disastrous meeting the day before. She found a space a few blocks away
and wedged her car in. It was a tiny little thing, barely above the status of
being called a beater. Her parents helped her buy it when she got her license
at sixteen. They had a deal that if she helped on the farm, on top of her
regular chores, that they’d pay for it until she could work off the debt. She’d
spent every single minute of her grade ten year working to pay for that car.
It might not look like much to anyone else, but she loved it because it was
hers.
Taylor’s heart leapt straight into her airway when she approached the
brick structure. Christina Hilford— she’d used her last name this time—
called her right after she dropped Chloe off at the bus stop. She was still
walking back to the apartment and had nearly fallen over. The conversation
was so strange that Taylor almost thought she was having one of those
stupid dreams where she went through all the motions of getting herself up
and ready, getting Chloe ready for school and onto the bus. The call was
that surreal.
Taylor’s composure was firmly in place as she pushed open the big
glass door. She was wearing the same outfit as the day before.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. She didn’t have anything else that was
half decent. She had the wrinkled pages of her proposal tucked in her purse.
She made sure that she didn’t let her eyes dance around or wipe her sweaty
palms on her skirt. She didn’t want to give away how nervous she was, even
though she knew that, bizarrely enough, her idea was a done deal.
“Taylor!” Christina Hilford walked towards her as soon as she entered.
Like the day before, probably like every single day, she was dressed
immaculately. Her black pants, white blouse, and pink blazer looked like
they’d just come straight off a mannequin in some store. They were that
immaculate. Her heels were sky high, and even though Christina was
already tall, she walked with a confidant ease that Taylor envied.
The woman herself was as neatly put together as her clothing. All