Chapter 3
THREE
The next morning, Sam woke with the thirst of a marathon runner in the desert. The bare window meant the sun beaming in even at seven o’clock. He kicked the blankets off. How could it be this hot already?
Suddenly memory struck him like a hot knife.
I climbed into the wrong bed last night.
That was it. Reality invaded his head like a typhoon. Sam rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. Then he saw the waste bin. To add insult to injury, he’d been sick.
What a start to my European adventure.
After draining the last drops swirling around in the bottle of water by his bed, he cast his mind back to the shame of the night before. His neighbour had been handsome, if his hazy memory served him right. Not that it would matter.
He didn’t seem the type to enjoy an uninvited British bedfellow with alcohol breath who was a ticking vomit time bomb.
They were meeting downstairs at eight to go to the aquarium. Sam had pictured their tribe walking together as a happy, studious family. That might take a bit of work now.
He had to stop lying around wallowing in self-pity.
Today he would be beginning his first-ever professional job.
He had to seize the moment, which meant a shower as the best first step to recovery.
Ever so slowly, he rifled around in his suitcase and found a towel and soap bag.
Each time he stopped, visuals from the night before came rushing in.
Why did I jump straight into the bed. For fuck’s sake.
Sam was no stranger to getting himself into ridiculous scrapes. As soon as he crossed paths with his neighbour, he’d apologise. Making an enemy this early on was not part of his game plan.
Humming away, he pushed open the bathroom door, only to be greeted by his neighbour standing in front of the mirror…and wrapped in the smallest towel Sam had ever seen.
“What the fuck?” he shouted.
“Oh God.”
“You again?”
Frozen to the spot, Sam opened and closed his mouth like a trout.
“Get out,” the stranger roared.
Sam didn’t need telling twice and fled the room. He scuttled down the stairs to the other bathroom. Of course, the shouting and banging had coaxed a rough-looking Astrid and an even rougher Maria out of their rooms.
“What’s the noise about?”
After Sam had relayed the antics from the night before, Astrid and Maria were in fits.
“It’s not funny,” Sam grumbled.
“Then you walked in on him again?” Astrid wailed. “Oh, this is hilarious.”
Maria appeared to be trying to fight more giggles.
“It will be fine,” she said, resting her hand on his arm. “It’s an easy mistake to make.”
“For a Peeping Tom,” Astrid added, cackling all the more.
“Shall we go through the park?” Genevieve shouted over her shoulder. She was the leader on this first journey to work and pointed to a stone stairway which dropped down onto what was once the riverbed.
“Yes!” Sam called back.
Ever since the cab driver had told him of the history of the park, he’d been keen to check it out.
Once they got to the bottom, a whole new world opened up. The shade enveloped Sam, calming his alcohol sweats in a second.
Judging by the high-rises which dominated the skyline surrounding the park, outside space must be at a premium in this city. To have a huge municipal garden like this had to be a lifesaver. The paths led through an endless array of tropical plants. People were everywhere.
Children played in sculptural play areas where nannies had sly cigarettes and gossiped.
Joggers flew past them on both sides, making navigating the walkways treacherous.
Elderly couples wandered around, taking in all the beautiful flowers.
It reminded Sam of New York’s Central Park but on a much smaller scale.
The buildings which included the aquarium were at the other end of this huge park, so they couldn’t linger. Their last member kept very quiet. The poor guy kept staring at Sam strangely. He introduced himself as Wolfgang. Sam hadn’t tried to speak to him again other than to mumble his name.
Better to give him time to get over himself. I probably scarred him for life.
Now Wolfgang had taken over leading the way. Sam, Paul and Genevieve followed with Astrid and Maria dawdling behind.
“Are you excited?” Genevieve asked, never once taking her eyes off Paul.
“I would be if my head didn’t ache so much,” Sam replied.
A little boy shot past on a scooter, screaming at the top of his lungs. Sam gave him his filthiest glare. The kid’s bottom lip trembled and he fled to whichever adult had decided to let him run rampage in their path.
“I heard you had a bad start with Wolfgang,” Genevieve said.
He heard his name and spun around.
“I said you and Sam had a bit of a misunderstanding,” she continued.
He raised an eyebrow, his face totally unreadable. “We had two misunderstandings.”
Genevieve made a sympathetic face while Astrid and Maria giggled like silly schoolgirls.
After they’d walked for about twenty minutes, there it lay—the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. Everyone stood and stared for a second. Fashioned like a huge eye, its white architecture reflected the morning sun perfectly.
“It’s incredible,” Paul exclaimed.
One bizarre building led on to another—a museum like a whale skeleton, then a garden walk with what appeared to be a metal ribcage over it. Sam wandered open-mouthed. There was a road bridge which had an underpass beneath.
“The aquarium must be through here,” Paul said, pointing.
“Wait,” Maria shouted. “We need to see this from the top. It’s our first time.”
They clambered up to the busy road and negotiated their way across.
Reaching the barrier on the other side, everyone stopped still.
The massive aquarium site had a stunning centrepiece building which resembled a whale coming out of the water for air.
Exhibits surrounded it and early customers were already wandering between them.
Ever since that first time his grandparents had taken him to a Sea Life Centre, Sam had been working toward this moment.
Once they were through the gates they congregated by a big lake full of birds and an almost deafening chorus of frogs. There a man waited for them.
“Welcome to Valencia! Welcome to the aquarium. I am Ruben Blasco and I’ll be your manager for your time here.”
He bubbled over with infectious enthusiasm, which made Sam instantly like him. The fact that he was pretty handsome in a rugged way didn’t hurt either. Astrid winked across at Maria.
“You know one of the attendees on the programme last summer went on to work in the Great Barrier Reef.”
Sam vowed to himself that he would make the most of this internship. Who knew where it might lead.
Then the morning took on a life of its own.
Ruben took them on a tour of the length and breadth of the operation.
The aquarium had everything. The tunnel walk where sharks glided above took Sam straight back to being a kid.
His mouth seemed to be permanently wide with wonder.
The porpoises came to the glass to examine them.
Perhaps they believed the humans were there for their entertainment rather than the other way around.
Even Wolfgang had thawed a smidge and seemed to be getting on well with Paul and Genevieve. Sam got the impression that Wolfgang viewed the others as too juvenile. His side-eye every time one of them said anything remotely amusing gave him away.
Maria and Sam walked toward the classroom building.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I think I liked the seahorses best. No wait, perhaps the turtles. Oh, I don’t know. I can’t believe we get to spend the whole summer here.”
She playfully punched him on the arm. “I meant Wolfgang, as well you know. He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
Sam had spent the last few hours trying to get those kinds of thoughts out of his mind. Smarting from two idiotic faux pas, he glanced to the front of the line where Wolfgang and Paul were deep in conversation.
“Yes, I suppose he is.”
“Like you hadn’t noticed. You’ve seen more of him than the rest of us. What’s it like under there?”
A wry grin spread across Sam’s face. Who could forget that six-pack and those muscular legs? Sadly, he hadn’t had time to clock what lay under that tiny towel.
“Pretty bloody fabulous.”
They burst into giggles. Astrid and Genevieve spun round.
“What are you two finding so funny?” Astrid asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Oh nothing,” Maria replied. “Just comparing notes.”