Gone.

Coffee All Alone

Karlie rubs her sweaty palms on her jeans as she sits staring out of the window of the coffee shop. It was a little unknown place that was Karlie's favourite. Taylor hadn't heard of it before so in addition to the nerves of seeing the girl again, Karlie had become even more nervous that the blonde had gotten lost.

To get to the shop you had to follow a few cobbled back roads. Karlie liked it because it was away from the world, her escape. The bustling lives of other New Yorkers felt miles away. Karlie still struggled getting used to the business. After all, she had come from St. Louis.

Just as she was about to let her thought train arrive in the worst case scenario station her ears twitch slightly as she hears the unmistakable sound of heels on stone. Sure enough, a mere few seconds later Taylor comes into view wearing a plaid woollen poncho and a moss green scarf that perfectly colour matched her skinny jeans. She also had a small black handbag dangling from her right elbow as her eyes remained trained on the ground intently as if concentrating hard on not falling over. Expertly, she navigates the potholes to the coffee shop door and a small bell chimes delicately as the door opens.

Karlie's nerves subside slightly once she can confirm that Taylor had gotten to the café without dying and she jumps up immediately to greet the girl. They hug, notably for the first time, but there is no awkwardness about it as their bodies briefly mould together. Karlie's body heat radiates through Taylor's poncho, considerably warming her up.

They take their seats and Karlie immediately offers to get their drinks. Of course, Taylor chooses the pumpkin spice latte and when Karlie returns just a few moments later to their window table there are a few seconds of silence as girls smile into their steaming mugs.

"So, how have you been?" Karlie attempts to get the conversation flowing.

"You mean since you saw me in the store yesterday evening?" She smirks. Karlie just responds with a chuckle and an eager nod. "Okay I guess, I'm just getting a little frustrated with my writer's block," Taylor shrugs and takes a sip out of her mug. She can feel the hot liquid run down her gullet and it burns slightly, making her wince.

Karlie frowns. It just occurs to her that she knows very little about the girl in front of her. "Writer's block? So you're a writer?"

"Sort of. I write songs for musicians and sometimes co-write with them."

"Hmm, anything I might have heard of?" Karlie moves her mug to her lips to gently blow on the coffee before taking a sip.

"Well that depends, I'd say my favourite person to write with is Ed Sheeran." Taylor says it so nonchalantly but it is like a bomb has just been dropped on Karlie and the coffee that she had just gulped ends up starting to choke her and she begins coughing. Karlie brings a hand to her chest as the lack of air begins to constrict her lungs, a wave of panick washes over her body.

Concerned, Taylor rushes around to Karlie on the other side of the table and begins rubbing her back in fast circles whilst spewing calming words and instructions to help.

Eventually, Karlie's breathing pattern returns to normal, although her throat now feels rough and raw, she is now able to reply to Taylor's massive name drop.

"You cannot do that to me," she says, still rubbing her throat and taking deep breaths to make up for the oxygen debt.

"Do what?" Taylor smiles, knowing exactly what the younger girl is referring to.

"Ed Sheeran is literally my favourite artist; I know all his songs. You have no idea how many times I have sat out in the rain trying to meet him and here you are, casually saying you've written songs with him!" She puts a hand to her head, blatantly still trying to process this information.

"Well, I mean..." Taylor trails off but Karlie encourages her to continue with a nod of her head. "I guess I could set something up."

"Like what?" But before Taylor can answer she excuses herself to make a phone call and proceeds to exit the coffee shop. Karlie can still see her through the glass as she talks animatedly on the phone for a few minutes before returning to her seat opposite Karlie.

"Well?" The taller girl asks, slightly frustrated with the lack of information she currently has.

"What?", Taylor teases

"What was the phone call about?"

"Oh right! That! Yeah, so the plan is you give me your address, we go to your place and Ed will meet us there when he finishes his work at about 3."

The noise that comes out of Karlie's mouth in that moment is anything but human and she leaps up to engulf the blonde in a bear hug, almost falling over in the process. Taylor laughs softly into her shoulder feeling happy that she could do this for Karlie and they both grin like idiots. She finds it strange how she barely knows Karlie at all. Hopefully that will change. Suddenly, and almost out of nowhere, Taylor gets a short snippet of a lyric idea which she quickly jots down in her phone notes when Karlie removes herself from the embrace.

"Oh my god, I need to go tidy up the place. We need to go. How does he feel about dogs?", Karlie appears flustered and her breaths are somewhat sporadic. The girls collect their bags and navigate their way back through the cobbled streets to re-join the bustle of New York and get to Karlie's apartment all the while arm in arm in order to offer support to one another on the rough terrain of the unstable cobbles.