A/N: I kept my promise :)
Chapter 10
VLAD
Vlad would have loved to say that the taxi journey was enjoyable. After all, he got to see some of London, the city that everyone always raved about. Tall, sleek skyscrapers contrasted with centuries old buildings and the iconic red telephone boxes seemed to pop up every second. Even Estelle's eyes were widening at the sheer complexity of the city, and even though Vlad hadn't known her for long, he could tell that Estelle wasn't easily impressed. But then again, London was not the same as Liverpool. But the ride wasn't completely enjoyable as the taxi driver kept cursing and muttering under his breath, no doubt annoyed at the trouble Vlad and Estelle had given him, and Vlad was worrying about what would happen when he saw Erin, that was if they had arrived at the right address. Estelle was trying to pretend she couldn't hear any of the driver's mumbled abuse, but every now and then Vlad saw her fists slowly clenching and unclenching.
After the taxi crossed the Thames, most of the popular landmarks of London were gone, only to be replaced by ordinary suburban streets. Vlad slumped back in his seat. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be long now and sure enough, the taxi turned onto Sycamore Avenue and approached number 28, running over several speed bumps and making Vlad and Estelle lurch about violently in their seats. Eventually, the lurching stopped, and the driver turned around and held his hand out. 'That's twenty pounds mate.'
Sighing, Vlad took the wallet out of his pocket and paid the driver. He snatched the money without a word of thanks, muttering all the while as Vlad and Estelle climbed out. Vlad was about to turn and thank him, but by then, the black taxi had already sped off down the road.
'Well, he was bloody rude,' Estelle grumbled. 'But seriously, how could your girlfriend not have told you her address properly? You must have taken her out a lot?'
'Yeah,' replied Vlad, 'but that was while she was in Liverpool. She told me her London address ages ago; you can't expect me to remember that far back.'
Estelle looked as though she might say something else, but then shook her head and marched to the front door. She raised her hand and was about to raise the door knocker when Vlad stopped her. 'No! Don't! Not yet.'
She looked at him. 'What do you mean, no? Don't you want to see your girlfriend again?'
'Her name is Erin,' Vlad corrected her in irritation; this was the second time in the space of five minutes that Estelle had referred to Erin as "his girlfriend" instead of using her actual name. 'Anyway, I don't feel quite ready yet.'
'Why not? You only saw her a few days ago. And you said that she left suddenly even though you guys were both fine together. This is your chance to find out what really happened!'
The problem, of course, was that Vlad knew exactly what had happened, but there was no point explaining it to Estelle, as he knew she wouldn't believe it. He desperately wanted to see Erin again, but he wasn't at all sure what to expect the moment the door opened. And for all he knew, he could have got the wrong address and then he'd have another awkward situation to explain away. He took a look at the front door, then back down the street.
Estelle was starting to get annoyed at his indecision. 'Vlad! You stole someone's wallet, got on a train all the way from Liverpool this morning, travelled with a hopelessly rude taxi driver and now you don't even want to see her? You've just wasted a whole trip. Did something happen to Erin that you don't even have the balls to knock on her front door?'
Vlad bit his tongue in order to stop himself from exploding. Why did things have to be so complicated? Why did it always, always have to happen to him? Why? He looked up at Estelle's face; she was still expecting an answer. Then, the perfect solution came into his head, something that would easily explain away his worries and stop Estelle from asking questions for the time being.
'The thing is,' he heard himself saying, 'the thing is ... I wasn't telling the whole truth. About Erin. I guess I thought it would make things easier.'
Estelle looked at him, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Vlad swallowed. 'The thing is … about a week or so ago, Erin got into a car accident. A pretty bad one. We had an argument about something stupid, I don't even want to say what it was. But anyway, Erin got into her car and drove off. She was still pretty mad at me over what I said, and I guess her mind wasn't focused, or whatever. I texted her saying I was sorry and all that stuff, I thought she'd open it in the evening or something and I guess she must have, um, checked her phone while she was driving or something and then the car hit her.' The lie was coming more naturally. 'The doctors said part of her brain was damaged, her cerebral cortex, that bit that controls memory or whatever the hell it is. And obviously her parents were pretty upset over it and asked me to stay away from her and told Erin that she had to go back to London immediately. Except she was still in a wheelchair because her back was hurt, so her brother Ryan helped her get back. So now you know why I don't feel ready to see her … it was my fault, everything was my fault.'
Estelle stared at him for a couple more seconds, then threw her arms around him. 'I'm really sorry, Vlad,' she whispered. 'But I still think you ought to see her. Just talk to her to tell her you're sorry, or something.'
Vlad pulled away. 'Estelle, don't you get it? The doctors said part of her cerebral cortex was damaged. The bit that controls memory. She might not remember me!' The thought was so distressing that he found tears running down his face. Estelle hugged him again.
'Vlad, that's awful! Look, do you want to wait somewhere out of sight and I'll see if I can talk to her? Just to make sure that she's okay.
Vlad dried his eyes and nodded. 'Yeah. Sure. I'll be just across the road.' Sighing, he crossed the road, took up a position behind the post box and waited.
Estelle raised the door knocker and knocked three times.