newromanticsstory

[newromanticsstory]

VI

Garrett walked out of the Franklin Street Subway stopped and walked down the street toward Sarabeth’s. This was still weird for him and it was probably weird for Taylor too. The both of them probably hadn’t been on dates in years probably and he hoped that it wasn’t going to be awkward for the both of them. He just wanted to play it cool and hope that he didn’t embarrass himself like he did on his last date, which was a complete disaster for him and whatever he name was. He learned the hard way never to go to a concert on a first date because all his date would do is let other guys by her drinks. After that night at Shea Stadium, he also vowed never to go to small, local shows again. He was getting too old for that and the kids kept getting younger and younger, meaning that it wasn’t going to be fun anymore.

Garrett looked down at his watch as he slowed his pace down a bit. He knew that he was a bit early, but it was alright. It was better to be early than late. It was a cool spring night so he didn’t mind walking to it since this was the closest stop was a few blocks away. He sighed as he passed Taylor Swift’s building and thought of Becks and how she was dying to come in and visit him. This place was the number one on her list of places to see, but ever since the stalking incidents over the past year, security had heightened around the building and made it impossible to catch a glimpse of her. All she wanted to do was sit on the steps and show her friends that she had actually been there, making them jealous that she knew where it was and they didn’t. But recently, it seemed that it was going to be impossible. He wanted to tell Becks that it wasn’t going to happen, but he wasn’t going to tell her that, she was his sister after all and she was the one who joined him as they chased Danny DeVito down the Asbury Boardwalk three summers ago in order to get a picture with him. As he walked pasted the building, he saw that the lights were on in her apartment, but then again they always seemed that they were on all the time. She liked to make it look like someone was there all the time so that if anyone wanted to break in or try to gain access to the building, they would have to wait a few days and try to decide if she was actually there or not. After stopping for a brief second, he started to move again. He wasn’t going to be late for this that’s for sure. It would be wrong to stand up someone that he was going on a date with.

“I wish I knew more about her than just what she had on her profile,” he said to himself as he crossed the street. Every time he typed her name into Facebook or twitter, nothing came up. Even LinkedIn said that she didn’t exist. It was strange; as if she wasn’t using her real last name like all the girls did on social media. Garrett knew that the only option that he had was to go with was what on her profile and that was it. A first, he had panicked a little, but then he realized that they had music in common. He figured that this would be a good starting point, so why not use this as his way in. He then crossed the street and then realized that he was on the wrong side. He felt dumb bit decided that it was better, this way he could walk down the street a bit and then cross when he got closer. Soon he got near it and crossed again.

As he crossed Greenwich, he noticed that Sarabeth’s looked like it was closed. There were many times that he passed it during cab rides back from the ferry when he went to see his aunt over on Staten Island and the place was always packed, but for some odd reason, it looked like it was closed. Maybe they had a private event and forgot to post on social media that they were closed that night. He was slightly confused by this, but decided that he would still try anyway. As he climbed the steps to the restaurant and went to open the door, it opened and the hostess smiled at him, greeting him warmly. “Come with me,” she said surprising him a bit. “I was told to let you in and give you a seat. Your date will be here shortly.” Garrett was even more confused. He wanted to know how she knew that he was on a date and if the place was closed then why was he being allowed inside? But he shrugged it off and then followed her inside wondering why the restaurant was so empty.

*

“Is that him,” Karlie asked as she leaned over the captain’s chair, watching for Garrett to arrive. While Selena had gone to meet up with The Weeknd on tour, Karlie had insisted on coming with her just in case things go bad. She was going to sit in the car and wait for the date to be over, but Taylor had told her driver that he was to drive off after she entered the restaurant. “No,” Taylor said as she checked her phone. “It’s just someone passing. I’m gonna be fine Karlie, I don’t know why you even came.” Karlie sighed and the hit the back of the seat.

“I came just in case,” she told. “Taylor, what if he’s actually some kind of serial killer who wants to wear your face as a mask. I’m here to take a picture of the guy just in case you disappear.” Taylor rolled her eyes. She had made a monster and turned Karlie into a true crime fan and was starting to think that it was a huge mistake. Taylor sighed. “Look,” she said. “You can stay five minutes in the truck, but then after that back to the apartment. If I’m not home by 12, you have my permission to call the cops.” Karlie though about if for a moment and knew that there was no other options. She sighed and then looked up at Taylor. “Deal,” she said defeated. “Just do me a favor and hide your phone if he tries to kidnap you, this way we can find you via it.” Taylor rolled her eyes. Karlie was like her mother at times. As she looked out the windshield, she saw the door to Sarabeth’s open and someone walk it. She looked at the clock and realized that it was time. She tapped the driver and he drove forward. As she went to get out of the car, Karlie stopped her.

“Just do me a favor,” Karlie said. “Be yourself and not the image that he knows. I personally think that Calvin and Tom didn’t get to know the real Taylor and got the one that was all about her image.” Taylor blushed a little. She knew that Karlie was right. Adam was the only one got close to seeing it while on tour when he showed up, but even then she didn’t feel comfortable enough to relax around him. She felt that things had to be perfect and she couldn’t be herself. Even with Tom it maybe came out once, but quickly retreated and she became her usual self. She sighed. “I will,” she told Karlie and then walked up the up the stairs. The door opened and she walked inside.

