Cliffs Edge [Kaylor]

twenty-three

Wake Me - Bleachers

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Six Weeks Later

The attention that Taylor is attracting is starting to get to her. She's well-trained in blocking out the unwanted looks but there's something disconcerting about sitting in a small waiting room and having every single person's eyes trained on you. Her bodyguard is sitting in one of the flimsy plastic chairs beside her, staring straight ahead and twiddling his thumbs while Taylor taps away at her phone's screen.

"They told me they'd have him finished by 11:30," Taylor sighs as she checks the time for the umpteenth time. She's been waiting for twenty minutes and she's growing impatient. She's running on a collective four hours of sleep, and is still very jet lagged from the flight back from Melbourne, but she insisted on dropping Joe off at the groomer's so Karlie could study for her finals. Karlie had been reluctant, of course, but Taylor has all the time in the world to sleep now. Her tour is wrapped up, and she doesn't even mind that she's spending the morning of her twenty-sixth birthday getting Karlie's dog groomed.

The little Yorkie has actually grown on her quite a bit. She's taught him a few tricks, like how to not drink from the toilet, and he gets along with Olivia just fine. Meredith, however, now officially hates Taylor's guts and probably spends most of her time plotting ways to kill them all for betraying her.

Noon approaches, and Taylor's foot starts to tap against the linoleum tiles of the waiting room.

"That lady literally came in here after us and she got her dog back!" Taylor's mouth hang opens as she watches a middle-aged woman walking her freshly groomed Corgi out of the door.

"Maybe Joe gave them some trouble." Her bodyguard doesn't look like he's in a rush, and has even started flipping through one of the dog themed magazines that are sitting around the waiting room.

"What if they hurt him?" Taylor's eyes narrow at the thought, and she feels a pang of worry rush through her. Karlie would never forgive her if she let something happen to Joe.

Taylor is heavily considering causing a scene, but then she hears a familiar bark and the sound of hurried paws running against tile. Joe comes sprinting from behind the receptionist's desk with a frenzied looking woman chasing after him. The small dog catches sight of Taylor quickly, and he all but launches himself at her.

Taylor bends down and scoops him up quickly, not even minding when he starts to lick at her chin. She's just glad that he's in one piece.

"I was wondering where you were!" The high pitched voice that she reserves for her cats and small children has come out in full force. "You look so handsome, Joey!"

"We're so sorry about the holdup, he got a little scared when we trimmed his nails and it turned into a bit of an ordeal." The woman who had been chasing Joe says, looking exhausted and winded.

Taylor waves off the apology, as if she hadn't been about to run this place out of business, and hands Joe over to her bodyguard so she can go and pay at the register.

After swiping her card, Taylor crouches down to put Joe into the little Cardinals hoodie that he wears when it's too cold outside. It's honestly one of the most adorable things she's ever seen, and she's starting to see the perks that come with dating a woman who has an eccentric Yorkie. Neither of her cats would ever put up with wearing clothes, but Joe seems to thrive from the extra attention.

Taylor carries Joe out to the car, keeping her head low while the handful of cameramen who followed her from her apartment throw inane questions at her. Joe barks at every single one of them, and Taylor has to fight off a smile while ducking into the back of her Lincoln. That's another bonus of going places with the dog; he's not afraid to get vocal with the paparazzi, or anyone else who he deems an annoyance. He's a lot like Karlie, so it's no surprise that Taylor has grown to love him.