Lost (Liam Payne)

Part 64

Penny looked at the piano on the floor. She had made a huge mistake and she needed to make it right. She needed to see Liam. She glanced at the mail on the coffee table and saw a big envelope. She grabbed it and ripped it open. Passport. It came. Finally. Penny grabbed the piano and passport. Running up the stairs, she decided what she needed to do. She needed to go to him. Now.

There was a flight out late the next evening. Penny didn't want to tell anyone in her family where she was going or why. This was something she needed to fix. Alone. She called a shuttle service to take her to the airport and boarded the plane. It was 12 hours to the London airport. When she landed, it would be around 3 in the afternoon, London time. She just needed to find a way to Liam's house. Would a taxi take her that far? How far was it? All she had was the address he used in his reservation information. She hoped it was for his house and not for the Andy he had pretended to be. Penny had never been more scared. This was only her third time on a plane and she was alone, in coach. She'd never been to a big city alone. Her heart pounded in her chest the entire flight.

The plane landed and she found her way thru immigration to baggage claim. Right outside the doors of baggage claim was a line of taxi's. Feeling sick to her stomach, she wondered about her credit cards. Would they work in an English taxi? She looked for an ATM and took out as much cash and it would let her. She now had 400 pounds. She wasn't even sure how much that 'really' was or if that was even how you said it. She also knew that their couldn't be much left in her account. The ticket alone had been over thousand dollars.

Walking out to the taxi stand, she gave the address to the man in the booth.

"You know that's about 100 pounds? Are you American?" he asked.

Penny sighed in relief. She had enough money. "Yes and Yes." she answered. The man got her into a taxi and she was on her way. It took just over an hour and along the way, she looked out the window at the passing scenery. She waited for the signs to say the name of Liam's town. She thought? Was it called a town? Or a city? What did they call things in England. She had already figured out that Surrey was an area of England and not really a 'city.' That was all she knew. She crossed her fingers as the miles, or kilometers, clicked by. Her stomach hurt.

The taxi stopped in front of a gated home. The gate looked open, even though there was a box to call up to the house and be let in. She wasn't surprised it was open. Liam always forgot to close the garage at the Lake House. She made the man drop her at the end of the drive. He offered to wait or drive her up to the door, but she refused. Having him wait make her feel like she didn't have faith in this journey or her happy ending.  She paid him and gave him a huge tip, because she wasn't sure how much to give. Then she pulled her suitcase up the drive, holding two small white boxes in her hand. There were two cars parked outside in the circle drive in front of a huge house. One was some kind of fancy sports car. She didn't know anything about sports cars. The other was a sedan of some kind. Again, if it wasn't a truck, she didn't know or care. Taking a deep breath, she rang the door bell.

She heard a dog bark and a woman's voice said, "Stop it, Watson! Sit!" and the door opened. Penny looked right into the face of Sophia. Liam's former girlfriend. The reason he left England. The girl who broke his heart. She was at his house. Answering his door. She eyed Penny up and down, a look of disgust on her face. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Penny felt her heart crack in two. She has waited too long. He had moved on, mostly likely figuring that she didn't want him, because Christmas had come and gone without so much as a word from her. Why did she wait so long to open the box? That little voice that lived her in head reminded her that it was because she was self destructive and a chicken shit. She didn't have faith in him or their relationship. She didn't deserve him.

"Uh, no. Sorry. Could you give this to Liam, please?" Penny handed her the smaller of the boxes, turned around walked back down the drive, dragging her suitcase behind her. Maybe the taxi man had waited anyhow, just in case.

She heard Sophia yell after her, "Fans aren't aloud on the grounds. Get off the grounds or I'll call the authorities." Penny didn't even turn her head. She just walked faster, wishing she could run, but the suitcase was making it hard. She needed to get to the other side of the gate before she stared to cry. She needed to move fast.

She burst out the gate and saw the street was empty. The nearest place to find a phone and taxi had to be back the way the taxi had come, so she turned and walked in that direction. Thankful that she had bought a round trip ticket, she finally let the tears fall.

Alright, who forgot to give me my meds? - Eva