As soon as the train pulled into the station, Lulu all but leaped from her seat, stretching her stiff limbs. After hours trapped between the two chatty individuals who were using he like a telephone to indirectly communicate, she was beyond ready to be anywhere else.
Henry, however, lingered. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye, Cathy." His voice was tinged with something resembling reluctance. "It's been a real pleasure."
Cathy, blissfully unaware that her new 'good friend' was a ghost she couldn't see, continued cheerfully chatting with another passenger, completely oblivious to Henry's heartfelt farewell.
Lulu rolled her eyes. "You do realize she can't hear you, right?"
Henry sighed wistfully. "Yes, but it feels wrong not to say anything. She was the best conversation partner I've had in ages."
'Ouch…what am I? Chopped liver?' Although Lulu may not have been the most enthusiastic partner, at least she could talk to him directly! That had to count for something, right?
Lulu barely smothered a somewhat offended scoff, rationalizing that it was beneath her to argue with the dead.
But before Henry could mourn the loss of his new friend for too long. He seemed to remember why they were really here—why they had taken this entire trip in the first place. His gaze turned toward the bustling station, his normally easygoing demeanour tightening with nerves.
He was close. So close.
After all these years, he was finally going to see his daughter again. Gaze caught by something, he wandered a bit away from Lulu.
Lulu, sensing the shift in his mood and assuming he needed some alone time, adjusted her bag and headed toward the taxi stand to wait for her turn. She had no interest in dragging out their arrival any longer than necessary.
Hailing a cab was easy enough, and once she slid into the backseat along with the returned and invisible Henry, she pulled out the slightly crumpled envelope addressed to Elise that had her address on it—The address his private investigator had tracked down years ago.
'Hopefully, she is still there…'
She read it out loud to the driver, who gave a short nod before pulling away from the curb.
The ride was quiet, but not the comfortable kind.
Lulu stared out the window, watching the unfamiliar city pass her by, while Henry remained eerily silent beside her. She could tell he was lost in thought, his fingers drumming anxiously against his knee out of habit.
Fortunately, the drive wasn't long. Less than thirty minutes.
Unfortunately, that also meant less than thirty minutes to prepare for what would undoubtedly be a tense and awkward meeting—if Elise even agreed to speak with her at all.
Lulu glanced at Henry. He looked like he was going through every possible scenario in his head, each one worse than the last. She supposed she couldn't blame him.
This wasn't exactly a social call.
When the cab finally pulled up in front of their destination, Lulu exhaled slowly.
The house was exactly the kind you'd expect from a successful doctor—a large, well-kept suburban home with a neatly trimmed lawn and carefully pruned bushes. Nothing extravagant, but definitely nice. Stable. Secure. The kind of place you could put down roots and raise a family. The kind of home Lulu would fantasize about being a part of when she would walk by them during her younger years—
'No point in even thinking about that…'
Lulu lingered on the sidewalk, suddenly feeling out of place. For a brief moment, she hesitated. Did she really have any right to barge in here, dragging up old ghosts (literally)?
Henry's expression was unreadable as he stared at the house, and for the first time since meeting him, Lulu wasn't sure what he was thinking.
She took a steadying breath, squared her shoulders, and marched up the front steps. No use second-guessing now after she'd already paid to get here.
Reaching out, she rang the doorbell.
Then, just as quickly, she stuffed her hands into her pockets, rocking on her heels as she waited.
Lulu swallowed. Well. No turning back now.
She could hear the approaching footsteps through the door. And then the door opened to a beautiful woman that smiled at Lulu in welcome and also confusion as to why this stranger was on her door step.
"Elise" Henry immediately said in a trembling whisper.
But she could already guess that they had the right person without his confirmation—Elise had the exact same blue eyes as Henry and was otherwise the spitting image of the woman she'd seen in the wedding photo with Henry in his room.
"Ahem. Are you Elise? Elise Venderwood?"
Elise blinked her eyes in confusion at the maiden name she hadn't heard in years.
"I go by my husband's last name now, Johnson. But yes, I am Elise…"
"Uh…I am here on behalf of your father, Henry…" At the mention of her father, Elise's expression became quite bitter, and nostalgic, and also carried a hint of anger.
"What about my father?" She cut Lulu off, demeanor visibly agitated and irate.
However, there was none of the sadness that Lulu expected. Even if they were estranged, they seemed to be close before her marriage, so she should be at least a little sad at his death, right?
'Wait…does she not know?!'