Call it What You Want

15 - Just to Keep Me Warm

August 2017

Joe's POV 

"Taylor. Taylor, wake up," I gently shook my girlfriend's shoulder. She  startled me out of my deep sleep with a loud and distressed scream. When I woke up to see what was wrong, I looked over and saw that she was still asleep. "Taylor." I nudged a little harder.

She bolted upright. Her breathing was heavy, and she looked panicked.

"Hey hey it's just me." I put my hands up in defense in case she tried to take a swing. After a few seconds, she processed where she was and without warning burst into tears.

"Bad dream?" I asked. She nodded yes. "I'll grab you a glass of water." I stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen. Taylor must have been super quiet coming in late last night because I couldn't recall her ever getting in bed. While I waited for the glass to fill with ice, I glanced at the glowing microwave clock. 4 AM.

"Here you go," I said passing her the glass and getting back in bed.

"Thanks." Taylor took a few sips of the water. Then, she stared blankly into the dark room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered.

Taylor reached to put her empty glass on the bedside table. "Not really." With that, she slid back under the covers and turned to face away from me.

"Um okay." I too got back under the covers and tried to fall back asleep. I wondered what nightmare would have scared her that badly. I turned my head to see if she had rolled over. She hadn't, but then she said "Joe?"

"Yeah," I answered.

Her voice cracked like she was about to cry again. "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise," I reassured her.

The next time I woke up, it was to Taylor's phone alarm going off. I rubbed my eyes and rolled over to see what time it was. The sun was barely starting to peek through the curtains. 6 AM. Wow, I got a whole extra two hours of sleep. Taylor, despite getting in late last night sprung out of bed, turned off her alarm, and hurried to the bathroom to get ready. Sometimes I wondered if she ever needed sleep or if she was a completely different kind of human.

I wasn't quite ready to get out of bed yet, so I grabbed my phone and rolled on my back to check messages and emails. Within about 10 minutes, Taylor emerged from the bathroom with her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and no makeup on, a sure sign that she was going somewhere she didn't think she'd be followed. I watched as she crossed the room to the closet and threw on a black tank top and a pair of leggings.

"Going to the gym?" I asked trying to make conversation.

"No, I need to get out of the city. I'm going out to Rhode Island. I'll probably hang there and do some work."

I'm glad I asked because she didn't seem like she was about to tell me before leaving. "Okay. Do you mind if I come along to keep you company?" The drive was usually about three hours long if traffic wasn't bad. I was a little concerned with her going out there by herself considering all of the overwhelming events of the past few days.

Taylor thought for a moment about whether she wanted to let me come along.

"I'll get changed quickly," I told her in case she was on a tight schedule.

Taylor reluctantly agreed. "Alright, you can come along. I'll meet you at the car in ten minutes." By the time I got out of bed, Taylor had already made her way downstairs. I threw on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Before heading out the door, I went to my special hiding spot to grab the engagement ring Taylor's mom gave me; it was her grandmother's. I wanted to have it just in case the moment seemed right.

When I finally made my way to the car, Taylor looked ready to go. She sat in the driver's seat, already buckled in, and had her phone connected for music. She enjoyed the long drive out of the city, so I climbed into the passenger seat. I wasn't about to get in a fight over driving. Plus, I was fine riding as a passenger since driving on the opposite side of the road still felt so wrong.

The drive out of the city took longer than usual because we hit morning rush hour. We didn't say much to each other until we were cruising along the highway. Taylor was actually the one to initiate the conversation.

"So at my meeting yesterday, they talked about the information you and Natalie gave me."

"Oh?"

Taylor kept her eyes fixed on the road but continued talking. "They know what is on the device and acted fairly certain that MI6 still doesn't know they've had a breach."

Well, that's a relief. I had almost been holding my breath for the past few months just waiting to see when MI6 would come after me or Natalie for committing treason. "That's good right?" I looked to see if Taylor had any reaction.

"I guess. They didn't seem eager to ease up on my caseload. Especially after what I pulled with my album."

"Eh, screw that. Natalie and I can apply more pressure if necessary," I told her.

She gave me a sideways glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, we obviously didn't give them everything we have. It would be foolish not to keep some protection for ourselves."

Taylor nodded as if that made sense to her. "Would you be able to set up a meeting with Natalie for me?"

Now it was my turn to be confused. Why would she need to meet with Natalie?

"I suppose I can see if she wants to meet. She flew back to London a few days after the drop. Do you mind my asking why you want to meet with her?"

"You two were just so close. Both work wise and personal wise. I think it'd be nice to get to know her and all the embarrassing stories she has about you."

"Come on, that's not fair!" I complained. "But, I'll see what she says."

By the time we arrived at the house, we had talked about everything from the best flavor of cake to plans for Christmas. Since Taylor originally came here to work, I left her alone with her piano and guitar for the afternoon. I read over a few new film scripts sent to me by my agent.

Around dinner time, I went to pick up sandwiches from the local deli since I wasn't in the mood to cook. When I returned from my outing, I spotted Taylor sitting on the back porch with her guitar. "Hungry?" I held up my grocery bag. We ate and listened to the rhythm of the waves. I could see why Taylor loved coming here. It was refreshing. A change of scenery. A change of pace. Quiet and comforting.  Here we didn't have to think about anything or anyone else. Just us.

The sun sank lower, casting a warm  orange glow over everything in sight. I patted the ring that had been sitting in my pocket all day. I was filled with nervous excitement as I thought about asking Taylor to marry me.  When I turned to look at her, she looked at peace. Truthfully it had been a few months since I'd seen her look as relaxed as she was now, and I wanted her to have that more than anything now. So, I walked around the table to take a seat next to her on the bench. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her to keep her warm as the ocean breeze picked up. I wanted to freeze time and stay in this moment forever. Soon enough, the sun dipped below the horizon to signal the end of another day.

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These chapters keep ending up a little longer than I intend. Do you like the longer chapters or shorter ones?