It had been two weeks, and Isaac was still really sick. His exhaustion was overwhelming. Earlier on in the week, Mark Hudson had called to announce that they were pushing back the release date of the upcoming Hanson CD due to Isaac’s illness. They were just missing too much studio time to release it on the expected date. This time off had been a relief in some ways, too. It gave everyone a chance to settle down with all of the insanity going around the house the past couple weeks. The good news, though? There was only two weeks left until they went back home for a visit. None of the Hanson family could wait either. They all missed their friends and family back in Tulsa. Things could turn though before they went back to Tulsa, for Taylor. He was going to see Heather today, again. He felt bad for running off the few times that he had seen her, and wanted to make it up to her…would he take it too far? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Okay, see you at 4:30, then? Outside the shop?” Tay confirmed, on the phone with Heather.
“Yeah, I’ll be waiting for you,” smiled Heather. “And don’t run away from me this time, promise?”
“I promise.”
“No fingers crossed?” she pleaded.
Tay laughed, as he told her, “Not one.”
“Okay, then,” Heather had him on this, Tay couldn’t break his promise now, “I’ll see you at 4:30. Bye, sweetie!”
Her last sentence was one Taylor wished she would take back. Heather made him feel so happy, but he was already in deep enough trouble and it was out of control. He knew he had to get himself out of this mess, and fast.
“Bye, honey.”
In conclusion of their conversation, both sides of the phone were hung up with a “click”. It was settled that he was going to meet Heather, again. He knew he probably wouldn’t get much a chance to see her before he left for home, back in Tulsa. So, this was his only chance to make it up to her. But, would this visit end up being so pleasant after all? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four o’clock was just around the corner, and Taylor was just stepping out of the shower. He still didn’t know what he was going to where to go see her. He wanted to make this special since it was probably the last time he was going to see her before he left for Tulsa.
With a towel wrapped around his waist, Taylor searched for something to wear, “Mom! Where are my silk shirts?”
“Second drawer down, in your cabinet, in your room!” his mom yelled back, from the kitchen.
“Thanks!” Tay called back to his mom.
Shifting through his drawers, he found his dark blue, silk shirt, the one with the dotted white squares. It was one of his favorite shirts, and he loved wearing it. Lying the shirt on the bed, he continued to look for his khaki pants to wear. After finding them he laid them on the bed, next to his shirt.
Isaac came in the room, and saw Taylor busier than bee, hurrying to get ready to go somewhere, “Hey, Tay, what’s the rush?”
“I need to get somewhere, and I’m gonna be late if I don’t hurry,” Tay explained, not making eye contact with his older brother.
Isaac began eyeing the silk shirt, and the khaki pants on the bed, “Well, Mr. Taylor, I’d say judging by the khakis and silk shirt you got laid out to wear, you are going on a date.”
Taylor slipped the silk shirt over his head, “It’s not a date, Isaac.”
“You’re going somewhere with a girl, though. I can tell.”
“After Taylor was dressed, he began to comb the knots out of his long locks, “True, but it’s still not a date.”
“Did Hallie say you could go somewhere with this girl?” question a curious Isaac Hanson.
Taylor nearly choked at the mention of Hallie. The situation was already bad enough, did his brother, Ike really have to make it worse than it already was?
“She doesn’t need to. I’m going no matter what. I mean, she’s only a friend. I don’t see any harm in just chillin’ with a friend, do you? I mean, Ike, you are friends with Amy and Kat doesn’t freak about it, does she?” Taylor pointed out a fault in Isaac’s accusation.
“Amy’s different. Kat knows about Amy.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be sick, Isaac? I think you are running a temperature again, and need to go to sleep,” Taylor quickly pointed out to his older brother.
Isaac just smiled, “Alright, but I think I caught my little brother cheatin’ on his girlfriend…”
“Believe what you want, Ike,” Taylor shrugged.
As Isaac walked out of the room, Taylor couldn’t believe it. He had been caught red-handed by his older brother, Isaac. He just prayed that he could play it off long enough to fool his brother, and everyone until he made his decision between Hallie, Victoria, and Heather. The only problem was, could he? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor walked up to Hurley Inc., spying Heather waiting for him outside. He glanced at his watch swiftly and noticed he’d arrived at 4:30 on the dot. Just perfect, and for once he’d done something right since he arrived in Los Angeles.
“Hey, Tay!” Heather greeted him with a bright smile on her face, wrapping her arms tightly around him and hugging him.
He hugged her back, saying, “Hey, Heather. It’s so great to see you, finally.”
“I know, I’ve missed you, so what are we gonna do today?”
“Well,” Tay started, “I figured we’d go out to eat first, and then, just chill around town.”
“Oh, Taylor,” she pleaded, “can you we please go to my friend, Sara’s house, after we eat? Please?”
