Chloe
The first night in Spain was just the two of us getting settled. Alex checked us into the hotel and we ordered room service for dinner instead of going out. I was relieved, I didn’t realize until after we landed just how tired I was going to be, and I doubted even a Redbull could give me the energy to get dolled up for him.
I woke up Sunday morning with the sun pouring in from the balcony doors and the subdued sound of the radio playing what I assumed was a morning talk show. With a big yawn, I stretched and sat up. The bed was empty, but I could hear the shower running, so I knew Alex hadn’t gone too far. I picked up his discarded t-shirt and made my way out to the living room for coffee and to find my own clothes. Not that I didn’t like his, but the ass-out look didn’t feel nearly as cute when my entire mouth was drier than a desert and my hair was oily as hell.
There wasn’t a full kitchen, just a small kitchenette with a sink, a microwave, a mini fridge, and a fancy coffee machine set up.
“How the fuck does this work?” I asked myself as I assessed the machine like someone who had never seen a coffee maker in her entire life. “Do you have a manual?”
It didn’t respond. I poked at what I had convinced myself was a touch screen and watched as it came to life, flashing a red script logo before showing me a menu. It kept beeping at me while I tapped at the machine, trying to navigate the language barrier and the fact that I just generally didn’t use a lot of tech beyond my phone and laptop. I managed to do some translating with my phone and got it to pour what I hoped was a latte.
I leaned against the countertop and breathed in the deep, warm scent of the coffee, letting it perk me up for the day to come. After a few minutes, I had a warm mug in my hands with the best latte I’d ever had and was just finishing Alex’s cappuccino when he came out of the bedroom.
I grinned and held out the cup to him as he sauntered across the room, his towel hanging low on his hips. “Good morning,” I greeted him.
“Good afternoon.” He kissed my cheek. “You slept the day away, but I didn’t want to wake you.”
It was only eleven thirty, I thought I was doing pretty good. “Does that mean you don’t want this?” I held up the cappuccino. “Because I made it just for you, but if you want to be ungrateful…”
He snorted and took the cup. “Ungrateful,” he muttered. “I brought you here, but I am the ungrateful one.”
“Yeah, that’s how it works when you don’t thank me for making you coffee.”
Alex glowered at me from over his cup and I just smirked, watching him take a tentative sip. I couldn’t help letting my eyes wander over him; watching as a bead of water rolled down his neck and chest from his damp hair until it got to the towel that was haphazardly wrapped around his waist. The hair that decorated his chest tapered off into a narrow path that was abruptly cut off by the towel, a tragedy really, because I wanted to be able to see all of him again.
He took a step toward me suddenly and my head jerked up, I realized I had zoned out while admiring him and now he was grinning down at me. I could feel the embarrassment prickling along my skin and watched helplessly while he set aside the coffee before reaching for me. I realized at the last second that he was going to pick me up, I grabbed at his shoulders for support when he lifted me onto the counter and stepped between my legs.
I wasn’t wearing any panties and the only thing my stupid brain could think about was how much I wanted that towel to drop. Like right now, right this instant would be great.
“Did you sleep well?” He leaned forward and rested his hands on the counter, effectively caging me in.
I nodded, a desperate attempt to calm myself down and give me the opportunity to try and find my voice again. “I did, thank you.”
I could feel him smile against my cheek when he kissed the corner of my mouth. “Don’t thank me yet, glykia mou.”
I closed my eyes and fought the urge to grab him and kiss him because I knew exactly where that was going to lead, and I wanted to wait until tonight. Not that I would be any less nervous after the show, but I would at least have been showered, had my teeth brushed, and had some liquid courage into me by then.
Alex’s hand came up to cup my cheek as he peppered me with kisses down my neck and across my shoulder, I squirmed from the onslaught, his stubble tickling me when he moved.
“You’re prickly,” I told him with a breathy laugh. “You didn’t shave.”
“You said you like it better when I haven’t shaved,” he replied.
It was true, I apparently inherited my mother’s favoritism towards hairy men, and I had been severely disappointed when he decided to shave only hours before our flight. Devastated really, because I was completely infatuated with his beard and it was tragically unfair for him to shave it off with no warning.
“I do,” I agreed. “But I didn’t realize it meant I would be kissing a cactus for the next few days.”
“A cactus, a bear, a woolly mammoth, what other insults do you have for me?” he asked with a faith chuckle.
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.” I paused and took a sip of my latte. “I’ll be nicer if you ask me to be though.”
His hand skimmed up the side of my leg while he watched me. “Would you be nicer if I told you that your birthday present is waiting on the bed?”
I shoved my cup into his hands before leaping off the counter and taking off toward the bedroom. Alex’s warm laugh followed me through the doorway, but I didn’t care, I was too fixated on my present in the bright pink bag. The bag had little dots decorating the sides in gold glitter and was tied shut with a matching gold bow that dusted my hands with glitter when I untied it and tore into it. A card sat on top of a large navy blue box, I pulled the card out and admired the tiny silk flowers dotting the front of it surrounding the swirling script that read Xρόνια πολλά or “happy birthday” in traditional Greek.
