Chapter 18:

Los Angeles, California

Swirling winds swept through LA and the thundering rain was pounding the ground as the city was succumbed by the freezing cold. Tiffany stood beside a car, puffing away on a ciggarette, her heart was pounding in her chest and her whole body was trembling as he repeated to herself "Lila, I'm sorry I haven't called, but I need help. NO. Hi Lila, how are you". Tossing the ciggarette onto the pavement, she crushed it beneath her heel before nibbling of off the nail on her thumb, then spitting it off onto the ground. Her palms were sweaty and her breathing was quick, what if she doesn't want to know me, it's been such a long time...she might think I've betrayed Eddie...I don't know what to do. Rushing her fingers through her hair, she looked down at the ground with an uneasy gaze before wiping her sweaty hands on her pants, before heading caustiously towards the apartment block. Entering the apartment block, she hurried nervously up the flight of stairs leading to Lila's apartment. Stopping motionless outside Lila's place, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and told herself "everything will be fine", before knocking on the door. The door swung open, she glanced up and was shocked at what she seen. Lila had once been sexy and curvy, now she'd become grotesquely overweight, morbid and depressed because of being lonely, she'd softened the pain with food. Before the knock at the door, she'd been resting on the couch, muching on a packet of crisps even though she had just ate two chocolate donuts and drank a large cup of coffee. Tiffany looked at the woman she once admired, and couldn't believe how she'd changed, this once glamorous woman was wearing a pair of pajamas which were a faded pink and old tattered slippers. Lila rushed her fingers through her greasy hair and murmered "what's the problem"

"Lila...it's me. Tiffany" muttered Tiffany with a friendly smile, before laughing "it hasn't been that long"

"Tiffany" exclaimed Lila as tears welled up in her eyes and she reached out and softly stroked Tiffany's face

"Yeah, Lila...it's me" Tiffany replied as a tear rolled down her cheek

"Oh, god...Tiffany, I've missed you" sobbed Lila as she pulled Tiffany towards her then hugged her lovingly

"I've missed you too, Lila" Tiffany sobbed as she cried into her shoulder

"Come in, Tiffany, come in" insisted Lila as she guided Tiffany into the apartment before walking into the livingroom. "Why haven't you called, or wrote a letter, anything" mumbled Lila as she threw herself onto the couch and began to cry

"I'm sorry, I couldn't...I was scared" answered Tiffany as she sat beside Lila

"Why, what would I have done" questioned Lila angrily

"I don't know"

"Why would you be scared of me" asked Lila before adding with a sneer "is it because, after killing that old bitch and her care assistant, you ran off into the sunrise...with that Charles"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just can't help it...you can't help who you love"

"Well, Eddie's freed soon. Will you be with me, to welcome him home"

"Off course, I will" claimed Tiffany before revealing "we went to San Diego, we took all the money...it was quite good, but then-"

"WHAT" snapped Lila as she stood up and glared at Tiffany "you took all the money, that was for Eddie too, it was his plan. WASN'T IT"

"We didn't think, it was just that Charles said-"

"Charles said what, Charles said what...nevermind Charles, it was for my nephew, so we could break him out. Remember you promised, nevermind it's been to long now, he'll be out soon. But anyway, since when did you do what Charles said...you never followed any orders of a man, you'd do nothing Eddie asked you to do" argued Lila before grabbing a glass cup and tossing it at the wall, causing it to smash.

"I LOVE CHARLES" screamed Tiffany, before crying "I can't help it, but it's true". Tiffany stood up from her seat and wiped the tears from her eyes, before sternly informing Lila "you owe me, not just me, but Charles too"

"I owe you NOTHING"

"Remember Paco, Charles saved me from him, you owed him money and he tried to kill me" explained Tiffany angrily as she rolled her hands into fists

"I didn't know, before you could even tell me, you were off into the sunset with Charles"

"Yeah, because I can and do you want to know why, cause I love him" sternly replied Tiffany

"Why'd you need my help anyway, Paco's been missing for ages" questioned Lila

"I had trouble, down in San Diego" began Tiffany before she continued embarrasingly "There was a girl, I thought Charles loved her, instead of me"

"So what, you killed her" interrupted Lila

"Yeah" calmly replied Tiffany, before explaining "we just need a place to stay, we lost our old apartment because we paid no rent. You're our last hope"

"I loved you, like a daughter" Lila sadly said, before smiling and adding "so, am going to let you stay. Eddie will be thrilled, to see you and that piece of shit Charles, when he comes out"

"Oh thanks, Lila...we'll do whatever you want" promised Tiffany, before hugging Lila and pecking her on the cheek "thanks so much". Lila smiled happily as Tiffany cheerfully hurried out of the apartment, wanting to tell Charles who was at a pub the delightful news, before Lila placed a ciggarette on the sofa and began eating a donut. With a sinister smirk wiped across her face, she thought about her plans for the future. She reached for a picture of her beloved nephew, as she thought Don't worry Eddie, I'll bring her back to you.

Chapter 18 finished

Authors note: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think about the characters and the character of Lila etc. Thank you.