Half a Heart

-Maria:
It's been a couple of hours since my café incident, as I'd like to call it, and I can't get that guy out of my head. How come he was so secretive, and why choose to not only speak, but flirt with me? I mean as far as I can tell, I'm not that pretty or skinny as the other girls he could have sat next to, and why make an effort to flirt with a tourist? These are all questions that have been fogging my mind every since the incident.

"So Maria, what do you want to do for your 18th birthday?" Anna asks as we sit down to have breakfast at the hotel. I decide to forget the incident and the man and focus on my trip, I wouldn't let some guy ruin it.

"Well, I don't know, what do you usually do for your 18th birthday?" I asked completely clueless. She sighed and looked at me weirdly.

"Ok, so you're 18 which means you're legal, and most times people like to celebrate their 18th birthday by clubbing and drinking for the first time." she explained and I looked at her and nodded. I know it's a huge thing, but I'd like to experience my 18th birthday to it's fullest, and also do something that wouldn't be approved by my family for once.

"Ok, lets go clubbing tonight then." i said with a smile and she laughed at me and wiggled her eyebrows.

"You sound pretty eager." she teased and winked at me, I laughed and nudged her shoulder playfully.

"Oh shut up Anna, you were pretty eager by your 18th as well." I said laughing as she blushed and nodded. We continued eating breakfast and chatting some more, I decided to leave out my little encounter with the mystery man as I had decided to forget about him completely.

After breakfast we went down the beach and sunbathed for a couple of hours before lunch. Throughout the entire time I kept looking around the beach to ensure that the strange man wouldn't be around. For some reason I felt watched for the second time that day. I frowned and took another quick look around the beach, nothing. I was probably imagining things. I decided to be oblivious to the strange feeling and enjoy my vacation.

I had to have lunch alone since Anna had to sort something out with her parents, so I sat at a nearby restaurant for lunch. Originally I did want to have lunch at the café again, but since I was avoiding the strange man, I didn't want to risk anything. I sighed and smiled, it was nice to feel utterly relaxed for once.

As I opened my eyes to take a look at the menu, I heard a familiar voice. I immediately stiffened and hid behind the menu. I took a quick look around the restaurant and saw the man again, but this time he was with his friends and was chattering away in spanish. I held my breath as they chose a table, and just my luck! They chose a table right in front of me!. Luckily he didn't seem to notice me, and I kept hiding behind the menu, sitting up straighter and watching their every move. I let out a sigh of relief when he sat so his back was turned, this way he couldn't see me.

I called the waiter over and ordered something blindly, wanting to eat and get out of there as soon as possible. I slowly put the menu down and came back from my hiding, taking a quick look at their table and relaxing when I only saw the back of his head. Now I just had to make sure to not leave earlier than them. I sipped my coke and closed my eyes, taking in everything, relaxing. As I saw the waiter coming with my food, I straightened up quickly and smiled.

"¡Buen provecho!" the waiter said and I smiled.

"Muchas Gracias!" I said and at the sound of my voice the man suddenly turned around. He stared at me with wide eyes and a big smile spread across his face, and now his friends were staring at me as well.
I ignored his staring and silently cursed myself for replying to the waiter so loud. I started playing around with my food as he continued to stare at me. Eventually he turned back around to his friends as their food arrived. I stared at my food and felt sick. I needed to get out of there.

"La cuenta, por favor!" I said suddenly and stood up to pay. The waiter came and took a look at my untouched food, and then at my pale face, then left the bill without another word. At this point the man had turned around again and took a look at my food and then at me and frowned. I quickly scrambled through my purse for money, left it on the bill and hurried out of the restaurant.

As I made my way out of the restaurant I felt the man following me out, horrified I sped up, but he stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder.

"I thought you said you didn't speak español." he said and looked at me, this time he had lost the cap and ridiculous sunglasses and was looking at me with his beautiful brown eyes. I blinked and swallowed.

"I don't!" I spluttered out and yanked my shoulder free and ran away from him all the way to the hotel, leaving him there confused. Inside the hotel room I took a very long breath, closing my eyes. There was something about this man, he looked familiar somehow, as if I'd seen him somewhere, but I couldn't really place him. Even though I didn't know his name, this man had already left his mark on me, just by looking at me he had my heart beating fast and my stomach filling with butterflies. I'd never felt this way ever before and that scared me. So I convinced myself to let go of this feeling, I didn't have time for love anyways, the last thing I need is a boyfriend, my mom would kill me.

I plopped down on bed and decided to never go out on my own without Anna. I ended up getting room service, since I was still hungry. As I ate my lunch, I remembered my promise to myself, to let things happen unplanned. However I decided that this man wasn't worth the risk of my mom, and entire family, blowing up on me. Suddenly Anna bursted in the room and smirked at me.

"Ready to get pampered for tonight, birthday girl?" she said and I laughed. Yes, I was more than ready. Let go, let flow, right?