The confusing year of 2016 or how it all began

June 2016

June 2016. Taylor and Adam's breakup was officially announced to the press. Taylor looked at the empty nightstand on the other side of her bed. A week ago, Adam had moved absolutely all of his stuff out of her apartment. She opened her phone for a minute, but all the websites were already writing shocking news about their breakup. She went to a couple of them, but quickly turned off her phone. There was a kind of emptiness, but not like a heartbreak. It just felt like there was suddenly nothing in her life. A blank, white canvas. It wasn't, but that's how it felt right now. Olivia meowed and jumped on the couch, Taylor lightly scratching her behind the ear when the doorbell rang. Tom was standing on the doorstep with flowers and a bottle of wine. He smiled at her and kissed her.
- Congratulations, you are now officially single.
Taylor didn't say anything about it. Their affair. Her forbidden and secret affair. She had never been prone to cheating. But she had deceived herself. She ran away from Adam. And Tom... believed... what? She didn't know. A month ago, she had told herself she could always stop. And how? Did she? No. She remembered blushing after supposedly being at the store. In fact, she had met Tom on the outskirts of town. Their forbidden romance had sprung from nothing, but Taylor felt like it was about to die, too. But not on Tom's part. There was nothing; he seemed to believe that everything would be okay now, they love each other, after all. He loves, that's for sure, but does she?
-Honey, I bought some groceries, do you want me to make us some shrimp pasta? You liked it last time, Tom said.
- Yes, it was very good, make it again. Taylor smiled at him and put her head on his shoulder. Perfect picture, he loves her, she loves him. He makes her pasta, they'll lie on the couch and watch a movie. Everything is perfect. But it's all a lie. And if he called her baby one more time. Sometimes she wanted to scream, "Don't call me baby, don't call me yours! What are we doing? I've never been such an idiot!". But she would never say that. Not now, anyway. She cares about him. But she... no, stop. She loves him, he loves her. That's it.