In Which Taylor Swift Sees How The Other Half Lives
Mike woke to the news. He knew something was going on the second he stepped out of his room. The servants stopped talking, and the maid bobbed a nervous curtsey, eyes averted.
"Rosa-" he began.
The poor woman looked terrified. "Your father asked to see you as soon as you woke, sir," she babbled and fled.
Mike felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach, and as his treacherous feet took him towards the voices coming from the morning room, his mind was already whirling over plans and contingencies -- how long would he have? Would he have time to fetch that trunk he now keeps under his bed? How about money?
Mike patted his shirt smooth, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
His mother is pale, and his father looks as upset as Mike has ever seen the old man. "Michael," he says, and Mike braces himself for the worst. "Have you spoken to Miss Swift lately?"
And that wasn't the question Mike was expecting.
* * *
Mike left the house under the pretense of going for a walk to clear his head. He had warned Tay, had warned her over and over to be careful, but his warnings hadn't been enough.
Taylor had been found out. His father hadn't said how, but now everyone knew, and Taylor was missing, run away in shame (and his father had harrumphed as he'd said that, like it was the only good thing in this mess), and the family was reeling, their reputation in tatters.
Their good little girl was a high-price whore. No-one would have anything to do with that family now, socially or even in business. The younger daughters would stay un-courted, the parents shunned. All because one little girl wanted to play.
So deep in his thoughts was Mike that at first the jingle of snaffles and harness didn't register. "Penny for your thoughts," a carefully cultured voice drawled. Mike looked up to see Lady Victoria watching him, unsmiling, from her carriage window. "Though I think I could hazard a guess. Do you think you could bear to be seen with me...?"
Mike didn't let her finish. He wrenched open the door of the carriage and hauled himself inside. He rocked back into the seat as the driver nudged the horses into an easy trot. "She was just a petulant, sheltered little girl, and you used her."
Victoria's face never changed. "I didn't hold a knife to her throat. Quite the opposite, in fact." Her eyes were hard as she watched Mike. "She came to me, Michael. She asked me, begged me, in fact, to let her work. And she was very good at telling fat old men what bad little boys they'd been."
Mike watched her, forcing himself to get control of his anger. "And it was fun, too, wasn't it," he hissed. "Watching this high society girl dig herself deeper."
Victoria smiled, a slow stretch of painted lips. "That, dear Mr Carden, is a vile accuracy." Mike gasped as if he'd been punched in the guts, and Victoria nodded in quiet satisfaction. It wasn't just Taylor's secrets that Victoria kept.
She knew all about Kevin too.
"Ahh," Victoria said as if she hadn't just made a threat. "This is your stop, I believe." She smiled sweetly with her mouth only. "Please, pass along my thanks once again to young Masters Jonas and Ross for taking care of my wayward girl, and remind them I shall be back tonight to take her off their hands. Have a good day, Mr Carden."
Mike watched the carriage go, heading back up the hill to the City, before he turned and walked the rest of the way to Kevin's home.
Nick and Joe were sitting on the stoop, enjoying the weak sunshine as they waited for Gerard to come by for their rounds. Neither smiled at Mike as he approached. "How bad?" Mike asked flatly.
Joe shrugged, and Nick made a face. "She's kinda pretty," he said, making the words stab like a knife.
Mike takes the hit and goes on up. Neither boy tries to stop him.
Kevin appears at the top of the stairs as Mike makes the first floor landing. He waves, coming down to meet him. Mike goes with his instinct and pulls Kevin into a hug as soon as he's within reach. He can feel Kevin relax slightly under his touch. "How you doing?" he whispers into Kevin's ear.
Kevin pulls back just enough that Mike can see his face. "Your girlfriend's a bitch," he said flatly, and Mike snorted.
"Fake girlfriend," he said with heavy emphasis. But despite himself, he still felt moved to defend her. "And she has just been ripped from her life and everyone she knew. Forgive her, please. For me?"
Kevin grumbled. "That's not fair."
"I know," Mike said, pressing a kiss into Kevin's hair. He sighed. "I saw Lady Victoria just before." Briefly, he outlined their conversation.
Kevin's eyes were stormy as he finished. "That woman," he growled. Mike touched Kevin's shoulder, and he subsided. "Come on, you better tell Miss Swift," and he spat her name. "What the plan is."
The stairs were too narrow to climb side by side, but Kevin stayed only one step ahead and never let go of Mike's hand.
Brendon gestured for Mike and Kevin to keep quiet as they reached the top. He pointed to his and Ryan's room.
Taylor and Ryan were inside, sitting on opposite sides of the table, each staring at each other over a steaming mug of tea.
