Vodka Espresso

18. rescued

August, 2017

The phone call came in the dead of the night.

"Hello?"

A voice cried at the end of the line.

"Hello!"

Ingrid dragged out the vowels to make the person snap out of it. She hadn't checked the caller, but if it'd been a name, she would have recognised it, even half-asleep as she was.

Edgar grunted beside her and got up on an elbow. They now frequently shared the same bed, since Arthur hadn't come back from his extended leave in Ireland. His mum had turned out to be terminally ill and he stayed to look after her, resuming his previous work at the whiskey distillery in Belfast.

"Who is it?" Edgar yawned.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." She stole a quick glance at her mobile screen. No name, just a random number. "Listen, I need you to calm down and talk to me. I can't understand you."

"Ingrid...," the voice mumbled, sniffling. "Please come and get me, please..."

Ingrid suddenly bolted upright, as if struck by lightning. "Sienna?" Her breaths came in quick, short bursts. "Where are you? What's wrong?"

"He's just left, but he could be back soon, please..."

Edgar seemed wide awake, too, by now, but Ingrid didn't have time to respond to his questioning frown. She switched the bedside lamp on and scrambled out of bed.

"Okay, Sienna, I'm on my way, but please tell me where."

Ingrid propped her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she grabbed underwear and a pair of jeans from her wardrobe.

Edgar shuffled over to her and helped her dress. "I'm coming with you," he whispered.

Ingrid shook her head at him. "Where exactly in Belgravia? Sorry, I didn't catch the street." She paused to focus on Sienna's shaky voice, then rolled her eyes. "Eaton. Right. Of course. Well, I'm in Kensington, myself, so let me pop my shoes on, I'll be there in ten minutes."

Sienna ended the call in hiccups and Ingrid sighed.

"Bloody fucking hell."

"What's the matter?" Edgar asked, concerned. He'd put his sweat shorts on in the meantime.

"I don't know, really." Ingrid slid into the first top she put her hand on. "I have to go get her."

"I'm coming with," he reiterated.

"No, you're not." Ingrid bit her lip. "I do need a car, though... I don't want to take yours, but there's nowhere I can get one fast enough."

"I'll go get the keys, meet you downstairs."

She nodded. "Fine. I'll be down in a sec."

She went to wash the sleep out of her face and almost as an afterthought decided to put some socks on. Edgar was waiting for her in the front hall, fully dressed himself. Ingrid took the car keys from him.

"You are not going anywhere," Ingrid insisted, "because if Patrick wants to bite someone in the ass for this, let it be me. He'd break his teeth in your marble buttocks, but it wouldn't be good for business."

Edgar opened his mouth, then slammed it shut and furrowed his eyebrows. "Marble?"

"This is personal shit," Ingrid carried on, "my personal shit that I started. You," she poked his chest, "get back to bed."

Edgar only relented because Ingrid pointed out how odd it would have been for Sienna to see them together at that time of night. Then Ingrid regretted her victory as she got behind the wheel and found everything on the wrong side of the car.