Dear Rory,
I'm sorry about what I said.
I'm leaving for LA in two days.
Can we talk before then, please?
We can just drive around as usual.
I don't know how to do this if
you're upset with me.
Call me please. I'm staying at my
parents' house...
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Dear Taylor, Hi from Sri Lanka! I know Elephants are big. I've seen them at the zoo before. But nan, they're BIG. The tea here is also exquisite. Also, it's monsoon season. Should have brought an umbrella. Love always, Rory
———
April, 2023
Cas had to drive to New Jersey to visit their family this past weekend when their grandma apparently tripped and broke her hip. She's fine, according to my morning call with Cas today, just ten times crankier.
So, it's just me in my apartment for the next week. I have a few meetings during the day that I can get away with joining on Zoom but otherwise, the only thing I have on my plate is writing an article on my last trip to Japan.
I'm in the middle of describing exactly what it felt like to stand in the middle of a field with countless trees in pink and white, the cherry blossoms breathtakingly vibrant, and I have the exact words at the tip of my tongue— or fingers, I should say, as I'm typing these words as fast as I can move across my keyboard — when the buzzer beeps, indicating that someone's outside the building door.
I let out a groan, hoping they might be able to wait a minute longer while I try to finish my sentence, when they ring again.
I huff and push my laptop off before storming to the entrance hall where the intercom is.
"Hello?!" I grunt, holding my hands at my waist impatiently.
"Hi... it's Taylor. Sorry, is this a bad time?"
Oh
I let out a sigh, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose.
"No, no. It's fine. Sorry, I was writing. What... what are you doing here?"
"Can I come up?"
I look down at my bare legs. I'm only wearing a wrinkled t-shirt that is the same length as the boxers I slept in. I know my hair is a greasy mess. I definitely have not plucked my eyebrows in days. I didn't have to have my camera on for any of my meetings this morning, so I got away with it.
Wait, do I smell...?
"Uhh..." I try to stall while I sniff my shirt. Just the deodorant I use. Thank god. "Yeah, yeah. Of course. Let me buzz you in!"
"Great, thank you!"
Once I press the button with a key printed on it, I unlock the front door and leave it slightly ajar before running inside to my room to grab a change of clothes and then I run across the hallway to the bathroom to freshen up. I tie a bandana around my head to cover the mess that is my hair after slipping on an actual pair of pants and a t-shirt I didn't sleep in. I wash my face, reapply some deodorant, and spray enough perfume on that the bathroom's probably going to smell of white musk for the next hour.
