• "Thank you very much!"
• "You’re very welcome!"

• "Well, well, having some drinks in the shade, eh? All alone and nice!"

Well I couldn’t understand the tone he had used. Seemed a little bit sarcastic to me. I looked at him with what should have been a puzzled look. The guy went on:

• "Do you always bump into strangers in that way, luv?"
• "Oh, I’m sorry, I’m terribly sorry, we were late for lunch so we were in a hurry. I’m sorry!", the guy was smiling at me.
• "What’s your name, luv?"
• "Vicky, and she is Edu. Yours?"
• "I’m John and this is Brian"

We shook hands. I then started wondering what they could be doing together. Brian was older, that for sure, but not much older. As for the looks, they weren’t alike at all, so I couldn’t find any relation.

• "Any relation?"

• "No way, luv, he’s a friend, and he runs my musical affairs too!"

I looked at Edu. That was a very nice opportunity to clear up the fact that had been roaming my mind since this morning.

• "Musical affairs? Are you a musician?"
• "Well, put is this way, luv, I’ve a group"
• "Oh!", that was all I had wanted to hear. Edu spoke then:
• "Really? Tell us about it!"
• "Well, there’s not much to say if you haven’t heard us. We’ve got a record out and a couple of singles. We call ourselves the Beatles".
• "Interesting", I said.
• "Yeah, well, sort of. Brian is our manager. Brian, say something, come on!"

I then looked at Brian. His hair was perfectly combed but in some way he looked strange. We thought he was going to say something, but then he got up and muttered:

• "Excuse me, I’ll be right back!"

And then walked away. John rolled his eyes. Well, he was a perfect gentleman, but not very nice with girls.

• "He doesn’t seem to like us, does he?", said Edu.
• "Eppy?... I mean, Brian? Oh, no, luv, Brian is not the short of guy you would find, let’s say, normal!"
• "What do you mean?"
• "He’s a queer!"

My eyes went wide-opened. I couldn’t believe it. Then John was... Oh, no! Why on earth all good guys had to be like that? All my chances ruined!

• "Oh, but then, you... I mean!"
• "Hey, slow down, luv! I’m not"

I think my sigh of relief should have been heard even in jolly Old England. Edu sighed too.

John went on.

• "I was just too tired of touring and writing and everything and decided to take a few days off. Brian invited me along, and here I am!"
• "Good!", I said, trying to sound happy. Edu then continued the topic of song writing.
• "So you write, eh?", she said.
• "Yeah, Paul and I wrote the best part of the songs. I think our songs have nothing to envy the ones in the charts".
• "Paul?"
• "Yeah, the bass player, but he also sings, like me, and writes and we do everything but arrange our shows, that’s what Brian is for!"

That was really nice. We were great music lovers, and who should we bump into but a musician. That was something too good to be true. Then Brian came back.

• "Excuse my absence, I had to make a couple of phone calls".

He then sat down and acted as he was paying special attention to our conversation. But I was more aware of his manners than of anything else. I wanted to see if he really looked at the guys in a very different way, and yeah, oh yeah, he did! John yelled:

• "Hey, Brian, do you like that guy? Very nice, ain’t he?"

Edu and I blushed. How embarrassing. Poor Brian! I wouldn’t have liked to be in his shoes. This guy was terrible! Brian didn’t say anything, which was good for us. I think Edu and I were much more embarrassed than Brian himself.

• "Oh, that one is better, ain’t he? Hee! Hee!!, Hey, Eppy!!! Bad guy!!"

Well, we couldn’t help it, we giggled. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to look at Brian, but I knew he was not happy. Edu was giggling too, but she had the brain of changing the topic before it got quite out of hand.

• "So, John..."
• "Yeah, luv?"
• "You said you song write... Have you written anything recently?"
• "I’m always writing, luv, either songs or short stories. Would you like to hear some of my staff?"

I looked at Edu. What was that supposed to mean? Was he inviting us to a concert or what exactly? She looked back at me and I nodded.

• "Sure, we’d love to".
• "Fab! I brought my guitar along, so, let’s go to the hotel!"

