[kaylor] mirrored;

puppet strings;

She'd come across her soulmate, and they'd stopped her health problems. And they were still nearby.

/ / /

Taylor's called out of reminiscing when her barista calls her name for the third time, concerned look on her face. "Sorry, zoned out there," Taylor apologizes, accepting the coffee. She wraps her fingers around the warming cardboard coaster and leaves a tip before scurrying out into the snow. Her long legs carry her home fast. Martha isn't there when she returns, but she's left a post-it note on the door reading "Trying out someone new. Wish me luck. Be back whenever." Taylor clicks her tongue in shame at Martha's note. She never could stay away from boys for long, bless her heart.

Her phone starts ringing and vibrating in her pocket when she settles down on her bed, and with much delay, she reaches into her pocket, recognizing the ringtone. "Hey, mom."

"Tay, did you go to the meeting about the abroad program? I was told that your meeting with them should have been today." I'm doing great, Mom, how are you? Oh, that's good. How's dad? Austin? Good, good. What did you call about?

"I did, mom. I'm a little hesitant but I'll probably end up going. It looks like a good opportunity."

"It is a great opportunity," Andrea corrects shortly. "Any employer looking at your transcript and resume would be wildly interested in you. You'll have no trouble getting a job as a politician. Your father did an abroad program in Germany and was hired for a campaign right out of college!"

Taylor's eyes shut gently as her mother speaks, letting her go off on her usual babbling. Something didn't feel right in her gut when her mother spoke of her political future, but now was not the time to address it. She followed along because she had to.

"Yeah, my adviser told me how beneficial it'd be. I haven't had the chance to look over the information packets yet, though. I was going to call you after I did."

"Oh, I can just sum them up for you, I read them earlier this morning."

"No, it's alright Mom," Taylor says, feeling odd deja vu, "I want to read them myself."

"No Taylor, it's perfectly fine, I have the time." Taylor opens her mouth to reply, but she can already hear the rustling of papers. Her mother starts to drone on about the details of the program. Taylor hums in response every few seconds, but she's hardly listening. She doesn't know how much time has passed when something cues her back into the conversation.

"Wait, what?"

"Pay attention, Taylor. I said your father and I will look into apartments in Paris for you. The sooner we get a deposit down on one, the better. I doubt NYU is the only college offering this program, we need to act fast." Taylor sits up straight in her bed, confusion riddling her face.

"I don't even know if I'm going yet, who said anything about apartments?" Andrea had this awful habit of managing Taylor's life, even from thousands of miles away. It started as a child with her selective choosing of who she would have play-dates with. As she got older, she rebelled against her mother's word a little, choosing her friends and when she did things, but she was always wary of error and failure when she did such. She did not befriend people she knew would hurt her in the end to the best of her ability and she did her best to ensure beneficial outcomes. Her almost robotic desire for perfection became a nuisance sometimes, but she'd do anything to avoid disapproval from her mother. To her surprise, friends that she had made more recently at college had begun to bend and mold that nature. 

"I just did, and you most definitely are. I'm not letting you lose this chance!" Taylor can hear the determination in her mother's voice. She knows getting her to back down on this is nearly hopeless.