Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! At what point do I call Sid? He's really going to love this. Trina is going to murder me, and then Troy will probably resuscitate my dead body just so he can murder me all over again. I frantically dial Taylor's cell for the fourth time, but she's clever this one. Instead of letting it ring and ring and ring, now my calls just go straight to voice mail.
"You are in a world of trouble Taylor Crosby. CALL ME!" I scream into the phone, not caring how crazy I look to the other pedestrians on the street. How the hell did this happen? Oh right, a handsome actor, a poorly timed trip to the restroom, and boom - I'm ditched in the restaurant only to be left with the bill and a view of their cab speeding away. When I think back to how ridiculous they were both acting...
"You know, I'm not that much older than you," Josh coos at Taylor.
"I'm eighteen," she tells him proudly.
"Old enough to vote," he chimes in, making her giggle. I roll my eyes and wish I were drinking something stronger than ginger ale. "This wine is delicious, you sure you won't join me?" I look up and I'm horrified to see he's not talking to me.
"She's eighteen," I remind him sternly.
"I've always thought twenty-one seemed a little old," Josh swirls his drink. Apparently he likes them younger than twenty-one. My stomach turns just thinking about it. Yes, he's in his early twenties, but still...she's in high school! I consider what his endgame might be, and I just can't figure it out. An hour ago I would have said that he was using Taylor's enthusiasm as a way to spend time with me, but that just doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
"I know, back home I can drink and it's so not a big deal," Taylor says nonchalantly.
"Isn't the drinking age nineteen?" I ask, but it's not really a question. I know she's not old enough to drink. It doesn't really matter what I say at this point, they've both decided to ignore me anyway.
"We totally should have gone to a club," Taylor tells him, offering a look of how-lame-is-it-we're-here-instead-of-Diesel that has them both laughing...at my expense, obviously.
"The night is young," he winks and that just crosses the line with me.
"Well, as young as the night is, Taylor has a flight early tomorrow morning, so..."
"We should make the most of the few hours you have left in the city," Josh cuts me off and Taylor agrees immediately. "Should we order something sweet?"
"Definitely," Taylor beams.
"I'm just going to use the ladies, if anyone cares," I announce and disappear into the bathroom.
That would be the last I'd see of those two for the better part of two hours. Finally I manage to wave down a cab and I climb in, completely flustered and unsure of where to start looking. "Diesel, the nightclub, do you know it?" I blurt out. The driver nods and speeds away from the restaurant. Dammit Taylor! I fire off an angry text, hoping she won't call my bluff.
"Your mom and I are headed to Diesel to pick you up. You had better be waiting OUTSIDE where we can see you!"
"Nice try, she just texted goodnight." Fuck. Well, at least I've got her attention.
"Please Taylor! Sid is going to kill me, where are you?" I wait, and wait, and wait. Nothing. Fine, she wants to act like a child, I'll text the adult in the situation! "WTF Josh? She's in high school. Where the hell are you two?"
"Relax, she's fine. I'll have her home soon." His words infuriate me, and just as I'm about to fire back something I might regret later, my phone rings.
"Hello?" I sound as panicked as I feel. "Where are you?!"
"Hey, relax. I'm fine. We just landed," Sid unknowingly repeats Josh's words to me, but instead of being a comfort, his voice only makes me more anxious. I've lost his sister. And she's with a sleazy, flirty actor no less.
"Sorry babe," I try to cover, not wanting to give myself up just yet. "Can I call you back in a few?"
"Everything okay?" he asks with concern.
"Yep, I'm just in a cab, and I can't really tell you what I want to tell you at the moment," I whisper, knowing full well Sid will hear a different meaning to my words.
"I'll be in my room in half an hour," he suggests cheekily, and I laugh nervously, trying to buy myself some time. Dammit Taylor! Inspiration strikes, and I decide to ask Sid for a playful favor. Well, not really playful at all.
"Hey, can you do something for me?" I ask sweetly.
"Anything."
"I'll explain later, but can you text Taylor for me. Tell her you know everything and she's in trouble?" I say as evenly as I can muster.
"What did she do?" he asks immediately.
"Nothing. Well, it's no big deal, but she thinks you're going to be mad at her," I lie, covering my eyes and shaking my head. Now I'm lying to cover for her! What the hell is going on tonight?
"Did she drive my truck?" he asks angrily.
"Sid," I decide to come clean, but he's pissed. I take a deep breath, choosing my words carefully, and before I can speak, Sid starts ranting.
"I fucking knew she would. I let her drive it once and now she thinks it's hers whenever I'm not around," he huffs angrily. Okay, if he's this mad about her driving his truck, I don't think he needs to know she's run off with Josh for the night.
"She feels guilty, but I kind of want to twist the knife a bit. Just to tease her, you know?" I tell him, but my own anger is bubbling to the surface.
"Okay, call me when you get home. I'm sorry Taylor's such a brat," he hisses. "I think she just wants to impress you." Well, she's doing a fine job.
"Love you," I tell him and tuck my phone away. We're only minutes away from the club, and honestly, if Sid texting her doesn't do it, then I'm cooked. I'll have to call Trina, and that will be the end of Kate in the Crosby good-books.
