Chapter 15 - Taylor

My throat aches from crying the entire drive to my parents' house. There is just something about crying that I hate. My head starts to pound and my throat is raw.

Mascara must be flowing down my cheeks, my hands coming away with black specks on them from wiping my eyes so much.

The cab driver is silent the entire drive, and it doesn't hit me that I've made it home until he clears his throat, reminding me that I am not alone.

Embarrassment flows over me in waves. I just bawled my eyes out in the driver's car for the entire ride.

I look up and see his silver-gray eyes staring straight into my soul. They have a mad glint to them, and it hits me. I never told him my address.

Lead fills my stomach as fear settles in me.

The man maintains eye contact as I put my hand on the handle.

I figure that I am just being paranoid, but when he smiles, my gut twists at his crooked teeth.

You will make it out of here alive, I say to myself as I prepare to flee.

"Thanks for the ride," I say. "How much do I owe you?"

The man tilts his head to the side, "It's on the house."

His voice is gravelly, and I shoot him a small smile as I open the door, not wanting to show him that I am on high alert.

My heart relaxes as the door opens. "Thanks."

I run up the short stairs that lead up to my parents' house and don't look back. Almost dropping the keys, I shake my head at myself.

Keep it together, girl.

I slow down and put the correct key in the lock before slamming the door shut behind me.

Taking deep breaths, I try to relax. This guy gave me no reason to be suspicious besides vibes and knowing where I live. He drove me home, let me cry in his car, and then didn't charge me.

Probably because he felt bad for me—I mean, I was losing it in the back seat of his car.

Telling myself all of this, I relax a fraction.

I look through the small window on the front door and see that the car is still there.

Why hasn't he left?

The road is clear, no one is coming down the street.

Maybe he is just waiting for the next person to book a ride, or he is getting his GPS ready.

Yeah, that makes sense. If he's a driver, he'll be gone soon.

But wait. The car is silver, not a yellow cab, and I don't remember seeing a Lyft or Uber sign in the window.

I take another peek, and again, the car is still there, and from my vantage point, I can't see any rideshare signage on the car.

Okay, think positive thoughts, I say to myself as I keep watching, but after a few minutes pass and the car stays put, I start to panic.

Why is he still here?

What if he gets out of the car?

"Dad!" I call out into the house. "Mom?"

Locking the front door, I look all over the house and realize I am alone. Which makes sense, as it is midday. Everyone must be at work right now, and here I am, alone with some psycho parked out front.

I pull out my phone to see if maybe I can call my dad and he can come home. He works the closest.

There are three missed calls from the same number, and I just know that TJ tried calling me again.

I look back out the window and see the car still parked out front. Terror fills me as I see that it has turned off and the man is just sitting there. I can't see his face from this angle, but something tells me he is watching the house.

Realizing I have no other choice, I call TJ back, but it goes straight to voicemail.

Fed up, I walk to the living room and sit down, tossing my phone to the side.

What is my life coming to?

There is no way I can still practice law, and now the random guy who gave me a ride is sitting outside my house and won't leave.

Maybe I should go out there and talk to him. If I confront him, maybe he'll go away. Or maybe he'll attack me. Either sounds terrifying.

I sit down and lay my head in my hands and count to one hundred before wondering if I should call the cops.

If they can drive by and intimidate him, he'll have to leave.

But is a strange car sitting out front for ten minutes really life-threatening? They might not even come out.

But what other choice do I have?

As I reach for my phone, a knock reverberates through the house.

No way.

There is no way he is at the door.

I start to hyperventilate when another knock resounds.

What am I going to do?

Leaving my phone on the couch, I grab an umbrella from the stand next to the door and look through the window.

Relief flows through me at the sight of TJ on the other side.

He has both hands on the door frame and is panting. His blonde hair is a mess, and he is wearing some weird black wetsuit?

Thrusting the door open, I speak.

"What are you doing here?"

Before TJ can answer, the car out front speeds away, drawing TJ's attention.

"Who was that?"

"Don't evade the question," I snap. TJ is the last person I expected to see right now. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk."

After everything that has happened today, TJ wants to talk.

His voice irritates me like no other, and I snap.

"Talk, you want to talk! I could have ruin my career in front of the entire world, and you want to talk. You claimed to love me. What kind of evil creature are you? What did I do to deserve this? You bully me as a teen and then trick me into sleeping with you, and then throw ‘I love you' in my face before court? TJ Rubens, you are despicable."

Getting this off my chest feels great, but it pisses me off to see TJ smiling at me.

"What is that stupid look for? Huh? Do you think this is funny? Messing with poor, fat Taylor."

At my last words, his smile falls.

"And then, to top off my whole day off, some creep drives me home and doesn't leave until you show up? What is that all about? Do you know him or something?"

Maybe this is all a setup, maybe TJ hired the driver to scare me.

If that is the case, it worked wonders.

"I just don't understand what I did so wrong to deserve all this," I cry out, shoving TJ back.

Staring into TJ's eyes through my own glassy ones, all I see is concern.

Why was he so concerned when he caused this?

It is his fault that I fled the courthouse. Everything bad that has ever happened to me is his fault.

I stare into his deep blue eyes and while I feel an overwhelming sense of hatred, I also feel love, and I hate that most of all.