Getaway Car

Drive Out of the City, Away From the Crowds

"Welcome to Cleveland. The Cleve," Travis gestured widely from the tarmac of his hometown as Taylor deplaned.

"I've been here before, you know," she said wryly.

"But not with ME. And also not on the Eras Tour, what the hell?"

She gave him a big hug and he scooped her up and spun her around. They hadn't seen each other since his birthday a few weeks ago and she was getting ready to leave for the South American leg of her tour soon. Travis had convinced her that they needed one more outing (with an agreed upon joint social media post) before she left the country. He was surprised how little convincing she needed to come to Cleveland, of all places.

While Travis was putting her luggage in the trunk, Taylor asked "So what's the plan?" climbing into his Range Rover. A purple convertible wouldn't have been all that practical for Cleveland in November, sadly.

"So glad you asked!" Travis said getting into the driver's seat, clearly excited. "I was wracking my brain. Where do you take Taylor Swift in Cleveland? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? No way, too obvious. You performed there. And you have stuff on display in there, so that would be weird."

"Mmhmmm," Taylor said, suspicious of whatever he's planned. He'd cleared it with her security, but he'd specifically asked them not to tell her.

"So then you're like, what about West Side Market? A big old indoor food hall? Could be fun, but that's going to be a lot of crowds. I can get kinda swamped in there and I'm not you. And your team said 'no chance.'"

Taylor continued to listen patiently.

"So then it hit me. Obviously, you take her to the Troll Hole!"

"The what?"

"The world's largest collection of trolls, like the toy. It's an hour drive, but I bet it'll be worth it. I've never actually been, but I bet you haven't been to the Troll Hole either," Travis said.

"You're right. I haven't been to the Troll Hole."

"And across the street?" he paused for dramatic effect, "There's a cat cafe." He was extremely proud of himself.

Taylor gasped and a smile erupted on her face. "Oh. My. God. Yes."

Over the drive, Taylor and Travis sang loudly to the pop songs on the radio - only one of them was a Taylor Swift song. At one point, Taylor took out her phone and recorded a voice memo. She softly sang, "Golden cornfields for miles, sharing secrets and smiles. La la la, something about the heartland, Midwestern moment."

"Oh. My. God. Was that??" Travis kept doing double takes his head to look at her, not remotely keeping his eyes on the road. Luckily traffic was non-existent.

"Huh?" Taylor said, putting her phone away.

"Is this going to be A SONG?" Travis' face had the biggest smile. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Oh that. Maybe? But I have literally hundreds of those on my phone, so don't get too excited. It was just an idea. I find I need to record it when a lyric or melody pops into my head or I lose it," Taylor said.

"That is the coolest thing I've ever seen. You just made art out of I-480?? Like, I'm seeing the same cornfields, but your brain sees them and thinks that. Damn," Travis dropped his head to the back of the headrest, eyes wide, processing.

"You're not scared you're going to do something shitty and I'll write a song about it?"

"Nah, I'd deserve it. I just gotta make sure I don't do anything shitty," Travis smiled so earnestly, without a hint of trepidation.