Saving Lotte Sullivan | Collingwood/Carlton

138: Greece

'You ever been here?'

Lotte Sullivan shook her head, legs aching from walking up so many thousand concrete stairs in Europe. She'd only been away for a week and was beginning to miss the comfort of elevators and escalators back home in Melbourne and Australia very much.

'Do you need a hand?' Nick Daicos asked, slightly amused at how much she was struggling. How she looked like she was about to faint. How slightly sunburned she, and everyone else was on the trip.

Lotte passed her suitcase, wheels almost broken, up to Nick, who happily agreed to carry it the rest of the way, even if he already had Ashlyn's.

'How long until we're back at the airport?' Lotte groaned, taking Nick's hand as he helped her up a particularly massive step. Her Birkenstocks the only thing getting her through this holiday - as with a million tiny, summery dresses, short shorts and singlets. Whyyy was Greece so hot? It wasn't summer! Was it? Lotte had absolutely no idea. It was Spring, October 3rd back home in Melbourne.

It was Patrick and Chloe's vacation - they had decided that after missing out the year before, they'd finally go ahead and commit to their bucket list European holiday - except, they didn't want to go alone. Chloe had invited her sister, who was all too grateful to go - but pretty quiet, didn't ever say much and avoided Ashlyn like the plague. Lotte was the next invite - Trent too, but she didn't even bother asking him. She didn't want to go, she didn't want to leave the twins, Tess and Dannielle - but Trent was being a particularly stubborn problem and she needed a break. All of her other friends were away on holidays - minus Tom and Bianca, Sam, and Jordan.

It had been a massive decision in the end, agreeing to go overseas and paying that much money - and she didn't believe Patrick was telling her the full truth about the price either, she had a feeling they'd put in for a bit of it. Lotte watched Trent's social media accounts every day for photos of the kids, and had even tracked down Tessa's accounts to see if she was posting anything. Nope. The only thing remotely helpful - were Amelia's daily photos of Charlotte. But as far as Lotte could tell, they weren't even taken in her house.

Ashlyn and Nick had been invited, too - mostly Chloe's decision. Ashlyn had resigned herself to becoming a completely different person once the plane left the runway - she was cold, she was standoffish, reserved and making sure Lotte knew she wasn't impressed with her. Lotte who was left constantly wondering what her problem was.

Nick, on the other hand, was almost like his old self again. Nice, kind, polite and helpful, happy. He'd tried talking to Ashlyn a few times, telling her to be nice, but she'd just snapped back. Her new blonde hair, or wig - whatever it was - looking like it had been professionally done everyday and she was living in some soap opera. Same with the way she dressed - nothing was practical. Lotte had to wonder, the blonde hair had debuted the day after Sam and Emily had gotten engaged - and so had the new clothes. Was Ashlyn trying to become Emily Delvey? Was she attempting to catch Sam's attention this way?

Ashlyn had been voted best dressed at the Brownlow that year, and nobody around her was immune to it. Lotte, particularly shocked after 2022 when Ashlyn was having panic attacks in the hotel suite bathrooms. It was all to outdo Sam and to make him notice too. It had to be. Ashlyn wasn't herself at all.

The small group had been all around the world in 80 days - or, Greece in 7, just under - they'd seen Mykonos, Milos, Santorini, and quite a few other places Lotte either couldn't spell, nor remember the name of. Today, they'd seen the amphitheater - or what Lotte had always thought was actually the coliseum in Rome. Ashlyn had no interest for it and just wanted to get on another boat to the islands, and drink her life away. Nick had actually tried to tell her to slow down once or twice, scared she'd kill herself that drunk. She definitely wasn't herself by a long shot. She hadn't been since the Geelong premiership.