Her Name Was Lola

71 Destiny’s Dentist

November 2001. Lola likes driving at night. She’s comfortable with the homeward road coming towards her under the headlights and vanishing beneath her wheels. It’s a Monday night, and at 11:40 there’s not much traffic into London. After a while she notices headlights in her rearview mirror that keep their distance and never try to pass. ‘I know who that is,’ she says. The presence of those lights is tiring, and at Heston Services she pulls in for a coffee. The other headlights pull in behind her.

Lola carries the sleeping Noah into the cafeteria with her and gets her coffee. When she sits down at a table she sees Geoffrey, the retro man, waiting for her. ‘Don’t say anything,’ he says. ‘I know that you’re a deeply troubled person and I know that I’ve been sent to watch over you. I’ll follow you into London just to see you safely home and I’ll always be around if you need me. I think I know what Lola wants, and whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.’

Lola shakes her head, says nothing. She drinks her coffee and goes back to the E-type.