The Vacation

Chapter Four

Alessio had a Vauxhall Corsa. Of course he did. The stereotypical car that I think of when I think European cars is a Corsa. And, get this, it was also dark gray! His eyes matched his car paint perfectly! He was getting more annoying by the second, with his effortless yet amazing surfer hair and his easy, amicable conversation with my father. Even the chivalry I was done with, and it had only been two minutes in his stupid brand new, all-leather-interior Corsa. He talked like a gentleman and looked like a gentleman, with his fancy Cartier wristwatch and all, but dressed like a hobo. This boy was confusing me big time!

He acted sincere, but again, I had my doubts. I had met my fair share of douches in America and they all started out as gentlemen, too.

My dad obviously liked him, of course he did. Alessio was talking about all of his favorite things to do, which just so happened to be all of my dad's favorite things, too. Odd that I was acting like the protective daddy to a girl that had just brought home a new boy, and my dad was acting like a teenage girl totally infatuated with said new boy.

Alessio pulled over at the curb of a very fancy looking apartment building after about a twenty minute drive from the airport. Of course I thought he was trying to kill me every turn because of the whole stupid idea that Europeans drive backwards and on the wrong side of the road. But I guess I have to admit he's a decent driver. For a European.

“Mr. Adams, Miss Adams, your building. If Mr. Carrara hasn't contacted you yet, Mr. Adams, he is wanting to meet with you about something later tonight. I'll let you both get settled and I'll be back in an hour to make sure you're comfortable and to offer you some advice about good restaurants here. See you later, miele!” He said that last part to both of us, but he looked at me. Oh, joy. This is going to be one hell of a trip. Especially with Tarzan, here.

***

We walked into the building with bags in hand and Dad went up to the front desk to figure out details and pay the six months of rent in advance, while I explored the main floor and found:

A coffee machine

Public bathrooms (or "loo"s, as they were called in England, as I found out)

A workout room fit with treadmills, weights, and stationary bikes

An indoor pool and a hot tub

A laundry

A bakery

A second coffee machine, from which I decided to try my first cup of authentic English coffee

Turns out, guys, that it's not coffee after all. I filled a styrofoam cup to the brim with this coffee, thinking it looked a little light colored but it wasn't too worrisome. I took a big swig and immediately started gagging. “What the hell is this?!” I screamed at the cup, spilling my “coffee” down my front in the process. It was tea. Fucking tea. Was this a joke? I tried the first machine as well, and sure enough, also tea. Gross! How was I even going to survive this year and a half without coffee?!

Just then Dad came up to me, looked at me, and started laughing. Actually laughing! “I see you found the tea, Jay. Was it to your liking? Trust me, I knew you didn't like tea, so I had a Mr. Coffee and some Starbucks ground coffee beans from back home delivered to our flat. Ms. Julia at the front desk said that any deliveries from America came on Thursday's, so you only have to survive three days without your precious black gold, okay?” He was still laughing, and he pronounced Julia like Hulia, but I wasn't even mad at him. He got me coffee!

“Oh my gosh! Dad! I will love you forever!” I hugged him, then stepped back to hound him with more questions. “So what floor are we on? How big is our flat? Does Alessio really have to come back today?”

“Jay, calm down, please. We are on floor three, flat B. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a couch area. And yes, Alessio does have to come back tonight. I need to talk to him about Mr. Cararra, and where I can get a long term rental car for transitting to and from work. And you want to eat, don't you? He's going to tell us about a nice restaurant we can go to tonight.”

***

The flat was amazing. There were granite counters and shelves in not only the kitchen, but lining all the walls. The small couch was leather, and there was a flat screen television. I flipped through the channels and it only got news and sports stations. Bummer. But my bedroom was super posh, including the king sized bed and the gray comforter already on it. I wonder if gray was common supply or they knew I was coming. Either way, I enjoyed it. Gray was my favorite. The closet was a little on the small side, but I only had three bags worth of clothes to put in it. Don't worry, I plan on buying plenty more.

I unpacked and took a quick nap, but got woken up to voices a short time later. At least, I thought it was a short time later; there wasn't a clock in my room. I heard Alessio’s voice and my dad's. I guess it was time to move on out and join the party then. Yay me!

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Wow this was a long chapter! Sorry if it was boring, but not every chapter can be drama filled. :) Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote/comment/share!

Love ya,
~hannah~