calling her, Karlie had forgotten that she was on a treadmill. With the slip of a foot, the dancer was plummeting to the ground.
"Oof!" She grunted as she hit the floor. Around her, the other members of the gym curiously eyed her.

"Are you okay over there? It sounded like something fell."

"Y-yeah. It's all good over here, totally fine." Karlie sprung back on her feet and shut down her machine.

"Well, alrighty then. So, I was calling to see if I could take you out to a thank-you-lunch tomorrow-- if you're not busy, that is."

Karlie slipped outside so she didn't have to talk in a room full of people. "You really don't have to thank me, I didn't even do anything."

"Oh, come on, don't be so modest. It would've been hell for me if someone who isn't as kind as you got a hold of my phone."

Karlie swore she was dreaming. Taylor had called her, then she had invited her out to lunch, and now she was complimenting her. It was unreal.

"Well, I'm not doing anything tomorrow..."

"Great! Do you wanna meet by Marea at one?"

Karlie beamed a goofy smile. "Sounds great!"

"Awesome! I'll see you later, than."

"Bye..." Karlie wasn't sure if she had actually made a sound, but she hung up anyways.

She leaned against the brick wall behind herself and let out an exuberant breath.

She was having lunch with Taylor Swift.