Unexpected: A Backpacker Romance (The Backpacker Romances)

by Marin Harlock

  “I spent a few days in Colorado, a couple of months ago,” said Leo.

  “Wow, for real?” Melanie exclaimed, suddenly very excited.

  “Ja. Just for work, but it was very beautiful, I would love to spend more time there.” Melanie’s smile grew even wider, if that was possible, and she started quizzing Leo on the places he’d seen in Colorado and telling him where he should go next time he was there.

  The room was filling up. There had been about a dozen of us when I’d come down. Now there was easily over twenty.

  The woman who worked at the hostel clapped her hands, and we all looked over at her.

  “Okay people! For those of you I haven’t met yet, I’m Ana. You’ve all had your drink, yes?!” A few people called out in the affirmative. “Excellent! Now it’s time to go and experience the Bairro Alto nightlife! Are you ready?”

  “Yes!” called out a few more people. Mara sidled back to my side with a cheeky grin.

  “Okay then! Let’s go!”

  We obediently followed Ana out of the common room and down the stairs to the street. Pedro walked behind to make sure no one got lost. I double checked my purse to make sure I had my ID and some cash. I had put my emergency supply of euros down my bra earlier. It was a trick Gemma had taught me. You just had to remember not to forget you had it there when you got undressed for bed and scattered 50 euro notes around your dorm room. Gemma told me she’d once climbed into her bunk bed at a hostel in Germany, drunk and sleepy, and had taken her bra off under her t-shirt and just shoved the bra down the end of her bed. She’d woken up in the morning in a panic, but the two 50 euro notes had been under the covers with her.

  We walked along the dark Lisbon street and I marvelled and relished the warmth. It was so nice being able to walk around after dark with no jacket or scarf.

  I found myself walking with Melanie and another guy who introduced himself as Dylan. He told us he was Canadian. Gemma and Mara were a few people ahead of me, walking with Leo and Greg and Melanie’s friend Holly.

  “Oh really? You sound a bit... I don’t know…” I stalled, trying to place his accent.

  “Yeah. My accent’s a bit fucked up. I was born in South Africa and my parents are Welsh.”

  “Ah! Wow. Well, that explains it. How long have you lived in Canada for?”

  “We moved to B.C. when I was twelve.”

  I listened while Melanie asked him about life in South Africa. Turned out her grandparents were South African.

  “And you’re Australian?” Melanie turned her attention back to me.

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Where about are you from?” she asked. I got that question a lot, even if people didn’t know anything about Australian geography.

  “Melbourne.”

  “I love Melbourne. I spent oh, about three days there when I was a kid. I really want to go back.”

  “You’ve been there?”

  “Yeah. With my family. My dad had a business trip, and somehow we got to tag along. It was awesome. We went up to Brisbane as well and went to Dreamworld and Movie World and Sea World and possibly another world, I don’t know. I just remember a lot of theme parks, amazing weather, tigers and being scared that I was going to get eaten by a shark every time we went swimming,” Melanie giggled. “I know that’s stupid.”

  “Yeah, you’d be more likely to be eaten by a shark swimming in South Africa than Australia, probably,” said Dylan.

  “Actually, I read the other day that Florida has the most shark attacks,” I said.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, apparently.”

  “Wow. I didn’t know that.”

  “Me either, ’til I read it.”

  We stopped talking when Ana and the group in front of us stopped walking. Ana waited until everyone was gathered, and then led the way into the venue. Ana and Pedro pushed through the crowd to the bar and came back a few moments later with two trays laden with shots of something interesting looking. They passed them around, making sure everyone got one.

  Gemma, Mara, and I all carefully clinked our shot glasses.

  “Cheers!”

  I threw back the shot and drank it all in one gulp. I had no idea what it was. It tasted pretty good though.

  Mara shook herself. “I think I need another one.”

  I looked over at Pedro, who was just giving the last shot on his tray to Leo.

  “Too bad, Pedro’s run out. Let’s buy a drink. What do you want, Gem? I owe you for the ticket.”

  “Gin and tonic, please and thank you.”

