I nodded and thanked her as I walked passed her and walked off onto the platform. I walked into the station and asked them for cab phone numbers because I really didn’t feel like walking to the hotel.
Once they gave me the information I called the cab company from a payphone then went outside to wait. Twenty minutes later, I was in a car heading back to the Hilton.
The plus side about where I was staying as that neither of the Castillos knew where we were. Unless they had cross examined Cassidy without my knowledge, but I doubted that.
I got to the hotel and went straight to my room to sleep away the rest of the days in Barcelona. If I was asleep, I wouldn’t be able to think of Alejandro and I wouldn’t second guess my decision.
I woke up periodically as the next three days went by and would go down to the lobby to eat breakfast and then I would sleep some more, before heading down to the restaurant in the hotel to eat lunch or dinner. I didn’t venture off of the property because I didn’t want to risk the chance of running into any of them.
Cassidy never asked me about my behavior because she knew me well enough to know that something was wrong. She also knew that if I wanted to talk about it, I would bring it up myself.
The morning we were heading to Madrid, I got out of the bed and walked over to the balcony and lit a cigarette. I was going to miss this beautiful part of Spain as much as I would miss not being able to spend more time in Ibiza but I knew I would be going home soon and no matter how beautiful this country was, it was true; there was no place like home.
Cassidy knocked on the door and walked in.
“Almost ready?” she asked.
I nodded and flicked the cigarette off the balcony and went back into the room to grab my bags so we could leave.
“How did it go with Feliciana?” I asked on the elevator ride down.
“Awesome. She’s a cool chick and she was great in bed.”
“Whore,” I said playfully.
“Hey at least you slept the whole time. You couldn’t hear us but I heard you and Alejandro that first time. It was horrible. I was praying it would be over soon. No offense,” she said with a grin.
I groaned in embarrassment as we walked off the elevator. Cassidy laughed and patted me on the back.
“So what do you want to do when we get to Madrid?” Cassidy asked as we walked out of the hotel.
“I kind of want to wander around the churches. I hear there are a ton and supposed to be super pretty and a miracle haven,” I replied.
And Lord knows I need a miracle.
This flight took about two hours. I looked out the window and silently said good-bye to the man that made me feel like I was wanted and worth something as I left him somewhere in the streets of Barcelona; if he was even still there.
We decided to stay at the Marriott Madrid for our final hurrah in Spain. We checked in and we went to have a quick lunch together before we split up to explore the city.
I made a beeline for Monasterio de la Encarnación. I had scrolled through pictures of it on my phone as we ate so I knew it would be a great place to go.
I felt kind of self-conscious walking in. I got a lot of stares and I knew it was because of my tattoos but they couldn’t deny me entrance and that was something else they knew.
I took a seat in a pew in the back of the monastery and looked at the sta
tues and art.
I watched people walk in and out.
I watched people as they stared at me and whispered to each other.
I watched their faces become angry when I was tired of the staring and gave myself devil horns and stuck my tongue out at them.
A little girl with curly, strawberry blonde hair came to sit next to me. I smiled at her and she smiled back. I watched her examine the tattoos on my arm and point one out to tell me that it was her favorite.
I wondered why the people that stared at me all of the time or looked at me so dirty because I had chosen to put art on my body couldn’t be as kind as this child.
I thanked her and she gave me a hug before she ran off to her mother and father who were waiting for her by the door.