Chapter Three
The last few days since their plan was formed had been quiet.
Taylor laid low, secluded in the one-bedroom apartment, growing more stir crazy each passing minute.
Kenzie couldn’t be sure but she had the sneaking suspicion Taylor had ventured out once or twice while she was at work, though she never copped to it.
She took on the responsibility of prison warden and worked from home for two days.
Being a Network analyst for a large communications company gave her the freedom to work from home when necessary.
That lasted two days. By the third, she was back in her hybrid office catching up on two days of work.
Trying to work with a bored Taylor was what she imagined dealing with a two-year old must have been like.
Are you almost done? Is it break time yet?
What are you working on? It sounds boring.
When do you break for lunch? How do you work this?
You, seriously work the full eight hours?
By the end of day two, Kenzie was ready to strangle Taylor.
She sympathized with her friend. Being cooped up in her small place was driving her crazy.
But it would be all over soon, and hopefully, they’d still both be breathing.
Kenzie wasn’t sold on the plan Taylor had concocted.
There had to be an alternative route they could take, a more safe and legal way to get her best friend cleared and out of the shit storm Drew got her into.
When she heard the entire story from Taylor, she realized there was a Plan B, she just needed Taylor to go for it.
It was Friday morning and the plan was set for tonight. She had spent the last thirty minutes getting ready for work while plotting a way to talk Taylor out of her scheme for the night. This was her last-ditch effort to abort what she had deemed their suicide mission and come up with something new.
Kenzie made her way to the corner chair in her living room. She stared intently at her best friend waiting for her to look up from her phone. She had made the couch her bed since the apartment was a one bedroom. Taylor’s meager belongings covered her small living room.
Taylor must have known she was being watched. Her head jerked up.
“What?”
“I need the whole story,” Kenzie insisted.
“I told you.”
“Tell me again.”
Taylor rolled her eyes and slouched onto the couch where she had been sitting. “Okay, well, Drew got picked up for an unregistered car and suspended license.”
Kenzie narrowed her eyes. “Taylor.”
Taylor sighed. “He may have had some drugs on him, too. Anyway, they locked him up so we reached out to the bail bonds guy and I cosigned the bond. He was scheduled for court a few days later but he never showed. Now, these pricks have been on my ass for the past two weeks.” Taylor folded her arms. “It’s bullshit, I was trying to help that douche out, and this is what I get.
Fuck him, and fuck those pricks, I’m not paying. ”
Oh, she would pay. Kenzie didn’t know too much about posting a bond but she did know, someone had to pay it back, and from what Taylor just told her, her best friend was that person. She refrained from saying “I told you so”. Hearing it wouldn’t help Taylor.
“What did the bail bondsman say?”
Taylor snorted and twisted her lips. “He said I signed the contract and I am responsible for paying it back. I could lose my friggin’ car, Kenzie.” She shook her head, huffing. “The jerk actually set up a payment plan, can you believe that?” She pushed up from the couch. “I’m not paying it.”
“So, that’s why they’re after you?”
“Basically.”
“You realize you are legally bound to pay it, right? I mean, Tay, you signed on to be a co-signer, promising to pay the money back if he didn’t show.”
“I didn’t know he wasn’t going to show.”
“It doesn’t matter, you signed for him.”
Taylor scowled, narrowing her brows. “I’m. Not. Paying.”
“You have to.”
“It’s bullshit!”
“No, it’s called being an adult. You signed it, he didn’t show, now you gotta pay the money back.” Kenzie sighed. “Look, I’ll help you, okay? I’m sure I have enough money in savings to cover the payments for a while. In the meantime, we can look for Drew. Have you tried talking to the Bonds guy?”
“Trent?” She scoffed. “No, he’s an asshole.
When I explained my situation, do you know what he said to me?
” Taylor scowled and her face shaded to pink.
“He said I should make better choices in men in the future. That signing for someone with a rap sheet like Drew’s was foolish in the first place, and maybe I should think long and hard before putting someone else’s needs in front of my wellbeing.