  Mara and I squeezed our way to the bar. There was a bit of a crowd in here, but it wasn’t crazy busy. The music was loud, but not obnoxiously so.

  “So, Pedro, eh?” I poked Mara in the ribs.

  “Oh, shut up. It’s just a bit of harmless flirting. You should try it.”

  I felt myself blushing a bit.

  “Yeah, well, I’m a bit rusty.”

  “And that, my darling Beatrix, is something we need to change. Pronto.”

  The bartender came over then and took our orders. Gemma’s gin and tonic, my white wine and Mara’s vodka sunrise. It was surprisingly cheap after London’s prices. I handed him some euros.

  “I’ll get the next round,” Mara said, taking hers and Gemma’s drinks in hand. “But back to you. Seriously. You need to get Tom out of your system. Don’t deny it, I know you’ve been thinking about him.”

  I shrugged. “So what? I’m trying not to. It’s hard though. I thought he was my soul mate.”

  “Oh, barf, Bea. You don’t believe in that crap.”

  I scowled at her.

  “What about that Canadian guy you were talking to? He’s cute.”

  I shrugged. “I suppose so. I think he was more interested in Melanie though.”

  “What about Greg? Or the cute guy with the glasses - what’s his name again?”

  “Leo? The Belgian?”

  “Yeah. Him. He’s cute.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “You should go for it.”

  “I don’t know… wait, which one? Greg or Leo?”

  “Both? Whoever. It doesn’t matter, Bea. You just need to kiss someone, good and proper. No sex in the bunk beds though.”

  “Oh gross. As if I would.”

  “Hey, it happens.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not really into public sex, thanks very much.”

  We made our way back to where Gemma was talking with Greg and Holly and handed Gemma her drink. I looked around. Melanie was dancing with Dylan the Canadian and Leo was chatting with Pedro. I swirled my wine and took a gulp.

  Three pubs later, I was feeling a little tipsy. Maybe more than tipsy. I stood next to Leo, surveying the room.

  I need to kiss someone, I thought.

  “Oh, really?” Leo smirked, and took a sip of his beer. Crap. I’d said it out loud.

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling a blush creep rapidly up my cheeks. “See, Mara has this theory that you’re never really over your ex until you kiss someone else,” I babbled, and took another sip of wine, my eyes anywhere but on the man standing next to me.

  “I suppose that makes some sense,” he said after a moment.

  “Yeah. Well. We’ll see. It’s been a while now, and I still haven’t kissed anyone, so I guess I’m not over him yet?”

  “When did you break up? If you don’t mind my asking…”

  “35 days ago. It’s sad that I know the days, isn’t it?”

  “Just a little bit,” he laughed, and then bumped my glass with his pint. “So who are you going to kiss?”

  “I don’t know.” I looked around the room. Gemma and Greg were dancing rather wildly, and Mara was in the corner with Pedro -so far still just talking. Melanie and Holly were dancing with some of the Canadian guys. Dylan was kind of cute, I thought. I wondered if he was any good at kissing. It should want to be a good kiss, if it was going to wipe out two and a half years of Tom’s kisses.

  “M
aybe him,” I nodded towards Dylan. “Or him.” I pointed at a very cute man who’d just walked in.

  “I think he’s taken,” Leo said.

  “Which one?” I asked.

  “Er… both.” I looked around. Holly and Dylan had gone from only slightly suggestive dancing, to full on making out on the dance floor, and the gorgeous new guy had his arm draped around an equally gorgeous girl. They were surveying the bar together, then he leant down and kissed her tenderly on the lips. I sighed.

  “Well, maybe it’s not my night then.” I took another sip.

  “Ah, don’t say that, Beatrix.”

  I laughed. “Don’t call me Beatrix. I feel like I’m in trouble.”

  He bowed his head. “I deeply apologise, Mistress.”

  “That’s better,” I giggled and smiled up at him. Giggling. Must be tipsy. I didn’t usually giggle.

