February 4th; 2012
The Next Day
Taylor Swift's Point of View
I tie Olivia's hair into a ponytail as she eats breakfast. It's Saturday so she's staying at a friends house while I go to work. They really didn't make this job easy for people with kids. After she finishes breakfast she hops off the chair and grabs her new Barbie.
"Can I bring my Barbie with me? Katie has one and I want to play Barbies with her." Katie is her friend and her parents are a lifesaver. They're always willing to watch Olivia when I go to work. Most likely since her mom is a stay at home parent and wants Katie to be entertained by something else.
"Of course you can bring your new toy."
"She's not a toy. She's a doll and her name is Mae. I named her myself."
"That's a beautiful name. Now, let's go, mommy is gonna be late for work." I hold her hand and bring her outside. I see Katie's mom in a car. This woman is amazing enough to also pick Olivia up. God I could never.
"Bye mommy!" Liv says as she runs to the car.
"Bye. Love you!" I see her get into the car and then them driving away. I know I'll see her again tonight but sometimes it still hurts when she leaves. I want to spend time together but I have to support her. I walk about a mile to a bus station. I hate this walk but at least it keeps me in shape I guess. I get on the bus which is already overcrowded and hold onto a pole in the middle. I can't be late for work or blow it off again. I'm already walking on thin ice around here. About an hour later, I finally arrive at my stop. I get off the bus and begin to walk to my work. I look at the time, I should make it with a few minutes to spare. I get inside the building and set all my belongings down in my boring and small cubical. I look through my planner...oh shit I have a meeting today and I totally forgot about it. After I read this I slightly run to the conference room. I sit down and see that everyone is already here.
"Nice for you finally show up, Miss Swift. What's your excuse this time?" My boss can be suck a dick sometimes.
"I don't have one. I forgot about it because I was focusing on my daughter. I didn't get stuck in traffic, I didn't miss the bus, I just forgot."
"God, at least you could have made an effort to make up an excuse." Almost everyone in this room is ranked above me, all white males. Sometimes I wonder if I was a man, I wouldn't have to work twice as hard at my job and still get a lower salary then my co-workers. I still stay and listen to this boring meeting. God I don't want to be here. Who knew being a stock broker actually sucked so much. I only come here here to help Liv. I want her to eat amazing food and have all the toys she wants one day. I look at all the boring files when I see my phone ringing. It's Shannon, aka Katie's mom. Immediately, I decline the call and focus back on the meeting. Seconds later, I get another call from Shannon. What does this woman want? I see some texts coming in from her and a third call. This time I give in and pick up.
"Excuse me, I really need to take this." I walk outside the conference room and put the phone to my ear.
"Taylor?" I hear on the phone.
"Yeah, it's me. What is it?" I ask.
"Olivia fell and hit her head. She has a deep cut on her forehead so we're taking her to the hospital." Oh god oh god. This is something I didn't need right now. I care so much about Olivia but couldn't she have hurt herself in like an hour after this meeting is done?
"I'll be right there." I tell her and hang up. I have to leave, it's my duty as a mother. I walk back in and peek my head in.
"I have to go. My daughter, she hurt herself while playing. She's gong to the hospital." This comes with a very scared tone as I don't know how they're going to react.
"Why can't you husband or boyfriend or whatever go?" God why do they even care and why is my love life important to you?
"I don't-there's no father. I need to see her, she's only five. She needs me."
"Five? You're like 22." Why do they care, this isn't any of their business to begin with.
"I was 16, okay? 16 year olds are kinda stupid."
"I have a 16 year old daughter. I should definitely talk to her about protection I guess." I roll my eyes hearing this and just focus back on trying to leave.
"Please, I need to go." I plead.
"This is a very important meeting...fire worthy."
"You can't make me pick work or my daughter!" I snap.
"And why not?"
"Because I'll choose my daughter every single time but I need money."
"If you leave, I'm going to fire you. You're constantly late, ditch work, and now bail on an important meeting. That's not how a professionals behave." Is this even legal?
"Please." I beg and I feel like I might just go down onto my knees.
"Which is it?"
