Chapter 145: A woman in over her head

Taylor knew that the next morning was going to be a doozy. Of course it was going to be one.

Gunther had slept outside of the Medical Bay, Casper was being a damn thorn in her side, Kellen now knew everything, and she never slept well in her Guild apartment because it didn’t have enough money decals for her.

It was always a damn nightmare to spend the night here, but she also fully agreed with Kellen’s assessment of her state of being.

Taylor was tired.

The last few days had been very draining. Crying in front of everyone had been a rather cathartic, and embarrassing moment, but one Taylor embraced. There was only so much someone could handle before they collapsed.

Taylor was also grateful that she finally admitted to Kellen what was wrong with his sister. That had been a weight on her shoulders for a long, long time. Something that had been eating her alive. She was grateful for Kellen’s insight, and thoughtfulness, and how he hadn’t even considered blaming her.

Taylor blamed herself. And the gate. Mostly herself, and a little bit of the gate. She knew it was illogical, she knew that best. That didn’t change her feelings.

And like her feelings, Taylor was in a rather difficult situation. She had put her phone on do not disturb, full knowing that Casper was going to blow her phone up. He was going to be upset that he didn’t have full access to her. That he didn’t know where Gunther was.

That he was being kept in the dark.

Honestly? He’d made his bed, and Taylor was more than happy to let him lie in it. Even if it cost her some of her sanity in the morning.

The alarm signaling that she had to get up rang, and Taylor groaned. It didn’t feel like she had gotten enough sleep that night, but what could she do? Her days never ended. She was lucky that she wasn’t like Carlos. The man never slept and had to be forced into bed by the ever lovely Bella. A sweet Guide who was too good for Carlos-or that was what Taylor would have said if she hadn’t caught the way that Carlos treated Bella when he thought no one was paying attention to him.

He spoke to her softly, touching her like she was everything to him, making sure that she was eating. The lab might not be stocked with his favourite foods, but it was stocked with Bella’s. He made sure that she ate before he did, every time, even if he was the one who hadn’t eaten for 3 days and she was eating every 4 hours.

It was something that Taylor wasn’t even sure if Kellen knew, but if he did, he didn’t make it obvious. Carlos may be brash, and rather rough around the edges and sometimes acted more like a villain than the man in charge of saving everyone’s lives, but he was a good man. One that Kellen had saved, and Carlos never forgot that.

A good man that Kellen had given a second chance to.

Taylor slammed her hand down on her phone, turning off the alarm as she slowly got up. She rubbed her eyes, blinking in the darkness of the room. Plain sheets, good pillows and a room that was bare of any personality. Taylor made sure that this room was plain in case they needed to use it for a guest.

It hadn’t happened yet, but Taylor was still conscious of it. This wasn’t her home, she had her own apartment, this was just a courtesy apartment that the Captain had given her. Taylor knew that wasn’t quite true. If Rhys was an S Class with less of a head on his shoulders, he would have forced everyone to move into the Guild Tower so that he could keep an eye on them. She knew that was something that the man thought about.

Of course it was. He had a possessive streak so wide that he had to reset his insanity twice when Taylor was confronting him about his feelings. Of course she was talking about his feelings concerning Gunther after he had his explosive moment with Casper in the damn coffee shop.

Taylor just hoped that her Guild’s habit of making everything very public was a good thing, and not a bad thing.

She got up, stretching, running her hand through her hair and wincing. She needed a shower, her hair was greasy, and she needed to grab something to eat before she headed down to the Medical Bay. Sadly, she only really had time to choose between the two, not both. She could either attempt to grab something to eat, or get a shower.

Taylor sighed as she pulled on her jacket. She always chose food, a habit she had gotten from Henry. He had made a good point when he was teaching her about Guide physiology and the mentality that if she didn’t eat and maintain her physical form, Guides, who had to do that, wouldn’t trust her as much. She saw it with her own eyes, too.

When she was thinner than normal, or something was wrong, the Guides were more hesitant around her. Watchful. It was a kind of distrust they weren’t even aware of, because while it was a mark of something wrong or hard work for a Guide to be skinny, Espers and regular folk had no reason to be skinny, ever.

Taylor was grabbing her keys and tucking them into her pocket when she heard a knock on her door. Taylor froze.

Not many should know that she was in her room. It was, after all, her backup room. No one should be aware that she was here. On high alert, since she never knew who could be at the door, Taylor moved towards it carefully. She checked the peephole, and when she did, her shoulders dropped. Her jaw dropped, and she found herself pulling open the door unconsciously.

On the other side was a rather nervous-looking Karen, two to-go coffee cups in her hand and a few bags that looked like they held sweets or pastries tucked under her arm. She was twisting one of her feet nervously, glancing around the hallway before Taylor opened the door. Once she did, Karen smiled at her, her hair still wet from the shower that she’d clearly had.