[newromanticsstory]

V

Garrett groaned as the morning light hit his face. “I’m never drinking again,” he said to himself. “Or at least not lying to anyone to get free drinks, that was a mistake.” It was a mistake going to the bar last night and letting Al know that he got a match on Tindr. Al told everyone that he had gotten a promotion, this way he didn’t have to pay for a drink at all last night. It was fine until the shots came out. After that things were a blur. He didn’t remember much and not only that, he had no clue how or who brought him home. He reached over slowly and made sure that he didn’t bring anyone home. As he reached over and didn’t feel anyone, he breathed a sigh of relief. After one too many drunken nights in college, he decide that if he was heavily drunk, he would never bring anyone home with it because it wasn’t fun for either of them and the mornings were awkward for everyone. As he out of bed, he realized that he never really did get a chance to place that record that he had gotten yesterday and decided that since it was just him, he could play it. He slowly pulled the record out of the sleeve and then put it on the player and started it up, letting the needle drop onto the record.

Out on the Weekend started to play and Garrett started to smile. He didn’t feel lonely, mainly because of the match that he had gotten last night. As he started to make breakfast, an omelet to take the edge off, then remember that he never did check his match at the end of the night to see if he had gotten a response for Taylor. As he dug through his coat pockets, he couldn’t find it and then he remembered how he found it the last time.

“Alexa call my phone,” he yelled out. “OK,” the large tube said and ring came from his pants pocket. He rolled his eyes. He had to start remembering to take it out and then put in on the holder that he brought for it instead of leaving it in his pants or at the bar, which is something that he did on a regular basis. As he opened the app, he smiled. Taylor had finally gotten back to him

Sure!, she wrote to him. I know a great little place downtown called Coco and Cru. From what I here it’s small, but a great place for a first date because it’s easy to talk and such without having to yell over everyone. If you’re interested let me know.

Garrett smiled. This was like a dream come true and she called it a date. He then read it for a third time and finally figure out what to reply back. His finger hovered over the reply button for a second and he was starting to have second thoughts about this. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. She seemed a little out of his league and he was starting to think that she was bot, but as he read her message for a fourth time, he realized that it was real and he finally sent the message. Now the only thing that he could do was wait her to reply. He moved his omelet onto a plate and waited for a response

*

Taylor stumbled down the stairs and once she got to the kitchen, she sat on a stool and held her hands against her head. While it seemed to celebrate the fact that she might have finally found a good guy, in reality, it was the worst idea ever. She looked over at the counter and saw that there were two empty bottles of wine sitting on the counter. She then turned and saw that there were five more on the counter. While they did open two bottles when Blake and Gigi were here, after they left, they must have opened five bottles after she sent that message. She remembered the first glass, but nothing more. It seemed that Karlie tried to bake drunk as well from all the burnt kookies that there on the counter. Taylor shook her head and turned on the coffee maker. She needed coffee more than anything right now and maybe something from that new bakery that opened down the street. As she stood there, letting the coffee machine warm up, she realized that she should have gone with Garrett to Sarabeth’s, mainly because she had to do was make a phone call and the entire place would be there’s. She reached for her phone, which she left down here last night just in case he got back to her. As she when to unlock her phone, Karlie stumbled down the stairs and leaned against the counter. Selena and Karlie were the only two who were allowed to keep a change of clothes at her house just in case they had to spend the night. As Karlie leaned against the counter in her little baby doll nightie, she looked up at Taylor and shook her head.

“I swear I say this all the time,” she started. “But I’m never drinking like that again.” Taylor couldn’t help but laugh, knowing that she felt the same way. “I feel like death.” Taylor laughed again. “Judging from the way that your hair looks, you might have hand the rougher night out of all of us.” Karlie smelt the coffee and smiled. “Nope,” she said. “That one on the couch didn’t make it to bed.” Taylor looked over and say that Selena was on asleep on the couch, with Olivia snuggled up next to her. Taylor then walked over and nudged Selena, who stretched and then shielded her eyes.

“Why is your apartment so bright,” Selena said, causing Taylor and Karlie to laugh. “And why do I always end up on the couch when I sleep here. I swear, next time I’m gonna get up those stairs.” Taylor came back and handed her a cup of coffee. “We’ll all feel better after breakfast,” Taylor said. “Then I have to call Sarabeth’s and ask the manager if he’ll let me rent out the place.” Selena and Karlie looked each other and then realized that Taylor wanted to go somewhere she knew.

“I think that’s a better choice,” Selena said. “It’s a place you know and also since you go there so much, the manager will have no problem with doing you a favor.” Karlie nodded. “It’s close to home,” she said. “So if you don’t like him when he walks in, you can ditch him and forget he ever contacted you.” Those words stung. Even if Taylor didn’t like him, she wasn’t going to ditch him and let him be alone, that wasn’t her way. Karlie sipped her coffee and then start to two out the burnt kookies from last night. “Did he ever reply,” she asked.

