Behind The Scenes

48. Hero

"Hi guys!" Chantal sees me and greets us.
Oh fuck.
"Hero, I haven't seen you in a long time. Where have you ended up?"
Jo is still, almost not breathing.
"Chantal, stop it. I already told you that I'm done with you," my voice is firm and authoritative.
"Oh, right. But I still don't understand why... "Her voice is irritating.
Jo turns away and bursts out laughing, then she whispers to me, "Does that mean she's even so stupid?"
"What the fuck are you laughing, slut!"
It ends badly today...
"Aww, Hero. You look like a puppy who has been mistreated at the kennel and needs the cuddles of her owner, or this... girl full of herself who—"
She pissed me off. "Don't you dare talk about her like that!" I approach that shit in person. She was only good for fucking.
"You're pathetic," she says softly, her face close to mine.
Jo takes me by the arm. "Let's go away..."

"Oh fuck," I wake up suddenly and rub my eyes.
"Hey! What's up?" Jo is already awake and has a towel tied around her chest, her hair combed and wet.
"Nothing, a dream." I run my hands through my hair. "A nightmare, what a dream," I laugh to myself.
Jo looks at me confused and sits on the bed. "Was I in this nightmare?"
"Yes, but you weren't the problem."
"And who then?"
I can't tell her, she'd be racking her brain all day.
"Dunno, I don't remember!" I laugh.
"How stupid," and she pats me on the chest. "Get dressed, take a shower, I don't know..."
Yeah, I definitely have to take a shower, I feel like shit.
After a shower, I leave the bathroom with the towel tied to my waist, my hair is wet and messy.
"Where are you going! You drop, wait!" she giggles and goes into the bathroom to get another towel and violently passes it over my head.
"That's enough! It's dry, stop it!"
"Done." She gets up on tiptoe and kisses me. She is cute when she does it.
I am so tall that if I did not bend my neck a little she would barely reach my chin.
"Where are you taking me this morning?"
Mhm...
"At Buckingham Palace, I'll show you the changing of the guards. Are you in?"
"Yes!" and she hugs me. "Fuck... you're still wet."
She laughs and I kiss her forehead.
We get dressed and go down to breakfast: the typical English Full Breakfast.
"Do you like?" I ask her.
"I like everything you eat here."
She's not completely wrong, but I remain of the opinion that in Italy the food is the best.
                                      ***
"Where are we going?" she asks me while we're in the car.
"We need to be out front of Buckingham at 11:15 am, so I'll take you for a ride on the Thames first."
She glances at me and smiles happily.
I've always loved Tower Bridge. When I got my driver's license I went there almost every day, I loved going over the river and admiring my beautiful city.
"Why did you turn down the radio?"
She doesn't even listen to me, she is mesmerized by the cars speeding across the bridge, the Big Bang, the London Eye...
"Jo, why did you..."
"I want to hear the sounds of this city," she interrupts me.
Every now and then she gets a "wow" from her mouth and she looks at me smiling, she is happy, and so am I.
We arrived on the bridge and I slow down.
"Hero, it's beautiful!" she exclaims and puts her hands to her mouth, hiding her smile.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it here."
"When are we going on the London Eye?" she is eager to see everything.
"The day after tomorrow, we have so much to see, the London Eye can wait," I explain.
"Not the day after tomorrow."
"Why?" I giggle.
"We can't, that is... I can't wait."
We can't?
"Well, I thought the day after tomorrow because so at midnight we were up there looking at the view."
"No no," she says dryly.
Why not?
"Oh well, okay..."
"Don't worry, I have something better for the day after tomorrow," she kisses my cheek.
"I trust."
We've crossed the bridge now and she told me she wants to go to Borough Market.
No sooner said than done.
Now it's eleven o'clock and so we head to Buckingham Palace.
We parked the car a bit far away, it is full of people around. Every now and then some girl stops us for a photo and asks us why we are here, we answer that it is for work reasons.
The changing of the guards has begun.
Jo watches with concentration, and since I've seen this a billion times, I don't stop looking at her.
She smiles enthusiastically, I can read in her eyes that she feels light and carefree, it's nice to know that she feels good here.
Who knows if she would like to live here...