Hiding in My Closet

Taylor came to visit. It was the best. And it was a surprise. Mostly.

As I was leaving the house with her on the phone recently, she heard Christian in the kitchen. She asked if she could talk to him. Confused, I handed over my phone. He took it and went upstairs, shutting his door behind him. I blinked at Kat and Molly and tried not to ask what was going on, since everyone was chiding me about being too inquisitive.

Later at work I made sad eyes at Christian. "I'm being so good, and not asking about the blatant conspiracy, that happened right in front of me." He frowned, "Yeah, I'm kinda mad at her about that." I shrugged, and he continued, "I'll just have to yell at her when she gets here." Then he looked like he wanted to punch himself in the face. He's always emphasizing that we can't keep secrets. I couldn't stop grinning, and every time he saw my little smile he'd yell, "But you still don't know when!"

A few days went by, and then early Thursday morning I got a text from her saying she was fighting with her parents. I was concerned, but she wouldn't give me any details. She said she'd tell me that night. She told me how hot it was in Arizona, how she was watching her brother play Rayman. She stopped texting for three hours, then said she'd fallen asleep. She sent me a picture of her dog, and then a bit before we closed for the night, she told me she was going to bed. I feebly protested that she was going to tell me about that morning, and she said she didn't feel well. I wished her goodnight.

I got home, cross and tired, ready for bed. I was at this point convinced that Christian had lied to me, that the fight meant she wouldn't be coming to visit/at all. I passed Molly and Kat in the living room, saying I was going to bed. They wished me good night. I opened my door and petted Leeloo as she greeted me, bending to fill her food bowl. Then I looked up and saw my bed was unmade. I cursed and went back downstairs to pull my sheets from the dryer. I nodded to Molly and Kat who had paused Breaking Bad and were looking like I had interrupted something.

It was immediately apparent that my sheets were not dry. I gritted my teeth and set them to run another cycle, heading back upstairs. I plopped into my computer chair, texting my dissatisfaction with life to a friend. From behind me I heard a soft, "Hey." I was startled, and thought it was Molly, but I hadn't heard my door open, and in an attempt to pretend I wasn't taken off guard, without turning, or looking up, I gave a tiny shrug and the most nonchalant "Hey" back. And then I froze, because it wasn't Molly's voice, and I put my phone down and turned, and Taylor was standing there. My eyes got huge, "Hey!" I was up like a shot and we hugged for most of the rest of the night.

She boarded the plane at about 1pm, hence her three hour nap. She went back 37 weeks on her Instagram to find the picture of her dog she sent me. Molly and Kat had paused their show the first time I went upstairs to listen at the foot of the stairs, and Taylor watched me fill up Leeloo's food bowl, convinced I'd look up and see her hiding there in my closet.