Lose Me (Brooklyn Beckham Fanfiction, Sequel to Stop Me)

thirty seven

The next morning, I awoke at half past five and looked out of the window. It was pitch black, and that strange time between sleeping and waking that you expect no one to be about. On our street, no one was, just one man in a suit walking briskly to the tube. Living near school and being able to get up at half seven made me forget that the rest of the world didn't follow the same rules. True, it was December in London and I don't know what I expected, but all the same, it felt like the middle of the night.

I hadn't slept well, but tossed and turned all night, thinking today over and what I was about to do. Whatever, I'll sleep on the plane. Probably.

I sighed and turned away from the window, unplugging my phone and shoving it into my bag.

When I opened the door to my room, the lights were already on in the kitchen and Sally was making breakfast.

"Morning!" She smiled brightly.

I groaned. "How are you so awake? It's like two in the bloody morning!"

"Someone's a grumpy guts!" She laughed, flipping a fluffy pancake in the frying pan. "I've been doing fashion weeks for years, I'm used to this time of day. And if you want to make it as a model, you'll have to get used to it too. I'd be up anyway, I've got a wedding today. All day over in Surrey. I'm going straight there after dropping you at the airport."

After a couple of moments she plonked two glasses of orange juice and plates of pancakes onto the table and sat down opposite me.

"Eat up. You'll need your strength, you've got a long day ahead."

I picked at the pancake, but it was difficult what with everything on my mind and the ridiculous, random time of day. By the time I'd eaten half of it, it was almost time to leave the house and I had an excuse to leave it on the plate. I showered quickly and dressed in a hurry, worried about getting to the airport late. The last thing I needed was to rush. I wasn't a big travelling fan, but I knew I needed to look nice to arrive at the Carlenko reception, so I pulled on a smart black dress and fur coat that Victoria had given me after our screen test months ago.

I was just pulling my hair into a tight ponytail and double checking my hand luggage when there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" I asked, lugging my mini suitcase (but still considerably heavy) out into the flat. "Who's even awake at this time?" I muttered to myself.

Sally pulled open the door and Max was standing there, smiling, already in his school uniform.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. Him coming wasn't part of the plan at all.

"I just wanted to see you off?" He smiled, puzzled at my reaction, and helped me with my case.

"Thanks, but, you have school." I reminded him.

"Wrong. I have a double free this morning, so I'm spending it dropping you at Heathrow."

"You really don't have to." I smiled anyway, but didn't mean it that much.

"Lola!" Sally reprimanded. "Do you think Max wants to get up this early and trek across London for you?"

"Yeah, who loves Heathrow traffic more than I? Come on, I told you I'm here for you!"

"Thanks, Max."

"Lola! We should have left twenty minutes ago!" Sally cried.

"Shit." Max grabbed my case and started pulling it out towards the car.

"Forgotten anything?" Sally asked, searching for her own makeup bag for the wedding.

"Don't think so." I replied, double checking that my phone, earphones and passport were in my bag. "Tickets, money, passports...money!"