  Chapter Four

  Carcavelos

  I woke up the next morning to the dulcet tones of Mara snoring. I leaned over and looked down on her bed. She was lying flat on her back with her mouth hanging open, a loud whistling snore coming out every time she breathed.

  I sighed and glanced over at Gemma’s bed on the other side of the room. She blinked owlishly at me, then looked at Mara and rolled her eyes.

  “Oi, Mara,” Gemma called out softly.

  Mara grunted.

  “Roll over,” I said, not as softly. Mara grumbled something obscene, but rolled onto her side nonetheless. I breathed a sigh of relief and grinned at Gemma who just pulled a face, then rolled over with her face to the wall. Early mornings after a night of drinking were not Gemma’s best time.

  I flopped back down onto my bed and stared at the roof. The mattress was actually pretty comfortable - more comfortable than the mattress back in my little room in London at any rate. I savoured the feeling of contentment that a warm, comfortable bed and no need to get up for work in five minutes time will give you.

  I thought back over last night, and wondered if I’d said anything really stupid towards the end of the evening. My filter definitely disappeared after I’d had a few drinks. Sometimes I felt like I was watching a stranger talk with my mouth. An honest, blunt, stranger who often went on a bit too long about certain subjects - or any subject, really.

  I’d met a lot of people, and told the same story over and over again. Australian. Living in London. Been there for three months. Not sure how long I’ll stay. Work in a book shop. Single.

  Single.

  I let my thoughts drift to Tom. Just a small indulgence. I wondered what he was up to. It was a Saturday. He was probably playing football - soccer, not Aussie Rules - in the park with his mates. I missed them. For almost three years, they’d felt like my friends too. But ever since Tom had broken up with me, I’d barely seen them or spoken to them. I’d met up with Sam and Tracy once, but that was it. It was as if I’d ceased to exist to the other guys. Guys who, two months ago, I would have thought I could rely on for anything.

  It hurt to find out how wrong I’d been. They’d only been nice to me for Tom’s sake. Only put up with me because I was Tom’s girlfriend. And now I was Tom’s ex, so they ignored me.

  I’d seen Ryan and Aruvin out at a pub a couple of weeks ago and they’d completely ignored me. Annie had tried to rationalise it, and suggest that maybe they hadn’t seen me, but I was pretty sure they had. It was humiliating. It had made me look back at all those shared evenings and outings and wonder if they were fake. All those good times, times that I had cherished and enjoyed. What were they really? What did they think of me?

  I sighed and tried to think of other things. Hangovers always made me a bit maudlin.

  Last night had been fun. I’d enjoyed getting to know the two American girls a bit, and Greg and Leo both seemed like really nice, genuine guys. Or were they just putting on a front for some reason? I scowled into my pillow - remembering Ryan and Aruvin made me doubt my instincts and assumptions of people again.

  I tried to imagine what Annie would say, and, not for the first time, wished she was here. As much as I loved Mara and Gemma, Annie tended to give the best advice. She had her head screwed on right, she was sensible, and she often thought every situation through from everyone’s perspective.

  She was often the only one who could get Mara to snap out of her own unique particular brand of Mara-crazy-paranoia. And me too, if we’re being honest. Annie could often see, and cut to the heart of the situation, cut through all the bullshit and see it how it really was.

  I thought she was wasting her time being a biochemist. She should be a therapist.

  I grabbed my water bottle from the foot of my bed, mentally making a note to thank Gemma when she was more awake and less cranky. I took a sip. My throat was parched, and my head pounded when I sat up. I quickly lay back down again, although the siren call of the toilet was getting pretty strong.

  I sat up again and braced myself, holding my head between my hands. I waited for the pounding to subside a bit and then crawled down off the bunk. I pulled on my pyjama bottoms and ventured out to the bathroom. The hostel was pretty quiet and I wondered what time it was. I yawned.

  I found my phone at the bottom of my purse when I returned to our room. It was only 6:45 am. No wonder it was so quiet and Gemma was so grumpy. We’d only been asleep for three and a half hours. I crawled back into bed and must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again. Mara was standing up, fully dressed and looking at me.

  “How about we go to the beach?” Mara asked. I blinked for a moment, trying to wake up properly.

