Flores :: Carlos Sainz

Nueve

"Oh, god, you're soaked," Eleanor chuckled when Carlos entered the cafe hallway. "Where were you?" Her eyes were scanning him, and her lips parted.

Carlos ran his hand through his hair to shove his hair out of his face. He took a deep breath. "Across the street," he breathed.

"Oh, shit," she muttered. "I'm sorry. Hi, by the way," she smiled.

"I was going to give you a hug, but another time," he said and smiled. "Do you want to stay longer or go home?"

She bit her lip and looked around. "I want to go but also not. I mean, look at you! Those few metres and you are soaked."

"It's just water."

"Still." Their eyes locked. "You can't get sick."

"It's just water." Carlos raised his right eyebrow. "By the way, can't you pick up your bike tomorrow? I can bring you home right now."

She shook her head. "I don't know if I can trust this village. I don't trust anyone anymore after my bike was stolen thrice in a week in Amsterdam a couple of years ago."

"Fair enough," Carlos slowly said. It probably won't get stolen, but it was cute that she protected her stuff from getting stolen. "Where is your bike? Then I will get my car."

"Across the square..."

Carlos looked outside again. "Not close to my car..."

"You know what, we will get wet either way. I will get my bike..."

"...and you will come to my car. It's behind the bank. Give me your bag, I will keep it dry," he finished her sentence. "The black polo."

Eleanor nodded. "Okay, yes, let's do this. Thank you, by the way," she said and handed over the tote bag. "Oh, no, it's raining so heavily," she sighed, regretting it already. "Okay, bye."

He kept looking at her, who she doubted ongoing. She was stressing about it, but also laughing about it. "See you in a bit," Carlos said to her when he followed her outside.

"Godver de tering," Eleanor cursed when she ran through the rain. It was cold, those drops were massive, why am I doing this again? She sprinted over the square, she was the only one out there. It actually felt nice, but no. When she arrived at her bike, she unlocked it and ensured the second lock was wrapped around the saddle again. Eleanor hopped on the bike and crossed the square again.

People must think that I am crazy.

A smile curved on Eleanor's face; it was so stupid that it was worth a smile. She cycled to the bank and entered the street next to it. She was wholly soaked already. It made her think about the last heavy rain day in the Netherlands; she couldn't remember it. Her eyes fell on the black polo. She stopped next to the driver's side and knocked on the window.

Carlos looked up from his phone, and his face softened; it looked like she had jumped into a pool. He opened the door and got out, running to the trunk of his car. "How do we do this?"

"Put the backseats down and shove it in," she simply replied and got off her bike. She opened the passenger side door and made sure the stool was all the way to the front. She closed the door and opened the door to the backseats, putting the seat down, creating more space. For a moment, she was afraid that her bike wouldn't fit. Carlos lifted up the bike and shoved the bike into the car.

"It fits!" Carlos happily said and closed the trunk.

A surprised look came on Eleanor's face, and she looked at it. "Wow," she said, surprised.

They both stepped into the car, finally getting out of the rain. Those five minutes were pretty intense in the rain.

Eleanor looked in front of her and tried to catch some air, her chest was moving up and down quickly. She looked at Carlos, who ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face. Gosh, that is...HOT.