Daylight

Chapter XI - Cruel Summer

May 3, 2019

If for some reason her music career suddenly crashes and burns, Taylor is pretty sure she could start her own cleaning agency and make good money from it. After a full day of cleaning after the cleaners had gone through the entire flat, she's pretty sure it's never looked better. Some might say polishing the living room floor was a tad over the top, but those people would be wrong. Olivia most definitely is not a fan of the newly polished wood, slipping as she tries to get across the living room, away from Benjamin. The newest addition to the feline triumvirate is quickly scooped up before he annoys the older cats even more and Taylor walks through the flat slowly, trying to find anything that is out of place before Karlie gets there.

And something does feel off.

She notices it as soon as she stands still in the hallway. Benji is purring loudly, digging his nose into the nape of her neck and sniffing so hard Taylor thinks he might be inhaling her moisturiser right now (Estée Lauder 72-hour protection, not at all because Karlie is the brand's ambassador so she'd pick up on it and maybe make a remark about it and Taylor could pretend this was just yet another fun thing they shared).

"What is it, buddy?" She mumbles to the cat, looking around the place.

With Benji trying to push his nose against her cheek and generally being cute but unhelpful, she paces up and down the hallway some more. It's dumb, surely. There is absolutely nothing both a professional team of cleaners and herself could have missed. The place is so clean you could eat off the floor. Does cleanliness even matter to Karlie this much? Taylor has her doubts but a good clean never hurt anybody.

It's not like she's done all of this for Karlie, it was more of a way to distract herself from the anticipation of seeing the blonde model again. And she didn't go through her entire wardrobe for three hours for Karlie, that was just her being distracted by the amount of clothes she has. And the long-winded shower and immaculate make-up was definitely not for Karlie but just because she wanted to look nice for herself. It makes perfect sense.

Karlie would not even care.

The buzzer goes and Taylor feels a slight pinch through her shirt where Benjamin tries to dig his nails into her. She quickly puts him down before walking to the door, making sure to check her hair in the mirror once more - you know, for her own benefit.

When the door opens, it's an immediate flurry of limbs and expensive perfume, both of which knock the air out of her lungs when Karlie wraps her arms around her so tight she can hardly breathe. She revels in it, reciprocating the hug as Karlie shows no sign of letting go anytime soon. She's not sure how long they stand there, wrapped in each other's arms, but Taylor does have enough common sense to push the front door shut and prevent Benji from escaping. She's pretty sure somewhere in the building her security team is very confused, but she doesn't care. She really, really does not care.

"I missed you." Karlie whispers, her breath feeling hot against Taylor's ear, "How have you been?"

"All good," Taylor manages to mumble before pulling back, "you look well."

"Just threw this on, really," Karlie points at the jeans and the Stones t-shirt she is wearing, and Taylor immediately believes the nonchalance, "you look freaking stunning."

"This?" She pulls at her shirt's collar, "Super old, just fancied wearing it - anyway, this is Benji."

She scoops him up once more, almost dragging him out of Karlie's bag that had got dropped during the hug and was immediately deemed investigation-worthy by the small cat. Karlie squeals and holds out her arms and Taylor is more than happy to push the small ball of fur into her arms before stepping back.