And she yelled back, “Did you see Elisa passing by?” Jon said no. Julia then walked back to where he was and said - Elisa wasn’t there; I don’t know where she went, that’s weird.
Maybe she went inside the wrong room, we just waited for someone to scream - Jon said with a half-smile picturing it in his mind. Julia took him by the hand and pulled him all the way to the corner, then said: Which room?
Jon looked where she came from, there was only a niche, with a window, a chair, a tiny palm tree and a painting, of a couple on a beach.
What the hell – Jon said mesmerized – and started looking around for any paths, mirrors or anything that could explain, but there was nothing there. How did she vanish like this?
Julia shook her head in a confused no and walked back with Jon following her, curious, all the way down to the patio, that was already empty by then.
Julia, do you know what her room number is?
No, I can’t remember to be honest.
She is probably fine and if that’s not the case, Giorgio will be looking for her soon and we can start worrying about it. You can try to text her too. Jon thought that it was very unlikely that she was sober enough to answer, but at least it was an idea.
Yep, you are right, bad news comes quickly, always – Julia said.
Do you want me to walk you to your room? Jon asked.
Of course, why not. So, they walked in silence, Jon kept looking at Julia while she was constantly texting Elisa and lost in her own thoughts.
Jon supposed that maybe there was one of those fake walls that people put behind bookshelves and they weren’t aware of, and they started their own conspiracy theory about the past of the hotel when they arrived at Julia’s room. She was saying good night when Jon spontaneously kissed her back on the cheek, as she did earlier that night. It was probably the first time he had seen her shy since they met hours earlier, and he thought it was adorable. Julia repeated her good night words and went inside her room, still blushing.
Jon was feeling great that night, he wasn’t expecting to meet anyone that interesting, who would know? Jon went to his room whistling like a bird and went to bed thinking about Julia, and hoping she was thinking about him too.
Next day, Jon woke up late, feeling a bit hangover, but nothing that some orange juice and ibuprofen couldn’t solve. He almost missed breakfast time because he took too long in the shower, trying to wash away his headache. At the restaurant, there were only a few people finishing their meals and no sign of his friends, or Julia. After finishing, he texted Ricky to check where they were and went to the pool to meet them. The wedding was going to be around 6 pm that day, so they could enjoy the sunny summer day for a couple hours before. He regretted not asking for Julia’s phone number to text her and invite her to the pool as well, but she was the maid of honor, so it was very unlikely that she was going to accept it anyway.
As if she was reading his thoughts, Julia showed up at the pool around 4 pm looking for him. She was beautiful with a navy-blue satin dress with details in white pearls, that was simple but elegant and made her look like a mermaid coming out of a fairytale.
Oh, glad I found you Jon! Can you help me with something please? Hi guys! – she said to Jon’s friends – which immediately invited her to join them.
Thanks, but I can’t, I have something to solve. Can you help? asked her, looking at Jon.
Of course, he said, having second thoughts about his old swimming shorts and flip flops next to that outstanding woman. She pulled him to a corner and said, “I can’t find Elisa”.
Jon laughed and said – we are still on this? – making Julia slightly grumpy for a second.
I mean it Jon. Elisa was first supposed to get dressed with us, then Giorgio’s sister Lina told us that she was going to get ready somewhere else, with both their moms, but I just talked to Ms. White, and she hadn’t seen Elisa the whole day!
Okay - Jon said - maybe she is going to give you guys a first look or something like that, like a surprise. Not necessarily a bad thing, relax, everything is going to be okay.