Then he said my inability to make smart choices was not his responsibility.
” She ran her hand through her hair sharply.
Anger would describe Taylor. “See, total asshole.”
Kenzie clamped her lips together. If she dared to say anything right now, it would only start a fight with her best friend. Truthfully, this Trent guy hit the nail on the head. He wasn’t being an asshole. He was being accurate and calling her out. Everything he said to her was on point.
“Can I say something?”
Taylor cocked her brow. “Not if you’re gonna agree with him.”
Kenzie sat silently, eyeing her best friend. What else could she say? This Trent guy was right. She stood up and walked over to where Taylor stood. She had about three inches on Kenzie.
“I think we should call Trent and see if he can work with you in finding Drew. I mean, have you even talked about helping him find Drew? I assume he’d rather get Drew and be done with this than see you pay and have this go on.”
“No, he wouldn’t. Like I said, he’s an asshole.
” She turned around and walked into the kitchen.
“Douchebag probably gets off on it. He’s laughing his ass off at me.
Stupid girl falling for Drew’s bullshit, just to have him up and leave me with his mess.
He probably thinks I got what I deserved.
” Taylor’s words trailed off into a whisper.
Kenzie sighed. That wasn’t what he thought, that was what Taylor thought.
About herself. It was her way of admitting she had fucked up, falling for yet another asshole that left her with his shit to clean up.
The vibe in the room had shifted from anger to self-pity.
It was hard to admit being wrong, especially for someone like Taylor, who spent her entire childhood being told everything she did was wrong.
Unfortunately, when she got free, she went wild and made catastrophic mistakes.
Taylor was misunderstood by most people.
They took her confidence for arrogance. It wasn’t.
If ever there was a girl who faked it, it was Taylor.
Only the lucky ones, the rare few she let in, like Kenzie, got to see who she really was, a woman with a big heart, fierce loyalty and unfortunately, a poor choice in men.
“Look, if you don’t want to do this thing tomorrow night, that’s fine, Kenzie. Hell, I don’t want to get you more involved than you already are with this.”
Kenzie smiled and reached out pulling Taylor’s arm to her and embracing her. She was a hugger, stemming back to when she was a kid. Kenzie’s dad was big on hugging. She felt Taylor’s body relax slightly and her hands on her back.
“I’m in, Taylor. I got your back. Always.” She stepped back but kept her hands on her best friend’s arms. “You made a mistake and we’ll fix it. But you are not, nor have you ever, been stupid, you hear me?”
Taylor nodded. Kenzie had the distinct feeling Taylor was merely appeasing her. Of course, she felt stupid. Spending years and years of having it engrained in her head, eventually a person started to believe it. Damn her parents. They were the true assholes.
Kenzie stepped back watching her friend. She tried to smile but she knew Taylor would see past it.
“I gotta go but I’ll be back by four-thirty.
” She grabbed her handbag and waved to Taylor as she closed the door behind her.
Her stomach twisted. She had a bad feeling about tonight.
While Taylor made it sound simple and easy, there was a gut instinct telling her they were screwed, and tonight would confirm it.
The sound of the elevator caught her attention.
Holy shit! She rushed to the end of the hall and saw the number illuminated over the door.
It was fixed. Her mind immediately went to Bogs.
He and his friends must have talked to the Super.
All the tenants had been complaining for months without any action.
She smirked. She would have loved to have seen the guys demanding it be fixed.
The elevator sounded and she waited for the doors to open.
It felt like Christmas morning. She rocked back on her feet.
Thank you, Bogs.
The guy had taken up residency in her head.
She just could not get him out of her head, no matter how hard she tried.
His eyes staring back at her with a glint of amusement and humor, then narrowing into a seductive stare.
He was a complete stranger, she had barely spoken ten words to him, and she was officially obsessed.
It was absurd, utterly ridiculous. Yet, every night when she closed her eyes, there he was.
She drew in a deep breath, if ever there was a man to fantasize about, Bogs was it.