In The Name of Love

Chapter 34

I've been back in Barcelona for a couple of months now, and so far everything has been great.

I took my mum to Rome, where we stayed for a week doing all the touristy things you could think of, eating our weight in gelato, and having long conversations that have made us understand each other a lot better, finally managing to have a good relationship.

I also went with Marina and David to Mykonos, a place they both had always dreamt to visit. Though it wasn't as dreamy as they thought. After a couple of days struggling to find somewhere that wasn't too crowded or full of tourists, we decided to just stay at our villa. During the day we would lay in the sun, take advantage of our private swimming pool or just sleep and relax, and at night we would sit outside drinking some wine, talking and laughing about anything and everything. We realized that we didn't need to go to a fancy place to have fun. Being together was all that mattered.

And now I am back home, getting everything ready for the new school year, feeling as excited about it as I did the first time I got to properly teach.

"Do you remember how we spent the day before looking through both your wardrobe and mine trying to find the perfect outfit for your first day as a teacher?" Silvia asks me while we are chilling on the sofa.

"I remember that the house was a mess afterwards."

"Yeah, that too" she laughs. "But you looked really cute."

"I did, didn't I? I got many compliments from the other teachers. One of them even tried to flirt with me."

"I mean, it was a really nice dress. Do you still have it?"

"I gave it away when we did that big spring cleaning a couple of years ago."

"Oh, shame... But have you kept any photo where you are wearing it?"

"Of course I have. You made me take a bunch before I left for work so I could remember that day" I laugh.

"I was a proud mum" Silvia smiles. "Can you search for them?"

"Just promise not to make fun of me if I look ridiculous" I say, unlocking my phone. "It was a different time."

"You didn't look ridi... Val. Val, hey, what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you crying? That bad are those photos?"

"No, it's just... I hadn't realized... today."

"Uh?" Silvia says with a confused look.

"Today is my anniversary with Pedri... or was. And the memories thing on my phone showed me a photo of us together and..."

"Aww, Val. I'm sorry."

"It's ok" I say, wiping away my tears. "It's a good memory."

"Can I see it? The photo with him, I mean."

"Sure" I reply, giving her my phone. "It's at his secret beach as he called it, the one where he took me when we started seeing each other. The 14 of each month we would try to go there to watch the sunset and eat something, and we would spend our time talking about the most random things until it got dark and too cold. It was just us, and it was... perfect."

"It does sound perfect" she smiles.

"Today it is so hot that we would have probably gone for a swim and then buy some ice cream."

"What if... what if we do that?"

"What?" I ask.

"Go for a swim and buy some ice cream. I know I am not him, but..."