“How could I say ‘no’?” Tay replied, with a grin on his face as he put his around her. “What’s she like?”
“She’s really sweet, nice, and funny, and she’s dying to meet you!” explained Heather. “…She’s a Hanson fan…”
“Oh God…”
“What’s wrong, Tay?” inquired Heather.
“It’s nothing, really. It’s just that she’s a Hanson fan. I came to L.A to record, relax, and get away from the Scream Squad, ya know? Is she gonna freak, hyperventilate, scream, pass out, or all of the above?” Taylor explained, questioning the visit.
“Nah, she’s normal,” laughed Heather. “She just wants to thank you for being such an inspiration to her. She is sending out demos to record companies in search of finding a deal. Sara always tells me that ‘if it weren’t for Hanson, I wouldn’t be doin’ this…” type stuff.”
“Alright, maybe we’ll go,” agreed Taylor. “Right now, though, I think we should go to grab something to eat.”
Heather smiled, looking into Taylor’s big baby blue eyes, “Alright…”
At dinner, Taylor sat across from Heather in a booth at a restaurant Taylor had never heard before called, The Moonlight Star Diner. She told him that the food there was definitely ‘five star’ in her book, and she knew he’d love the food…so he tried it.
“How do you like the food?” she asked, looking up from her Pesto Pasta.
“It’s great, I’m glad you suggested it,” Tay answered before taking a bite of his cheeseburger.
Tay hadn’t told Heather yet about leaving for Tulsa in two weeks, and he knew he would have to tell her sooner or later. He knew he would definitely have to tell her before they left the diner. Since he wasn’t going to see her, it was only fair that she knew ahead of time…atleast he thought so.
“Hey, Heather…,” hesitated Taylor, “…I got some kinda bad news…”
“Huh? What is it?”
Tay sighed, “You know I’m from Oklahoma, right?”
“Yeah, so?” she asked, wondering how bad the news would be.
“Well, I’m not going to stay in L.A forever, ya know. In two weeks, I go back to visit all my friends. I’ll be gone for like, a week and a half or so. But, I’m coming back. Just, it’ll be awhile before I’ll be able to see you again, and I know I owe you big time for everything, blowin’ you off and everythin’. I’m sorry,” Tay told her everything, hoping she wouldn’t be too upset.
Heather got up, and slid into Taylor’s booth, as she hugged him, she said, “I’m going to miss you so much.”
Awkwardly, Taylor put his arms around Heather, whispering, “I’m going to miss you, too.”
After all he owed her, he was leaving her behind. Taylor pondered secretly whether there was something he could do to make it up to Heather. Suddenly, Taylor got a brilliant idea.
“Hey, Heather!” he exhaled, excitedly. “I got an idea!”
“What?” she looked up at Tay, hopeful.
“You could come with me!” Tay suggested. “That way, I wouldn’t have to leave you behind.”
“You serious?” Heather questioned the idea.
“Yeah,” he told her, “but only if your parents let you. I know I would want you with me, and I’m pretty sure my parents wouldn’t mind.”
“Are you sure?” asked Heather, again.
“You bet.”
She smiled at Tay, “That would be so much fun, Tay. I’ll ask as soon as I get home.”
“Well,” Tay started, after paying exact for their meal, “I guess we better go. Unless, you want to stay a little longer?”
“Nah, let’s get out of here,” she giggled, as she pointed to her left. “That guy behind the counter is starting to give me the creeps.”
Sure enough, Taylor looked out of the corner of his eye to see a man about 32 years old, staring at Heather. The man wasn’t even blinking, and he had to admit it was kinda freaky. The man was like, six and a half feet tall, almost three hundred pounds, a scruffy unibrow, and was missing his two front teeth. He could see how it would freak Heather out that the man was staring at her.
Taylor stood up, and took Heather’s hand, helping her up, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“Alright,” she thanked him, “thanks.”
“No problem,” he assured her. “Do you still want to go to Sara’s? I mean, I’ll go if you really want to go there.”
“Nah,” Heather smiled, “I just want to be with you. That’s enough for me. I just need to be with you…”
Tay put his arm around her, as he spoke, “I was hoping you’d say something like that. ‘Cause I just want to savor every second with you until I have to go back.”
The more Taylor talked to her, and the more time he spent with her, the more Taylor realized that he made a horrible mistake. He had invited Heather back to Tulsa, where he already was cheating on two girls; must they meet the third? It was too late now, and he didn’t know what to do. He was hoping that her father told her that she couldn’t go because Taylor didn’t want to lie to her, so she couldn’t come. Taylor felt he had done enough lying to go around the table. The thing was, if he was so sorry for what he was doing, why couldn’t he stop? This love triangle he was in seemed more like an addictive drug. It seemed the more he wanted to get away from it all, the deeper he got into the situation. What would he do?
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