McLaren’s, Artwork And Deep Denial; A Normal Sunday Afternoon In The Suburbs
Day 126 of The Andie Chronicles
You know when you see something for the first time, but you don’t know it’s the first time until you see it?
Complicated thought, I know, but that’s what happened to me when I saw Taylor’s McLaren parked in the driveway of 5 Lovelock Drive.
Otherwise known as GG’s house.
You remember a car like this casually reserved in a quaint little street like mine. It’s loud and attracts every type of attention. This purchase was very unlike Taylor, more like his brother.
My ex. Douglas. My boss, or so he thinks. The guy who meant to be saving my business when it didn’t need saving.
That guy.
I was putting the bins out when I saw Taylor getting something from the backseat. He looked casual and at ease like this was his home, too.
Everyone knew it wasn’t, though. He and GG never stayed there, always at his penthouse in South Yarra, just near Chapel Street, instead. Seeing him near outdoor bins, a picket fence, it was like a fish out of water.
“Taylor,” I called out to him, assuming GG wasn’t far behind. He saw me and I could see his smile fill his face in an instant. He quickly trotted down the street to my front door, not looking behind him or even locking his car. “An-die!”
As soon as we came close to each other, Taylor wrapped his arms around my body and lifted me off the ground. It was the first hint of genuine affection and elation I had experienced all week. “Well hi, stranger. What are you doing here?”
“GG wanted some of her artwork shifted to my place. I told her I would grab it whilst I was running another errand.” I looked at Taylor, his sunken eyes only offset by his childish grin.
“Is this a good thing?” I asked him.
Taylor stared at his feet, and then up to the sky. “Taylor, is this a good thing? Or not?”
“You’re not going to tell her I said this, are you?” I shook my head. I couldn’t trust GG right now. I couldn’t trust any of my friends. It was a brutal reality, something I was having a hard time admitting. I didn’t know what it would take to restore the trust, either.
“GG is moving way too fast. She keeps doing things around my home, shifting my life around to insert hers into it. The artwork is on the tip of the iceberg.”
This revelation was hardly a surprise. Taylor and I had been hiding our close friendship from everyone else. He was also helping me when he probably should have been siding with his girlfriend. Or his brother.
Not exactly the signs of a man who loved his situation.
“What are you going to do about it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Lame, huh?” I understood where he was coming from.
“No, I get it. You have to do what you have to do.”
Taylor laughed, cackling until my confused expression stopped him. “What, like you did this week? I heard what happened with my brother.”
I gently slapped him on the arm. “I was serious about it. I’m all on board.”
“Alexandra, I don’t believe you for a second. No. Really. I love you. But you’re lying.” Taylor kissed me on the cheek and began to return to 5 Lovelock Drive.
“By the way, how did you know my full name was Alexandra?”
“It was on the contract.”
Ahh, the contract. Yeah, I need to find that.
You’re reading The Andie Chronicles, the 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
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