Taylor opened the app and then smiled. “He wrote back,” she said. “And he said that he’s fine with the place I picked.” Karlie laughed. “Boy is he gonna be disappointed when he finds out that you’re changing the place, but what did he say.” Taylor look at her phone and pulled it closer. “I really don’t like that place, but its fine,” she read. “Just let me know what time and I’ll be there and I will meet you there.” Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly sent him a reply as started to mix the batter. Karle then came over and hip checked her. “Call Sarabeth’s,” she said. “And then go find something to wear. Selena and I have this.” Taylor looked at her like she was crazy, but Karlie was right. She had things to do. As she climbed the stairs, she called Sarabeth’s and hoped that it was going to be alright if he booked the entire place on short notice.

*

Garrett cleared his plates and heard his phone ding. He looked over and saw that there was a new message for Taylor.

Well if that’s the case, Taylor said. How about Sarabeth’s in Tribecca? It’s a great restaurant that I go to all the time and the food is very good. I’ll make reservations for 7:30. See you then.

Garrett smiled. He always wanted to go there, mainly because of the fact that so many people talked about how good it was and it looked like it as finally going to happen. He was actually excited to go on this date and meet this girl. Harvest ended and Garrett switched over to his iPod. He then decided that he would figure out what he was wearing and take shower before he realized what time it was and hand to panic. He then headed to the bathroom to get ready.

[newromanticsstory]

IV

“You’re crazy,” Selena said as she looked out the door in the upper guest room. “It’s coming down out there. There’s no way in hell that I’m going out there and besides that, how the hell are we going to get into Taylor’s room anyway. She probably locked that door.” Karlie rolled her eyes. At times Selena was such a diva, but then again, unlike her, Selena wasn’t in the elements for modeling shoots all the time like she was, for her, this was going to be a cake walk. A little rain never bother her. Karlie put up her hood and the dragged Selena, who almost clung to the door frame, out the door, heading across the patio. It wasn’t that bad as Selena thought, it was just a typical east coast spring rain that fell steady. As they neared the master bedroom, Karlie pushed opened the patio doors no problem, as if she knew that it was going to be unlocked. “How’d you know that,” Selena said looking at Karlie puzzled.

“Taylor likes to leave it opened so when the wind blows from the north, she can get a nice breeze coming into her room,” Karlie told her as lead Selena inside and closed the door behind them. “I’m surprised that the stalker from February didn’t think to push it opened.” Selena shook her head. She knew that Taylor was a little laxed in somethings, but you would think after that incident, she would at least lock the door so that no one could get in. As then entered Taylor’s room, they found her curled up on the bed with Olivia and Meredith, the second who was rarely affectionate to anyone, cuddling up to her, as if they were trying to comfort her, letting her know that it was OK to be upset. As Karlie shut the door, Taylor looked up and then turned away. After what happened, she just wanted to be left alone. Karlie walked over to one side of the bed and sat next to her. At first, Taylor didn’t want to have anything to do with either of them, but then she picked up her head and put it in Karlie’s lap. She sobbed a little as Selena came over and start to rub her back.

“All I wanted to do was meet someone,” she said between sobs. “I want to be like you guys and be happy and stop feeling like a third wheel. It’s not like I going on there and looking for a hook up or anything. I just want to try something different. I’ve rejected everyone who figured out who I was and that meant everyone.” Karlie and Selena felt bad after they heard that. Maybe they should have let her explain what was going on instead of laughing. Karlie and Selena sighed at the same time.

“Tay,” Karlie started. “We weren’t laughing at you; we were laughing at the fact that you had a Tindr notification on your phone. I mean you could easily have any guy you want and all you would have to do is walk up to them and say that you saw them across the room and you wanted to talk to them.” Karlie looked up at Selena, hoping that she could add something to what she said.

“After you ran upstairs, we realized how wrong it was,” Selena said. “We should have asked you why you were using the app in the first place. It’s not like we were going to make fun of you or anything. We just wanted to have a better understanding of why you were using it in the first place.” Taylor stopped sobbing and pick up Olivia. She tried to pick up Meredith, but as usual, Meredith didn’t want any part of it and jumped off the bed, scurrying away. Taylor sighed and then blew her nose. She mustered a smile and wiped her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said as she pet Olivia, causing her to purr loudly. “I guess that I’m tired of dating famous people and want someone normal for a change. Someone who doesn’t care that I’m famous and just wants to be with me for… well me. So I decided to try Tindr. I know that it’s commonly used for hook ups, but I read a lot of good stories of people finding someone who they fell in love with. I know I’m crazy, but I have a feeling that it could I could make it work, even if we just start as friends.” Taylor looked over at her friends, hoping that they understood where she was coming from. Karlie smiled.

