1997

It was a pretty, warm sunny summer day when all of the sudden a terrifying news struck Tina like lightning.

"Izzy's missing", she heard the shaking voice of Izzy's mother on the other side of the line. She was deeply shocked, tried hard not to cry.

Izzy. Isabelle. Her best friend.

They had known each other since childhood. Originally, they didn't treat each other with kindness-rather with a mutual resentment. They lived in the same district, went to the same school, class and even additional classes. Tina played the piano while Izzy preferred the acoustic guitar. Their competition and aspiration for better grades made them spend more time together and finally they became best friends.

The vision of parting had been a nightmare for each of them. When Izzy turned fourteen, she moved to Norway with her parents, leaving her best friend in the otherwise joyless England. Despite the distance, Tina and Izzy stayed in touch. They were talking on the phone which was expensive. Every Christmas they sent each other gift cards. Isabelle used to spend every holiday with Tina, talk about new friends, new reality and her new life in glorious Oslo, while doing what they both loved-playing instruments, tricking Izzy's younger siblings, and walking to the lake and swimming until sunset.

Tina couldn't even imagine that. Izzy couldn't have just disappeared. She wouldn't. And what if-

"What does the police say?", she asked, her voice was breaking more and more every moment.

"I don't understand much. But they keep saying something that sounds like 'a kidnapping' and-."

Tina felt a twinge in her knees as they hit the stone floor of her kitchen. The old telephone spiral cable barely came to her ear.

"Impossible", she whispered. Tears obscured the world around her. She prayed to God that wouldn't be true.

The sobs of the girl floated through the corridor and finally reached the ears of her relatives. Her alarmed her mother came to the kitchen, followed by her father and her older brother. Mrs Clark crouched next to her daughter and looked into her eyes, but the only thing she saw was a grief. She gently picked up the receiver. Hearing the news, she immediately went livid. She did not say anything and let Tina cry in her shoulder extensively.

***

2017

Tina was walking down the street with her cellphone on her ear. Londoners were surprisingly understanding that day when it came to a person walking right into the tube, lost in her thoughts and oblivious to her surroundings.

"Of course, Steve. I'm just getting in-Yes, I will step off in Westminster, wait for me there."

She rushed to take an empty seat before anyone else and got back to her conversation. Her husband had lots to say about their forthcoming anniversary, completely forgetting what this specific day meant for her. From morning till night she felt distressed and she regularly looked at a little framed picture she used to lock in a drawer that now she carried in her bag. In public she tried to look like a strong woman able to handle everything, but as soon as she was alone again, emotions overwhelmed her.

Twenty years had gone by. Twenty years ago this horrible news made her fall to pieces and began a series of sleepless nights. But she never got the good news she had hoped for. She would have been happy with any news, actually. Tina would be happy knowing Isabelle had been finally found, even if it would have just been her body. The most important thing would be to discover at last what happened with her best friend. But the investigation ended in a deadlock and for two decades nothing was confirmed, except for giving Izzy up for dead.

Tina exhaled heavily when an overexcited Steve stopped talking of the plans for their second honeymoon. And apparently he had nothing against her beloved daughter, Paula, staying over with her despotic grandma for so long.

"Do we really have to talk about it now, on the phone? It can wait until lunch. We'll meet in five minutes, hon."

"All right", he murmured. In the distance, a loud voice was hearable. Steve's boss seemed angry and taut. "Have to go. See you later."

When the train stopped at Westminster, Tina tucked her cell in the bag and got out of the tube. Going straight to the stairs, she went through a group of half-naked teenagers-which she thought should be illegal-and accidentally nudged a young homeless woman with a guitar case who smelled like a wet dog.

"Watch your step, you idiot!", she screamed and showed her the middle finger.

Tina would ignore this barb as usual, if only the girl's voice didn't seem so familiar. She was already on the escalator when she turned around, but the homeless was gone.

Her husband hadn't made it yet when she arrived. Tina sat down at the table, ordered a latte and waited. After fifteen minutes, she grabbed her phone to call Steve and ask if something urgent had stopped him. She was full of worry and bad thoughts. Maybe he got hit by a car? Or tumbled down the stairs? Or- Or-

Before she dialled a number, she got a message. Tina sighed after reading it. His boss wanted Steve to finish his project by the evening, even if that meant no lunch break. He was sorry and promised her they'd talk when they got back home. Tina wasn't surprised at all. Her husband had much to do lately and he had to work overtime due to a bunch of unfinished tasks. Working in a corporation-she knew it too well. There had been a time she stayed longer to prepare everything for a next-day presentation and she had felt like a real-life zombie sometimes. Tina always supported Steve and believed he was as eager for their anniversary as much as she was.

