Illustration © A del Art x TK
* Music during reading (to feel better the atmosphere of this chapter I recommend this song in the background)
She opened her eyes. A strange feeling of uncertainty and unfamiliarity made her think that she was still sleeping and that all of this was a dream. She needed a couple of seconds to react and understand that it was real. Ava was awake and didn’t know where. She jumped up, surprised, on a wide bed.
Alone and barefoot, in the middle of a huge mattress that seemed like a ship, she took a quick look at a bright room with a minimalist design: A look that passed through a huge mirror in which she saw a dishevelled reflection that was still in its Jacquemus dress, her eyes stopped at the night table where the bag of the confused sleeping beauty was. She approached it and checking its contents, has realized that everything was intact, except the phone battery, which as usual, decided to die.
Ava had cloudy memories of an entertaining evening full of laughs of which she could not place the end. Her head felt so heavy when she got up and start collecting her things to start the way to a place where she could feel safe: Her home. Crossing the bedroom in grey tones, presided by that huge bed and illuminated by the natural light that came through the windows, she was trying to remember the exact moment when she ended up here. It doesn’t matter how beautiful a place could be, if you don’t feel it yours, its charm is imperceptible.
‘‘It doesn’t matter how beautiful a place could be, if you don’t feel it yours, its charm is imperceptible.’’
* * *
It was around 9 AM when a young nurse who was being on guard that night at the London hospital was sitting in a chair beside her patient’s bed. Spellbound by his face, she stroked his hair like a mother when she wants her child to sleep well.
‘‘Regina!’’ Once again her fantasies were interrupted by the senior nurse.
The girl stood up quickly when she heard that commander’s voice, and following her orders, began to arrange everything. It seems that they have been able to find the father of that attractive unconscious young man that she was looking after last night, a fairly respectable person who was already on his way to see his son.
* * *
Stealthily and with her sandals in hand, the girl who was located in that unknown house in Madrid, opened the sliding door that led to the living room. Without having a clear idea of what she was doing because the fact was — if her date wanted to take advantage of her, he would have done it; Anyway, not considering that, she had planned a nonsense plan to escape.
She appeared in a huge room that followed the same style of the bedroom: Pure tones and modern minimalist design in a light and spacious atmosphere. The house seemed to be empty. The silence that reigned there was confirming those suspicions. The blonde set out to find her way out, hoping to return home as soon as possible. In the end, our home is a place where we always want to come back.
‘‘In the end, our home is a place where we always want to come back.’’
After a long walk through corridors decorated with original avant-garde paintings, the discovery of four other rooms and some bathrooms, she was finally available to locate the exit door: A door that she couldn’t open. These modern systems of passcodes and digital keys made it impossible for her to conclude the «exit plan«, everything pointed to the fact that she had been locked in this modern castle.
She returned to the living room and sat on a large pearl-grey sofa designed by Jean-Marie Massaud. ‘‘Okay Ava, think,’’ the anxiety and fear that she felt when she was just awake were replaced by a relaxing and certain careless attitude, perhaps influenced by the comfort of that huge piece of furniture surrounded by several decor items that stood out for their unique design. When you relax and let go all the problems that you have created in your mind, you begin to notice that even the simplest things bring you happiness.
‘‘When you relax and let go all the problems that you have created in your mind, you begin to notice that even the simplest things bring you happiness.’’
She lay down on the sofa, baptized as ‘‘Bristol’’, throwing her sandals on an original carpet, and taking in hand a catalogue that was on the living room table, with ‘‘Naharro’’ written on its cover, she started to kill time until further notice.
Page after page of Naharro magazine, Ava admired the pieces offered by that Madrid showroom and gallery; Paintings, sculptures, furniture and home accessories created by authentic artists, capable of turning any house into a museum thanks to their masterpieces. Creations of Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders or Achille Castiglioni, among dozens of designers from around the world, awakened inside her the desire to have her corner to create something exceptional that coming out from the heart, a fruit of the soul, a place for happiness and new lives. In fact, home is not where you were born, not even where your address is; Home is where your heart finds peace.
‘‘In fact, home is not where you were born, not even where your address is; Home is where your heart finds peace.’’
She loved Madrid, but just like everything you love; When it stops meeting your expectations, that feeling mutates into disappointment, and that love starts to fade. Few understand that the only one responsible for meeting these expectations is yourself; It does not matter if you change your location, environment or appearance, if you don’t change what do you have in your head, you will continue in the same place, in which you will still be blaming everything that surrounds you.
‘‘…but just like everything you love; When it stops meeting your expectations, that feeling mutates into disappointment, and that love starts to fade. Few understand that the only one responsible for meeting these expectations is yourself…’’
She put back the magazine on that original little table in front of the sofa and, looking at the ceiling, tried to remember again how she ended up in this house. Of course, drinking champagne on an empty stomach was not the best decision, adding to the nerves after the sudden change of plans, which surely increased the effect of alcohol in her blood.
The gaze of Nordic-looking and that mixed feeling between disappointment and magnetic interest to see him again, were still present in her mind. A feeling that was contrasted with the smile that appeared on her face when she remembered the conversations she had with the brunette friend of that lost stranger.
Once calmed and even confident, she got up and went to the kitchen, which she discovered thanks to her excursion around the house. Not knowing how long it would take for its owner to arrive, she decided to feed her already revolted stomach. ‘‘Okay, looking the cupboards is not right, but locking up a defenceless young lady and starving her is worse,’’ she thought, calming herself and her conscience.
The large, modern, dark-coloured kitchen, located just two steps away from the hall, reminded her one of those that appeared in TV commercials: Gleaming furniture, state-of-the-art appliances, and no food. ‘‘This is definitely purely decorative stuff that he has because it came with the house,’’ she thought about the place where culinary art should be made. ‘‘A couple of bottles of water in the fridge, and coffee… just like in a hotel… Maybe no one was really living among all these luxuries or the owner of that place was re a robot that does not need to eat,’’ she deduced ironically when heard someone entering through the front door.
Topics: online romantic novel – online love story – Naharro Madrid – Madrid designer furniture – Madrid galleries – Madrid furniture showroom – Home design Madrid
TINA KEVICH 