Lovers of Freedom

Chapter 17 The end of the year

We returned to England for our Christmas holiday. We had been away for a year and a half and it felt right to go back to see Mark's parents and our friends. London had not changed since we left but it was damn cold in England that winter. I had read in the news it might snow in London.

The city was preparing for the storm Rebecca. It was said it was going to hit hard and it was going to cause hail, snow and a lot of rain. The streets of the city were empty and it looked like a dystopia.

Mark had been behaving weird for the past two months or so but I had decided to ignore it. He had been secretive, he was having late conversations with somebody on the phone but...it couldn't be anything, Mark I knew he wasn't a player. He wasn't Tom!

We arrived at my apartment and we said to meet each other for dinner. Mark had to go to his place to check up on it and I said okay. I stayed all day looking through my things and I found Tom's book underneath some clothes in my closet.

Immediately I put it down. It was like a forbidden object. I had not seen him in so long and it was obvious he had moved on to some other long legs. I put the book just were I found it and decided to call my mother to let her know I was back in England.

My mother told me she had a date so she couldn't talk to me and I was happy for her. It had been more than ten years since her divorce to my father but she had never gotten married again. I decided to call Andreina next.

"Are you back in town?" asked Andreina on the phone.

"Uhu..."I said distractedly. I had not heard from Mark in hours and he wasn't picking up either so I was feeling lonely and very bored.

"I am going to come over!" she almost yelled. I looked outside and it was raining.

"I will go to your place instead. It feels weird to be in this apartment alone." I told my friend and then walked towards my place's entrance.

I took a Uber to Andreina's place. She lived in a flat with a couple of flat-mates, she was saving up to buy a house outside of London, possibly in Yorkshire but she hadn't moved away because of Peter. She was waiting for him to decide wether he wanted to jump in the adventure or not. Peter had more than enough money to do what he pleased. He was a successful musician and she had millions saved up in his bank, sometimes I would forget that.

Andreina and I sat near each other in her living room while having some Venezuelan cookies she had bought online for some reason. We talked about our lives and our futures. I was so far happy with my career and I didn't imagine myself quitting any time soon. Andreina was thinking about changing jobs and maybe even cutting her hair shorter.

We talked about life and how we felt in our relationships, we seemed pretty happy and stable, we hadn't imagine that five years ago.

"It's crazy you have Mark, I always imagined you were going to stay single until your thirties...I even thought you'd never marry. Now I am not sure. I am not even sure if I know this version of you" my friend said. I looked at her and laughed.

"Well, I never imagined you and Peter to be honest. I didn't get it until you were both naked in front of me..." Andreina blushed.

"Shut up! I can't believe you remember that shit." She said as she punched my shoulder.

"Yeah well...never forget." I said.

"Oh that was a crazy trip...we should maybe...do something like that again. It wasn't really that long ago really..."

"I don't think Mark would like the idea of public nakedness and a possible orgy..." I told her. Andreina smiled.

"Tom would've accepted." she said. I rolled my eyes.