Written in the Rockstars (Completed)

Chapter 5- A Series of Unexpected Events

WHEN THE TAXI DROPPED ME OFF,  I stood and stared at the drive way,  taking in the familiar sight.  The front garden was packed with wildflowers and mum's favourite: bluebells. 

As I dragged my suitcase up the driveway, the front door opened and my mum smiled her wide smile that radiated heat and love.

I let go of my suitcase and ran to her arms. She embraced me and stroked my hair.

I suddenly heard a familiar voice cry out: "Annabel!" and Lucy came flying down the stairs, dressed in a grey sweatshirt and navy blue chinos.

" Hi!" I hugged her, "I missed you! "

"I missed you too,  Annabel! "

The smell of bacon tickled my nose and my head snapped towards the kitchen.  Mum chuckled.

" Come and get your bacon, girls."

Lucy and I raced towards the kitchen and giggled as we flung ourselves into a seat.

“ I thought you needed a treat after all you've been through,  darling, " mum told me as she placed the bacon sandwich on my plate.

"Do you even know what I've been through? " I asked,  eyebrow raised.

She hesitated and nodded slowly before holding up the Daily Mail . The front cover was pasted with a full size image of Jack kissing that girl.

"Oh my god! " I blasphemed, holding my head in my hands.

"But you look different now,  Annabel, " Lucy said,  "No one will recognise you! "

"Lucy's right, Annabel.  And plus,  how are you in the wrong?  You got cheated on.  It happens,  sweetie.  Don't you give him the satisfaction of being weak! " Mum advised me.

I nodded.  “ You're right. "

I devoured my bacon sandwich and decided to take a shower. I felt like I was washing everything away: all of the anger,  the heartbreak,  the Americanisms.

I climbed out of the shower feeling fully refreshed and fully English again. I pulled my toweled robe on and was wrapping my hair in a towel when my mum called,  "Annabel?"

"Ya?"

"Are you at a convenient point to come downstairs?"

“ Yeah,  why?"

“ I think you ought to see this."

I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen,  where mum was standing in front of the television,  chewing her lip.

Lucy was leaning against the counter,  watching the screen intently.

Mum beckoned me over to her and I looked up at the screen as the studio reporter, his hair silver and his suit crisp and pinstriped, looked up from his papers and said, straight-faced:

"It was reported that Jack Rochester,  lead singer of band ‘ Falling Fast ’,  has gone missing.  It was announced that he broke up with his fiancée,  Annabel Anderson, after kissing another girl.

”Miss Anderson has supposedly moved back to the UK after her ordeal with Jack. Last night,  Jack's new girlfriend, Abbey Malone, said that he didn't come home and, after trying to find him and contact him,  resorted to the police.  The police have been searching since midday in Greenwich Mean Time, seven o’clock in American time.

"The police suspect that he has moved from the country,  but there will be more on this story at six o'clock. I'm Adrian Lowery, you've been watching BBC News at three, good afternoon. "

Mum switched the TV off and looked at me expectantly, as I was scowling scornfully at the screen.

"What? "

“I'm not sure what to do," mum replied, chewing her lip in anticipation.

"He's not my problem anymore,  mum. I don't care! " I snapped.

“I understand that,  but what if he's come here? He knows where we live! What if he's come to do something? "

"He's a drunk. He's not going to do a thing. "

And with that,  I returned upstairs and dried and straightened my hair.  I then pulled on some denim jeans and a purple jumper.

"What d'you want for tea , love? " Mum asked as I wandered into the kitchen.

"Er, I'm not bothered.  I'm going into town for a while, " I told her.

“ Oh,  are you going to eat whilst you're out? "

I shrugged.  “ Probably. "

I flung my jacket on and slipped into my boots,  before strolling down the streets at a leisurely pace.

The leaves on the trees looked as though they had been dipped in crimson and gold paint,  whilst the last pansies danced in the September sunlight and the autumnal breeze whispered in my ears, tugging at my hair.

I was so entranced by the beauty around me that I didn't hear the footsteps behind me until the hand was clamped over my mouth.

"Peekaboo,  I see you, " a voice whispered in my ear.