Tina's apartment was just one street away from the café. A ten-minutes-long walk and she felt refreshed after a tough day at work. Luckily, her boss was big-hearted and had let her leave after lunch, having seen Tina barely focused at all. All she wanted right now was to hide under a soft blanket and stare at old childhood photos. She and Izzy were so happy together, giggling, showing cute gaps in their front teeth.

Shortly after the kettle started whistling and Tina had changed clothes, someone knocked on the door. Maybe it is Paula, she thought. Her tennis lesson always ends at 1PM. She has probably forgotten her keys again.

Tina stood in shock when she opened the door. The homeless woman she had accidentally kicked in the underground station was outside. Her clothes were untidy-dirty hoodie and ripped jeans with big holes in the knees. Close-up, she looked even worse than Tina remembered. Her dark dreadlocks were a bit copper-coloured on the top of her head. She held a big guitar case which seemed enormously heavy-but it didn't have to be, otherwise such a brittle-looking woman could not have hauled it up to the seventh floor. Her shoes were covered with dry mud from an unknown places-the last two weeks had been very sunny in London.

"Tina? Tina Clark?", the woman asked in a hoarse voice. She cleared her throat, covering her mouths with her wounded hand.

"It's my maiden name."

Woman looked surprised for a moment.

"Obviously. You got married, so you changed your surname."

Tina glanced at the strange girl. "Excuse me, who are you?"

She shrugged. "Can't you see it?"

"Listen, if you came here for money or apologies-"

"When did you become such a snob?", the woman seemed a bit offended.

"Pardon?" Tina gave her an amazed look when the homeless pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. "It's forbidden here. Please, go outdoors and- Goodbye!"

She pushed the door to close it but the stranger stopped it with her foot.

"You don't recognise me, do you? It's me! Izzy!"

"Liar! Go away right now!", she screamed and shut the door angrily.

Devastated, Tina sat on the floor and leaned against the door. This woman was not Isabelle. She couldn't be. She looked much younger than thirty-eight. Besides, she had dark hair whereas Izzy had always had her hair curled and ginger-coloured. Her friend would never wear dreadlocks and she was afraid of dirt. She had always taken a shower after playing together.

God, why today? Why now? Haven't I endured enough through all those years? Why did she appear today? The more Tina was thinking, the more tears were filling her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard the music. Tina thought it was her phone because she set this melody as a ringtone. But this tune came from the door. Someone played a guitar. Quite good, though, missing just one note-just like Izzy used to.

Tina rose up, pressed the handle and opened the door. The homeless woman was sitting on the stairs going up. She was jamming the guitar, ramming the strings, barely not breaking them. The melody filled the stairs and the hallway of the skyscraper. She hadn't realise Tina had stepped out of her flat.

"Izzy", Tina muttered as the woman had stopped playing. Then sat next to her on the stairs and brushed a dreadlock off her eyes. Then she saw her dark irises and the will to do something reckless. "It really is you! God, how is it even possible? How-"

The woman put the guitar in its case and glanced at Tina.

"Let's go inside and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

***

Tina placed two cups of coffee on the table, sat in front of Isabelle and looked at her impatiently. Emotions were swirling inside of her, from happiness to rage. Her friend had finally been found, but why, oh, why was she acting so dismissively? Why didn't she give a single sign of life nor even had she sent a letter before?

Izzy looked around. "Nice place. You know, I always knew you would make it as a musician, but a flat in the centre of London- It would never come to my mind."

"I am not a musician. I gave up piano years ago, after-"

"After I escaped", ended Izzy.

Silence set between them and the only sound they could hear was a fan. The heat was unbearable even in the air-conditioned apartment.

"Why?" Tina simply asked. "Why did you escape without any message? Everybody was looking for you. Your family, your friends, the police- I truly wanted to come to Norway and help them with the investigation, but I suddenly fell off sick with bronchitis for two weeks and I couldn't." This memory made her shiver. "Why, Izzy? For what reason? Why-"

"And what would you have done being in my place?!" Isabelle leaped to her feet. "My life was a disaster. My father cheated on my mother, moved out and she started drinking more and more. My younger brother almost died while jumping off a rock at the lake, just to show off. They cancelled our trip for this reason. We wouldn't meet that summer, Tina, and I really needed to talk with you, just not on the phone. Also, the kids from my estate started bullying me. One guy even tried to rape me", her voice cracked for a moment. She sat down. "What was I supposed to do? I didn't want to stay there. All I wanted was to run away from that hell. When would have been the right time if not just after my eighteenth birthday? I officially became an adult. Never had I thought that my disappearance for a week or two would cause such a mess."