“Is that all,” she asked. “Well how are you doing it anyway? Using an alias of some kind?” Taylor actually laughed. She was starting to feel better now that she had someone to talk to. “No,” Taylor said. “I’m just using my first and middle name. No one is smart enough to go and look for my full name, but there have been a few who knew it was me right away. I shot them down and blocked them.” Selena then leaned over hugged Taylor.

“So what about the one you got the message from,” she asked Taylor. “Have you talked to him at all?” Taylor shook her head. “You can’t talk to anyone unless you’re matched with them,” she told her. “Once you’re matched, you can talk with anyone. So most of the time, if they look a bit creepy or stalkerish, I swipe left, but if they look like they’re gonna be alright, I give them a chance, but usually when we get to the chat screen, that’s where they get creepy and start to tell me that the know who I am and that’s when I end it. But this guy is different, he looks decent at least.” Karlie and Selena nodded. They had a better understanding on what Taylor was doing; at least she was being safe. The two of them then got curious.

“So what does he look like,” Karlie asked her. “I’m sure that he falls in with the kind of guys that you date.” Selena heard this and giggled. “Yeah,” Selena said. “Tall, dark hair and spends some time at the gym.” She and Karlie started to laugh as Taylor rolled her eyes. She knew that they were right, but this guy barely fit the mold. Taylor opened the app and looked at the match that she had. Sure enough it was the lonely guy from earlier tonight and they had matched. He even sent her a message, but before she looked at that, she turned the phone toward Karlie and Selena. Upon seeing the picture, Karlie and Selena breathed a sigh of relief. He was normal and actually kind of cute.

“He’s actually not bad,” Selena said. “But then again, he seems that he would be humbled if he met someone famous.” Karlie nodded and the tapped his profile and read it. “He’s lonely.” Karlie said. “And he’s a big reader too Tay. I think you two would be a great fit.” Karlie then spotted the message from him. “You should answer him,” She told her. “I mean he seems like he’s gonna be a good guy and not a creeper like some of the guys on these thing can be.” Selena grabbed the phone and looked at him and smiled. “He sort of reminds me of a normal Ryan Gosling,” Selena told Taylor. “Like he might not be as buff or something to that effect, but I don’t know, for all we know he’s ripped as hell underneath that shirt.” The three of them then laughed. While at first, Taylor was going to keep this to herself, she was glad that she told her two best friends about what she was doing. The weight of the world was off her shoulders. As she stared at the message, she started to smile.

“He wants to meet for dinner,” Taylor said. She started to think about where she could meet him, somewhere not too expensive but not under super in expensive. As she thought about it, Karlie perked up. “Shake Shack,” she suggested, but Taylor shook her head no. It wasn’t going to work like that. It wasn’t a date with Ella, it was more serious. As the three of them sat there, Selena then perked up.

“Coco and Cru,” she said causing Karlie and Taylor to look up. “It’s this little place at the corner of Broadway and Bleecker Street. It’s so small that I’m sure that you could rent the place out and have them close the shades for some privacy, this way no photographers could assume that you’re dating someone again.” Taylor then hugged her. Selena was right; she needed to go somewhere small and private, away from the public eye so that she could make him feel comfortable. While she did think about having him come here, it was too early for that, and she also though that meeting on neutral ground was better for this, just in case things went wrong and she had to get out of there, but she never got that vibe from him and it seemed that it was going to be fine. Taylor looked over at the clock and knew that it was too call and try to set up anything, so she would have to call in the morning and set something up.

“Thank you both,” she said. “I guess that I need this. I should have told you guys sooner. I’m sure that Blake and Gigi are worried as you were.” She then leaned over and hugged the both of them. Taylor then focused on her phone and started to type a simple reply to Garrett, inviting him to dinner tomorrow. She hoped that he would find the message either tonight or tomorrow and that he would accept the response that she gave him. She smiled as she hit the send button. Now was the hardest part, but the only thing that she could do was wait.

[newromanticsstory]

III

“Don’t you dare touch that phone,” Gigi yelled at Blake as she reached for her phone as danced across the coffee table. “If you even think of touching, you’re doing a shot.” Dinner had ended hours ago, but everyone had decided to stay and hang out since it actually had been a while since everyone had seen each other in a very long time. At first it seemed that they were going to be sitting around looking at their phones, showing each other pictures that the took from their world travels, although Taylor was the only one who hadn’t gone anywhere in the past year, Selena then got an idea.

“I play this game with my friends all the time,” Selena said earlier in the night. “We all put our phones face down on the table and ignore them as long as we can. No matter what happens” They all agreed, but Taylor was worried that her phone would be going off all the time because of all the Tindr matches and alerts that she was going to be getting. So before she put her phones with the others, she flicked the switch on the side and turned off the sound. It was an unfair advantage, but she knew that it was the only way to keep her secret safe from everyone. While it seemed for a while that no one’s phone was going off, Blake’s phone when off first.

“Ryan’s by himself with both girls,” Blake said. “He might be texting me asking where something is. James is probably giving him some problems. Like asking where I am and when I’m coming home.” Gigi rolled her eyes, but before she had a chance to answer, Taylor stepped in.

