Come Back...Be Here • Charles Leclerc

Chapter 2: Setting out on an Adventure*

🎶 Me Gustas Tu — Manu Chao 🎶

Thankfully, I did not encounter too much traffic and arrived at my family's summer home in the early afternoon. I was greeted by only my mother as my father was still working in London and my brother was at the beach with some friends. Met my brother Oliver: the typical lazy guy who passes every exam with the bare minimum. When he'll finish uni he is going to start working with Dad in our family's real estate agency and will take over when Dad finally decides to retire (which in my opinion is going to be never, he loves working way too much).

Mum had planned a small barbecue tonight to celebrate me finishing uni and had invited some neighbours and Oli and his friends were set to join us too. While we were standing in the kitchen, my mother started her usual questioning:
"So, Mary, how's it going with the boys? You told me about a Christian guy? If I remember well, your Dad sold his family a flat a few years ago?"

I rolled my eyes so hard, I was afraid they were going to get stuck. It's always the same with her, she wants me to find a guy, get married and gift her grandchildren, preferably 20 of them.
"Mum, I told you, I wanted to concentrate on uni and not have any distractions. Besides, I told you that Val had her eyes already set on him and he is totally not my type. Way too... English" I replied annoyedly.
"But what is your type? Darling, I just want you to be happy! My friend from down the road, Jennifer, she's bringing her son Jeremy tonight, you remember him? You guys used to get along so well when you were younger!" she said cheerily and I tried to hide rolling my eyes.

Great. Another attempt of hers to set me up.
"Yes, Mum, that was when we were four and building sandcastles. I haven't talked to him in years and frankly, I'm just not interested. I'm happy, really! Uni was great, I have a fantastic job lined up and the right guy will come along at the right time, I'm sure" I replied in an attempt to reassure her that I didn't plan on becoming a spinster.
"Ok, honey, sorry, I'll... take a step back. Just enjoy your evening" she said and gave me a small kiss on my head. "But if you do end up marrying Jeremy, I want some credits!"
I didn't even have time to look up at her that she had disappeared already, probably fearing my reaction.

The barbecue was nice, I caught up with some friends I usually only saw during summer, even managed to have a decent conversation with a friend of my brother, and in case you were wondering: Jeremy and I won't ever get married because it turned out that he's gay.

After spending a few days at the beach, the big day had finally arrived. My phone rang as I was still sleeping and I grabbed it from my nightstand with my eyes still closed, barely managing to open them to see that Val was the criminal calling me at this time. I accepted the call and put my phone to my ear.
"MARY! I AM SO EXCITED! WE ARE GOING ON A HOLIDAY!" my best friend screamed into my ear.
"Val, calm down, do you know what time it is? Our train is only booked for the late afternoon..." I groaned.
"Yes, yes, I know, but I am so excited, I could not sleep all night!!" she squealed.

Christ, that girl is really crazy. But I love her. I'm a person that mostly keeps my emotions and thoughts to myself, while she is a complete extrovert. Sometimes I'm jealous of her traits, it makes interacting with the opposite sex so much easier.
"Val, I really can't wait too. I'll see you in a few hours at King's Cross." I replied, hoping to end the call soon and maybe catch some bit of sleep again.

"Yessss, see you later darling. And don't forget to bring protection, you never know what will happen, but I know it and something will happen for you on this trip, I can feel it!" she squeaked and I rolled my eyes, falling back onto my pillow.
"Ew, no, I won't. I'll tell you what will happen: I will have a great time with my best friend getting tanned and going shopping!" I replied sternly.
"Ugh, yes, yes, we will see who was right at the end of the month." she groaned.
I just laughed, said my goodbyes and hung up.