The Young and the Beautiful

Chapter 24

We got a hotel in Provence with a view of the sea and not so far away from the beach. For lunch we visited a bistro and had a baguette and a bowl of melted Camembert cheese fondue. We followed the map that I got in the hotel and went to the nearby places. I can't help but think how the French people live this way. They seem so laid back and have a simple life, far from the noise of the city, and far away from places where people are always in a hurry.

That afternoon, we lounged by the beach. Camila was wearing a black one-piece swimsuit and wide brimmed rattan hat while I wore my red swim trunks and a white Cuban shirt with the top two  buttons  unbuttoned and a pair of my favorite aviator sunglasses. We were enjoying soaking in the sun when a familiar voice called me.

It was Ivana. The vineyard girl I dated in Madrid almost fifteen years ago. I stood up and greeted her. She was with a man who looked like her husband. She then gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"It's nice seeing you here, Francisco." She said.

"Who is your lovely lady friend here? Is she Miss France? You still don't change haven't you? Because I still remember the things we did in Madrid, and that summer by the beach fifteen years ago. It makes me feel young again!" She added. I looked at her strangely and looked at Camila. I never imagined that I will be stuck in this situation.

"Oh don't worry about Otto. He doesn't understand much English." She said. Then her brown hair kept on winding up on her face. Referring to her German husband who just smiled at us not knowing what were we talking about.

"This is my wife, Camila." I introduced my wife to Ivana.

"Nice meeting you Ivana. Pancho told me a lot of things about you." She said. Carrying herself confidently. Maybe that's a skill she acquired in our endless dinner parties and her afternoon teas with the wives of the ambassadors in Madrid.

"Oh that's good! Did he tell you that when we were younger, we used to... I hope you~" She said. Then laughed. She looks drunk. Otto held her arms as she almost fell into the sand because of drunkenness and spilled the drink that she was holding on the sand.

"Okay. That's very nice of you Ivana to drop by and I think we should take a swim now." I interrupted. What was she saying!? We were both young when it happened. It was all because of the raging and angry hormones we've got.

"Oh I think I am tipsy. Maybe that's what happens when you start drinking at noon! Well goodbye my dears." She said and laughed. The two of us laughed along with her. She gave both of us a kiss goodbye.

The second Ivana was far away from us, Camila slapped my face then walked away. I chased her and grabbed her hand to explain myself.

"Camila wait! It was all in the past, that happened almost fifteen years ago! What's important is that I have you now." I said.

"You dated that girl in Madrid? Why didn't you tell me about her, she just ruined this trip. Years from now all I will remember is how many girls did you take by the beach and left them after you get what you wanted. You are Mr. Friendly and you know that girls can easily fall in to your charms, your words, your smile, and your dreamy brown eyes! Then you just leave them after getting what you want!" She said, trying to get away from my hands.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you about her. She's in the past now, and I was young, I was stupid." I said but she kept on walking away from me.

"I wasn't in love with them the same way I am head over heels for you. Camila, ever since you nursed me back to health that day I said that I will never look at other girls the same way as I look at you again. I can't explain it but it's what I feel about you. You see, five years have passed and I am still madly in love with you, and I am still under your spell." I said. She finally calmed down. She looked down to the sand and just stood there. I hugged her and kissed her head.

I woke up the next morning with her on my side. I grabbed a cup of tea and opened the door towards the balcony. I heard her move and yawn. My body can feel the sun as it took it all in.

"Good Morning Pancho." She said.

"Good Morning love." I replied. I turned around and saw her took a deep breath when she saw my untied robe.

"You always make me want to do things to you, Pancho." She said. I love it when she talks that way to me. She lifted the covers, sprayed her perfume on her neck and flashed me. I want to do things to her too as I feel a rush in my body.

"Well who am I to say no." I replied. I drank my tea and jumped to the bed to her.

I made a plan on our itinerary that day, so that we can maximize all the places that we visited. Camila wasn't fond of planning and told me that we should just let fate dictate us what will happen. So I did follow her this time and disregarded the plans that I already made. I let her lead and knew that she wasn't that organized in travel plans. Before leaving the hotel I spread out the painting that she always wanted so that she'll be surprised when we got back from our tour.

"So we're heading back to the small village first before we go to the lavender field. I think that's fine." She said. It was not fine. The small village bistros open late at around 1-2pm for lunch. We could've visited the lavender fields first before going here for lunch.

"Oh, the restaurants are still closed. Too bad." She said. I was being pissed and controlled my temper. I told her that this might happen.

"I told you that they will open late. We should've gone to the fields first and drop by the medieval village that was nearby. Instead of just sitting here and waiting for the restaurants to open." I said.

"Well. Maybe we can do something here like visit some unexpected place." She replied.

That's what we did. For the past hour, we just walked all around the village. I tried my best to remember everything that we passed by so that we won't be lost. The French people are looking at us oddly and was wondering what are these Spaniards are doing here in our village?

I knew that we're lost, nobody can understand us as we tried to find our way back to our hotel and  slammed all of our things in our bags and left the hotel immediately. But we didn't make it in time to catch the train to Monte Carlo. I rolled the painting again and made sure that she won't see it. I'll just give it to her in Rome or Paris.

"Look what happened Camila. If we followed my plan then we wouldn't get lost, we would make it to the train." I said and put my palm on my forehead in disappointment. 

"Pancho, just think about it as a good experience. I mean, we saw a lot of beautiful sights while we make our way here." She replied.

"Besides the next train to Monte Carlo will leave tomorrow early morning. We can rest here for a while." She added then headed to the bench. While I was busy with our four huge trunk cases. I called our hotel in Monte Carlo and notified them about the delay. I guess our stay there will be shortened to cope with the rest of our trip.

Overour years of marriage, I knew that Camila was always spontaneous and is thetype of person who wants things to happen unpredictably. I knew that she's notfond of routines and planning. But this is travel, everything has to be intact.I was still pissed at her because of what happened. But I cannot stay mad ather even for an hour. I was tired and all of our things are a mess inside thetrunks. She later bought