“I think we can make an exception to the rule,” Taylor said. “Ryan is probably trying to get her to go to bed, but she won’t unless she says good night to you.” They all nodded in agreement. Blake then grabbed her phone and stepped away from everyone, taking the phone call from Ryan. Taylor wanted to look at her phone, but didn’t want to do a shot, in fact, it seemed that no one wanted to do a shot and everyone was avoiding their phones.

“Kookies,” Karlie said as she came out of the kitchen. “Get them while they’re hot and fresh out of the oven.” As everyone heard that, they got up and grabbed one. It seemed that this was what everyone needed. It had been so long since they all hung out that it wasn’t funny. As she took a bit of one of the kookies, Karlie looked over at Taylor. “So when’s that album coming out,” she asked. “You know that the internet is starting to lose their minds and people are starting to demand that you release it. In fact, I had two girls ask me if I knew anything in my coding classes, but I had to tell them I knew as much as they did.” Taylor swallowed hard when she heard that. The truth was that she had been writing, but nothing was good enough. The two break ups that she had were mutual and nothing bad happened recently. She had the issues with Kanye and Kim, but she did not want to dreg that up and start something new with them. She sighed.

“Good,” she lied. “I talked to Max Martin last week and he said that he liked what he saw and was going to work with it, but don’t expect something new till like next year. I haven’t even started to make the musical arrangements.” The four girls let out a collective groan. It seemed that ever Taylor’s friends wanted new music. While she said that she was going to take up to a year and a half off, it seemed that it was going to turn into two years, which she thought that she deserved since she had been stuck in a never ending cycle of touring and recording just like Bob Dylan was, but that wasn’t for her. She needed a break and it was well deserved.

“Come on,” Gigi groaned. “You’re killing us here. I know that you said that you were planning on taking a year to a year and a half off, but now it’s turning into two years. I wanna go back up on stage and strut again. That was fun.” Everyone laughed remembering how amazing the show at Met Life was when they all came out. Taylor smiled and realized that she might have to actually start really writing lyrics instead of watching true crime shows all day. She sighed softly.

“It would be funny if we both released albums at the same time,” Selena said. “We should totally go on tour with each other and do something like Jay Z and Kanye West did. But only better.” The thought of this made Taylor smile a bit. While it might be hard to tour with Selena, knowing her track record, it might be a good thing mainly because of the fact that Taylor would be able to keep her sane and maybe even get rid of those idiot friends who want to party all the time. But Taylor knew that this was a pipe dream. Her label and Selena’s label would never agree to letting them tour together. It was a dream, but a nice dream. Blake walked back and smiled.

“Everything alright,” Taylor asked. Blake nodded as she took a cookie and poured herself another glass of wine. “Of course,” Blake said. “James was just being James and refused to go to bed without saying goodnight to me and Selena you better do a shot or else I’m going push you out into the rain and sell the pictures to TMZ.” Gigi, Karlie and Taylor turned around and saw that Selena was standing with her phone in hand, with a surprised look on her face. She knew that she was busted and there was no way out. Gigi walked over and pour the mix of vodka and fruit juice into a glass.

“Drink up,” she told her. “You’re the first.” Selena shook her head. She couldn’t believe how stupid she was. Selena sighed and took her shot. “What is it,” she asked. Gigi shrugged. “It’s not jungle juice,” Gigi said. “It’s more of what a bartender would call a jolly rancher.” Selena shrugged. While it wasn’t bad, it was too sweet for her liking. “And I apologize,” Selena said. “T and Amy keep texting me about something stupid. They kept arguing about if I’m actually going to go back into the studio or not this year. Of course I had to answer them, if not they’d think that I’m dead or something.” Taylor rolled her eyes. At least they didn’t catch on her little tactic or else she’d be drunk on the floor. As Selena put her phone back down on the table, she accidently knocked Taylor’s phone on the floor, which caused her to panic. She was going to get caught and it was going to result in something more than just shots. Gigi was known for doling out punishments that fit the crime and she knew that it meant shots for her. As Selena picked up Taylor’s phone, she noticed that the silent switch was turned on. “You cheater,” Selena said causing everyone else to turn around. “You had your phone on silent the entire time. That’s so not fair.”

Taylor blushed bright red. She was caught in her own lie. “I must have forgot to turn in back on this morning,” she said as she looked down. Gigi shook her head. She then walked over and looked at Taylor’s phone. She knew that Taylor was lying, but she didn’t want to call her out on something that she didn’t know what, but she was going to get to the bottom of it.

“So why’d you leave your phone on silent,” Gigi asked. “Someone texting you too much and you don’t want your friends to find out?” Selena, Karlie and Blake couldn’t help but laugh. “Trying to hide a new man from us,” Karlie said as she came over and sat next to Taylor, letting her know that it was OK to be embarrassed.

“She’s probably not ready for us to meet him yet,” Blake said. “After all, we didn’t meet Calvin until three months after she had started dating him.” Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad her friends where actually cared about her and would accept what she was about to tell them. But before she had a chance to explain what was going on, her phone went off loud enough for everyone to hear. Gigi looked down at the screen and the started to laugh.

