Me Llamo Tokio (My Name Is Tokyo) - A Money Heist Prequel

Chapter 27 - Champagne

I wake up with almost the same nausea feeling like yesterday. I should really stop drinking that much at night, but I can't help myself since our robberies are like victories worth celebrating.
Last night still feels like a dream and, honestly, I don't even know for sure when I had that much time to drink. But, the empty bottle on the nightstand indicates the contrary.
After we made love, we stood and talked for hours. About the future, about our lives, and most importantly about our feelings. One thing is clear, Juan is definitely the person that my soul longed for my entire life.
I take a look at him. His eyes are closed and it seems like he's sleeping peacefully.
I really don't want to disturb him, but, the next thing I see is the clock indicating that's almost noon.
"Juan, wake up." I say gently caressing his face. "We're late."
He opens his eyes immediately, like the word late activated something in him.
"What?" he asks a bit confused, then he looks at the clock too. "Damn, we're late."
And here's that moment when we start acting like a married couple who drank too much last night and had sex till the morning and now, they're late for work. Only our "work" was a meeting with some guys who were buying the stuff we stole from the pawnshop.
"Shit, shit!" I say as I'm trying to turn on the stove and make some coffee. "How does this even work?"
"Here." Juan's hand is on mine, showing me how to turn on the stove that seemed older than us both.
"Thanks." I reply with a smile.
Juan was always there to help me, no matter how insignificant the thing was, he was coming almost instantly to see how he can make it easier for me. I just couldn't stop myself from smiling, and I was really admiring him for that.
I take a shower really fast while he's shaving in front of the mirror. I guess we are at that level, where we share the bathroom without being bothered by each other's presence.
"Where the fuck did I put my bra?" I say annoyed, mostly to myself.
But to my shock and surprise, Juan replies:
"It's on the floor, next to your nightstand."
"How do you know?" I ask raising an eyebrow.
"I'm the one who's mostly in charge with taking it off every night." he laughs.
I laugh too, then I run to get my bra.
Yes, we were definitely that couple. We were acting like we're married for a long time while we haven't even known each other for a month.
The coffee is too hot, but I can't stay after it for too long, so I try to drink it like this.
"Careful not to burn your tongue." Juan says while coming out of the bathroom.
"If I burn my tongue, I'll talk less." I tease him. "Wouldn't that be a relief for you?"
He laughs and takes a seat next to me at the table.
"No, not at all." his answer seems genuine. "I really like the talking and the fact that you're not afraid to be vocal about the things that matter to you."
"You're truly deranged." I declare while putting a cigarette in my mouth.
"I wouldn't call it that way." he laughs and lights my cigarette.
"But how?" I ask through puffs.
"Hmm." Juan looks really funny, trying to find a way to sound like he's less crazy than I am. "How about a man who cares about their girlfriend's opinions."
"Oh, spare me!" I exclaim. "Don't give yourself so much credit."
"Alright, then I'm crazy." he laughs. "Better now?"
"Yes." I say satisfied. "Much better."
We finish our coffees fast, then we get in the car. I'm really thankful we don't have to move the stuff too and that we can go directly to our meeting point.
"What are we robbing tonight?" I ask him.
"I don't know." he says while looking on the road.
He's driving through the dirty streets of Madrid's biggest slums. I used to wonder around these places when I was young, but I can't say that I really missed them. The poverty was screaming from each corner and it doesn't make me think of nice memories.
"How about we'll spend our night a bit differently?" his voice brings me back to reality.
"Differently how?" I'm really curious about Juan's idea of different.
"Instead of robbing something, I was thinking that maybe we can go somewhere and spend the night together." he says cautiously, like he's scared that I'll say no.
"But, how about the fact that we have to do more robberies to have enough money for Rome?" I ask.
"I'm pretty sure it can wait for a day." he says smiling. "Didn't you say that this thief job is exhausting?"
"Okay." I laugh. "You're right, we can have a break."
"That's what I was thinking too." he's really satisfied by my answer.
I can't stop wondering where he's going to take me and I don't even bother to ask because I know Juan well enough and I'm sure he won't tell me.
We reach the meeting point just in time. If we would've been ten minutes late, they would've been gone and the next time they were coming was only in a week.
"Stay in the car." Juan says.
I don't even have time to protest, because he's already out talking to those guys.
Probably, women don't seem too reliable in this job and my presence might affect the price that we'll receive on stuff. Even if it's really unfair, I listen to him and remain in the car while he's presenting those guys what we got.
After a few minutes of listening to what Juan was talking with our business partners, I realize that this job is also about marketing skills. They were negotiating almost every small thing and everyone was presenting their opinions regarding quality and price. I'm not even sure if Juan told me to remain in the car just because I'm a woman, or simply because my experience was zero in this domain. I really have to make him teach me everything when it comes to robbing, because as far as I've seen, it's not only about threatening people with a gun.
"Alright, we're done here." he says while getting in the car.
"Where are the money?" I ask sheepishly.
"In the trunk." Juan replies while turning the engine. "Let's go."
"Where to?" I'm really curious what else we have to do today.
"Somewhere." he says smiling.
