Daylight

Chapter XXI - Madwoman

August 7, 2019

"Are we all set?" Taylor asks Andrea who is frantically fanning a tray of cupcakes on the kitchen island, "Do you think I have overdone it?"

"Honey, you overdo it every single time you do one of these," Andrea sighs good-naturedly, "Once these have cooled down and get iced, I think you're good for food."

"Is there any chance," Taylor wraps her arms around her mother from behind, "that you could maybe take a head start on them? Brian is coming over in about twenty minutes and I sort of want to drive him down the strip in Nashville and tell him some stories so he can use them for that Rolling Stone interview."

"Of course," the blonde woman doesn't skip a beat, "what time does this thing even start, Taylor?"

"Five, but the buses are picking the fans up at four, so they are probably going to rock up sooner than expected." Taylor lets go of Andrea and surveys all the baking they'd done the day before and most of the day, "This is enough food for 113 people, right?"

"It's enough food for triple that." Andrea says drily, "You go get changed and drive around with that reporter and I'll get started on these cupcakes. What do you want them to say?"

"Just Lover," the singer calls as she walks out of the kitchen, "preferably in glitter!"

Seconds later she's up the stairs of the Nashville estate, walking into the master bedroom and then immediately going into the walk-in closet. Grateful she already picked an outfit to wear today, she strips down to her underwear and reaches for the colourful top when her phone buzzes in the pocket of the jeans she just took off.

Maybe Brian is running late.

Her phone buzzes again, then again. There is a true haptic frenzy as her phone continues to buzz like crazy for a solid ten seconds, only stopping when she finally manages to pull it out of the jeans pocket and unlocks the lock screen.

New message: Selena

Did you see this???

New message: Selena

I thought you two were okay again. What happened?

New message: Selena

Why the fuck is Karlie on a yacht with Scooter?

In one single moment, she knows actually what people mean when they say your blood runs cold. Without even opening her message thread with her best friend, she immediately goes onto Instagram, clicking on the first search result when she enters a single K. There's nothing. With a frown on her face Taylor swipes up and instead opens google, entering the few keywords from Selena's texts.

Karlie Kloss, Scooter Braun, yacht.

Google yields multiple results and simultaneously crushes her. Sure enough there are pictures of Karlie and Josh with Scooter and Yael, with David Geffen, with people she recognises but doesn't know the actual names of. It feels like a punch in the gut. There are a few new incoming texts from Selena but instead of opening them, she chooses to call her friend instead. The Latina picks up after just one ring.

"Hey."

"What the fuck."

"I know." Taylor drops the sweater she'd been holding onto for the past few minutes, "I'm not sure what's going on."

"I'll tell you exactly what's going on." Selena sounds pissed off, "She's playing you."

Taylor doesn't say anything, instead chooses to chew the inside of her cheek. She knows arguing with Selena is going to set off the younger woman even more. So instead, she keeps quiet and listens to Selena's choice words for a couple of minutes.