Saving Lotte Sullivan | Collingwood/Carlton

64 - Lotte's Call

A/N - Happy New Year x I hope everyone has a safe holiday period. Thank u for reading SLS x Jordanah

...

Finally reaching a small town on the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia - the young woman pulled up in the parking lot of a local fast food chain restaurant and pulled her lunch out of her bag. She'd been driving forever, and when she wasn't driving, she was desperate to find safe places to lock her car, where she could sleep in the backseat and let her cat out of her carrier. The litter situation was proving dire, she didn't know what to do about it. Everyday, that was tomorrow's problem.

'Should I do it, Socks?' Lotte asked, taking a bite of her burger and looking at the passenger seat, where her cat sat on a cheap soft pet bed Lotte had found at Kmart.

The cat looked up at her, more interested in what she was eating and the smell of fried chicken, rather than the sound of her voice and her name.

'I shouldn't have just left like that, without doing something. Laura and Alex needed my help. I just ran off and took the letter with me' Lotte said, mouth full. She anxiously swallowed and took a tip of her Pepsi.

The more she thought about it, the more she cursed herself. Everyone deserved better than what she'd done. Ashlyn needed her for obvious reasons. Josh needed her in some way. Gin needed her. Trent definitely needed anyone who cared about him. Darcy, albeit independent and 'I don't need anyone else to make me complete' needed her. Ella and Rhiannon needed her. So many people needed her. And she needed to get away.

The letter to Trent sat in her glove box, collecting dust with the rest of her random junk. Some pepper spray cans. A knife. All of the typical Lotte stuff.

She felt she wasn't just running away from her problems and friends though, she was also running away from her firstborn. Tommy. Her life. The past she'd been resoundingly denying was real. The past that kept catching up with her and forcing itself down her throat. She swore, that's why Ashlyn and Nick had gone through it too. To make her face it again. And to make them understand. She didn't want to face it again. And again. And again.

She quickly pulled out her phone, which was connected to the cheap Anko car charger, and scrolled through her contacts, then grabbing her cheap flip phone and beginning to dial in a number.

It rang a few times, eventually ringing out. Lotte sighed. This was the problem with her new no Caller ID rule.

'You've reached the message bank of Jack Ginnivan. Please leave a short thirty second message after the beep'

She quickly hung up, sighing and biting her lip, stressing out. She'd told Jack she was going to call soon. He'd obviously forgotten her and moved on already, those tears were for nothing and nobody. Typical male.

She dialled in another number.

It rang a few times, Lotte almost beginning to think she was never gonna connect to anyone.

'Hello?' The voice asked, sounding confused, taken aback, not sure who the caller was.

'Nick, it's me. It's Lotte' she said. She heard the sigh of relief on the other end.

'Where are you?' He asked, sounding like he was panicking again.

'That doesn't matter. I just need you to answer a question for me' Lotte said.

'I got your letter. You've left Melbourne? Are you okay? Lotte, Ashlyn's so worried - we can't keep up with thi-'

'Why is Trent in the hospital?' She asked, almost yelling her words out.