Chapter 17
“Okay, thank you,” I hear Christopher say. He dances into the bathroom and puts his hands on his naked hips. “Guess who got us a late checkout?”
“You did.”
“I’m the man.” He points to his chest. “Move over.”
I scooch over in the deep bubbles, and as he sits down, the hot bath sloshes over the sides, flooding the floor. He slides into the water up to his neck as we lie top and tail.
It’s ten in the morning, and we’re taking advantage of every last minute in heaven.
A bath is a luxury we haven’t got access to in the hostel.
“I don’t want to leave this place,” I groan.
He closes his eyes in peaceful bliss. “You think I do?”
“What days is your course on?”
“Friday and Saturday.”
“Okay.” I think for a moment. “I guess we’ll head on to Germany on Sunday to meet the others?”
He nods.
“I think I’m going to quit my weekend job at the restaurant.”
“Why?”
“It’s holding us back.”
“No, it’s not.”
“We’ve been traveling for over three months and somehow are still stuck in Barcelona, where we started.”
He tries to justify it. “Not all the time. We come and go as we please. We’re only back weekends.”
“It costs money to come back here every weekend.”
“Not that much.”
I know there’s no easy way around this topic. “Eddie will be okay, Christopher.”
His eyes meet mine.
“He has his grandmother and his job, and this is his life. He’s happy here, and just because this isn’t your normal, you can’t forget that this is his.”
“I know.”
“You being his private bouncer at the hostel isn’t achieving your goals. You took twelve months out of your life because you wanted to travel the world and see everything. Returning to Barcelona every weekend is not achieving that for either of us.”
He exhales heavily and begins to soap up my feet as they rest on his chest.
“Just think about it, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, what will you do if I decide I want to keep coming back here?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I won’t be coming back with you every weekend, only sometimes, I guess.”
His eyes hold mine. “So we would spend weekends apart?”
“Babe.” I sigh sadly. “I don’t want to have regrets when I get home. In a year’s time this will all be over, and I’ll kick myself I didn’t see more when I had the chance.”
He nods.
“And the thing is, you also need to think of yourself. If you are this attached to Eddie in three months, where will that leave you in another nine months? I’m not saying cut all contact; I just mean that you can be a friend to him from wherever you are in the world. Call him; send him letters; visit him once or twice a year. Friendship is more than protecting someone at the bar. And besides, we both know Eddie is way tougher than you.”
He smiles sadly as he listens. “True.”
“What is the fascination that you have with him, anyway?” I ask. “Apart from the obvious of him being amazing, of course.”