“Tindr,” she asked trying to contain her laughter. “Are you kidding me? Taylor, you aren’t that desperate, are you?” Taylor heard Gigi’s reaction and felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn’t thank that Gigi could be so mean. Before anyone else hand a chance to answer, Taylor grabbed her phone and ran upstairs, closing her door to her bedroom. As they heard the door slam shut, Karlie looked over at Gigi, scowling.

“You know that you could have been a bit nicer,” she said. “Now we have to work on getting her out of there and that’s going to be bad as the break up with Tom.” Karlie got up and headed up stairs as Selena was coming back down. Selena had at least gone after her and tried to reason with her, but it seemed that even that wasn’t going to happen. “She locked herself in there,” Selena said. “I’m staying until she comes out. She was there for me when I came out of rehab all those times, so I wanna be there for her.” Karlie nodded and then looked over at Blake and Gigi. She remembered that the both of them hand to leave by 10, Blake was going back home and Gigi had an early flight to Paris for a shoot with Vogue Japan. “Go,” Karlie said. “Selena and I got this. We’ll send your apologies. We all know that no one was trying to be mean.” Gigi nodded.

“I wasn’t going to make fun of her or anything,” Gigi said. “I just thought it was…” Karlie stopped her. “We all did,” Karlie said. “But it was wrong. We should have given her a chance to explain what she was doing. I’m sure that she had good intentions.” Karlie then got up and hugged Gigi and Blake. “Text when you get home,” she said. “We will,” Blake and Gigi said in unison and then headed out the door. As soon as they were gone, Karlie turned to Selena.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” Karlie said as she climbed the stairs. “Are you sure that she locked the door.” Selena nodded. “I tried it,” Selena said. “There’s no other way in there. Karlie then remember something.

“Yes there is,” she said. “Grab your jacket and follow me. We might get a little wet.” Selena looked at her like she was crazy, but she knew that Karlie had spent more nights in this apartment more than anyone, so she knew a few trick that no one else knew. Selena grabbed her jacket and followed Karlie up the stairs. From the sound of it, it wasn’t going to be a long night after all.

[newromanticsstory]

I’m thinking that this is what Taylor’s Tindr profile along the lines of this.

[newromanticsstory]

II

This will be the last post for a bit. I have things to do this weekend and will not have the time to edit or write anything until Sunday at the earliest. I will resume my regular posting schedule on Monday.

“Have a nice night,” the girl behind the counter of The Strand Bookstore said as she slid the bag across the counter. Garrett mustered a smile and took the bag and the receipt from her. “Thanks,” he said. “And you as well.” He headed toward the door and sighed. It was going to be a long, lonely weekend again and he wasn’t looking forward to it. When he first moved to NYC, mainly because of the fact that he was going to live rent free in a building that his aunt owned, he promised himself that he would make some friends, but that never happened. It wasn’t like New Jersey where your coworkers hung out with you after work, here everyone was in a rush to go back home or back to their apartments and meet up with their friends that they had for years. It was actually kind of sad in his opinion. Garrett actually felt small for the first time in his life and was ready to go back home and start commuting again. But, a free apartment was keeping him from doing so and he knew that he would never get that nice of a place again no matter how hard he tried. As he walked down the subway and boarded the L toward the west side of the island, he glanced down at the bag of books in his hand. He would finish them by Sunday and then he would repeat the cycle again next weekend. He wished that more of the people that he worked with were more opened to hanging out, but most of them have little circles that have room for no one new.

Garrett figured that he would wait one more year, giving his sister, Becks, a chance to come in and spend the weekend with him, and then pack up his life and head back home. While he didn’t want to that, it seemed that this was going to be his only option, at least he would have friends back home, but the only problem was that he would feel like a third wheel all the time. He was the only single one out of all his friends and it was hard to go out in a group and not feel alienated. While they did call him all the time when they were in the city, he never went to hang out with them because of the fact that they never talked to him. While he would go out with one couple by himself, in a large group, it wasn’t fun. He found himself most of the time sitting in a dark corner, scrolling through his phone while everyone else was having a good time. As he passed the local bar that was two buildings away, he saw that it was empty.

“Why not,” he said to himself. “I earned that drink after what Tristan in accounting had me do whatever that was this week.” Garrett then picked up the pace and headed toward his apartment. The rain that was supposed to come in later tonight had come earlier than expected, but that wasn’t going to stop him from going out. He was glad that he was only one building away from his apartment and not six like the last time that it rained and was soaked by the time that he got home. As he entered the lobby to his building, the doorman smiled.

“Got a package for you,” he said. “I had to sign for it too. It must be something important.” He then reached down behind the desk and handed a large square package. Garrett was puzzled at first, but the he realized what it was. It was the record that he had been waiting to arrive for the past week. The shipper sure took his or her sweet time getting it here. “Thanks,” Garrett said as he took the package and then headed up stairs. He was wondering why he hadn’t gotten this yet. He totally forgot that he had won this in an auction and had paid for it everything. He was eager to see if it was in good condition as the seller said it was.

