Finding You. | BRUNOL & SIMUEL

Part 20: Pol

I found Bruno. Even a day after, I still can't quite believe it. It's difficult to wrap my head around the fact that he's here. After so many years of not seeing him, he's here. In a foreign country and a foreign city.

Also, I was starting to get really tired of speaking English. Even though it's helped me practice a bit and I think I'm getting better at it, it can get very frustrating not being able to say what I really mean.

I'm just happy that all of this wasn't a waste of time. Too bad it's about to end soon.

I can see a big house ahead as we are walking through a field of grass, surrounded by trees. Wow. I didn't expect Simone to be this rich. Bruno points towards the house. "I think that's it."

I nod.

It's been like this for the past few hours for me. A bit uneasy. Last night when we were at Manuel's house, he accidentally let it slip to Bruno that I came all the way to Spain just to look for him. As you can imagine, it was very hard to explain myself after that. I still haven't, at least properly. And now, I have this additional burden figuring what to do next. Because I'm going home, that's for sure. I'm going to take that job. I just don't know where I fit Bruno into all of this. Because unlike back in university, I want him to be part of my future. I want him to be part of my life again.

We reach the front of the house. It looks even more amazing up close. Ding! Bruno gets a notification on his phone. He checks it. "Simone says to wait a bit. They're just a bit busy preparing." He continues to scroll through his phone. He smiles. "Do you still keep in touch with the others?" he asks.

"No. They all have different lives now. And...it's hard to reach out. But I see Oksana and my brother from time to time. Also before I came here, I also caught up with Marc. He's an actor now. Like on a TV show," I tell him.

"Really? That's insane." He exhales. "I miss them all, especially Tania. And yeah, I do agree with what you said. It is hard to reach out. It's not that I don't miss them, it's just that I don't feel like I have a place in their lives anymore." He looks at me. "But I call Gina from time to time to check on Mina. So I sometimes see Gerard. He's doing well; still the same Gerard." He weakly laughs.

"Mina? Mina as in..." I ask. "Yes, my half-sister, Merlina. Gina's daughter. You've never seen her?" he asks.

"No."

"Really? All those years?"

I shake my head. "I was...I don't know. A lot of things were happening."

He takes out his phone and shows me a photo of Mina.

I smile. "She has his eyes." I feel an ounce of regret build up in my chest. I missed so many things. I stopped but the world didn't. Not even Bruno.

We stare at each other for a short while. Say something Pol. Explain yourself. And actually get to the point this time instead of running around in circles. "Bruno, I—"

Suddenly, Manuel and Simone pop out of nowhere, interrupting what I was going to say.

"Hi, Churro," Manuel says. We all exchange hugs. Simone says something to Bruno. I don't understand what it is. Bruno nods and shows his phone. It's the location pin he sent earlier. Maybe it has something to do with how we got here or something.

"Hey Manuel," I say as I unsling my backpack. "I have something to ask you." I open my backpack and rummage through it.

"What?" he asks.

"What do you think about this?" I pull out a new phone.

Manuel is confused. "It's nice. For Bruno?" he asks.