I pulled a pillow into my lap as I read the card, preparing to hide my face if it made me too emotional.
Chloe,
I wouldn’t want to be spending this time with anyone else. Thank you for allowing me this time with you. Happy birthday, glykia mou.
Yours,
Alexander
I noticed immediately the way his writing slanted to the left, a subtle detail, and I made a note to watch which hand he used more often. My eyes burned and I quickly closed the card. This was more than I ever expected. I didn’t want him to see me cry, not yet, certainly not like this.
“You didn’t think I would forget, did you?”
Alex stood in the doorway with a wide smile that I instantly returned to him. “I wouldn’t have been upset if you did, it’s not like we’ve known each other that long.”
It was an offhanded mention that I was turning nineteen, and while he had already shown a penchant for gifting me things, I really thought this trip was more than enough. But I was also a materialistic bitch and it thrilled me to no end that he had gotten me something special.
I patted the spot beside me, and he came to sit there while I very slowly pulled the navy box out of the bag. It was wide and flat with golden HW embossed onto the top. My hands were suddenly clammy as I stared down at the lid and thought about Jazmin. She had some Harry Winston jewellery, a brand I hadn’t known even existed until a few months ago, and all I knew was that it was some of the most expensive jewellery in the world. This wasn’t just a regular old birthday present, and I was now very much aware of the weight of the decision to be here with Alex. He bought me, he could buy anything he wanted, and I still didn’t quite understand the scope of his reach.
I swallowed the massive lump in my throat and opened the box, inside laid a pair of earrings against navy blue velvet. Pink pear-shaped stones made the shape of forget-me-nots around a tiny circular diamond and dangling down were two short chains of diamonds with more, even smaller pink forget-me-nots at the ends. Touching them made it real, but I had to fight the sudden stiffness in my arm to even be able to pick one of them up.
“They’re pink sapphires,” he explained as he took the earring from me. “Blue is more traditional, but somehow I thought these suited you more.”
If I could find my voice, I would have told him that they were perfect. I sat there silently while he brushed my hair back and gently fastened the earring, his hand lingered for a moment, gently brushing along my neck while we sat there.
How do you say thank you for a gift like this? Because I had no clue where to begin and I was suddenly worried that I wouldn’t look grateful enough no matter what I said.
“I don’t know what to say.” My voice cracked and I struggled to look up at him. “I feel like thank you doesn’t cut it.”
“That’s more than enough for me,” he assured. “Do you like them?”
He sounded so concerned that for a second there I thought I was going to have a heart attack; I couldn’t possibly let him think that I didn’t like them. I grabbed the back of Alex’s neck and pulled him down to me as fast as I could before scrambling onto his lap. He seemed surprised, based on his gasp, which just made me happier as I attacked him with a barrage of kisses.
My hands tangled into his hair and we fell back against the bed together with me straddling his waist. His hands pushed my shirt up so that he could better grab my ass. I couldn’t say no to him. I didn’t want to say no to him. Despite that I wasn’t pushing him away like I had before, I could feel him restraining himself; not letting a kiss go on for too long, not trying to get his mouth on my body like he had before. I think we both knew that if we let ourselves go too far now then we wouldn’t be leaving this hotel room tonight, and I was actually thankful for his restraint.
By the time we both got out of bed we were flushed and smiling like crazy. I excused myself to the bathroom for my own shower not long afterward, mainly because I felt gross that he was clean and I wasn’t, but also because if he wasn’t going to finish me off yet then I needed to do it myself. Which I did multiple times thanks to the detachable showerhead.
Harry Winston diamonds, I thought to myself once I was finally alone and not insane with lust. I leaned back against the tile wall and closed my eyes, picturing the earrings again. They would go perfectly with my dress and absolutely nothing else that I owned. Not a single damn thing. I covered my face and groaned loudly. Why was I concerned about matching my outfits to these earrings? Because I could probably buy a brand-new car with them, I thought tiredly. That would have made me feel less guilty about them.
I didn’t want to feel guilty about a present, I wanted to just be happy that he remembered my birthday at all. Then I need to do that.
I took a deep breath and stepped back under the water, determined to finish my shower and just look forward to the rest of the day. I would not feel guilty about a present, I couldn’t control what he spent his money on.
The day itself seemed to fly by after that; Alex and I spent the early afternoon relaxing together by getting lunch and doing some minor sightseeing around the neighborhood. It wasn’t until much later that we came back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Restaurante Lasarte and the play.
I stood in front of the mirror in the ensuite, brushing back my freshly curled hair and scrutinizing my eyeliner. Several hidden bobby pins held my hair back on one side to make sure everyone got to see my new earrings that perfectly matched the various flowers on my Oscar de la Renta dress. I knew I was overdressed; this would probably be overdressed if I was meeting the queen of England, but I’d never felt more beautiful in my entire life than I did right then.