"A week or two?", repeated Tina in deep shock. "You were gone for twenty years! How did you-"

Izzy glanced at her nails, dirty and earthy. The anger on her face was displaced by other expression-lostness and perhaps a feeling of guilt. Then she spoke up calmly.

"I had my hair dyed brown so no one would recognise me. A good friend provided me with fake passport and bought for ma a ferry ticket off to Sweden. It was expensive but I promised to pay it back. I didn't want to steal money so I started making it. Now it doesn't matter how, I'm still disgusted by it. I gave him part of the earnings and lived off the rest in Stockholm. After one year and a half I got enough cash to travel through Europe, explore marvellous places, sleep in a different place every night... I bet you have never visited so many cities as I have. When the money ran out, I worked casually. Then I met a nice hobo with a guitar in Budapest. He was too drunk to play anything, so he asked me if I could. After a while he told me I played so good and asked me to keep the guitar. He died after that moment. I stood shocked for some time and-"

"Oh, shut up! A shock after a hobo's death is nothing in comparison to what I had to endure through all those years. The information about your disappearance destroyed my life, as if it hadn't been a mess enough already. My grandmother had died just the month prior, then Peter broke up with me, and you-"

"You really cared about Peter? He was an asshole. We both knew it, we always knew it."

"I didn't mean-"

"By the way, you've always been into blond-haired guys, haven't you? Ryan, Simon, Nathan-I liked him, though-Peter, and now Steve. It is a pity that they all turned out to be jerks."

Tina knitted her eyebrows together.

"Steve is not-"

"Obviously", said Izzy, rolling her eyes. "Are you aware he's cheating on you? Even at this very moment."

Tina gagged on the coffee she was drinking.

"What?!"

Isabelle brought her phone out of her pocket-it was the newest model and Tina glanced at it with an expression of surprise. She scrolled down the screen a few times and showed her friend a photo of Steve and a young brunette with long legs.

"It's Jessie, his secretary," Tina said, calmly, peering at her husband. "They have been working on a project for two weeks. No reason to blame him for cheating."

"Oh, really?"

The next picture, darker but still clear, displayed Steve and Jessie laughing and drinking wine together. The next one showed them kissing with great passion. And in the next one-

"Take it away from me!"

"Now you see it?" Izzy asked, tucking the phone back in a pocket.

Tina started to shake. She wanted to cry, again. Every minute of this day had been terrible and she hadn't expected it could get worse-but it had. She closed her eyes, buried her face in her hands and let the warm tears flow down her cheeks.

Izzy stood behind her, stroked her hair and seeing her friend in such distress, she offered her an arm. Tina turned around towards her and cried loudly on her shoulder. Even Izzy's stinky shirt wasn't a problem, since she had finally found her again and had someone she could trust.

"Mum? Who is this?", they suddenly heard from the corridor.

"Hi, sweetie", said Tina and sniffed. With no doubt, her make-up was smeared but she didn't care. "How was your training?"

"Great. I finally defeated Judy."

Paula walked into the kitchen, grabbed an apple and kept staring at the strange woman.

"That's amazing!"

"Actually, it's not. I hit her with a tennis ball and they had to call for an ambulance."

Izzy laughed loudly. "She has your sense of humour. Mocking, just like her mother."

"Excuse me, who are you?" Paula asked carefully and with an outright curiosity.

Tina stood up and came to her daughter. She encircled her in one arm and then said:

"Darling, this is your aunt Isabelle. We were friends in our childhood and-"

"And she's gone missing", ended Paula. Her mother gave her an amazed look.

"How did you know?"

"I saw you crying. Once a year, always at the same day. I went through your stuff one day and I found the old newspapers."

"Have you been digging through my stuff?!", Tina echoed, a bit shocked. She quickly cooled out. "All right, we will talk about it later. Now we have a serious issue to solve. Paula, please, go to your room and wait."

"What's going on?"

"Go", commanded Tina. As her daughter walked out, she turned to Izzy. "I need your help."

