I was going to go home on April 20th. April 20th 2010.
I'd been given my address on a slip of paper and my cab was going to come in a few minutes. I had to go back to the hospital in a few days for a 'check up' and I still had a curve shaped scar across my cheek.
The hospital psychologist said that might start remembering things any time soon. It would be a long time before my memory would be fully restored and there wasn't a one hundred percent chance that it would happen, but I might start getting just little flashbacks in the next few weeks.
Leaving hospital was really, really scary. I hadn't been through the big glass doors at the end of the corridor that my room was on since I came here. But now here I was, sat on the huge leather sofa with my handbag, practically shaking with fear.
For a long time I'd wished for this, to be let out into the outside world, though I hadn't really thought of the idea that this world, 2010, would be a different one to the one I remembered. Maybe they'd found a cure for cancer! Or everybody went round in planes and wore white all the time.
I suppressed a hysterical giggle, suddenly realising how much like Lola my thoughts sounded right now.
I stopped, my mental smile fading. There was no Lola in the 2010 world. Well there was, but not in my 2010 world. No Lola, or Lauren, Danny, Jez or BB. No friends.
This was crazy. Of course I had friends. I was famous now. I probably hung out with loads of other famous people. Maybe I knew Brad Pitt…
I heard a loud horn sound come from outside. I looked through the window, and saw the black car. I walked out of the front doors of the hospital, slowly, taking in everything around me.
It was typical London. The city was alive and bustling with people, carrying shopping bags and handbags and walking sticks and pushchairs. I looked across the huge street, reading the signs of the many shops scattered down it. Some of the names I recognised, some I didn't, new ones I remembered. I glanced at the outfits and items in the windows, thinking about how much fashion seemed to have changed since 2008. I sort of wanted to go shopping, now.
I remembered the cab, and swung open the door of the back seat, pulling down a huge pair of Prada sunglasses I'd found in my handbag. I had lots of pairs of sunglasses there, I guess to hide my identity when I was in public.
Being suddenly famous was really, really weird.
"Yes, Miss?" the cab driver said.
I read out the address from the little slip of paper, my address. I was looking forward to seeing where I lived. The doctors at the hospital had said I might recover some memory if I was in familiar surroundings.
As we drove, I looked out of the window at London.
I wasn't sure what sort of change I'd been expecting, but there wasn't much of it. London looked almost the same as the London I remembered. It was full of people, but the people were just the same as in 2008, although I noticed that almost nobody was wearing jeans. It was all the buildings were pretty much the same, except for a few huge signs of names of shops and offices I didn't recognise.
I started wondering if 2010 would have actually changed that much. I thought about the difference between 2008 and 2006. Not that much had changed, really.
But it had.
The taxi driver cleared his throat, and I snapped back into action.
"We're here," he said.
I paid the driver and got out of the cab slowly.
I had no idea in the world where I was. A tall, white building stood ahead of me. The piece of paper in my hand told me this was where I lived.
Familiar surroundings? Uh, no.
I walked cautiously into the huge lobby. The floor was white and marble, my shoes clip-clopped against me as I wandered around the room. Modern paintings lined the walls. I started looking for some stairs. I followed a sign indicating 'Elevator'. Next to it was 'Cinema' and 'Gymnasium'.
Wow.
I found the button and called the elevator, tapping my fingers against the panel while I waited. The doors slid open, with a tuneful 'bleep', and I stepped in.
Even the lift was beautiful. Like the lobby, it was all white marble. The walls were covered with a huge mirror which I checked my reflection in. I pressed the top button on the panel.
The one that said 'penthouse'.
I stood in the lift, shaking a little as it ascended. The beep sounded again, and the doors swept open.
I wandered into the long corridor ahead of me, taking the bunch of keys out of my purse. I scrambled with them in the lock, and it made a reassuring 'click'. I took a deep breath, then opened the door and walked into the most beautiful room I had ever seen.