She was in workout gear, the logo of the Guild hovering over her heart, the rest of the outfit black. It clung to her like a second skin, showing off parts of Karen that Taylor hadn’t noticed before, like how slim her waist was, and how nice her figure was. Or how thick her thighs were.

Karen lit up as Taylor opened the door, shaking her short hair slightly, the water droplets falling around her.

“Taylor. I heard you were staying in the tower. I was up already, about to go to my workout and thought I’d swing by with some breakfast. I had a feeling you wouldn’t have time to get it on your own, with you being so busy that you spent the night.” Karen grinned and Taylor stared at her silently. The smile slowly began to fade from Karen’s face as Taylor remained still. “Taylor?” Karen asked and Taylor shook herself.

“Um, did Kellen tell you I was spending the night?” Taylor asked, a little confused and Karen frowned, shaking her head. In fact, Taylor saw her cheeks turn pink.

“No, he didn’t say anything. I um, actually checked the logs to see if you left last night. I know it’s an abuse of my power, but I do that for all of the other upper managers. Think of it as my own Esper quirk.” She said with a shrug. Taylor was honestly a little surprised to hear that Karen did that.

“Do you check everyone? Including the Captain?” She asked and Karen nodded. She wiggled her eyebrows, pointedly looking inside of the apartment, and then back out into the hallway.

“Can we discuss this inside?” She asked and Taylor swallowed. Taylor’s hand on the doorframe tightened. To let Karen in, or not let her in? It was a choice that Taylor already knew the answer to before she even stepped back to let her pass. Karen beamed, and it was clear that she thought Taylor wouldn’t let her in.

Silly woman. She’d already confessed her confusing thoughts to Kellen. She was well and truly past telling Karen she wasn’t allowed into her space. Taylor closed the door behind them, locking it out of habit more than anything else.

She turned, finding that Karen had turned on the kitchen light. It illuminated the space that was similar to Kellen’s apartment, but on a smaller scale. Kitchen to the right with an island and stools to sit in, a living space expanding past the island but instead of having an upper floor, the left of the space was occupied with two doors. One leading to the bedroom that Taylor had just come out of, and the other leading to the bathroom.

Karen occupied herself with going into the kitchen and putting down the cups of coffee and then grabbing the bags she had tucked under her arm. She pumped her fist in the air silently as she carefully checked each bag.

“Score! I didn’t squish any of them.” She muttered quietly and Taylor felt her lips curl up slightly. Since she was the main medical provider for most of the Guild, outside of a few truly qualified people to hold the title of Doctor, Taylor was who everyone went to. Which meant she knew a lot about everything, and that included Physical Strength Espers. However, she hadn’t dated any, or lived with any.

Her parents were normal. Civilians as Kellen as his parents called them. They weren’t Espers or Guides, just two people who loved her and happened to have a Healing Esper as a daughter.

“Do you always worry you’re going to crush pastries?” Taylor asked, humour in her tone. Karen glanced at Taylor, the nervousness still in her movements but she gave her a bright smile.

“Well, sometimes. But I’m usually very good at controlling myself. I only lack control when I’m emotional, or I’m worried about impressing someone.” Karen gave her a look that had Taylor blushing with the sudden awareness that she had let Karen, Karen Hill, into her space.

Taylor froze. Karen laughed.

“No need to get so nervous. I would never do anything I wasn’t invited to do. You can relax. I’m just here for coffee and breakfast. Speaking of, I hope it’s okay but I asked the barista what your usual was and they made it. I got something else just in case that wasn’t what you were up to. You normally get a…” Karen picked up one of the cups, reading off the side. “Double shot of espresso, a bunch of caramel with lactose free milk, right?” Karen asked, turning and offering the drink to Taylor.

Taylor felt her mouth water. Hesitantly, she approached, taking the offered coffee with a deep, appreciative sigh as she smelt the familiar, comforting scent. Karen smiled affectionately at her.

“Yes, thank you.” Taylor said and Karen watched her for a few seconds too long.

“You’re adorable.” Karen said. Taylor blushed. Karen turned back to her task, like she hadn’t just electrocuted Taylor. “I got a few different types of things since I wasn’t sure what you liked to eat in the morning. I got a few savoury things, a few sweet things, and a protein thing that a Guide nearby swore by. Take your pick, I’ll eat whatever you don’t.” Karen turned and smiled at Taylor, so open and affectionate that Taylor found her mouth going dry.

Her hands started trembling slightly, but not in fear. She just had no idea what to do with the fact that she wasn’t upset that Karen was here. In fact, she was pretty happy to have her in her space. That alone was an odd concept for her, especially since Taylor had never dated an Esper before.

God, they weren’t even dating. All that had happened was that they kissed. Taylor was getting ahead of herself. Karen might not even want to date her.

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