August 16th 2023
New York City, New York
Manifestation
That's what got him there. The power of manifestation is what had gotten travis Kelce on a first class seat jetting to New York to have a date with the one and only Taylor Swift. What felt strange was that she was no longer Taylor Swift to him. Well she was, but she was also just Taylor. The Taylor who would scrunch her nose when she was happy or excited, or the one whose love and obsession with her cats was borderline unhealthy. It may have only been three weeks of talking, but it had felt like a lifetime. A glorious one.
Travis had taken an earlier flight from Kansas City to New York, touching down at JFK airport shortly after lunchtime. He didn't tell her that he had arrived yet, wanting some time to freshen up at the hotel before making his way to her apartment. They had decided to keep it casual, a simple dinner and maybe a movie later on depending on how things went. They had also decided that it would be best all round to host it at her apartment.
The hotel room was simple. Elegant and sophisticated but nothing over the top or flashy. He had plans to be there for a couple of days before he had to fly back to Kansas City for Training Camp again. He discarded his bags and made his way out of the hotel room to grab a coffee and do some sight seeing. Of course he had been to New York City before for work things but never as a tourist or resident of the city. There was something peaceful about walking un noticed through Central Park, coffee in hand and just watching the world go by. It was strange but also nice to not be noticed. He couldn't imagine how Taylor could do it; people noticing her all of the time but to know that so many people love you, it has to keep you going. His phone buzzed and he looked down to see who had text him. It was Taylor
Taylor: Hey Trav, hope your flight was ok. I am assuming you are here safe and sound. I was thinking maybe 5:30 for tonight. If that is too early you can always come later. Whenever you are happy :))
She was soo cute. Always putting his needs and wants before hers. It seemed to be a running theme and pattern with most people in her life but he wasn't;t willing to ever take advantage of this. Well any more than necessary.
Travis: 5:30 sounds perfect, I'll see you then xx
However this happiness and confidence begins to fade as he is getting ready. He must of changed his outfit five or six times before settling on the first outfit choice he had chosen: some royal blue trousers paired with a button down white top. He chose to keep the top buttons un done to create an air of casualness in his outfit. He was unsure whether to take the earrings out but decided against it. If she couldn't like the earrings on the first date, she would never like them. He had to be his authentic self. And that was what the problem was. Sometimes his personality got the better of him; would his confident outgoing personality be too egotistical for her? She seemed so sweet and humble, and underneath that was how he was too. The pair knew they could hold a conversation well so there wouldn't be any problems there that night.
And over in Tribeca, a similar wardrobe fiasco was occurring. What do you wear on a first date. She hadn't been on a first date in over six years and even then it had been so casual. But this, this was a proper first date. She had planned a full meal with desserts and drinks and everything. She hoped that it wasn't too much for him. That he didn't think she was going too over the top. 5:30 rolls around so fast when you are stressed and before Taylor knew it, there was a knock at her front door. She frantically ran towards the door and opened it, hoping that she didn't look too flustered.
wow, he thought. She looked beautiful. A light white flowing maxi dress with ruffled shoulders. She had nothing on her feet and had her long hair naturally wavy, in a half up half down situation.
"Hey" Travis said at last, grinning widely as he looked her up and down once more.
"Hey." Taylor replied, giving him a hug before ushering him into the apartment. Her security team must have let him into the building first, she had pre warned them of Travis' arrival that morning. He carried a bunch of the most beautiful flowers: a delicate selection of watercolour blue and purple hydrangeas. How had he known they were her favourite flowers.
The first thing Travis noticed about the apartment was that it was homely. There were Grammys on the shelves, random cat toys scattered about across the hallway and the living room and the beautiful smell of food cooking oozing throughout the house. Taylor led him to the living room that was adjacent from the kitchen dining room area.
"Would you like something to drink? I have some different wines or I could make you something?" Taylor asked, walking into the kitchen as Travis sat down on the cream sofa in the living room.
"Whatever you are having. Don't make a fuss for me. I'll drink anything, you know me." Travis laughed. Taylor returned with a bottle of red wine in hand, followed by 2 wine glasses. It looked expensive and foreign, looking at the language on the label. He wasn't the best at languages. He nearly lost his entire career because he failed his French class in high school.
"This is so lovely Tay. You didn't need to go to all of this trouble."
"Not at all, it's my pleasure. The dinner won't be ready for another 20 minutes so I thought we could just sit and chat whilst we wait for it to be done." Taylor spoke as she came to sit next to him on the sofa.
