"L A B E L S"

Episode 113

HIT THAT PLAY BUTTON! IT'S THATTA WAY---->

(WELL, UNLESS YOU'RE READING THIS ON A MOBILE DEVICE. THEN...OH WELL. :P)

~

Scarlett groans loudly at the crack of noon. She was enjoying her first good night of sleep but the smell of pancakes wafting in from the kitchen was far too tempting. She throws her legs over the side of her bed and makes her way down to the first level of her house. She smiles at the sight of Mia making breakfast and against the opposite side of the counter. “Your pancakes woke me up.”

Mia chuckles while pouring some pancake mix into the pan. “You must be hungry. Did you even eat anything last night?”

Scarlett shakes her head as a large yawn escapes her mouth. “No, I had a big lunch though.” She glances around the room. “Where’s Tay?”

Mia shrugs. “She left a note on the counter saying she had something she had to do and she would be back later.”

“That’s strange.” Scarlett points out before shrugging her shoulders. “Oh well. We shall grill her later then,” she wriggles her eyebrows with a low snicker while Mia shakes her head.

“Some things never change.”

Scarlett grabs the phone sitting on the counter and turns around to walk into the living room. “I’m going to call moms and check on Audrey. Keeping making 'dem pancakes, woman!” She shouts over her shoulder in a deeper voice while Mia shakes her head in delight.

~

Taylor pushes open the old gym door and steps inside hesitantly. She could remember coming here a couple of times in high school with Nick but even back then the place looked run down and deserted. It was public and it was used daily but maintenance seemed to be more work than anyone had time for. “Joseph?” Taylor steps farther into the building and begins making her way back towards the sound of what could be someone throwing punches. She steps into the only lit room to find Joe in the middle of the ring, hitting a punching bag continuously. “Are you picturing a certain face on that bag?”

Joe stops mid punch and turns to find Taylor standing at the bottom of the ring. Her hair was thrown up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pink and black matching jogging outfit. “It’s always good to have motivation,” he answers humorously while Taylor climbs up into the ring. She begins putting on the punching mitts that were lying in the rink while Joe stands there starring at her. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for the wakeup call,” she jokes with a smile and lifts the mitts up for him to practice.

He smiles crookedly despite the obvious irritation he was feeling. “So, how come you never talk about your life in the city?”

Joe takes a light swing into the mitt as his question takes Taylor off guard. “What?”

He takes another swing and shrugs. “You just never really mention any friends or work or anything. There must be some reason you like it so much there.”

She stands there in silence a moment feeling a strange sense of discomfort as Joe rattles on. There was some reason Joe wanted to meet up with her and she had a feeling this was his way of easing into the point he was trying to make. “I guess there’s just not much to talk about. I have a few friends but nothing like I have here.”

“But you would rather live in the city than back here.”

Joe throws another punch and Taylor shakes her head. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the city, it’s the fact that it’s not here.”