"Oh please," Taylor was scoffing, never taking her eyes off Ryan. "You just lie there like a dead fish."
Ryan smirked. "Haven't you ever heard of muscle control, sweetheart?" He licked his lips, watching her. "Try twitching the muscles at the bottom of your belly sometime."
She curled her lip. "Oh please, every ten penny whore knows that trick. Of course, doing it whilst a second client is using your mouth is where it takes skill."
Silently, Ryan made a fist with his left hand, thumb tucked under fingers. Taylor laughed and nodded. "Who taught you that old one, your mama?"
Kevin tugged Brendon out of earshot. "How long have they been like that?"
Brendon shrugged. "Three cups of tea, at least. Leave them," he added with a laugh. "They're having fun."
Mike had to laugh, too, at the utter viciousness with which each sip of tea was taken--each time one of them raised a cup, it was as if another gauntlet was thrown down.
The three men retreated to Kevin's rooms on the other side of the landing. "Your fake girlfriend has some real pride in her skills at least," Kevin said acidicly. Mike sighed, suddenly exhausted by the whole charade, and this time it was Kevin who reached out. "Hey, I'm just teasing, you know that, right."
And Mike wondered if Kevin had admitted even to himself the jealousy that Mike could hear under Kevin's words. He sighed again. "Kevin, love, please. I'm helping her because she's a friend in need. But," and he edged closer, ignoring Brendon's watchful eyes. "I'd go to the barricades, and beyond, for you."
But he can tell Kevin's not convinced. To be fair, Mike understands. After all, that's why he needed Taylor in the first place.
Despite having spent all day away, Mike didn't make any move to leave as the evening started to draw in. Taylor had all but glued herself to Mike's side the second she learned he was here.
And at first, Mike understood, let her stay close. But as the hours wore on, Mike started to feel more and more embarrassed for Taylor. She spoke without thinking what her words would mean in this context, and her little comments and asides, the way she'd always look to Mike rather than address anyone directly, all combined to grate on everyone's nerves.
Despite everything that had happened already, Taylor had still to drop the attitude that, because she was paid in notes rather than coin, and because she dressed well and was educated, she was somehow better that Kevin and Ryan and the rest.
Mike squirmed as Taylor turned to him once more, the expectation that he would support her latest inane statement clear on her face. The knock on the door came as a relief.
Nick sidled up as Kevin went to answer it. "Saved by the knock," he hissed wickedly.
Mike was too distracted by the arrival of Lady Victoria to respond. As the Lady swept into the tiny room, Mike was watching Taylor physically pull herself upright. In the space of a breath, the petulant little child Mike had been babysitting all day was gone. In her place was a self-possessed young lady. Only the eyes were wrong, looking hungrily at Victoria, seeking approval even as Victoria ignored her in favour of greeting Kevin first.
"How has it been," she asked, "Looking after my little protege? She hasn't been any trouble, I trust?"
There are a few raised eyebrows in the background, but Kevin shook his head, "No trouble, my lady. I'm sure she's been unhappy cooped up here, though, and I assume your arrangements will reflect that?"
Victoria smiles thinly but doesn't reply, moving next to greet Taylor.
Taylor bobs, dropping into a slight half-curtsey before standing, hands folded demurely, eyes downcast, waiting for Victoria to tell her what's going to happen next.
It reminds Mike suddenly of when his sisters were little, and they used to play dressup with their mother's old clothes - little girls playing a role far too big for them. But if Victoria notices the slight tremor in Taylor's hands, or the way she keeps her eyes firmly downcast, she doesn't say anything. Instead, she produces a false passport and travel documents, a small bag of clothes, the other expected accoutremont of a lady travelling alone.
Mike feels compelled to walk with her down to the departures hall. He knows the others are following, but they all hang back.
"Her name was Cassadee," Taylor blurts out suddenly. She looks close to tears for the first time since Mike has known her. "Her name was Cassadee, and she worked there too." She sniffed. "And she never even noticed me." She sniffed again. "Me!"
Mike sighed. "Oh Tay," he said, heart full of sorrow for this foolish little girl.
She sighed. "I've been an idiot, haven't I?"
Mike considered lying. "Yes," he said bluntly. "But now you'll have a fresh start. It won't be easy, but maybe you can do better this time."
They stop at the gate to the departure area. Taylor's eyes are wide in the lamplight, her hair unbound for once and cascading over her shoulders. She looks young, and beautiful, and wild, and lonely, and free. "Thank you," she said honestly. "For everything. And thank your friends too." Impulsively, she stepped up onto tip-toe and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. "For what it's worth, I think, if things were different for both of us, we could have been happy."
She took her bag out of his hand, nodded, turned, and walked away, never looking back.