The Mayor (Kaylor)

Chapter 1

A/N: Hi! This is my new story, thank you for reading it! You may notice (if you watched it) that I borrowed the "adoptive mother/birth mother" plot element from the beautiful TV show Once Upon A Time, but that's all this story has in common with OUAT; it does not take place in the OUAT universe nor requires any knowledge of the show whatsoever.

Also, English is not my native language so I'm sorry for any mistakes that might occur.

That was all. Have fun reading! And vote/comment/lemme know if you like it, it's all very much appreciated.

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"I had a dream my life would be,

So different from this hell I'm living,

So different now from what it seemed,

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

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Karlie

Karlie was already three drinks in but she still felt painfully sober. She had come home from her shift around 5 PM and she had instantly known tonight would be bad. So she drank— a lot. It was worth specifying that Karlie didn't have a drinking problem, even though she tended to drink a lot on bad nights. Karlie's problem was significantly less defined than a 'drinking problem'. It was more of a living problem.

She was sitting in her bedroom, a cigarette between her lips, a tequila bottle in one hand and her phone in the other. She had four missed calls; one from Kristine, one from her mom and two from Josh.

She decided to call her mom back because she probably wouldn't get yelled at by her. And she had to call someone back, right? It had been four days since her last real human interaction. She didn't exactly miss human interaction when she didn't engage in it, but she didn't like the way everything started to feel hazy and unreal after a time. So she inhaled deeply and pressed the call back button.

"Karlie Elizabeth!" So much for no yelling.

"Mom," Karlie muttered. "I'm sorry I didn't answer my phone. I was working."

"Karlie, are you drunk?" Tracy asked suspiciously. It was like she could smell alcohol over the phone.

"No."

"Yes, you are."

Karlie sighed deeply. "No, Mom, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Karlie's mother was calling about Karlie's birthday, which was tomorrow. She said she was wondering if Karlie wanted to 'do something to celebrate', but really she just wanted to make sure Karlie hadn't drunk herself into a coma since the last time they spoke.

As she was trying to get her mother to hang up, she headed to her living room and poured herself another drink. "Can you ask Kristine t-to stop calling me?" she asked her mother. Her brain was having trouble forming words and her hands were shaking. Maybe she was a little drunk. "I don't need her to check up on me. I have y-you for that."

"You know your sister is just worried about you," Tracy said. "And you can't blame her. I mean, you're not in a very good place right now."

"Thanks." Karlie wasn't sure why she was offended if it was so obviously true.

"I'm just saying, you're turning 27 tomorrow. It's time to get your life back on track. Kariann might have a job for you at the firm and you could move back to St. Louis to live with me and your father for a while.. we could help you get back on your feet."