Three hours from Spain 12

Sunday      Day 8

Breakfast in the hotel

Maria:         What a lovely city London is!

Ana:            But it’s raining!

Maria:         That’s nothing.  Nothing at all.  Just a few drops.  It’s sure to clear up in a few minutes!

Carmen:      But I remember you said as recently as last Sunday that…

Maria:         Last Sunday!  Last Sunday!  That was a year ago. Now I see things clearly!

Ana:            But you told us that…

Maria:         ‘My salad days when I was green in judgement.’  As somebody said.  Today is what matters!

Ana:            And who said that?

Maria:         I did. Today and ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow!’  Days of bright sunrises, mornings to enjoy, afternoons to revel in, and evenings with glorious sunsets to look forward to!

Carmen:      She’s gone gaga.

Ana:            It takes them like that sometimes.  I’ve seen it before.  I remember my cousin met a man, from Granada he was, you know, with all the Andaluz charm, and after a day with him my poor cousin …

Carmen:      Never mind about your poor cousin. What are we going to do about Maria?  That is the question. That is the question! Whether tis nobler in the mind…

Ana:            To the point, please!

Carmen:      You’re right. This business with Maria is going to take us a day or two!

Ana:            Probably more, much more.  Now to pack, and then to the airport.  How much easier packing is on the way home.  No decisions.  No ‘to pack this or not to pack this,  that is the question.’ You just shove everything in.

Carmen:      Come on, Maria.  Stop daydreaming! We are off to Madrid!  Time to pack your case.  And let’s hope it doesn’t get lost on the way back!

Gatwick Airport

Carmen, Ana, Maria, Calum, Harry and Oliver have just taken the Gatwick Express to Gatwick Airport.  Oliver is carrying a Harrods shopping bag.

CARMEN:  Well, here we are.  Leaving is always the worst part!  Goodbye everybody, and thanks for everything.

CALUM:    Bye, and safe journey back.

ANA:           Bye, and you must come to Madrid soon.

HARRY:     Don’t you worry.  We will. 

MARIA:     (to Oliver)  I’ll come to London on the first bridge.

OLIVER:    The first bridge?  What bridge? London Bridge?  Tower Bridge?

MARIA:     No.  A bridge bridge.  A puente.  Four days’ holiday.

OLIVER:    Ah, I see.  A long weekend.  When?

MARIA:     In October.  The Pilar bridge.

OLIVER:    OK, not London Bridge, not Tower Bridge, but the Pilar bridge.   I’ll meet you here, at Gatwick Airport, for the Pilar bridge.  The Pilar bridge!  I must be going mad!

MARIA:     We are both mad, thank goodness!  What did Shakespeare say?  Lovers and lunatics are the same?

OLIVER:    Your Shakespeare’s getting better!  He said something like that!  “The lunatic, the lover and the poet, Are of imagination all compact”.  I think that’s what he said, but that’s enough Shakespeare!  You have to go now or you’ll miss your plane!

CARMEN:  Come on Maria.  If you don’t hurry, we’ll all miss the plane!

ANA:           Hurry up!

CARMEN:  We’ve had a great time! A lot can happen in a week.

ANA:          Especially when you are young.

MARIA:     And in London.

OLIVER:    Bye.

MARIA:     Ciao Olly!

OLIVER:    Ciao Maria! I’ll be here at Gatwick in October.

MARIA:     So will I!  Ciao! (Goes)

OLIVER:    (Calling her back) Maria!  Come back! I nearly forgot.  This is for you! (He gives her a Harrods bag.)  Bye! (He goes)

MARIA:     What’s this?  Harrods?  A halter top!   The halter top by Roberto Cavalli!  But it’s more than £250.  He must have spent his life’s savings! Olly!  Oh, he’s gone!

 OLIVER:   (Going out of the airport.  To himself)  The Pilar bridge.  The Pilar bridge!  I must be going mad!

Oliver and Maria did meet in London in October on the Pilar bridge, but that, as they say, is another story.