I squeal and jump up. I open the door and run outside. “SARA!” I shout and lift the little girl that’s running towards me. “I missed you so much! What are you doing here?” I ask.
Sara pants. “I wanted to see if you are okay, and I missed you. I am in town for over a week now, trying to find out where you stayed. And here I am.” I hug her again. “Silly freak, I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, now let me in.” She grins. I grab her hand and take her back to the house with me.
“Ben! Look who’s here!” I drag Sara towards Ben and he lifts her up. “Sara, how are you doing? What are you doing here?” He asks the same questions and she explains it patiently.
I introduce Sara to Erica and they get along right from the start. “Oh, Lea asked me to say hi and she hopes you are not mad at her.” Sara says. “Why would I be mad at Lea?” I ask confused. “For Rick. That she never noticed he’s a maniac.” Sara explains.
I shake my head frantically. “Why would she think that? She can’t help it.” I say. I need to call Lea later.
“Do you want to join us for dinner?” Erica asks Sara. “If it’s no problem, I would love to stay.” Sara says.
“Did they get Rick yet?” Sara asks me and I shake my head. “Not yet.”
“And what are your next plans? Where are you traveling to?” She asks. Ben replies for me. “We will stay here for a while and when I have recovered enough, we're going onto Portugal.” Ben says.
Sara nods in agreement. “Sounds like a good idea to me. You should take it easy.”
I smile and I am just happy, with my best friend, my boyfriend and my new found friend all together.
The happiness is slowly coming back into my life. And that’s what I fear most. Rick seems to strike every time when I’m happy.
Dinner is ready. Sara and Erica keep chatting about everything. Sara tells Erica how hard it is to run a coffee shop.
They’ve got a lot of things in common. They both run a very well known business. They keep chatting and drinking and Ben and I sneak off to the bedroom.
We change our clothes into more comfortable outfits. I slip into my big shirt. And Ben is only wearing his boxers. We snuggle on the bed and I rest my head on Ben’s chest. The scar on his chest is clearly visible and I hope it will disappear some day. I gently stroke it. It's nearly healed. But it’s still thick. I gently place a kiss on the scar.
“I am sorry for everything I put you through.” I mumble. Ben strokes my back. “Please don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault that Rick is such a mental fucker.” Ben groans. I kiss his chest again and again. I try to make up for all the pain. But nothing seems to be enough.
Ben softly pulls me away from his chest. “Lynn, look at me. It is not your fault and I don’t hate you for anything that happened. You understand me?” He asks while he looks at me intently. I look down and nod slowly. “I do.” I whisper.
He pulls me close in tight hug.
It’s so great to wake up in each others arms again. It’s been nearly two weeks since the stabbing and we still haven’t heard a thing from or about Rick.
My days are filled with helping Erica, working at the restaurant, chatting with Sara and Ben and just having a great time.
I show Sara around in town when I am off duty. And stroll with Ben through the olive grove
Together with Ben I visit the place where Ventura is buried and I let all my tears out. “Thank you for saving my life sweet Ventura.” I say to the dark soil. It feels like saying goodbye to a dear friend. This is what I had to do before moving on with my life.
Fall is approaching fast, but it’s still warm. The olive trees look better than they ever did before and Erica tells me the olives are nearly ready for harvesting. “Can I help with that?” I ask her. “Sure you can. It would be great if you could. But it will take up to four weeks to be completely ready. And I am sure you will be in Portugal by then.” She grins. I think the same. Ben has recovered enough to go back on the road. And have earned enough money to make it all the way to Paris.
Will we ever come back here?
We slowly make plans to leave. Sara and Erica join us in planning the route.
To me it’s clear. I want to go to Lisbon and from there to Porto.
It’s possible to cross Portugal in one day. But I disagree on Sara’s idea. I want to see something of the country.
Ben and I are ready to leave Seville. I give Sara and Erica a hug. “Will we meet again?” I asks Erica. “Sure we will, some day. You are always welcome to come back.” She hugs me one last time.
“Sara, take care. I love you so much, and I loved that you came over. I’ll see you soon.” I give Sara a big hug and Ben and I walk to the car.
I jump in the drivers' seat and laugh at Ben. “I won.” I grin. Ben and I had a big discussion about who would drive the first part. And clearly I won.
I start the car and wave at Sara and Erica till we can’t see them anymore. I miss them already.
“Ben?” I ask. “How are you doing?”
“I am fine miss. And you?” He asks with a smile. “Absolutely awesome.” I grin.
We drive through gorgeous landscapes. Wine fields and olive tree groves. But also the cutest towns with sweet little houses.
“Ben, I think I am in love with Spain.” I smile. “And I think I am in love with you.” He replies.
His sweet words cause me to blush again. “I love you more than Spain.” I grin.
It takes us just a little over an hour to get to the Portuguese border. There is a big check up going on and we wait in line to get our car searched.
There are drugs dogs and many police men checking all the cars. Especially foreign cars.
“España?” The policeman asks me. “American.” Ben replies. “Both?” The mans asks and I shake my head. “Holanda.” I mumble.
“Step out of the vehicle please.” The policeman tells us. We both get out and three policemen with dogs search the car. They don’t find anything and we can continue our way. When we are away from the border, Ben and I start laughing nervously. “It’s because you are from Holland, they think every person from Holland carries drugs.” Ben laughs and I slap his arm. “Not funny, I really thought he’d ask me to pull down my pants so he could search me.” I mutter.
“I would love to see that.” Ben laughs. I slap his arm again. “Next time I let you drive when we cross the border.” I pout.
Ben leans in for a kiss and we continue our way to Lisbon.
I turn up the volume of the radio. “I love this song so much.” I squeal and start singing along loudly. “Oooooh It’s my life.”
“Lynn?” Ben asks. “Who sings this song?”
“Bon Jovi.” I reply.
“Can you please let HIM sing it then?” He asks. I am confused for a moment and then it hits me and I start giggling. “You are so mean.” I pout, but my eyes twinkle. “But that was actually funny for once.” I tease.
Now it’s Ben’s turn to pout. “I thought you loved me.” He says with a sad voice. “Sometimes I do, yes, but for now I love Bon Jovi more.”
I turn the button on the radio up the music is so loud that I can’t hear what Ben says. I am still singing along out loud.
I look at Ben and he is smiling at me. I smile back and sing even louder.
Ben turns down the volume when the song is finished. “Okay, okay, I admit, you are the worst singer I’ve ever came across.” He laughs.
I pat his knee. “No worries, you haven’t heard the worst of me yet.”
We sing along with nearly every song, including the ones we don’t know the lyrics to. We even ramble along with Portuguese songs.
All my sorrows disappear to the background. It’s time to be happy again.
Happy, with my Giant.
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