Flores :: Carlos Sainz

Diecisiete

Stephan and Eleanor were standing in the kitchen, both leaning against the kitchen island, drinking a cup of coffee and looking in front of them, taking the interior in. Yesterday, they finished the house. Everything was done.

"The couch..." Eleanor began.

"Let's move it," Stephan proposed and put the cup on the counter.

She did the same and walked to the couch. They moved the couch by a few centimetres, but those few centimetres made a huge difference. "I was scared we wouldn't make it before the family would come over, but we are ready before tomorrow." Eleanor gave her dad a high-five.

"See, it all goes well at the end," he proudly smiled. "I feel like I'm ten years older by now, but it was worth it. I'm so proud of you, Ellie."

"I'm proud of you too," she smiled. "Literally blood, sweat and tears."

Stephan widened his arms and grinned. "Met bloed, zweet en tranen," he sang the famous lyrics of a Dutch singer André Hazes. "Zei ik, "Rot hier nu maar op!"" He pointed at his daughter.

A laugh rolled over Eleanor's lips. "Met bloed, zweet en tranen," she sang along. "Zei ik, "Vrienden, dag vrienden." "De koek is op.""

"Alright, no, we won't leave yet, but it fitted right," he smirked.

She smirked. "With blood, sweat and tears. I said: "Piss off." With blood, sweat and tears. I said: "Friends, bye friends." "The cookie is..."" Eleanor looked at her dad while translating the song into English. "...gone?"

"I think so," he snorted and shook his head. "By the way, you should ask Bibi and Carlos to join the barbecue as well. It will be fun. Then I get to see who Carlos is."

Eleanor rolled his eyes. "You will meet him one day. I will ask him soon, I don't know if he has time. And I will ask Bibi tonight when I see her."

"No rush."

"Anyway, I'm gonna do the laundry," Eleanor announced and walked back to the kitchen to collect her cup of coffee. She took a sip and made her way to the laundry room upstairs.

It felt unreal to have a laundry room for the laundry only. She never had that before. At her home in the Netherlands, the washing machine was in the kitchen. In the home she grew up in, the washing machine and dryer were in the bathroom. And now there was an entire room (one of the smallest rooms in the house) dedicated to the laundry.

Eleanor walked through the foyer to the first floor. She looked around, it felt unreal. For the past seven months, she build a new home, together with her dad (and help from a few others), in an unfamiliar country. The house turned out to be more beautiful than she expected.

She started to do the laundry and ironed some items. While she was doing that, she got caught up in her own mind.

Realistically, it was almost impossible to settle here. If Eleanor got back to full-time working, she wouldn't be able to pay for everything on her own. But she would do anything to stay here because she liked her life here. She let go of everything that was bothering her in the Netherlands and started from scratch.

Eleanor grabbed her phone to see if she had any new notifications; a few news banners and one WhatsApp message from Carlos. Her heart skipped a beat. They hadn't had contact for the past two weeks. Eleanor knew he had a busy schedule, so she gave him time.

-

Carlos Sainz
Hey, are you free for a coffee this afternoon?

Eleanor Schoenmaker
Hi, yes, sounds good :)