Under Your Skin

Chapter 3

Buenos días, oveja. Nice...pyjamas

Lana woke up to the piercing shrill of her new alarm clock. It was seven o’clock in the morning, and she wasn’t yet used to the time change, so to her it felt like six. Too early, she thought as she yawned and padded to the kitchen in her pyjamas, running her hands through her hair to try and tame it a bit. She jumped three feet in the air when she heard a voice call her as she rummaged through the cupboards to find something to eat.

“Buenos días, oveja. Nice...pyjamas” Carlos grinned at her from the sofa.

“What the hell are you doing here at this hour? And in here?” she asked him, flattening her hair and pulling up her tank top before any major disasters occurred.

“Oh, just waiting for you. Mrs Carlson told you I was taking you out to show you the town, didn’t she?”

“Um, yeah she did. But she told me that we were leaving at eight,” Lana replied, trying to hold back a yawn.

“Well, she didn’t tell me that. I was told we were leaving at seven, so that we could get everything done before lunchtime, because they’re taking you out, aren’t they? So get dressed, and I’ll be in the car.”

Lana followed her orders and was changed in matter of minutes and had grabbed her heavy bag that seemed to have everything in it as she hadn’t unpacked it yet. She headed out to the car and hopped into the passenger seat and before she even had her seat belt on they were off. After ten minutes of silence, they arrived at a cafe and the car stopped.

“Okay, so Lana, here’s the deal. I don’t like you. The way I’m treating you I don’t think you like me. We don’t want to have to spend all this time together. So I’ve come to a...what’s the word...arrangement. First we’ll have breakfast. Then you go off and sight-see, I’ll go off somewhere else. Meet me back here at one and I’ll take you back to Mrs Carlson, and she’ll be none the wiser and I won’t get in trouble. Okay?” he told her, and she nodded in reply, happy to be relieved of his company.

They headed into the cafe and ordered. Lana ate her food in silence, and Carlos quickly gulped down his coffee. Then he rummaged through his pockets but came up empty handed.

“Mierda!” he exclaimed.

“Do you want me to pay?” Lana offered, trying to be nice.

“No. I don’t want anything from you,” he shot back then got up and headed straight over to the waitress. Lana saw him place his hand on her arm and edge closer to her, and she saw how he leant in towards the woman as he spoke to her. Her face went from confusion to a smile, and she nodded. She saw Carlos scribble something down on a napkin, and hand it to the waitress, before walking out of the cafe, looking at Lana and smirking as he left.

Lana continued eating, trying to work out where she was going to go. She looked over at the waitress again and saw that she was still dazed and was grinning from ear to ear. How anyone could find him attractive she didn’t know. He was just an arrogant jerk, pure and simple, though he had a fifteen year old girl who acted like she owned him and a waitress who was happy to have him instead of the money. Crazy girls...

She paid for her breakfast and left the cafe, heading right down the street. There were people everywhere and she had to twist and turn to avoid them. She was heading for the beach. At least that way she would vaguely know where she was and work out what to do next. Or she could ask someone or find a map there. She’d learnt that from the times she’d been on holiday with her family to Spain: head for the beach or the sea when Dad gets you lost.

The beach itself was also packed. Lana slipped off her sandals and wandered towards the sea, feeling the burning sand on the soles of her feet before it was replaced with welcoming water. She sat down and put her head back on the sand, placing her hands over her eyes to block out the blinding sun, her feet still in the water.

“Are you okay there?” a voice called and she looked round to see a boy jogging over to her. “Just you seem to be in a bit of an awkward position. And you’re kind of blocking my route.”

Lana sat up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m fine. Oh, sorry, I’ll get out of the way. Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Hey, was only joking. We’ll you are kind of but it’s not like I couldn’t of jogged around you,” he laughed, sitting down on the sand beside her, “I’m Jack. Now, can I just ask, why’re you laying half in and half out of the water?”

“Oh, um, just needed to cool down. The heat is killing me,” Lana told him.

“Guess you’re new here then. Um, what was your name again?”

“I never told you my name. But its Lana, by the way.”

He held his hand out to her and she took it. “Nice to meet you, Lana,” he smiled.

“Likewise.”

“Okay, so, I’m guessing you don’t know you’re way around. Need a hand?” he offered.

“Yeah, thank you. That’d be nice. Someone was supposed to be showing me around but they sort of bailed,” Lana replied, letting him help her to her feet.

“Oh, that’s not good. Who was it? I might know them,” he asked her as they made their way up the beach.

“Um, a boy called Carlos. Carlos Garcia I think.”

“Carlos Garcia Ortega.”

“Oh, yeah right, that. You know him?” Lana asked.

“Sort of. Let me take that for you,” Jack answered, slipping the bag off her shoulder.

“Thank you,” Lana smiled back at him and they headed off, Jack now less talkative than before.

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Carlos was still feeling pretty pleased with himself once he reached his mates. He’d got a date with a waitress, and most of all outsmarted Lana. He grinned thinking about the look on her face as he left the cafe. His plan was working: he knew it. It was only a matter of time before he could say goodbye to looking after Miss Alana Richards and get back to normal.