"Well you know I love to chat. You might have to stop me when dinner is ready haha." He laughed but abruptly stopped when he felt something heavy jump onto his lap, making him nearly spill expensive red wine on a probably even more expensive cream sofa.
"Benji, careful." Taylor reached out for the fluffy ragdoll but Travis stopped her.
"No he is fine, don't worry Tay. He seems very cute don't you." travis said, his voice raising in pitch to a sweet baby tone voice. He stroked the soft fur behind Benjamins ears, causing him to purr loud like a motorboat that could be heard across on the other side of the apartment.
"He seems to like you. I'm not surprised. Well you've met one of my children. The other two are somewhere causing chaos probably but sometimes, actually always it's best not to know really."
A familiar ding came from the oven to signify that the bread was done cooking and so Taylor made her way over to the kitchen to begin assembling her masterpiece dinner.
"Anything I can help with Tay?" Travis says, poking his head around the corner.
"Umm sure. Can you grab those plates and those forks and put them out on the table. Ooh and pop some water in that jug". Travis nodded and the pair went about their duties in the kitchen. It felt weird to Travis that he was actually enjoying himself. He ordinarily hated this sort of thing, the mundane nature of chores and housework being the number one reason why he had struggled to settle down with Kayla. They had so much fun being immature and young and free, he couldn't see that ever-changing to commitment and a long term family life. He hated that he strung her along for so long, it was never his intention to do it but it took him so long to realise. But things with Taylor, it had only been three weeks but he could feel himself starting to change.
"So I made pasta with some fresh garlic bread for the main course. There is a salad there of course but I've heard from you and Jason that you and vegetables weren't exactly frequent flyers when you were younger." Taylor chuckled as she brought in two bowls of steaming hot pasta, followed by the freshly made garlic bread. It all smelt divine.
"Wow Tay, this all looks amazing. Thank you for cooking up this feast!" He looked at the spread they had going on the table. 2 bowls of food, 2 glasses of red wine, a basket of bread, candles alight and the flowers he had brought taking pride of place in the centre next to the filled water jug.
Taylor couldn't help but feel a simplicity and comfort in this scene. It was like it had been like this forever. As if he had always been there in some way or another. The meal went as perfectly as it could; the pair sharing stories from their youth, both heartfelt and embarrassing and grilling each other on hot topics in life.
"So what made you want to go into the NFL then?" Taylor asked, breaking off a piece of garlic bread and placing it into her mouth.
"I don't know. I had always loved playing sports and I played football really well in college. In my freshman year of college I had been stupid and smoked a little bit of weed when we were in New Orleans. It was so stupid but I thought I could get away with it. It turns out I didn't. I nearly lost everything Tay and when I worked so hard to get it back, I realised football wasn't something I ever wanted to loose. So I worked super hard and now I am here, still working."
"Wow Trav, that's amazing. It's a very big achievement but nothing more than you deserve. You are amazing at what you do."
"Says you, the 12 time GRAMMY award winner." Travis chuckled. With the main course and dessert of Tiramisu served and demolished, the pair found themselves back on the sofa in front of the tv. Travis went to get up to grab himself some more wine when he felt something come and brush up against his leg.
"Oh hello." He knelt down to stroke the grey and white cat that had just come into the room. The cat obviously was content for Travis to stroke her for as soon as he did, she flopped over to expose her white belly for tummy tickles. "Well aren't you a sweetheart."
"Has Olivia finally come out of the bathroom sink and oh-" Taylor said, turning her head in shock to see Travis on the floor stroking Meredith, who clearly was having the time of her life rubbing her head up and down his outstretched arm.
"Well you should feel honoured Travis. She hasn't done that with me for years. She normally hates people."
"Maybe she is trying to convert me into a cat person instead of a dog person." Travis laughed as he came back to sit with Taylor on the couch, Benji now taking pride of place in between them, Meredith coming to sit on the arm of the sofa nearest Travis.
"That was my job!" Taylor moaned, before turning to give the evil eyes to Meredith. "Man stealer." She pointed at Meredith, both of them bursting out laughing. "Oh, well I have had a lovely night Trav. Thank you so much."
"I should be the one thanking you. After all you were the one who cooked the most amazing meal and hosted. Ive not been this happy in a long time."
"Me neither." She said, sinking back in her seat, reaching out her left hand to stroke the top of his that rested in his lap. "So where are you staying?"
"Just at the Four Seasons Downtown. I have training camp again in a couple of days before the pre season starts up again fully. A friend of mine actually recommended The Bowery Hotel but they didn't have the best avalibility."
