Friday, October 4 - Barcelona, later that day
After a second shower and exhilarating facial, Rob and Ben took a long soak in each of the three mineral pools then sat for a while in the sauna. It had been the best day and Rob was truly grateful.
"Thank you for letting me tag along on your spa day. It was amazing and I haven't felt so relaxed in a long time," he told Ben as they dressed to leave.
“No problem,” Ben replied. “I enjoyed it too.” He checked his watch and continued, “It’s been almost five hours since breakfast. If I remember correctly, there’s a café a couple of doors down. Do you want to grab some lunch?”
“Yeah, I definitely could eat.”
They left the spa and walked to the café down the block.
Once seated, Ben looked over the menu and said, “In the spirit of having a healthy spa day, I think I’ll get a salad with some grilled chicken.”
“A salad sounds great, but I think I’d rather have it with marinated shrimp,” Rob replied.
While they waited for their food, they each checked their phones and after a moment, Rob laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I texted Sam this morning before breakfast and told her I met an actor at the hotel yesterday. I didn’t tell her your name so now she’s bugging me to find out who you are.”
Ben chuckled, “Are you gonna keep her in suspense for a week? I don’t mind if you tell her who I am. She’s not likely to call a magazine and sic the paparazzi on me, right?”
“Not at all,” Rob assured him. “She’s many things, but trustworthy and loyal are at the top of the list. Let me reply to her now, or she’ll be bugging me all day.”
Calm down, Sam! OK, I’ll tell U - it’s Ben Rockingham. We R having lunch right now. I’ll call U later.
“There, that should hold her for now,” Rob said, setting his phone aside.
“What does Sam do, Rob?”
“She’s a travel agent. That’s how we met.”
He paused as the server arrived with their food, along with a bottle of sparkling water that Ben had ordered. After admiring his meal and taking the first bite, Rob continued.
“Wow, it’s gotta be seventeen or eighteen years now. Alan and I were talking about doing a cruise for the first time and decided to use a travel agent since we knew next to nothing about cruises at that point. We found a local agency advertising that they specialized in cruises, and we stopped by their office to pick up a brochure or two. We met Sam that day and she helped us figure out where we wanted to go and what our best cruise options were. She did such a great job with the first one, we went back to her the next time we wanted to travel. Over time, we got friendlier and now, she’s family.”
Rob smiled thoughtfully, thinking fondly of his friend, and added, “In fact, after Alan and I hit the lottery, Sam is one of the people that we helped. She really wasn’t happy with the agency where she was working, so we gave her a bit of seed money so that she could start up her own agency. It’s called Wanderlust Travel and is doing so well, she now has a few agents working for her, along with a customer service rep.
“That’s wonderful,” Ben replied. “It’s so nice that you were able to help her out like that.”
“Like I mentioned earlier, she’s family.” Rob said. “She’s got a few cousins and an aunt in Arizona, but she doesn’t see them all that often. She was dating a guy several years ago, I think they had been together for about five years or so. But he turned out to be a real jerk, so she dumped him.”
Rob took another bite of salad then continued, “She’s so much happier and carefree now. And she’s fiercely loyal to her friends. She comes across as overprotective sometimes, but I think it’s because she has a huge heart and wants to take care of people.”
Ben thought for a moment and then asked, "She sounds wonderful and I’m glad you have each other. You say she’s family, do you have any other family? Brothers, sisters?”
“Yeah, I have a brother and a sister. Technically, they’re stepsiblings. My dad remarried after my mom passed away fifteen years ago and his wife had two children from her first marriage. But we became very close, and I truly think of them as just my brother and sister. Geoff is my age and Megan is two years younger. Our parents are all gone now, but we’ve stayed close.” He turned curious eyes to Ben, “What about you, Ben? Any brothers or sisters?
“An older brother. Michael will be sixty in January. He’s a lawyer in DC.”
As they finished their meal, Rob said, “I told Sam that I would call her this afternoon and then I think I’m going to take a nap. But since you were kind enough to buy me dinner last night, can I return the favor tonight? That is, if you don’t have other plans.”
Ben smiled. “I don’t have any other plans and I’d love to join you for dinner tonight. I’m probably gonna nap this afternoon, too. Getting a massage always has that effect on me.”
He thought for a moment and then said, “Why don’t we meet at the hotel bar around six-thirty? We can have a drink and then figure out where we want to go for dinner.”
They settled up the bill for lunch and Ben hailed a cab to take them to the hotel.