***

Lights were off when Steve came back home late in the evening. He stumbled and fell over something big and surprisingly soft at the corridor. Cursing under his breath, he got up trying not to disturb anyone's sleep. Steve reached the bedroom in total darkness, but then someone blinded him with a torchlight, as he crossed the threshold.

"Oh! Hello, darling! Sorry I'm late-"

"Sorry", Tina spat, crossing her legs. "What a sophisticated word to start a conversation. Accurate for this situation, for sure."

Steve glanced at his wife suspiciously.

"I apologize. It took so long, the client called twice to hurry us up and my boss said he would limit our bonuses if we-"

"And Jessie obviously was helping you with the project, wasn't she?"

"Of course she was. She is my secretary. What are you trying to say?"

Tina shook her head slowly and let her hair cover her face. Her eyes were full of tears.

"How dare you? Why did you do this to me, Steve?" her voice cracked and there was a moment of silence filled with Tina's crying. "After so many years of marriage! We've got wonderful daughter, this big flat, so much money-You wanted to take me to our second honeymoon! You traitor! You asshole! You-You backstabber!"

She walked up to her husband, leaving the torch shining on Steve. Without a hesitation she slapped him and then burst into tears.

"Don't even try to defend yourself! I have proof" Tina pointed out angrily and slapped his other cheek. Her husband's face turned the same crimson red colour as the curtains of their bedroom.

"My dear, I-", he sighed. "Tomorrow I will pack up my things and move out for a few days. We will talk when you cooled down."

"Oh, I've spared you the work, you moron! You know, I've even washed your smelly clothes."

For a moment Steve stood numb. Then he blinked twice and walked to his wardrobe. His side was empty-only his dinky blue shirt was inside, the one Tina loved to borrow. She would never forgive herself if she destroyed this shirt too.

He walked out to the corridor and turned the lights on. There were the two bulging bags he had fallen over a few minutes ago. Faking an expression of dignity, he grabbed the luggage and when he was about to leave the apartment, Paula got out of her room.

"You came to say goodbye to your dad, honey?", he asked, trying to sound mildly. He had no doubt Paula knew already about everything. She always stood up for her mother, and nothing went unnoticed to her.

The girl came up to him, hugged him and then punched his ribs. Steve groaned. With pain and guilt on his face, he left the flat, shutting the door loudly. He forgot his keys.

"How do you think-how long will it take him to realize those things are useless now?" Izzy asked, getting out of the bathroom. She embraced Tina, who was completely devastated, her eyes such swollen and red. Paula was staring at her mother sympathetically but she did not seem to cry.

"Well, let his new girlfriend care about it. Maybe she will lend him some knickers for a few days", murmured Tina gloomily but the thought made her a bit giggly.

"Pouring fabric softener, bleach and two bottles of acetone in anyone's clothes. Even I am not this vicious."

Tina started laughing. Paula came to her and hugged her.

"He deserved it", she said.

Her mother stroked her hair. "He did, indeed. But don't you dare try that on my clothes."

"I promise."

Tina kissed her daughter's forehead and ordered her to go to sleep. Then she went on to the kitchen with Isabelle. They opened a big bottle of white wine.

"So, what now?" Tina asked, pouring the wine in tall glasses.

"Well, you get over him, send him the divorce papers and obviously win the case. And then you find yourself a man, or maybe two or three, and you bring up a new family with him. Maybe Paula will have a sibling one day?"

Tina looked at her. They clinked their glasses and drank the wine almost in one gulp.

"I wasn't talking about me", Tina pointed out. "I was talking about you. What are you going to do?"

The question surprised Izzy. She hesitated for a moment and when she wanted to say something, Tina spoke up.

"You hadn't thought for a second I would let you run away again, had you? I think it's not a bad idea to let you live here for some time."

Izzy almost dropped her glass. She put it on a table with shaking hands and looked at her friend.

"Are you serious? Ah! It would be great-"

"I just have one condition", Tina warned her. "You have to tell everyone the truth about your disappearance. Starting with your parents."

She gave her a receiver of an old-school phone. Izzy glanced at it haltingly.

"Do you expect me to call them after all those years? They-I have no idea how they will react. I'm not even sure whether they're still alive. They are going to get angry, for sure. Or even worse. And what if-"

"You will never know if you don't try. Shall I dial the number for you?"

Finally, Izzy agreed with a nod.

The end

Thanks for reading!

As I've said, it is my first story in English so I'll gladly read all your comments and suggestions. :)