  “That sounds lovely. Just lying on the sand, not moving...”

  “Motion thirded. Passed. Any objections?” Gemma said from her bed.

  We started gathering our stuff. I quickly put my bathers on under my dress, made sure I had plenty of sunscreen packed away, grabbed my towel and a new book from one of my favourite authors that I’d been meaning to read for awhile. Ready, we trooped down to the common room to grab some of the free breakfast on the way.

  An older lady, who we hadn’t met yet, was standing behind the stove wielding a spatular like she knew how to use it.

  “Bom dia! I am Maria. How would you like your eggs? Scrambled? Poached? Boiled? Or would you prefer crepes? Or cereal?”

  “Ummm.” I felt overwhelmed for a moment. “Scrambled eggs, please.”

  “Me too,” Mara and Gemma said at the same time.

  “Excelente. Sit down and I will bring it over to you.” She gestured to the large table that took up most of the room. We sat down. There was only one other person sitting there. I recognised him as one of the Canadian guys from last night, but he was intent on his laptop and ignored us, all the while spooning his scrambled eggs into his mouth without even glancing at his plate.

  Gemma yawned and I got up to get a drink from the little table in the corner.

  I poured myself an orange juice.

  “Would you like anything?” I asked the other two.

  “Tea please,” yawned Gemma.

  “Is there coffee? I’ll have coffee. Ugh my head.” Mara put her head down on her arms on the table, only coming up again when I put the cup of coffee down in front of her.

  “Good morning!” came an all too chirpy voice. I turned around. It was Melanie and Holly.

  “Is she always that enthusiastic about mornings?” Mara asked Holly. Holly nodded and went to get a coffee as well.

  “What are you girls up to today?” Holly asked, while Melanie ordered their eggs.

  “We’re thinking we’ll go to the beach and just relax for a few hours.”

  “Oh, nice. Which one?”

  I looked at Mara and Gemma. I had no idea.

  “Carcavelos,” Mara said. “I went there last time. It’s nice, and relatively easy to get to from here.”

  “Oh, you’ve been to Lisbon before?” Melanie asked as she joined us at the table.

  “Yeah, a few months ago, with another friend.”

  “Awes
ome. I’d love to come back again. I just love it here,” Melanie said.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

  “This is my first trip away from North America without my family. I was pretty nervous, but it’s been amazing so far. I just want to see everything! I’m so jealous that you get to live in London,” Melanie sighed.

  “What are you two doing today?” I asked while Melanie took a breath. She looked at Holly, who shrugged.

  “We’re not sure yet. We were going to figure it out after breakfast.”

  “You can come to the beach with us, if you want,” Gemma offered.

  Melanie and Holly looked at each other.

  “Sounds great!”

  “Beach? Whose going to a beach?” Greg, Leo and another young man who I hadn’t seen before, came into the kitchen and sat down after all requesting scrambled eggs. Maria brought mine, Mara, and Gemma’s eggs over with a flourish, and went back to cooking Holly and Melanie’s. I dug into mine with enthusiasm. I hadn’t even felt hungry until the eggs were in front of me. I sprinkled some salt and pepper on them, watched with mild disgust as Mara squirted a pile of tomato sauce on hers, and then dug in. They were good. Really good. Maria sure did know how to cook the perfect scrambled eggs.

  “How’d you girls pull up?” Greg asked.

  “Oh great. Never been better.” Gemma rolled her eyes.

  “That good, eh?” Greg laughed. “I’m actually feeling pretty good. Dunno about Leo here though.” He slapped Leo on the back. Leo barely responded.

  “We’re going to the beach today, d’you guys want to come?” Gemma asked, before I could even think of it.

  Greg looked at his friend, who shrugged then nodded.

  “Yeah, sure, why not. A lazy day at the beach sounds pretty good actually. How ‘bout you, Leo?”

  Leo paused, looked at me for some reason, then nodded.

  “Yes, I think I’d like that.”

  “Awesome. It’s all settled. It’s a beach excursion day for the Rossio Hostel.”