From My Best Friend.

Rest.

"Miss Taylor," she snapped at the wandering Kara.

"I'm so sorry, please can we have this meeting later today? I'm sorry for any inconvenience," she rubbed her temples, unaware that she had just zoned out.

"I think you should take the week off, it looks like you haven't been feeling yourself lately," her manager said.

"Please take care of everything, I think I need some time off. Thank you, Lovelyn," she dragged her nose, giving her a soft smile.

"Take care, Ms. Taylor," Lovelyn smiled, ending the Zoom call after. She closed her laptop, put it aside, and crashed back on her bed, letting out a loud groan.

"I didn't know it was that obvious," she turned to Katherine.

"Don't worry, Lovelyn is a great manager, you know she will never do anything to hurt you. Listen to her, take a week off, you deserve it," Katherine said, giving her a sympathetic smile.

"I should take it down a notch."

"Yes girl, you look like depression itself," she pecked Kara's forehead. As she walked out, Kara squinted her eyes, wondering if it was her or if Katherine was trying to hide something with her. She was able to spot her pink iPad in her fingers from the side.

"Wait, where do you think you are going with my iPad?" she raised a brow, calling Katherine back.

"This? Oh you only use this for work, I'm seizing it for one week to make sure you're actually resting you workaholic," she smiled running out of the room, Kara dashed after her.

"You forgot I'm the only one who actually did gym in school," Kara said, pouncing on Katherine as they both landed on the floor, bursting into laughter, "now surrender the Pad before I start tickling."

"Okay okay, have it!" Katherine said, laughing and panting in between her words underneath her.

"You shouldn't have," she said, giving Katherine a cheeky smile.

"I can simply enter your room in the middle of the night and hijack the Pad and the laptop. it is after all my house, I have all the keys to everywhere," she said gasping for air, still trying to catch her breath.

"You wouldn't."

"Don't test me, darl," she said with a suspicious grin on her face, "I just want you to get good rest this week, I'm being punished for being a good best friend."

"Girl don't bring that dramatic ass s**t here, you know it doesn't work on me. Fine, have the tablet, I'm sleeping in this week anyway," she said, handing over the iPad.

"Have it. By the way," she stood, dusting her behind dramatically, "why did you throw out all the flowers that have been coming for you all through last week? Do I have to remind you that you are single now? Huh? S-I-N-G-L-E? Single?" she dragged.

Her face sank, feeling her heart ache like a needle just ran through it, "They were from Eden."

She gave her a grimace, "Oh. Give that man a chance," she stared at her with the side of her eye, "he's a good man, Savannah," Kara rolled her eyes at Katherine's attempt at trying to mimic the popular sound.

"I'll go back when I'm ready to face him. Remember when you told me to rest this week? That also means no men for me this week, men are stressful," she said with a straight face, placing her hand on her hip.

"Whatever, ma'am. I don't know what you are going to be doing for a whole ass week but enjoy it. I have work this morning."

"I'm going to watch my series, call me if you need me because I won't hear you shouting even if you're outside my door," she called, strutting back to her room.

"Stop talking, I know."

She banged the door behind her, turning up the waves of the AC as she prepared her laptop to start her day. Just as she got comfortable, she heard a small knock on the door. She groaned, "What?"

The door swung open, revealing Katherine with her hands behind her back with a pout, "Come and make a smoothie with me," Katherine said, twirling her toes like a child.

She stared at Katherine, hoping she could read the annoyance on her face. She sighed, pushing herself off the bed and closing her laptop, ignoring Katherine screeching and skipping out of the room.

She closed the door behind herself, following right behind Katherine as she skipped down the stairs, laughing maniacally, "Sometimes it's hard to believe you are older than me."

"Better believe it," Katherine said, skipping to the kitchen with Kara behind her.

"You already made them!" Kara exclaimed in a high pitch, staring wide-eyed at the two cups of smoothies sitting on the counter, alongside a messed up kitchen.

"I know, I just needed help cleaning up," she said, taking a sip of her smoothie with a smug smirk on her face.

