Call it What You Want

6 - Doing Better than I Ever Was

June 2017

Taylor's POV

With my new album coming out in two months, I knew that I couldn't stay hidden away in London forever. As much as I wanted to stay, I had lots of work to finish before the release considering I was gone so frequently: shooting and coordinating the promo material, finalizing the track list, meeting with my label and team, coordinating digital distribution, the list continues. It was all fun and exciting, but it was a lot. I was quickly  brought back to the headspace I was in before taking time off. I didn't want to keep coming to the States alone. This time, I asked Joe if he wanted to come along.

We flew into Nashville to stay with my mom for the weekend. Joe hadn't gotten nearly as much time to hang out with my family as I had his. Austin and Dad came into to town to hang out with us. It was nice to finally have everyone together.

Tonight, we gathered around the kitchen table to play cards. It was strange to see my parents at the same table again.

"I love having my babies home," my mom smiled at me and my brother. "And, its nice to have you along Joe."

"Thank you for having me. You have been a wonderful host," he replied in his cute London accent. I slipped my hand into his under the table.

Dad began dealing cards out. We played a few rounds while catching up with life updates.

"You gonna get that?" Austin asked glancing toward my phone vibrating noisily on the table.

"Um, yeah. I'll be right back. You can skip my turn," I told my family. I picked up phone, unlocked it to answer the call, and stepped into the hallway. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, hi. I wasn't expecting you to pick up."

Oh shit. I didn't even look at the caller ID before I answered. I just assumed it was someone from my label calling. Big mistake.

"Please don't hang up," James sounded desperate.

"Why should I even listen to you?" I retorted. Yet, I was curious. I kept my voice low, so I wouldn't draw out any of my family members, "you are the ones who pushed me away."

"I know we have a lot to talk about. Okay? And I probably owe you an apology. We can meet back in New York in a month," he began to ramble.

"Get to the point."

"We know you just arrived back in Nashville."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I knew they would track my passport use. They were the ones who issued all of my fakes as well. Of course they would know where I was.

"We have an operation this weekend."

I interrupted, "no way in hell." He didn't even need to ask the question.

"Tay, it's your turn again," Austin yelled from the other room.

I muted my phone before yelling back, "take my turn again. Thanks!"

"It's a basic intel op. A transfer of info drop. It has already been planned, location scouted, target is in position. Its just that we have a newer junior agent running point. You really don't have to do much other than supervise communication."

"Why would I do this? You wouldn't have even known I would be back this weekend. What happened to the senior agent on the op?" I had many questions but hadn't declined yet. I assumed this was a training operation for the new agent. Nothing major.

"The senior agent got relocated for a different op less than 24 hours ago. We were scrambling to find a senior agent to run it tomorrow. We thought of calling someone up from Atlanta, but then you arrived," James explained.