Taylor froze. She sat rigid in place, removing her hand from Travis'; something he immediately recognised.
"Taylor, is everything ok?" Travis spoke, turning to face her and put his hand on her shoulder. What had he said? What had he done?
"Yeah. Yeah I am fine. It just something you said that's all. Just brought back some bad memories." Taylor sniffed, squeezing the hand that he had placed on her shoulder.
"Oh me and my big mouth. Sorry Tay, I didn't mean to upset you. If you don't mind me asking, what was it I said? You don't have to tell me or anything."
"No no, it's ok." Taylor smiled, sharply taking a quick breath of air before diving into the story of the worst few days of her life. "You know my ex Joe." Travis nodded in response to her question. "Well we had been separate for a long time. Most of 2022 but we had tried to stay together and make it work. But then I found the photos!"
"The photos?" Travis asked, looking quizzically at Taylor who was looking down at her lap, one hand fiddling with the loose string of fabric on her white linen dress.
"I found photos of him and this girl Emma, who he worked with, together. Together together, no clothes on and everything. It was humiliating. To know that he went off to do that with another woman behind my back. To do things that he told me were dirty and unladylike. And what is worse, is that I found the photos in a group chat he had with his male co-stars."
Travis sat this frozen in shock. How on earth could someone do that to another person. Not just Taylor but any woman. He felt he could do nothing else but hold her as the tears came and rattled through her body and soul.
"I am so so sorry Tay. If I had known, I would have never said anything. I don't want to hurt you or push you away at all." He pulled back to wipe a tear off of her face. "And for what it's worth, I think he is a massive douchebag. And he doesn't deserve you!"
Taylor laughed. "Thank you Trav. I don't expect you to know any of this, or to understand it. Hell, I don't understand any of it really. I guess it's just another burden of being in a relationship with me."
"Hey" Travis uttered, cupping her face in his hands. "You are not a burden, ok do you hear me? I never want you to feel this way. I would never cheat on you, or upset you like this. I-" Travis paused, not sure whether he should say it nor not. But he decided it was for the best...
"I love you Taylor." Travis said aloud. He couldn't quite believe himself. He thought he was dreaming but when he heard her utter it back, he knew it was real. He leaned forward to kiss her: nothing fiery or passionate like you see in Hollywood movies. it was soft and gentle, a tenderness to it.
"I love you too Travis" She replied, pulling back to look into his eyes. His beautifully glistening green eyes that she swore could see right into her soul and her deepest, darkest desires. "But I want you to understand that what goes on in here is what I can control. Once we go out there, it all changes. I can't control if someone is on top of buildings with long lenses trying to take photos or following your car to grocery store. It isn't enough."
"It is for me. I think what we have is special. I have never felt this way about anyone else Taylor. Only you." She kissed him lightly on the lips again, answering his question as to what she wanted to do. "It may be cheesy and unnecessary but, will you officially be, my girlfriend." He laughs and Taylor joins in to.
"Oh I most ardently accept. As long as it goes both ways, and you will be my boyfriend?" Taylor chuckled, batting her eyelashes at his face making a goofy smile appear.
"Well who could say no to that face. Come here" he pulled her into a hug, Benji meowing in annoyance being squished between the pair of them. "I hope you have a big enough fishbowl. Because there is a rather big fish hoping to come live in it with a very sweet little fish."
"There will always be room in the fishbowl for my big fish." She smiled, borrowing her head into his warm chest, feeling a few of his chest hairs lightly graze her forehead from his top buttons being undone. The pair stayed cuddled up like that for another three hours, chatting and watching one of her favourite movies Sense and Sensibility. She was asleep on him and Travis didn't feel like disturbing her any further. He grabbed a makeup wipe from her bathroom to wipe off the small amount of makeup she had one her face and covered them up with a soft blanket. Travis felt torn as to whether he should have stayed but he decided that he would feel worse knowing that she would wake up alone and disconcerted, wondering why he had left without saying goodbye. She would wake up fully clothed on the sofa, fully sober as to what had happened that night. She wouldn't have to worry about any sinister events.
And as he fell asleep with Taylor cuddled up against him and her three cats scattered around them on the large corner sofa, Travis felt at ease. No matter what happened the next day, he knew that he was happy. There was nowhere else on earth he would have rather been at that point than cuddled up with Taylor and the cats on the sofa. He snapped a quick selfie of them all together before turning off the small lamp that was sat on the coffee table, extinguishing the light and allowing him to slip into sleep next to the woman he loved.