Page 8 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

“You again?”

Frozen to the spot, Sam opened and closed his mouth like a trout.

“Get out,” the stranger roared.

Sam didn’t need telling twice and fled the room. He scuttled down the stairs to the other bathroom. Of course, the shouting and banging had coaxed a rough-looking Astrid and an even rougher Maria out of their rooms.

“What’s the noise about?”

After Sam had relayed the antics from the night before, Astrid and Maria were in fits.

“It’s not funny,” Sam grumbled.

“Then you walked in on him again?” Astrid wailed. “Oh, this is hilarious.”

Maria appeared to be trying to fight more giggles.

“It will be fine,” she said, resting her hand on his arm. “It’s an easy mistake to make.”

“For a Peeping Tom,” Astrid added, cackling all the more.

“Shall we go through the park?” Genevieve shouted over her shoulder. She was the leader on this first journey to work and pointed to a stone stairway which dropped down onto what was once the riverbed.

“Yes!” Sam called back.

Ever since the cab driver had told him of the history of the park, he’d been keen to check it out.

Once they got to the bottom, a whole new world opened up. The shade enveloped Sam, calming his alcohol sweats in a second.

Judging by the high-rises which dominated the skyline surrounding the park, outside space must be at a premium in this city. To have a huge municipal garden like this had to be a lifesaver. The paths led through an endless array of tropical plants. People were everywhere.

Children played in sculptural play areas where nannies had sly cigarettes and gossiped. Joggers flew past them on both sides, making navigating the walkways treacherous. Elderly couples wandered around, taking in all the beautiful flowers. It reminded Sam of New York’s Central Park but on a much smaller scale.

The buildings which included the aquarium were at the other end of this huge park, so they couldn’t linger. Their last member kept very quiet. The poor guy kept staring at Sam strangely. He introduced himself as Wolfgang. Sam hadn’t tried to speak to him again other than to mumble his name.

Better to give him time to get over himself. I probably scarred him for life.

Now Wolfgang had taken over leading the way. Sam, Paul and Genevieve followed with Astrid and Maria dawdling behind.

“Are you excited?” Genevieve asked, never once taking her eyes off Paul.

“I would be if my head didn’t ache so much,” Sam replied.

A little boy shot past on a scooter, screaming at the top of his lungs. Sam gave him his filthiest glare. The kid’s bottom lip trembled and he fled to whichever adult had decided to let him run rampage in their path.

“I heard you had a bad start with Wolfgang,” Genevieve said.

He heard his name and spun around.

“I said you and Sam had a bit of a misunderstanding,” she continued.

He raised an eyebrow, his face totally unreadable. “We had two misunderstandings.”

Genevieve made a sympathetic face while Astrid and Maria giggled like silly schoolgirls.

After they’d walked for about twenty minutes, there it lay—thePalau de les Arts Reina Sofia.Everyone stood and stared for a second. Fashioned like a huge eye, its white architecture reflected the morning sun perfectly.

“It’s incredible,” Paul exclaimed.