He got up and I jumped to his side. I liked that guy very very much but I hated to show it. He was soooo gorgeous! I scanned him. He was taller than me, but not much. Maybe the cap made him taller to my eyes. His hair was light brown and his eyes were light brown too, quite like my own. He had a very special way of walking. I don’t think I’m wrong if I say he had flat feet. Edu went to his other side, leaving Brian a little bit behind. He called John:

• "John, I see you don’t need me any more", he said, "so would you mind if I go sightseeing a little?"
• "Go ‘ead!", he then turned to me and gave me a wonderful smile. OH, his teeth! He had them chipped, but they were lovely. Oh, come on, wake up, Vicky! Yes, you like him a lot, but does he like you? Probably not, so forget about him! NOW! When I came round to reality, John and Edu were talking about the topics of songs.
• "Yeah, they usually are about love, aren’t they? But ain’t love a wonderful thing?", was John saying.
• "Yes, it is", said Edu, "but Dylan sings about controversial affairs, you see."

• "What do you think, luv?"

Well, that took me by surprise, I wasn’t prepared for that sort of question, not at that moment.

• "Oh, I think ‘Words of love’ is wonderful. I love Buddy Holly"
• "Yeah, he was a nice guy, wasn’t he? Anyway, I love rock ‘n' roll more than anything in the world. I stay with Chuck Berry", said John.
• "I love Chuck Berry too", we both said at the same time. Edu and I looked at each other and laughed.
• "Well, home sweet home", said John when we got to the hotel. "Let’s go to my room, I’ll play something you will like".

We followed him. When we entered his room, we saw a guitar spread on the only bed there was. Was he sharing his bed with Brian? My goodness! I’d better not ask him, I might get a rude answer from him.

• "Alright, take a seat, make yourself comfortable!", he said while picking his guitar from the bed. He then sat Indian style on the bed and starting singing softly while strumming his guitar:

I could have died right there and then and I would have been the happiest girl in the world. One guy was singing the loveliest song on earth to us. TO US!! When he had finished, Edu clapped. I was still in a shock state.

• "Great, great! That was wonderful!", she said. John looked at her and dedicated her one of his wonderful smiles. Then he turned to me and said:
• "What about you, luv. I sang this specially for you!"

Jesus Christ! For me? John had sung for me?? I couldn’t believe it! The only thing I could give him was a weak smile. I wasn’t used to those sort of things. He then got up from the bed, put the guitar aside and sat near me in one of the chairs of the room. He approached his face towards mine and his lips were almost touching my left ear. He was about to say something when Edu almost yelled:

• "Oh, I forgot!! I must phone home! I’ll be right back! Will you wait for me here?"

I wanted to tell her that I didn’t think it was correct to be in the same room with a guy I hardly knew, although I really liked this guy a lot. Before we could even say "oh", she had already left the room and closed the door behind her. John was still by my side, but the magic of the moment had broken. He got up and walked away from me.

• "Thanks for the song, John. You have a lovely voice!"
• "Oh, no, no, luv! Paul sings miles better than me. I don’t like my voice at all. Too rough, don’t you think?"
• "No, your voice is just...", I couldn’t come up with something amazing to say. "Well, I like it"
• "Thank you, luv!"

He approached to me again but this time he didn’t sit down. He stood there, in front of me. He looked for something in one of his jacket pockets and took out a packet of Marlboros. Then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He then offered me one:

• "No, no, thanks, I don’t smoke!"

He shuggered. He then sat next to me again and started looking at me in an embarrassing way. I couldn’t face it, but I thought I had to. That was too much, so I turned to him.

• "So, John, enjoying Spain?"
• "Definitely, and much more now", then he directed me another one of his wonderful smiles.
• "Why?"
• "Oh, it’s nothing, luv, I needed these days. I’ve been working too much lately. Cy... I mean, my auntie didn’t want me to come here, but I just had to".
• "Your auntie? You live with her?"
• "Oh, yeah, luv, It’s a long story!"
• "I’ve got time!", I said.

He then looked away from me. He stared into space for a few seconds, and then got up and starting walking. He didn’t say anything.

• "John?.... I’m still here! Tell me, why do you live with your auntie? Where are your parents?"

Still silence. Then he looked at me and I saw his features change. His face took a very sharp look, almost a frightening one. His hooked nose got even more hooked and his nostrils started trembling. Then he said:

• "My mum’s dead and my father left me when I was about five".

I looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

• "I’m sorry, I... didn’t know it..."
• "My mum was taken away from me thanks to a fucking bastard who was driving drunk! Bloody fucking hell, and he was a policeman", he gave a little laugh. I looked at him again and saw his eyes were wet. Oh, I really wanted to change the topic, but he went on. "But my auntie Mimi is great, god bless her. So I was given something precious in return", he gave another drag of his cigarette and walked towards me. He saw my worried look and then slipped an arm around my shoulders. "Hey, luv, cheer up! It’s nothing you can do! Tell me about your family, then!"
• "Well...", I started. I tried to look casual, for my family was quite normal. I didn’t want to stress the fact that I had loving parents and that we were a very happy family. I knew he had lost all that. "My family is quite normal, I’ve got a younger brother who’s studying at high school now. My dad is an army officer and my mum an ordinary housewife who’s a cleaning maniac! You know what she did once? We were on this beach with the showers all around the place, and someone had left a grease stain. She actually got up from the towel she was lying on, and walked towards the shower to clean it up!"

John laughed and I was happy seeing him happy. After that black moment where he was telling me about his broken family, I thought he would never speak to me again. When he stopped laughing, he looked at me deep in the eyes. I could feel weak inside, my legs trembling and my knees as gelatine. I could have kissed him right then, yes, I could really have. Will he kiss me? Oh, please, do, John! John... You are so special and so different from all the guys I’ve met before. Kiss me John, kiss me please! Right then we heard a knock on the door. Oh, no! Shit! John got up and went towards the door.

• "Who’s there?"
• "It’s Brian and Edu. We were wondering if you would like to have dinner downstairs in the restaurant of the hotel"

• "Come in, you two. Of course we want to", he looked at me, "am I right?"
• "Oh, yeah!"
• "So, let’s go!"

Immediately after stepping out the door, I went to Edu. She looked at me and I looked at her. I smiled. She immediately knew what was going on. I had an idea:

• "Oh, John... I need to go to my room to fetch something I’d like to show you. Go to the restaurant and wait for us there, will you?"
• "Don’t be late, you little birds, or Eppy and I will have finished the whole kitchen by the time you reach the place!"

• "Has anything interesting happened while I’ve been out?"
• "Nothing interesting, if you mean by interesting what I mean by interesting. We’ve been talking ‘bout or families and..."
• "And?"
• "Oh, Edu, I like John!. Yes, I like him very much. Yes, I know you may say I’m crazy, I’ve only known him for some hours now, but he’s different, intelligent and specially... so gorgeous!!", Edu and I started jumping up and down like lunatics.
• "Yeah, I must admit he’s quite nice. I wonder if he’d have any friend..."
• "He must have lots"
• "Ok. Do you really want to fetch something from the room, or was it just sort of cover-up to talk to me?"
• "Well, a combination. I’d like to show him the single and the magazine"

So we went to fetch the things and went downstairs to find Brian and John sitting at a table with the menu cards in their hands. We went to them , sat down and started to look at the menus with them. It was a round table, so Edu and I were both next to John. I was to his right and to my right was Brian. I tried to act normal, but I couldn’t help feeling funny when I smelled John’s mixture of cigarettes and his own scent.

They ordered for us and the dinner was quite good, actually. John was really funny, but I don’t think Brian would think the same. He was all the time asking Brian if he liked this or that guy. When the dinner was over, Edu said she was very tired of being walking round all day and wanted to go to sleep. I decided to do the same, and so John insisted on walking us to our room. Brian said he was going out. So John came with us to our floor. When we reached the door of our room, Edu opened it and said bye to John. I was about to do the same but he grabbed my arm:

• "Fancy some drinks in my room?"

Well, I don’t think that was a good idea, although at that point I was almost mad about the guy.

• "No, John, I’m really tired, I’d like to sleep a little".
• "Will I see you tomorrow, then?"
• "Hope so!"

We stood still during a while looking into each other’s eyes. Oh, I really liked John, and if he kept on looking at me in that way, I for sure would give in and go to his room. Once again, I started thinking the same crap. Kiss me John! Kiss me! What are you waiting for? Come on! He leaned towards me, but kissed me on the cheek. Hey! That was not what I wanted!

• "Good night, then!", he said.
• "Good night!", I said a little disappointed. Then he turned around and disappeared round the corner where the lifts were. I went inside and Edu told me:
• "Why on earth didn’t he kiss you properly, Vicky? Any ideas?"

• "Shut up and sleep!"

I heard her giggle and then I heard the click on the bedside lamp. I went to the bathroom to prepare for a night of no sleep.