In Another Universe

ch 10

Taylor-22 pov

"Hi, how are you guys? It's conan and olivia, right?" I asked as they came in, and giggled a little bit when Olivia's expression told me that she is beyond stunned.

"Yep that's us" conan replied. It doesn't take a lot to see that he is trying so hard to contain his excitement.

"I heard so much about you guys! You guys are amazing singers!" I let out a little laugh after seeing both of their expressions.

"wait, how do you know that we sing?" Olivia asked.

"OH, I saw a video of you two singing at the park, it was so amazing, thanks for choosing to sing my song"

"anything for you taylor" conan, who is still trying to play it cool, replied.

"This is why you are also chosen to come here to the secret session".

"Wait, so you hand-picked us? And we were supposed to keep this meet and greet a secret?"

I was literally dying of laughter at this point, but i don't want to seem rude since i get the star-struck feeling. Mind you, i had even been there before.

I got myself together and replied, "Yes, I hand picked you guys, and yes, it's better if you keep this a secret, but you don't have to".

After some small talk and getting comfortable with each other,  I decided to do something very brave: asking the kids about all the questions that I have brewing in my mind.

"I was wondering, were your parents here tonight? Cause I didn't see your parents anywhere and the rule is that minors have to be accompanied by their guardians." I gathered up the courage to ask.

However, I immediately saw the change in the air and saw both of the kids tense up. I even saw olivia looking over to Conan, her eyes screaming: please help me. Not wanting to scare away my guests any further and straight up blow off my chance of getting my answer, I quickly continued," I'm just curious, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I know that you want to keep the family matter out of here since it's a bit too personal."

But Conan bravely and slowly answered, "We don't have a family. We live in the orphanage, and me and her consider each other family." Oh. That is not what I was expecting. I was more expecting a divorce in their house than this. But how do they look so similar if they are not related?

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I know that it must be hard for you guys".

"Sure is. Especially after we lost all of our money saved for this tour to Maya." Olivia went on. Wait. Who's Maya? And why is she stealing two little kids' money?

After that slipped out of Olivia's mouth, conan glared at Olivia and whisper shouted, watch what you're saying!, thinking that I can't hear him. This is definitely deeper than what it seems to be.

So I pressed on, "can you give more context? Who's Maya? And why is she stealing money from you guys?".

Then I saw guilt forming in Olivia's eyes and immediately felt bad. No 8-year-olds should be going though something so complicated. I wanted to stop questioning her since she looks to be on the verge of tears, but part of me also doesn't want to give up until they answered every single question of mine because I want to debunk this mystery.

Olivia's eyes met with Conan's for a split second before it hid away to the ground. But conan is silently urging olivia to continue on. So olivia took a deep breath and said, "Ever since we found out that this tour is coming, We were so excited, so we decided to ask the orphanage if we can go to this tour. They said yes, but the deal is that we have to make all the ticket money all by ourselves, so that's what we did. We performed in local shows and earned money from people in the neighborhood. However, on our last day of performing and when we almost got all of our money, Maya, who was dressed like a criminal, rushed in and grabbed our money box and ran away."

"So if it weren't for you and ruby, who apparently chose us to be here, we won't even have a chance to go to this tour." Conan added.

"whoa. I'm so sorry to hear that you guys have to go through something like that, but may I ask you more question? When Olivia told me this, why did you tell her to stop?" I pressed on.

"Well, Maya threatened everyone in the orphanage that if any information even just about the orphanage gets out, we're gonna be in big trouble."

"Wow, that's insane. I'm glad that you guys told us me. Conan and olivia, you need to know, this is not getting in trouble. This is getting neglected. What if the orphanage did something illegal? Would you guys have told it told somebody? No, because you got threatened to keep it in yourself." I lectured them seriously.

"Wait. So If Maya's stole you guys's money in the last minute, how did you even get here? I know that you guys got chosen to be here , but how did you arrive here? Did you speak with another adult in your orphanage and they agreed to drive you here?" I continued my questions.

"No. Ruby drove us here. She asked for our address the day she met us at the park and then told us to meet her at 10 AM today in front of our driveway. She even escorted us into the arena and to here. But the problem is, she left right before we came in here for the secret session, so we don't know how to get home."

"Don't fire ruby though. She is the nicest person that I've ever met. If it weren't for her then I will miss the best day of my life, and I'm more than thankful that she's so kind and decided to drive us. I guess we just didn't think through this, because we planned this at the last minute. I know what she did might be against the rules, but for the sake of me, please don't fire her." Olivia begged. Awww, olivia is so kind.

But I was very hesitant since Ruby is a new worker and she is already doing stuff that is not listed on our contract. What if in a few years or so, she starts to completely go off the rail and do something extremely bizarre?

After seeing Olivia's disappointed face, I weighed my options, sucked up and agreed, "Okay, I'll keep your request, but now let's talk about how to get you home. Do you want me to drive you home? I don't think the orphanage is too safe for you guys," i said as i reached over to grab a piece of paper, "here. I'll write down my number, call me if you need anything. Also, can you give me the orphanage's address? I might need to report this."

Conan's eyes widened when he heard the word "report this". But I am not going back. I am reporting this issue whether or not they allow me to or not. It is not just Conan and Olivia who's being neglected. All the kids from the orphanage are also being neglected.

However, conan took a deep breath and confidently replied, "yes, I would love it if you can drive us home. And sure, we have an old flip phone that a older kid at the orphanage gave to us, so we can call you," conan also gave the orphanage address to me.

"It looks like our five minutes is up. It's been seven minutes already actually. Since I'm driving you guys home, you guys might need to wait until the end of the secret session until you can go. Sorry, I know it is going to be very late, but this is the best that we can manage. Also, here take this," I said as i pulled out a piece of paper will my number on it, "and please called the people who is next in line: Sarah and Georgia."

They nodded and left. Before the next few people came in, I got up and anxiously started pacing around the room. I definitely need to report this, but then where will all the orphanage kids go? And what do I do after reporting this issue? I have a busy schedule ahead of me, so when do I have time to deal with this? I know that it will be taken into court, but how does that even work? Taylor, what have you done! I silently cursed at myself, "you're just a 22 year old woman who's obsessed with cats, how are you going to solve this issue?"

When Sarah and Georgia came in, I decided to shove all my problems to the side. Conan and olivia can wait. I need to deal with these two first.

"How are you guys?" I enthusiastically greeted them.

An
---
I know this chapter might seem like a very big repeat of chapter 8, but I definitely wanted to show Taylor's perspective too. I don't have much to say today, so I'll see you in the next ones!