As he opened the door to his apartment, dropped his books on the floor and started to tear the brown paper package apart. Between the books that he was buying every week and his vinyl record addiction, he was starting to wonder what was going to cause him go broke first. As he opened the paper, he saw the bubble wrap that was wrapped around it as well. He knew which record it was and started to smile. He had started tracking down a first pressing of Neil Young’s Harvest months ago and while most of the ones that he had come across weren’t actually first pressings, he finally managed to find one and at a good price too. As he opened it up, he smiled. Maybe it wasn’t going to be such a lonely weekend after all. The seller was right; the condition of it was perfect. The jacket and the record, which he carefully pulled out, was perfect, as if had never been played. He was happy that the seller didn’t lie to him. He then placed the record on the table and headed out. He would listen to it later, right now he want that drink more than anything. As he glanced out the window, he saw that the rain was coming to steady, meaning that the bar would be empty. Usually if it rained, the bridge and tunnel people stayed home and went to their local watering hole instead of driving or taking the train in, meaning that the bar would be empty. Garrett pulled his door closed and then exited the building.

As he walked back up the street, he felt his phone go off. “Probably Becks,” he said to himself. His sister wanted to come in so badly, but now wasn’t the time. He didn’t want to confront her when he was this down, so maybe in a few weeks. He sighed as he walked in and saw that Al, the bartender, was staring at the TV. “Slow night,” he asked as he sat down at the end of the bar. Al turned around and smiled. He was glad to see that someone was coming in.

“Not at all,” he said. “You know that it picks up post dinner rush.” Garrett smiled. He knew that it was still early, but this might be as busy as it got in here tonight. Al then placed a drink in front of him and he pulled out a $20. “First one’s on me,” Al told him. “Then you pay.” Garrett nodded as he focused on the TV screen and started to watch the baseball game that was already four innings in. As he sat there, his phone went off again, causing Al to look over at him.

“That fire starter app finally getting you matches,” Al asked him. “I thought that you were deleting that after a week.” As Garrett snapped out of his trance, which was fine since the Yankees were up 3-1, he realized that it might be a match from Tindr. One of his friends told him that he should try it to meet people and while it seemed like a good idea, he had little luck with it. While he had a few matches, most of them flaked on him right before their dates or were no shows, which gave him little hope. Today was supposed to be the last day for it and while at lunch, he scrolled through a few girls, mostly swiping left, but as he came across this one girl, he stopped. She looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before. He shrugged it off and read her profile.

Taylor Allison here, her profile started. I’m new to this and thought that I’d give it a shot. I like to sing and loudly at that. My friends say that I’m a bit of a goof ball, but I deny it. I like to travel and miss the beach house that my family had on the Jersey Shore that we had to sell when we moved to Nashville, but I now live here in NYC. I would like to go to the MoMA or the Met in NYC where I live, because every time I go, it’s either closed or too crowded. I like books and the stores that sell them. Oh and I can’t forget… I love cats.

Garrett couldn’t help but laugh. She was cute and probably way out of his league. He was sure that she would never see his request for a match, but he figured that he try anyway. But now it was different. They were actually matched and he didn’t know what to do. As he looked up at Al, he shrugged and then nodded.

“It’s a match,” Garrett told him. “But I think that she’s out of my league.” Al took his empty glass away and then refilled it just as a large group of people walked in. The dinner rush was ending and now they were looking for a place to drink.

“If you answer her,” Al said as he wiped his head, getting ready to go to work. “I’ll give you your drinks free from the rest of the night.” Garrett was shocked. There was a sign behind the bar that stated that no one would get a drink for free unless they just had a kid, but Al was the one who told him that he should be more adventurous when he first moved here and he was who told him that there are plenty of fish in the sea here, but this was crazy. Garrett glanced back down at his phone and took a deep breath.

Hey, he typed. Wanna grab dinner or a cup of coffee sometime. He hesitated for a second, but then looked at the beer and hit send. It seemed that that first pressing of Harvest and those books were going to have to wait till tomorrow

[newromanticsstory]

I

This is really the second time I’ve done this. My first one was a train wreck partnered with a car accident, paired with a plane crash. But I think this is better and the story is much better. I’ll try to post every other day, but at end of the week, you might not see me until next week due to wedding related things. So, here goes nothing.

Taylor leaned on the ledge and looked out at the New York skyline. She promised herself that when she first moved to New York that she would never feel small, but over the past year, that had changed. Between the two stalking incidents, the Kim Kardashian/Kanye West incident that led to many people bullying her on social media, and the fact that everyone was demanding that she released her latest album, for the first time ever in her life, she felt small and it wasn’t a good thing. While the city wasn’t closing in on her, she felt like she was alone and lost in her life. It seemed like everyone that was around her was doing better than her or involved with someone. Her childhood friends Abigail and Britt, had Ben and Matt, Ed had Cherry, Gigi had Zayn, Selena now had The Weeknd, and Blake had Ryan. She was actually starting to feel like the third wheel when she went out with anyone and it was starting to get old. She longed for that connection with someone like she had with Adam and Tom. While she still wasn’t really over the both of them, Adam because he was her longest and Tom mainly because it was a different kind of relationship, she knew that neither of them would have worked out because no one had any time for each other and that wasn’t good for anyone. They would have seen each other maybe once a month and the long distance thing didn’t work for her once, so there was no way that she was going to try it again with either of them. She didn’t want to put either of them through that.