Kara pursed her lips, taking deep breaths to not say what was on her mind at that point, "Well, you got me. I might as well since I'm downstairs already."

"Goodie!" Katherine exclaimed.

"Look, I know you're old and s**t, but nobody says 'goodie' anymore. Stop," Kara raised her finger at Katherine

"I have no words for you, the sooner you start the sooner we can start the gossip for the day."

"Now you're talking," Kara said, excitedly running to clean the counters.

"We're doing the living room too by the way."

"Katherine! " Kara exclaimed, glaring at Katherine who was avoiding her glares, visibly at the brink of bursting out laughter, "Luckily I haven't showered."

~

"Finally, clean body and house. You know, this house only seems so big when it's time to clean."

"Girl remember you're in my house and insulting it," Katherine took a sip of her smoothie.

Kara stretched her arms above her head, "Just saying, bae," she smiled, taking a sip from the straw of the smoothie, moaning at the burst of flavor on her taste buds, "This is so good, almost as good as Gabriel's. He's been giving you lessons huh?" she held the straw in her mouth, not minding the hysterical look on Katherine's face.

"As per usual, I have nothing to tell you, Taylor."

"All your gibberish isn't what I want to hear right now, what's the tea you had for me, or was that bribe?"

"Oh no, girlie," she sat, "it wasn't a bribe, I do have tea. First, Gabriel and I have been trying a lot for a baby," she took the straw in her mouth, a small grin forming on her lips.

"First of all, disgusting," she paused to take another sip of the seemingly bottomless smoothie, "secondly, is that the actual tea?"

"Okay okay, you know that 18-year-old that just newly got into real estate that I'm mentoring?"

"Yes?"

"Turns out she's my sister. My mama must have been bussing it down more than I thought."

Kara's mouth dropped, "I knew that girl looked a lot like you, I just didn't want to say anything knowing your history of siblings."

"Girl I'm telling you, that Asian-looking girl, I never would have thought. Been trying to tell you I have worldwide sets of siblings," she said, taking yet another sip, "That woman was even more of a w***e than sister Christine."

"May her AIDS-filled dead soul rest in peace."

"Amen chile, Amen. But I hear people with AIDS will never see the pearly gates."

"Where do you hear such foolery from this woman?" Kara said, laughing as she secretly felt a bit more sleepy with a yawn.

"That's what they say!"

"Who?!" they both burst into laughter.

"Girl don't ask me such questions. That's what I heard when they told me too."

"How did you find out anyway?"

Katherine held her finger up as she smacked her tongue after a long sip, "Get this, my mom called out 'my daughter' in the middle of my workplace and hugged this lady and she hugged back looking all excited and shit."

"Hell no, you probably thought it was you she was calling."

"I'm telling you I wasn't even fazed at that point. She came to my office after chatting a bit with her. She's a good mother, of course, she was just too horny during her teen years. Luckily she was f*****g rich men that wanted kids so I'm the only one that grew up with her, eating all her baby daddy's money."

"Goddamn, that's a lot," she yawned, "I think I'm about to pass out, I feel so sleepy."

"You better finish that smoothie first."

Kara took long sip after sip until the smoothie finally finished. Her head turned as if she had spun a million times in a few seconds.

"I'm going now-," she passed out on the floor before she could even stand up straight.

"Gabriel!" Katherine called out.

"Yes?" he replied from the room.

"She's out."

~

Opening her eyes, she saw everywhere brighter than she remembered. Her head hurt as she tried to make something out of the blurry scenery she had just woken up to, she was sure this wasn't where she had crashed. To her best knowledge, she figured she wasn't even indoors or at least in the house. Her heart raced as she rubbed her eyes realizing she was in a moving car.

"Hey, Pookiee," she heard Katherine's voice from the passenger seat of the car.

"Where are you guys taking me?" she stared at Gabriel who had his eyes fixed on the road, "and was drugging me to take me there necessary?"

"Just sit tight, you'll know soon."