Chapter 1 - 1

It was supposed to be literally and figuratively the hottest summer ever…

Taylor thought as she glanced out of the big office window at the streets below. The office, situated in an outdoor mall, provided her with the perfect view of everything she would be missing: bright colors, water activities, and the freedom to spend days wandering around with friends. She tapped her phone and logged into Instagram, the only way she felt connected to anyone anymore.
Khaliyah’s picture came up first with her beaming into the Caribbean sun. Her twin sister had graduated on time from their small, private college. Fully equipped with a degree in biology, she was ready for dental school in the fall. Her boyfriend had funded the trip and invited everyone in the family to go. Everyone except Taylor. She rolled her eyes at her sister’s poised and sexy photographs. With her turquoise SheIn bikini and blonde wig, she looked like an influencer or a celebrity of some kind. Taylor scrolled right again. Aaron’s picture had come up next, the two of them sitting under the generous leaves of the oak tree on campus. Taylor’s hair was still natural then, with her puff tied tightly on her head and Aaron’s long, pale arms around her.
“Miss this girl!” He had captioned the picture with their favorite song, a sexy club hit from the 90s. She sighed.
Before she’d taken on her internship, Aaron had secretly asked her to marry him in his apartment. Amongst the stacked cardboard boxes and the smell of cologne not quite covering whatever manly smells he had acquired in the room, he lowered himself to his knee, presenting her the gaudiest and loudest engagement ring she’d ever seen. Of course, she appreciated the gesture. And yeah, Aaron was the kind of guy she should marry. He was a 6’3 engineering graduate with hazel eyes and a good sense of humor. But there was still something that made Taylor tell him she’d think about it. For everything that made him so perfect, there was something still missing.
“Washington! On your phone, again, huh?” Mrs. Young drawled as she entered Taylor’s makeshift office. She quickly hid her phone under a stack of pages she should’ve filed thirty minutes ago.
“Ion know why you tryna hide it now. I already saw you. Get me them files before somebody really come down on you.” And with that, Mrs. Young was gone. She was a nice lady. She was the only person who offered Taylor the internship she needed to graduate at the end of this summer. She’d even allowed the young girl to stay with her in South Carolina while her family home was hours away. Taylor allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts. Why hadn’t she said yes to Aaron? Why didn't she graduate alongside her sister? Why was she stuck in some overly air-conditioned office instead of having a memorable twenty-something summer?
A little while later, she had collected and organized all of her pages. She pushed her way towards Mrs. Young’s office, going through door after door of rooms down a never-ending hallway. But standing inside of Mrs. Young’s room, she saw the back of a head in the window slit. And suddenly, Taylor’s heart seemed to lie still.