A Kiss Across Borders ✔

Seven: Plan? What Plan?

It was just after ten when we stepped outside the station in Ventimiglia. A few white clouds lazily floated in the sky as we surveyed the town. The street across from where we were standing was lined with colourful buildings. Each of them had windows framed by green shutters.

A few metres from the station, there was an empty fountain covered with cracked tiles. It sat in the middle of the road leading directly into the heart of town. And on either side of the piazza, fan palms swayed in the summer breeze.

Liam squinted as he turned to Sofia. "Mind if I get my hat back? I didn't bring my sunglasses."

"Here you go," she stood on her tiptoes to put it on his head.

"That's better," he smiled, turning the visor forward. "Okay, where are those gardens you wanna see, bro?"

"Looking it up now," I replied, typing Hanbury Gardens into Google Maps.

"Shit!" The word flew out of my mouth as soon as I saw the directions.

"What's wrong, bro?"

"Well," I sighed, "the gardens aren't actually in town."

"Should we hop back on the train?" Liam asked.

"We can't get there by train."

"Can I see?" Caroline asked, reaching for my phone.

I nodded and gave it to her. Sofia came up behind Caroline while she checked the directions.

Why didn't I look that up before? I feel like I kinda suck at this planning thing. I was pacing the steps in front of the train station when Caroline mentioned that there was a bus.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Well, more like there'll be a bus," Sofia added.

"When?" I asked as Caroline gave my phone back.

"Just after lunch," Sofia frowned.

"Maybe we could rent a car," Liam shrugged.

"That's actually not a bad idea," I said.

He tipped his hat. "I have my moments."

Unfortunately, my search for car rentals came up dry.

I shook my head. "We should have just brought the car."

"I don't think that would have fit on the train," Liam grinned.

I shot him a glare. "Did you pack your cape in that backpack, Captain Obvious?"

"No," Liam replied, "and on that note," he took his backpack off, opened it and sighed. "Looks like I forgot to pack snacks too. I vote we get snacks while we figure out how we're getting to Javi's Gardens."

"We can get snacks afterwards," I said.

"Bro," Liam put his hand on my shoulder, "it's a scientific fact that you think better when you have snacks."

Caroline and Sofia giggled.

I smiled. "Really? Where'd you read that?"

"I'm pretty sure that's Newton's Fourth Law," he replied.

Caroline laughed. "Maybe Newton has four laws in Canada, but in Monaco, he only has three."

"Lina, Lina," Liam said, "did you bring snacks?"

"No," she replied, trying to contain her laughter.

"And you, mademoiselle," he held Sofia's hand and kissed it. "Did you bring snacks?"

"Non," Sofia shook her head.

"And would either of you beautiful ladies like some snacks?" he asked.

They both giggled and nodded.

Then Liam turned to me with a satisfied smile. "Señor Javier," he said, waiting for a response.

"Dime," I replied.

"Tu tribe has spoken, bro. Three out of four want snacks."

I shook my head and smiled. "Okay, as long as we don't have to go too far."

"I think the public market's just past those buildings over there," Sofia pointed across the road.

Liam smiled at her and made a heart shape with his hands.

Caroline looks happy, so maybe I haven't completely screwed up yet. Maybe Liam does deserve some snacks after all.

As we walked down the uneven sidewalks, my eyes were drawn to the charming old buildings along the route. Most of them seemed to be painted orange, yellow or pink. And many had small balconies that overlooked the street.

Further down the road, tall trees started lining the sidewalk, giving some much-needed shade from the late morning sun. Eventually, we came to a large red and yellow building with rounded awnings all along the right side. Sofia confirmed that it was the market, so we crossed the busy street and went in through the front entrance.

It was pretty packed inside, and the smell of food filled the air. We strolled past shops selling everything from seafood to flowers. Liam ended up getting some bread, cheese and something that resembled ham and made himself a sandwich.

Unsurprisingly, the rest of us weren't as hungry as he was, so we settled for some grapes and cheese. I grabbed a couple oranges for myself. And when I was trying to find some bottled water to take with us, an old Italian lady walked up to me, and started chatting away. I tried to explain that I spoke almost no Italian, but she just kept talking at me. Luckily, Caroline stepped in to save the day.

She explained to the old lady that even though I looked Italian, I was actually Canadian.

"Ah," the old lady said before adding something else in Italian that made Caroline laugh.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She said you should have just told her that from the beginning. She thought you were her cousin's neighbour's uncle's godson."

I shook my head and chuckled. "I tried to tell her that in like three different languages."

Caroline smiled and gave me a nod that said, "I know."

It's amazing that she can speak five languages. But it's not all that surprising that she does, I guess.

Eventually, we managed to get away from the old lady who was apparently trying to find clams to make Pasta Pescatore. But not before we had to politely turn down her offer to come over for lunch.

We met up with Liam and Sofia in front of the shop where he got the ham stuff. He asked if he could have some more for later, and insisted that I try some. So I did, and ended up buying some for the both of us.

When we got back outside, I saw the answer to our transportation problem parked across the street: a taxi. Maybe Newton does have a fourth law.

"Guys," I said, "We could take a cab to the gardens."

"See, bro-told ya so. Snacks are a must-have. Your brain won't work right without 'em."

"Okay," I smiled, "you were right," and gave him a fist bump.

We were about to cross the street when Liam stopped suddenly.

"Are you okay?" Sofia asked, holding his arm.

He nodded and turned to me. "Uh, Javi, isn't that the chick you danced with last night coming down the street?"

My heart jumped into my throat when I looked to where Liam was pointing.

"Crap. I think it is Silvia."