Flores :: Carlos Sainz

Uno

"Not gonna lie, and I thought I would never say this, but I miss the rain," Eleanor said to her dad.

He looked up from his newspaper and raised his eyebrows. "You miss the rain?" Stephan put down his pen to take a sip from his coffee; he was making a crossword puzzle. Perhaps he was one of the only and last persons to solve those puzzles in the back of a newspaper nowadays.

"Yup..." Eleanor put her phone in her bag. "The scent of rain, the sound of the rain." A smirk left her mouth. "Once you don't have it, you realise you miss it." She placed her sunglasses on her nose. "Anyway, I'm leaving."

"That's fine, love. Have fun! Will you let me know if you have dinner at home? So I know what to get," he explained.

"I will," she smiled. "You take it easy, yeh?" Eleanor was 26 years old, she used to live on her own and was an independent woman. Yet, her dad was still looking after her and taking care of her.

"Don't worry about me."

Eleanor walked around the house and made her way to the road for the bus stop. She was on her way to the nearest city. It was sunny, it was warm, and it was not like her home country. She had been in Spain for three months now. Eleanor was glad to leave the house for a day. She tried to get out of the house at least once a week for a whole day, but that rather failed than worked. Once a week became once every two weeks. Renovating a house was more challenging than you would think. Eleanor would say she underestimated it.

After twenty minutes, she arrived in the city. The first thing she did was visit the supermarket to buy a newspaper from her home country and a local newspaper. Eleanor was young; you wouldn't say that she belonged to the target audience for reading newspapers. She was a journalist, she had to keep up with the news. Eleanor and her dad tried to get the newspaper delivered to their house, but that didn't work. They had to buy it every morning now - which wasn't bad at all.

Tourists were strolling around on this beautiful day. Eleanor agreed with them. Because Eleanor began to know this village more, she knew the best hotspots by now. There was a new coffee shop hidden in one of the alleys, it was her go-to spot. It was one of the hidden gems and there were a few people who knew about it, they hoped it would stay this small and unknown. How did Eleanor find this? She was kinda friends with one of the baristas: Maria. Maria used to work at a cafe that fired her for no particular reason. So the 'savage'? Stealing customers.

Eleanor entered the cafe. The amazing thing that made this cafe unique? It was on a rooftop. It wasn't a chic cafe. The cafe reminded her of one of her favourite places back in her home country; warm, open, happy. Eleanor walked up the stairs.

"Hola, Eleanor," Maria said as soon as she saw the young lady.

Eleanor smiled. "Hola," she said. "¿Cómo va todo?"

"I'm fine, today is a busy day," the woman smiled. "What can I get you? I will bring it to you."

"I would love to have a cappuccino," Eleanor said. "With a bowl of yoghurt and a glass of water."

"The usual," Maria warmly smiled. "We only have free chairs inside, but I think a few people leave in a bit. It's up to you what you will do."

The eyes of Eleanor were gliding over the people on the terrace. "I will just look around," she smiled. "But thanks."

"Anytime, girl."

Eleanor walked outside, it was indeed filled with people. However, she had spotted a free chair. But every table was occupied. Could she just ask one of the people to sit at their table? That would be rude. She was here to enjoy the day and the sun... And if you don't ask it, you don't know it. Besides, everyone in Holland - Amsterdam - would share a table if everything was occupied.