Page 46 of Don't Tell Me Who To Love

Aisha lowered her eyes, and her cheeks flushed. She turned from Gabi’s gaze and looked towards the hills. “Do you like Granada?” she asked.

“Yes,” Gabi said. The day they’d arrived seemed light years ago. “It’s hard to explain, and it sounds daft if I say it out loud, but I feel kind of settled here.”

Aisha nodded. “Its beauty calls to you. You walk within it and quickly, you become a part of it. To leave it behind would be to sacrifice an aspect of your soul.”

Gabi took a sip of wine, studied the hills, and stilled inside. “That’s deep.”

Aisha smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be.”

“I like deep. I read some poetry and didn’t really understand it. But you do. You see things like an artist. They don’t just paint a picture. They feel it and turn it into something that other people can appreciate. You change lives with your words.”

Aisha lowered her head. “I’m not that good.”

“You’ve changed mine already.” Gabi noted the way Aisha’s mouth twitched a little, the heart shape of her face, her neck where her pulse raced. Aisha took a deep breath, and an electric feeling coursed through Gabi. “You have talent. You could learn more.”

Aisha put her hand on Gabi’s. “You’re very kind.”

Gabi’s heart thundered. “I mean it. And it’s very sexy.”

Aisha blushed and pulled back her hand.

“You’re attractive, and clever, and…” And I want to kiss you. She sipped her drink before she let the words slip out. Heat flushed Gabi’s cheeks, and she cleared her throat. Aisha stared at her as she sipped her drink, and the heat intensified. She wanted to kiss Aisha but couldn’t think how to get them to that point without coming across as clumsy or desperate.

Aisha blushed, picked up her drink and sipped it, and stared at Gabi. “I would like to teach one day. Languages, literature maybe. I enjoy teaching the children.”

“You could do that.”

“I want to travel so much though.”

“You could travel the world and teach.”

“That would be amazing. Have you been to other countries?”

Gabi thought about her trips away from home: the one to Exeter, hardly a metropolis; the weekend she’d spent in London with Lillian, her first girlfriend, because Lillian had an idea that they might move there and work there; and that one night out in Bristol with Shay that had ended with an argument and Gabi heading home on the train alone. “Not until coming here.”

Aisha frowned. “I thought you would have. We see so many tourists, I assumed travelling was normal.”

Gabi shook her head. “I hate public transport.”

Aisha’s laughter weaved through Gabi.

“I never thought about it. To be honest, I haven’t done anything interesting. But coming here has opened my eyes. I made a promise at one of the fountains that I would do something with my life.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’ll work on the jewellery and see where that takes me.”

“You could do anything, if you wanted to.”

I could kiss you. Gabi held her breath. She lowered her head and ran her finger along the edge of the table and breathed out softly. Aisha’s hand trembled as she toyed with the stem of her glass, and Gabi wondered what she was thinking.

Aisha glanced at Gabi, sniffed the air, and frowned.

“Oh, fuck.” Gabi darted from the table and whipped the pan from the stove to the sound of Aisha’s tuneful laughter.

Aisha joined her in the kitchen. “I’m sure it will be delicious.”

Gabi turned off the cooker and poked at the paella. “I think I caught it in time.”

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