Secrets

Chapter Two

At the backstage area, Taylor started frantically looking for her mom.

"I believe she is in the lounge room", one of the stage tech guys told her in passing.

She could hear one of the stylists calling after her to take off the costume and change into more comfortable clothes, but she ignored her and quickly made her way towards the lounge room.

When she opened the door and saw her mom, she approached her and immediately started crying.

"Oh God, honey what's wrong? Did the show not go well?" Andrea asked concerned and pulled her daughter into a hug.

Taylor's stylist had followed her into the room. When Taylor didn't respond, the woman answered in her stead.

"At the end of the set there was a weird moment. I was watching from side stage, waiting for Taylor to come off the stage. You nearly fell down those stairs, Taylor, didn't you?" she inquired towards the singer.

"Yeah ..." her response could be heard as a muffled sound.

"But you didn't get hurt?" Andrea asked.

Taylor pulled away from the hug and wiped at her eyes, not caring that she was still wearing make-up.

"No, mom. I didn't get hurt. But there was something else."

Her stylist and her mom both looked at her, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

Taylor shifted her eyes away from them and let them wander across the room.

"I'm going to take a shower now. Can you take care of the fans before Club Red and tell them I will be there a few minutes later? I need to be alone for a little right now."

She paused, then looked at the two women.

"Oh, and mom, I know you already picked out the fans but can I ask you a favor? I want to meet two more people. I don't know their names, but I believe they are two young women, possibly twins. They were probably seated in section C."

Her mom looked at her like she was insane.

"Taylor ... 90% of your audience is young women. And what do you mean you don't know them? You usually know exactly who you want to meet and where they're seated."

The stylist looked at Taylor expectantly. She was not used to Taylor doing something that had not been planned and talked about before.

"I'm sorry mom, that's all I know. But I promise it's important. I need to meet them."

"If you say so ..."

Taylor started walking towards the door. With her hand already on the knob, she turned back to her mother.

"I will tell you everything later, but ... Code Black Cat."

Then she quickly left the room.

***

Andrea passed through the backstage area and went out into the lobby, where fans were gathering. She let her eyes roam over the crowd. She saw people lining up at the two merch tables, and people standing in groups together, still full of energy and excitement after the show. Impossible to find people here that you don't know, she thought to herself.

She tried to make her way towards the entry to section C, where Taylor had told her the girls had probably been seated.

Code Black Cat.

She had been shocked to hear her daughter utter these words. After all, they had only ever used them once, and that was when Taylor was in Junior high school.

Andrea felt the adrenaline pumping through her body and her thoughts racing. What could have possibly happened? The part of the show that she had seen, Taylor had been completely fine, performing her songs as perfectly as ever. The stylist had said something about her almost falling on stage? And now she was supposed to look for two girls Taylor didn't even know herself?

She reached section C and quickly scanned the area. There were still a few people hanging around, but none which matched Taylor's description. A father and his teenage daughter. A young man and woman probably around 30. She left again and went back to the lobby, where she stood around helplessly. She wanted to fulfill her daughter's request by all means. She knew Taylor would not have requested it had it been a trivial matter.

A teenage girl with fairy wings on her back and glitter in her face approached her, her mother in tow.

"Andrea! I loved the concert! Can we please take a photo together?"

Andrea smiled and complied with the girl's wish. She could never say no to the young people who supported her daughter.

When the girl and her mother were gone, she continued her search.

After a few minutes she suddenly made eye contact with a tall woman, whose eyes widened when she recognized her as Taylor's mother and then hastily whispered something towards the two others standing next to her.

Andrea almost shrugged it off, when she could feel three pairs of eyes staring at her. She looked at them again and saw the tall, brunette woman standing there with two slightly smaller, blonde girls, probably teenagers. They fit Taylor's description. Something in her gut told her she had found them.

The girls' eyes widened in shock when they realized she was approaching them.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Andrea, Taylor's mother" she introduced herself.

The tallest one regained her composure the fastest.

"I ... yeah ... we know. Nice to meet you too. We had a good time at the show."

Andrea smiled at them.

"Taylor would like to meet you at Club Red in twenty minutes, is that alright with you?"