I adjusted my bracelet one last time before stepping back out into the bedroom where Alex was waiting. He looked up while fiddling with his cufflinks and froze, his mouth parting but not saying anything. His single breasted, midnight blue twill suit was elegantly tailored to fit him, accentuating his broad shoulders and the gentle curve of his waistline. We were both extremely overdressed, and I loved it.
“Look at you,” he said, reaching for me. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Beautiful is a start, stunningly perfect also works,” I offered with a small twirl. My skirt flared out and I couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that escaped me when I kept playing with it. “And you look exceedingly handsome, by the way.”
“Exceedingly handsome?” He wrapped his arms and my waist, holding me to his chest. “Do you have a word of the day calendar on your phone?”
“No, I just read too much,” I shot back. “But I mean it, you look great.”
“As do you,” he promised with a squeeze of my waist. “And we’re running late, so let me compliment you more in the car.”
I was giggling while he led us down to the taxi, ready to lose myself in this amazing city.
What was there to say about Barcelona? I’d never been to such a beautiful place before, I didn’t even know where to start. The hotel we were staying at was new and filled with cutting edge technology, luxurious didn’t even begin to cut it. ButGran Teatre del Liceu was in the heart of Ciutat Vella, or the old city, as Alex had explained to me. The modernism of the hotel didn’t hold a candle to this.
The cobblestone sidewalks made my heels killer, but it slowed me down enough to admire the golden baroque-style craftsmanship on another hotel that we passed, accenting the dozens of small balconies. Every building seemed to have a million balconies and large windows that looked down over the narrow streets. Nothing was dark here, the streetlamps glowed brilliantly every few feet, open curtains poured light down from apartments, vespas flew past us in a blaze of yellow and red taillights. I didn’t actually think people here rode the scooters as often as TV and movies made it out, yet everywhere I looked there was someone riding one or a row of them all parked for the time being.
I wasn’t sure if it was just La Rambla, the street we were currently walking up, or if the entire city had this park like feel where on one side you had a very narrow road next to shops and on the other you had rows of trees, canopies to sit under, and a million restaurants to choose from. Everywhere I looked there was something else to see. I had to ask Alex where the other side was, the constant flow of people and traffic had me half blinded.
“You can’t really see it because of the angle,” he explained, gesturing to the shop on the other side of the road. “But there is another road, it’s just hidden behind all the people.”
That makes sense. I liked that he didn’t talk down to me or make me feel stupid for asking obvious questions, this was just so overwhelming that I was completely and utterly lost.
I held onto his hand as tight as I could while we weaved our way up the street. I wasn’t afraid of much, but I was definitely scared of losing him in a foreign country while wearing a nine-thousand-dollar dress.
“Look,” he said, leaning down so that only I could hear. “What do you think?”
Large windows stared out onto the street, arches made the entrance seem even more grand than it already was with the hanging lanterns and stunning details carved right into the façade. The green color gave it an old look that matched so much of what I had already seen that for a moment I felt like I had stepped back in time.
“It’s amazing,” I gushed, tugging at his arm. “Ohmigod…”
Alex laughed and led us into the building without another word, he was obviously pleased with my reaction. The crowds were just as thick inside as they were outside, I barely got to gawk at the patterned marble floor and arches that matched their outdoor counterparts. The same green, gold, and crème motif carried inside as well, with the door panels being the soft mint color with gold accents against the carved beige walls.
He led us to the second-floor balcony where we were seated directly in the middle facing the stage. Alex had bought out the seat next to us but there were still people behind us in the small booth. I carefully straightened out my skirt as I took a seat in the plush red chair. Below us, I could see the many rows of orchestra seating, I leaned forward, watching people find their way to their seats and weave around each other in a constant flow.
Alex tapped my arm and I spun around to see him gesture upward. “Look at the ceiling.”
My eyes followed his instructions and I had to force myself not to jump out of the seat in awe. The giant circular light sat directly in the center over the theatre, surrounding it were murals of roses along with more swirling baroque designs that drew your gaze back toward the middle. I couldn’t make out all of the murals at this angle, and I wasn’t quite high enough up, but they looked similar to the portraits I had seen in the lobby.
I couldn’t help but think of the illustrations in my William Blake book, the similarities in the fluidity, the movement of each piece.
“I feel like such a tourist,” I whispered to Alex. “But it’s all so pretty and you don’t see anything like this back home. It reminds me of the Louvre.”
“There are a million other tourists in this city, people here are used to it.” He leaned back and crossed his knees. “I’m sure people are more focused on how beautiful you look this evening more than anything else.”
My heart fluttered for what was probably the millionth time this evening alone. I leaned against him with our hands clasped together and my head on his shoulder, waiting for people to finish finding their seats. When the lights went down and the curtains opened, I knew there was no one else would have wanted to spend this weekend with. And that was the exact moment that I realized I was completely, irrevocably fucked.