The Love I Left Behind

Scene Eight

By the time Elsie got back to the hotel, it was late. She decided not to mention anything to Anya. Her sister grilled her on the events of the night. Elsie knew she was doing a bad job of lying, but the thought of reliving what had happened in the pub that night was too painful.

The fact was, Elsie knew that she had never connected with anyone the way she had with Lucas. Just the sight of him made her heart thud and her head feel woozy. And for some reason she couldn't fathom, she thought he felt the same about her. But she knew it wouldn't work. They didn't know each other well enough for either of them to compromise and she couldn't see a way forward. She admittedly found it hard to trust men after the cheating scandal her ex had thrown upon her and even though she knew she would trust Lucas, it didn't take her insecurities away.

He would be on the stage every night living a rock star life. She would be in her sleepy home town praying she found a job and helping her still distraught family recover from her brother's death. They were worlds apart.

Elsie had a broken sleep that night. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Lucas.

The next morning, she dodged more of Anya's questions as she got ready. Her sister was being very particular with her hair and make-up, she looked amazing. Anya had golden blonde hair cut into a trendy long style bob. She was edgy and cool in a way that Elsie had never been. She watched as her sister put on some tight, low cut skinny jeans and an almost sheer blouse.

Elsie looked down at her own baggy, cream jumper and old, worn jeans. Her unwashed hair was in a scruffy braid and she didn't have a scrap of makeup on.

"You look amazing sis, but isn't it a bit much for the train home?"

Anya shrugged, checking her teeth for lipstick in the mirror.

"We're having another day in London. I thought we could do with it."

Elsie sighed and leant back against the wall, folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't want another day in London. I want to go home."

Her sister shrugged, and stood up to face her, her eyes sparkling.

"The hotel is already paid for. Come on Elsie, don't be a grump. Look, I've kind of....well...last night, while you were....you know, whatever the hell you were doing with Lucas that you won't even talk about, I met someone."

Elsie raised an eyebrow.

"You met someone? You were in the hotel. You sent me a picture of you in bed with chocolate cake."

Anya looked down at the floor, smiling.

"I knew you'd worry about me being out with a guy I'd only just met, so I posed for the picture to put your mind at rest. Come on, let's go. I'll tell you more on the tubes."

Elsie sighed and allowed Anya to drag her out of the hotel as they found their way to the tube station. She listened as her sister excitedly told her how she had a man DM her on Twitter and they met just ten minutes later. Elsie had to hide her disbelief because Anya was clearly moon eyed, but the thought of her sister meeting a man off Twitter and going off into the night with him and not telling anyone didn't sit well with her.

They couldn't talk much on the tubes due to the trains being so noisy and crowded, but as they stepped out of the train station, Elsie was struggling to piece the story together.

"Hold on, how come you knew this this guy was in London and that he wasn't a mass murderer after just one DM?"

She was so busy worrying about this new guy that Anya had met, it hadn't even clicked where they were as they stepped out of the station. Anya grinned, and pointed at the building in front of them.