Juan was full of surprises and, even if his attitude was sometimes annoying me, I was mostly pleased.
We drive to the city center and I can't stop wondering what business can bring us here with the car in the middle of the day. Juan finds a parking spot close to Jardín de América.
"Are we getting out of the car?" I ask surprised, knowing his strict rules about us being as discreet as possible.
"Yes." he seems really excited.
I don't ask any other questions, I just decide to listen to him.
The hot summer air hits me as I open the car's door. I wasn't having such accommodation problems when I was driving my old junk of a car, but with this one's air conditioning, I realize that facing the heat starts to become a problem.
Juan takes my hand, helping me get out, and I can't stop myself from smiling.
"Where to?" I ask after he closes the car.
Even if I promised myself I'll do what he says, I just can't hold my curiosity.
"For a walk." he replies. "Do you want ice cream?"
"Yes!" I exclaim like a happy kid.
Ice cream on a hot summer day might be my second biggest weakness, after Juan, of course.
We take a few steps on Paseo de Recoletos until we find a cake shop that's having a huge stand of ice cream outside. For some reason, something makes me think that Juan knows this area on a more personal level than the thief one.
He takes two ice creams and, again, I'm shocked by his capacity to remember all the small details as he's handing me a dark chocolate one. I quickly mentioned him that aspect while we were talking about each other in Portugal. Apparently, he was really interested to use the informations for later.
I don't think I've ever been more happy in my entire life. Walking with him, hand in hand, eating ice cream and going to I don't know where. Juan was having this capacity to make me feel alive, even if we were doing simple things.
We finish eating till we enter the Jardín de América and take a seat on a bench. The garden is small, but beautiful, not different from how I remember it.
"I used to come here when I was younger and still leaving in Madrid." I tell him.
"Really?" he looks at me a bit confused.
"Yes. Why you're asking?" I'm somehow sure of the answer though.
"Because I used to come here too." Juan seems like he's searching through his memory, trying to figure out if we ever encountered.
I can't deny the fact that I thought about us meeting each other in the past too, but the chances are minimal. There's a three years age gap between us, and Juan ran away from home at fifteen, meanwhile, that time I was barely exploring the slums of Madrid.
"I don't think we met." I tell him. "I started coming here way later."
"Okay." he sounds like he was a bit disappointed.
"You lived around here, right?" I ask.
"Yes." he replies smiling.
"Damn, I was sure you lived in Salamanca!" I exclaim remembering about the moment when I first thought of this.
"And it's something bad?" Juan laughs.
"A bit." I reply teasingly.
"Why?" he asks amused.
"Because, you know, rich boys tend to be stiff in bed." I say the dumbest line that came to my mind.
"You think that?" he joins my game.
"Not about you. Trust me, you fuck like a true commoner." I really have to work on my lines.
But, we both end up laughing, and I guess I'm not that bad.
After an awkward silence is floating in the air for a few seconds, Juan has the inspiration to change the subject.
"What did you think about this place the first time you came here?"
"Hmm." I mumble, trying to remember my first impression about this garden. "I loved the place, that I remember for sure. Also, the last time I came here, I stole a rose and put it in one of my books. I took it with me when I left for Barcelona and I still had it in my apartment."
"It was that bush of roses over there?" he asks, pointing with his hand in its direction.
"Yes, exactly that one." I exclaim. "How do you know?"
"Because I did the same." he smiles.
Apparently, we had a common memory with this place.
He gets up and goes to the huge bush of roses and pulls out a small flower. Then, he comes back with it.
"Mine's in a book at home too, yours the same, now, this one can be ours." he says handing me the beautiful red rose.
I take it and inhale the subtle scent.
"Careful at the thorns." Juan is trying to warn me, but it's too late.
I feel a sharp thorn penetrating my skin, making the blood come out of the scratch as I take my finger away fast.
He grabs one of the napkins that we got from the ice cream and wraps it around my finger.
"I'm sorry." he seems really sad.
"Juan, I'm fine, it's just a scratch." I try to calm him.
"I should've taken the thorns off." he's now having a guilt trip over a tiny thing, but also, this shows me how much he cares about me.
"I'm okay, it's not your fault." I reassure him. "I bet it's not even bleeding anymore."
He takes off the napkin and finds out that I was right, the bleeding stopped.
"See, I told you." I say.
He doesn't reply, but takes my hand and kisses my injured finger, then he goes on to the rest too.
"Here." Juan says ripping off the part of the rose's stem that had thorns. "Now it's better."
He puts my hair behind the ear and then places the rose there too. I smile, as I always loved to have flowers in my hair.
"You look beautiful as always." his voice is filled with admiration.
"Thank you." I reply shyly.
I don't know how he could love me so much, yet it was true. I was feeling it, and not only when he was complimenting me or surprising me, it was there all the time, in all his gestures, in the ways he was talking to me and how he was acting overall. Juan was my dream come true, and if I'm being completely honest, my imagination was never capable of creating such a perfect man.
My stomach makes a weird sound and I feel how it ruins our moment for good.
"Are you hungry?" Juan asks.
I wish I could've said no, because I just had an ice cream, but the answer came as:
"Yes, I really am."
"Then let's go eat something." he says with a smile.