I'd had one hell of a year -- the startup I'd joined after graduating had been unexpectedly bought out by a much bigger firm, and life had suddenly gotten complicated. One week I was junior employee; the next I was low-tier management. So there was more money, and more stock options, and more opportunity; but there was also more responsibility, more pressure, and more work. A
lot
more work. On top of that, I'd just split up with my girlfriend, which really didn't help. I just threw myself into the work even more, making sure I was too busy to really think about anything else.
So as you can imagine, after about a year of this I was
very badly
in need of a vacation. Things in the office had more or less calmed down, so I took a week off and flew to the other side of the country, leaving my work phone behind me. (The morning of my flight I went through my luggage twice, to make sure it definitely wasn't in there.) I wanted to really get away from it all, leave everything behind and finally relax for a while.
Which is how I came to be staying in a rented place outside of a small town I'd never heard of, somewhere in Essex County. One of those Colonial-style old-money houses, maybe not so big but cosy, and very well built. You know those shows about bored teenagers at expensive private schools? You can imagine them coming here to visit their grandparents at Christmas.
I spent a few days just wandering around, enjoying the bright, chill weather of early Spring. Admiring buildings older than my home state, hiking along the coast, rooting through tiny antique stores, and generally pretending to be a Lovecraft protagonist. After twelve months of frantic activity, being off the grid and all alone felt very odd at first; but soon I was enjoying the peace and tranquillity. Of course, when the storm came howling in out of nowhere that morning, I found myself rather more isolated than I'd planned.
The day started out promisingly enough; then the wind started to pick up, and up, and up. The sun disappeared behind the clouds, the town behind sheets of rain, the power went out, and I realised the meaning of 'Off-Season Discount'. The gas stove in the kitchen still worked, but I couldn't get the heating to come on, and it was starting to get pretty cold. Fortunately there was a great big fireplace in the front room, and plenty of firewood; honestly I was kind of glad for an excuse to really get into the spirit of things. A short while later I was standing in front of a blazing fireplace; I'm not the most practical of people but I do enjoy lighting things on fire. The storm was raging outside but inside I was safe and warm, happily listening to the crackling flames and the drumming rain.
When I first heard the knocking I figured it was just something outside getting banged around by the elements, but after a few moments I realised it was someone hammering frantically on the door. The moment I turned the handle it flew open and she fell past me into the hallway, an unknown figure in a swirl of rain and leaves. Closing it again proved harder, until the wind let up a little and the heavy door slammed shut. When I turned to take a proper look at my unexpected guest I saw she was, naturally enough, unsteady on her feet and dripping wet. There was something about her that seemed curiously familiar though, even with her face partly hidden behind a sodden scarf and tangles of blonde hair.
"Come in where it's warm, you'll catch your death like that!" A smile lit her flushed, exhausted-looking face and I felt that twinge of recognition again. Who was she? She took a few audibly-squelching steps, before stopping and trying unsteadily to bend over. For a moment I thought she was about to keel over in front of me, before realising she was just trying to take off her wet shoes. "Hang on, let me-" I knelt to undo their waterlogged laces and slipped them off her feet.
"Oh, thank you!" The sound of her voice triggered my memories, and as she clawed the hair from her blue eyes I realised who it was. She must have seen the shock of recognition on my face because she gave me a tired smile and said "Yeah, it's me." Taylor Swift. The beautiful, famous, and famously beautiful singer. I didn't have the faintest idea what to say so I just waved towards the front room and she staggered off gratefully, a trail of wet footprints in her wake.
I was, naturally, pretty shocked to have America's Sweetheart turn up half-drowned on my doorstep. For the moment I decided to concentrate on practical matters. "You just get warmed up in front of the fire, I'll see if I can find you something dry to wear." Heading upstairs, I wasn't really sure what I had that would suit, until I spotted the voluminous bathrobe hanging on the bathroom door whilst grabbing a pile of dry towels. Perfect.
I went back downstairs, half expecting her to have vanished in the meantime, or at least turned into an ordinary, non-famous woman. But she hadn't. She was still there, and she was still Taylor Swift. "I hope this is alright, it's the best I can do?"
"Thank you so much!" The fire must have been doing her a world of good, because even weather-beaten she still sounded sweet as honey. I felt a warmth in my chest that had nothing to do with the blazing fire and hoped I wasn't blushing.
"I'll uh, I'll just go make you something to drink whilst you change." I went through into the kitchen, lit the stove, and grabbed a mug. Coffee? No, a situation like this definitely called for hot chocolate. As it burbled away on the stovetop, I gazed out of the window and saw nothing but cloud and rain. Five minutes or so later I knocked on the door. "Is it OK for me to come in?"
"Sure," she called back, "I'm decent now." I stepped into the room and she was standing in front of the fireplace, swathed in the fluffy robe, combing the worst of the knots from her hair. I handed her the steaming mug and she took it in both hands gratefully. "Oh, that's wonderful, you're so kind. Could you put my things someplace to dry?" Taylor pointed at a soaking heap of clothes and shuddered theatrically. "Right through to my skin, ugh."
"Of course, no problem." There was a clothes horse in the corner, so I pulled it out and began arranging her things on it. "I hope you're feeling-" I realised I was holding her panties "feeling, er, better now?" They weren't particularly sexy or anything, but well, they were
her panties
. That she'd just taken off. I put them carefully with the rest of her clothes, hoping I hadn't been obviously perving on her underwear.
"Oh,
much
better now." Taylor paused and took a sip of her chocolate. "Ooh, that's nice!" She took a seat on the rug across from the fire, so I followed suit. "I'm so lucky to have found you, I don't know what I'd have done otherwise."
"What were you doing out there, anyway?" A vehement howling emphasised my point.