"YOU CALLED SIDNEY?!"
"I did." She's worried and I need to take advantage of that.
"Did he call my parents?"
"No idea. He probably will though. Where are you?"
"The Fairmont." Oh my god, he took her back to his hotel.
"The Fairmont lobby - right?" I text furiously. She doesn't reply, but I hope I've caught her in time before she did anything stupid. "You are a fucking sleaze. If there was ever a chance we'd work together, you've blown it." I text Josh and copy his agent. I realize we're still heading toward the club and ask the driver to change destinations. My phone is silent, which I take as a good sign.
The cab pulls up to the hotel and a crying Taylor is waiting for us just inside the hotel doors. My heart sinks, and it takes all my willpower not to tell her that I'm the only one who knows about her stupid stunt. She needs to live with this feeling for a few minutes at least. I climb out of the cab and hold the door open for her. "Get inside and stay there," I snap. I march toward the lobby to find a guilty looking Josh fumbling nervously trying to explain himself.
"She's eighteen you creep!" I yell. "Tell me you didn't do anything."
"We didn't," he says defensively.
"Your hotel? Really? You decided to bring my eighteen year-old sister-in-law back to your hotel?"
"She's an adult," he mutters.
"YOU are the adult. She is a girl in high school. Pretty sure I made that crystal clear before we went out, and again at the restaurant," I hiss. "Get this through your fucking head, if you see me, and you will, stay the hell away from me. If you see me with Sid, run the other way because I'm pretty sure he's going to tear you limb from limb." Josh gulps nervously. That's one thing about pretty boys, they don't like the threat of someone messing with their face. It's the moneymaker after all.
"Listen, my agent already phoned and is pissed that I fucked this up..."
"You think I care about your agent dropping you?" I interrupt. "I don't. I just thought she should know what a dirtbag client she has. And make no mistake, she's going to find out." I turn on my heel and walk away, ignoring his protests behind me. Back in the cab, Taylor has slid into far window seat and made herself as small as possible. I give the cab driver the address, and finally we're on our way home.
"What did Sid say?" Taylor asks meekly.
"He wasn't happy," I tell her honestly.
"What did you tell him?" her voice cracks and tears stream down her face.
"Why did you take off like that Taylor? Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" I lecture.
"It's not like I was alone," she tries to explain herself.
"Tay, you took off with a stranger!" I shriek.
"He wasn't a stranger," she mutters.
"Knowing someone's name and resume doesn't mean you know them well enough to go back to their hotel room!"
"It wasn't like that, he just wanted to change before..." and then it occurs to her how lame his reason for heading to his room really was.
"Did he ask you to wait in his room?"
"Yeah," she whispers.
"And did he suggest you have a drink or two before heading out?"
"Yeah," her voice is barely audible.
"And did you?" Taylor shakes her head, a silent confession to her sins of the evening. "Did you do more than that?" Taylor drops her head and my heart sinks. "Oh my god Taylor, tell me you used protection!"
"It didn't go that far," she tells me quietly. Thank god for that! I decide Taylor has had enough of my lecturing for one evening. I slide into the middle seat and put my arm around her, letting her cry her eyes out into my shoulder. The poor girl has probably never done anything worse than break curfew, but tonight she could have ended up in serious danger. My blood boils when I think about Josh taking advantage of her. Not that it's surprising. I've met more than a few actors who use their celebrity and good looks to bed anything that shows interest.
"My mom is going to kill me," she sobs. Time to put her out of her misery.
"Your parents don't know," I tell her and her head shoots up in surprise. I nod to assure her it's the truth. "Sid didn't tell them." The mention of her brother pushes her over the edge again, and I can't tell if it's relief or not.
"Sid is going to be so disappointed in me," she chokes out through heaving sobs. I squeeze her tightly, and push her hair away from her face.
"Sid doesn't know either," I confess.
"He texted me," she cries.
"He thinks you were driving his truck," I tell her, barely disguising the smile on my face. I can't help it, I'm relieved for her. Taylor stares at me in disbelief for a minute, and then her face splits into a smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah," I hug her again. "You're okay Taylor. No one knows, and no one needs to know. Just don't ever do anything that stupid again, okay?"
"Okay," she promises instantly.
"Just think, if he was that mad about you driving his truck..." I look at her and we both smile.
"He loves that stupid thing," she laughs, releasing some nervous energy.
"Almost too much," I agree.
When we pull up to the house, I give the driver a healthy tip and Taylor follows me into the house. Her parents have long since gone to bed, and I have a call from Sid that I'm dying to return. Taylor looks worse for wear, the emotion of the night hitting her hard.
"I'm sorry," she says sincerely, tears threatening to escape.
"I know. Never again. You promised!" We share a tight hug. "If anything happened to you..."
"It didn't," she reminds me.
"I'd never get over it Taylor. Don't scare me like that!" and I realize that I sound just like someone I know. I sound like my own big sister Jill.
"I won't, I promise." And in that moment, Taylor sounds just like me. After everything we've been through over the past few days, I can definitely say that we feel like sisters.