Flores :: Carlos Sainz

Once

"And we are..." Jon was making sure the last screw was placed correctly in the timber. "...finished with the skeleton of this house."

"Wat goéééd!" Tim cheered, imitating the Dutch reality star Martien Meiland. Everyone looked at him and snorted. "Seriously, this is good," he said.

Eleanor smirked. "Zeg, moet je luisteren, moet jij wat drinken?" She asked everyone if they wanted a drink, still imitating Martien.

"Wijn?" Wine.

"Enig," she replied, saying it was fabulous.

It had been quite a weekend. After Stephan finally arrived at the house from the Netherlands, the group started working right away. This trip to Spain was not for fun, but to make kilometres. Yes, of course, the Dutchmen also came here for fun and to spend time with their friend, but the house was a priority now since they wanted to be finished before the deadline. They were a week behind, but last week it was a month. Some inspections were better than expected, so the delay could be shortened by three weeks.

"Not gonna lie, I feel like I really ended up in Chateau Meiland, well, Chateau Schoenmaker," Kees mentioned. "Just when I thought I could escape those Martien fans at home, they're here as well."

"La casa de Schoenmaker," Jon said.

"La Casa de las Flores, dickhead," Stephan shot back.

Eleanor was still in her twenties. Stephan and his friends were in their fifties or were entering their sixties. However, sometimes Eleanor questioned their ages. Physically middle-aged men, mentally teenagers.

The group walked down the stairs to the garden, taking a seat in their lounge area. It was ten o'clock in the evening. Eleanor served some drinks while Stephan lit some candles - mosquito candles.

"Alright, so plan the campaign for tomorrow," Kees said.

Eleanor grabbed her laptop and opened her to-do list. "We finished the skeleton today," she mumbled and moved the task to another column. Jon was a constructor at home, he sat next to Eleanor. They both were in charge of the schedule. He set it up in the Netherlands before the renovation started, and Eleanor worked with it during the renovation.

"Originally, we would do the kitchen tomorrow, but they moved it to next week," Jon directed. He grabbed his reading glasses and read the schedule and to-do list. "I would say: connecting the electricity in the missing areas, close and plaster the walls and make everything waterproof for placing the sanitary on Thursday. Are the glaziers still planned for tomorrow?"

"Yup."

"Perfect. Let's do all of that tomorrow," he continued and pointed at the laptop. "Tuesday is a chill day, and the second coat of waterproof stuff, Wednesday..." Jon talked everything through the schedule for the upcoming month - hopefully, their last month. "This is such a beautiful job. Last week we were a month behind, today only a week. Amazing."

Eleanor made some notes and checked the bank account. "I was planning to pick up some inspiration for the interior tomorrow," she said. "The last things."

"Perfect. I would love to join, but it's not my cup of tea..." Tim said.

"And on Tuesday, I will be in Madrid for the entire day, so I will be 'absent' till Wednesday," she announced.

"Oh, what will you be doing in Madrid then?" Jon asked curiously.

"Spanish class and spending some time with friends," Eleanor just smiled. It was true; she would first spend some time with Bibi and then with Carlos; they were both her friends.

"Will you go by train?" Kees asked.

Eleanor looked around. "It's so adorable that train drivers will always talk about trains, no matter where they are," she smiled.