Black Diamond. Havana Adams

now she felt a warm glow spread through her whenever he said it.

      Up ahead Lola could see that Simon had veered off the main path towards the side streets that would take them to Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Lola was looking forward to the buzz, the conversation, the music. She looked forward to being in a place where it seemed no one knew who she was, or who her mother was and, even if they did, they hardly seemed to care. As she took the turning onto the street in pursuit of her lover, Lola mused that perhaps this was love, perhaps she had finally fallen in love. She let out a carefree whoop as she contemplated undoing a lifetime’s habit and surrendering herself to this thing.

      As the bar came into view, Lola swung easily off the bike. She caught a reflection of herself in a shop window and smiled. She almost didn’t recognise herself. Certainly the her of three months ago wouldn’t have recognised her. Here she stood in casual denim shorts and a plain white T-shirt and ballet pumps. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and for once she had no weaves or wefts of hair woven into her own to create length and body. Her face was devoid of make-up and the lipgloss that she had smoothed onto her lips that morning had been kissed off by Simon. In short, she looked like an ordinary Californian girl – no designer duds or flashing cameras in sight and in a flash, Lola realised that she had never been happier. As she chained the hired bike alongside the distinctive yellow one that Simon had leased, Lola felt a vibration against her hip and she reached into her back pocket to fish out her cell phone. For a moment she stared at the caller ID and she felt some of the carefree sunshine dim out of her day. She watched the phone continue to vibrate, until finally it stopped. Slowly, Lola replaced the phone in her pocket but the edge was back as she acknowledged that soon, she would have to face Amber.