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I’m almost finished packing when I hear knocking on my bedroom door. Since Josh has passed, I have been living at Sophie and Matt’s. “Come in,” I call out to them. Matt has offered to take us to the airport, so we don’t have to call a cab. Our flight leaves in two hours. “I think I packed everything. I seriously hope I didn’t forget anything important.”
“You have your passport?” asks Matt. I take it out of my bag, waving it at him. “Then we’re good to go. Give me your suitcase, I’ll put it in the trunk,” he says and disappears through the door. Sophie comes closer and gives me a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re coming with me. Trust me, we’re going to have a blast. You’ll see how good this trip will be for you.” I give her a gentle smile, whispering to myself. “I hope so.”
The ride to the airport passes quickly. Sophie and Matt hug each other, and kiss goodbye. I turn away to give them some privacy and close my eyes. Oh, how I miss Josh and his hugs and kisses. It has been so long since I have last felt his arms around me. The tears threaten to spill, but I blink a few times, take a deep breath, and try to collect myself. Sophie’s content voice interrupts my thoughts.
“Are you ready for an adventure?” I smile at her, nodding.
We take our luggage out of the car, and head to the entrance. We wave at Matt for the last time, Sophie yells that she loves him, and our vacation begins. We have plenty of time to kill before boarding, so we settle comfortably on one of the benches in our terminal. Sophie pulls a few travel brochures out of her giant bag.
“I really want to see these places,” she says dreamily and pushes the brochures, where all the interesting sights are circled, in my hands. “Here you go.” First, our hotel, circled in red, jumps out at me—Palace Hotel. With a mouth wide-open, I look closely at the pictures of this magnificent building. I had no idea we would be staying at a five-star hotel. The hotel is within a 5-minute walk of the center of the city, which is great since we won’t be dependent on a taxi to get us there. I read some more interesting new information in the brochure and look at some more popular tourist attractions. Soon, it’s time to board the plane and start our adventure. I’ve never been to Europe before and I’m looking forward to seeing many things I only saw in the pictures before, and learning new things.
During the flight we nap and read books so the time passes more quickly than I thought, and before we know it, we land in Valencia. I take a deep breath as I step outside, and we head toward the exit. Taxis are parked in front of the airport, so we pick one and ask the driver to take us to the Palace Hotel.
“Wow!” we both exclaim with our mouths wide-open as we stand in front of our hotel. Palace Hotel is a majestic gray-white building with an antique feel. We eagerly step through the door into a big lobby. The inside is even lovelier than the architecture of the building. Compared to the antique exterior, the interior is modern. Three giant crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling and bathe the lobby in a light glow. The reception area is beautifully designed with modern stools and tables, all in black. It takes us a while as we take everything in, and then we head to the reception desk. One of the employees pleasantly greets us in Spanish. Sophie and I look at one another, giggle and return the greeting. We speak enough Spanish so we won’t get lost, but we still ask the receptionist if we can continue speaking in English. She gives us a kind nod, and asks about our reservation details. Sophie gives her all the necessary documentation and at the same time, she gushes about finally seeing Valencia and meeting the sexy guys who live here. The receptionist and I laugh at her words. We receive the keys to our room once the receptionist confirms our reservation. A porter takes our suitcases and escorts us to the elevator. The gold door opens, we get in, and the porter presses the button for the sixth floor.
“Sexy guys, huh?” I raise my eyebrow at Sophie. “And here I thought you were in a committed relationship.”
“Pft.” She shakes her head. “I’m still allowed to look, aren’t I?” she laughs.
The elevator stops at the sixth floor and we exit. Our room is down the hall to the left. The porter opens the door to our room with a key card, and then hands it to us.
“Have a nice stay,” he says in Spanish, and politely removes the hat he is wearing. We tip him, and take a look at our hotel suite. The living area is big. A large brown sofa with two floral throw pillows sits on one side and a large plasma TV is on the other side. A bottle of champagne on ice and two glasses are set on a small coffee table next to the sofa. Sophie and I look at each other, and Sophie quickly opens the bottle.