Taylor sighed as she stared out at the city. She felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out of her back pocket. She was expecting a text from Karlie, saying that she was on her way over, but it wasn’t, it was another Tindr match. She quickly looked at it and then put it away. It was another idiot who knew who she was and she quickly blocked him. She sighed. She wanted to be with someone, but not someone who was looking for just a quick fix or someone who was looking to spend the night with her just to jump start their careers, she wanted something that was more like what she had with Adam or Tom for that matter, but it seemed that it wasn’t going to happen on that app. Everyone she was matched with knew who she was and it wasn’t a good thing. She just wanted someone who didn’t care that she was, but she knew that this wasn’t going to happen. She was just going to have to settle on the fact that it wasn’t going to happen and that everyone was going to know who she was no matter how hard she tried to make herself not like her.

She sighed as she stared out at the city and then felt her phone go off again. This time It was the text from Karlie saying that she was running five minutes late and would be stopping to pick up Gigi and Blake, who had decided that she was going to use Gigi’s apartment as a halfway point between her house upstate and Taylor’s downtown apartment, so that she could go home later tonight and be with her kids the next morning. As she went to reply, a message came in from Selena saying, in her typical style, saying that she would be joining them at the last minute, because The Weeknd told her that she should see her friends more often and spend less time with him because of the fact that the tabloids were having too much fun with the headlines that they were creating. Taylor smiled as she read the text. Maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad night after all. As she replied to Selena, she felt a few drops hit her, causing her to look up and then it started to rain. She knew that it was supposed to rain, but it was supposed to start later.

“Darn it,” she said to herself. “I wanted to have dinner on the roof.” She sighed and then grabbed her phone and headed in. As she entered the master bedroom, she pulled out her phone and looked through her phone again. Her Tinder app was right on the homepage of her phone. While she wanted it to be front and center, at the last second, she moved it to the back of the phone, so that no one could see it and ask her why she was on it in the first place. She had a feeling that no one would question it, but she didn’t know how anyone would react if they found it.  As she moved it, she opened it accidently. Taylor knew it was by accident, but she couldn’t help but look one more time. It was starting to become an addiction, to the point where she found herself on it multiple times a day. She sighed to herself and then stopped after she swiped left on multiple profiles. This one wasn’t like most of the guys that were on here. His profile picture didn’t show him drinking, doing something douchey, or just looking smug. The picture looked it was from his work ID, done professionally, or something. She didn’t know what it was about him, but he was cute. She opened his profile and smiled to herself. He was close, just a few blocks away, in fact the only goofy picture that he had in his profile was one outside her building, which it seemed that he sent to someone, like his little sister or something like that, just to make them jealous. However the smile faded as she looked down his profile and read his bio.

I just moved here from New Jersey¸ he wrote. I wanted to spread my wings a bit, but I’m starting to think that this was mistake. All I do is work, go back to my tiny apartment and nothing else. I’m using this to maybe make a friend or two, but I have a feeling that this isn’t going to happen. All I want is someone to hang out with. Maybe go to a museum with or see a movie or even have dinner for that matter. I’ll give this a week and then delete it; because it’s not gonna work.

Taylor actually felt sorry for Garrett, which was his name. He sort of looked like Ryan Gosling if he hadn’t gone into acting, went to college, got a degree, and then got a job, which was fine by her. As she looked at his other pictures, she felt something, something that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Something she hadn’t felt since Adam. Was she really attracted to this normal guy? This guy who was a nobody and just wanted someone to talk to and hangout with. She actually felt bad for him and knew how he felt. She too felt small and was looking for someone. As she was about to swipe right, the doorbell buzzed. She rolled her eyes. It was like Selena to arrive early when she replied late. She walked over to the intercom, checked the camera, making sure that it was actually Selena and not a fan trying to gain access to her apartment, and then buzzed her up. She was glad that someone was on time for once.

Taylor looked back at her phone and was Garrett’s picture, one where he was standing in the middle of a book store, looking lost, trying to find a connection of some kind with someone. She then sighed. “I’ll give him a chance,” Taylor said. “He could be fun and a break from the norm.” Taylor swiped right on his profile, closed the app, moving the app off the home screen to the very last page and the put her phone in her back pocket, heading to meet Selena at the door. This was going to be an interesting night. Maybe he’d get back to her tomorrow when no one was around or at least that’s what he hoped.

[newromanticsstory]

Coming soon...

A new Taylor Swift fan fiction work (And maybe part one of a series).

Feeling lonely and beaten down for the first time, Taylor Swift decides that it’s time for a change and decides to try dating someone normal, despite feedback from her friends. However, she finds love in someone she didn’t expect.