"I'll clean up my stuff tomorrow." I sigh and walk out the door. Small tears run down my face as I run out the building to catch the next bus. Just as the bus is leaving I run up to it and get on. I sit down and my legs shake. I just lost my job, the only thing that will help me from sinking into poverty. That's the least of my problems right now as Liv is in the hospital and I don't know if she's okay. The bus ride is excruciating, fear is the only thought in my head. My bus ride finally comes to an end but I still have to take a shuttle to the hospital. I quickly run to a nearest shuttle and throw in my stuff in the seat next to me.
"I need to go to the Long Island hospital. My daughter-I need the quickest way there." The driver nods his head and begins to drive. As he drives I see the transportation fee going up. 10 dollars...11...15. The driver comes to a stop at the hospital and looks back at me.
"16 dollars and 17 cents." He tells me. I look through my wallet for cash to pay with.
"I only have $9."
"I accept card too."
"Trust me, they'll all get declined. Just please help a girl out." I hand him the $9 dollars and open the car door.
"Okay. I'll accept this. If I see you again though, you owe me more."
"Understandable, now bye." I run through the parking lot and into the emergency room where I see Olivia getting stitches from a doctor. I walk up to her quickly and sit next to her.
"Mommy, you came!" She exclaims.
"Of course I did. I would never leave you alone when you're hurt."
"Mommy, why are you crying?"
"Nothing, just worried about you." Truthfully I knew she would be okay but that doesn't make it any less scary. I also got fired and I don't know how the hell I'm going to pay for this. Olivia flinches as the stitches are added. I got stitches when I was little but it doesn't hurt very bad because they numb the area. I think she's upset because it's still an uncomfortable feeling when people are tugging at your face.
"Mommy, I want to go home. I don't like this."
"I know but the doctors are fixing your head so you can go home. Do you remember when you got sick last year and we had to take you to the doctor? This is like this but with stitches. The doctors are making you feel better." Olivia nods her head softly.
"Stay still." The doctor says and picks up her chin.
"Mommy, will you hold my hand?"
"I'll always hold your hand if you need me too." I take her hand to help calm her down.
"All done." The doctor tells Olivia.
"Yay!"
"Now, this is very important. You can't tug, rip out, or touch the strings in your head. Your mom will help you heal but you still need to help."
"Okay. I'll be careful."
"Now, I have a very important question for you. Kittens or unicorns?" He holds two oversized bandaids in front of her. One has kittens and the other unicorns.
"Kittens! I love kittens but mommy says we can't get one." The doctor nods and puts the bandaid on her forehead.
"You were very brave, which I think means you should get some ice cream." Now why did he say that because now I have to get her ice cream. I want to but odds are I can't.
"Mommy, can we get ice cream?"
"Of course we can." God I hate myself sometimes. We'll just go to McDonald's and get 99 cent ice cream.
"Now, your mom needs to rub this ointment on your head twice a day and replace your bandaid every day."
I look at him slightly desperate. "Are bandaids free here?" He looks at my face and I know he just pity's me.
"Yeah. I'll get you 20 of them. How does that sound?" I doubt they actually are allowed to give us bandaids. If they can, they probably cost money. He then hands me 20 kitten bandaids and I put them in my purse.
"Thank you." I say quietly to him.
"No problem. I want the best for my patients." This causes me to smile slightly.
"Are you ready to go?" I ask Liv.
"Yep!" She takes my hand and jumps off the bed.
"You can go pay at the counter." He points me to the counter and I take slow steps as I'm not sure what's going to happen.
"My daughter is named Olivia Swift. She just got some stitches on her forehead and I need to pay for it."
"Great. Can you show me your insurance?" The receptionist asks.
"I-I don't have medical insurance."
"Okay. Without insurance the total is exactly $380."
"I-I can't afford it. Can you put the fee into my bank or something?"
"We'll just put the fee into a collections agency. You'll need to pay a fee monthly. Just fill out this paperwork." She hands me a clipboard with a pen and some paperwork.
"Thank you." I take everything and sit down on a chair. Imagine if I would have chosen a different life. Maybe I could have had money but if I chose something else, I wouldn't have Liv. I don't think I regret my choice of keeping her but if I didn't I would probably have money or a husband. Maybe both. I don't need those if I have Olivia...except money. I don't need to have millions of it, I just need something to help me not fall into debt.
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Author's Note:
More debt 🤩 I'm going to college soon so I relate in advance
Word count: 1,930