Page 106 of My Spanish Love Affair

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m still the same old Liv.”

She grabs the takeout bag and the wine.

“Good. I like you better that way. Now, get in here and tell me everything while I grab plates. We’re not holding back tonight.”

The living room is just as cosy as I remember, with its mismatched furniture, fairy lights strung up along the wall and a crochet blanket draped over the sofa that I’ve spent countless nights curled up under.

Laura comes back with full plates of food and filled glasses of wine, gesturing dramatically for me to sit.

“Alright,spill. And don’t even think about holding out on me this time.”

I sigh as I settle onto the sofa, pulling a cushion onto my lap. “I don’t even know where to start, honestly. It’s just…these last few weeks have been a lot.”

Her eyes soften, but she still waves a chopstick at me like a wand.

“I figured that when you texted me saying you were coming home. Is this about that article? Because if it is, I will personally fly to Spain and shove a spring roll up that reporter’s nose.”

I snort, nearly choking on my laugh at the image of Claire walking around with a spring roll up her nostril.

“No need to escalate things. But yes, it’s about the article. They twistedeverything, Laura. They made me sound like some entitled, bratty girlfriend who’s only important because of Santi. And they named my school after swearing blind that they wouldn’t.”

Her expression shifts, her humor fading as her brow furrows.

“They named your school? As in, your actual workplace? That’s... disgusting. What the hell were they thinking?”

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice cracking. “I feel like I’ve dragged everyone into this mess. My colleagues, my students, their parents… God, it’s just so unprofessional, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Laura’s face hardens in a way I’ve rarely seen.

“You didn’t drag anyone into anything, Liv. That reporter made a choice. And let me just say, karma is going to catch up withthem eventually. I hope they step on a piece of Lego every morning for the rest of their life.”

Despite myself, I laugh again, wiping at my eyes. “I wish it were that simple.”

Laura leans forward, her tone softening.

“Hey, seriously though - you’re not the bad guy here. You know that, right? You’re just trying to live your life, and some nosey strangers have decided to make that as difficult as possible. That’s on them, not you.”

“I didn’t even tell Santi I was leaving,” I confess. It feels like such a terrible thing to have done, and I’m embarrassed to admit it. “I just sent him a vague message and turned off my phone. I couldn’t face him, Laura. Like I was saying to my mum, he’s just so good at handling all this. It all comes naturally for him. But for me, I just... I’m not good at it. I can’t handle it.”

Laura raises an eyebrow. “Okay, first of all,you’reOlivia Bennett. You’re badass in your own way. And second, I get why you’re scared, but have you considered that maybe Santi isn’t expecting you to handle this perfectly? Maybe he just wants to be there for you.”

My stomach twists, her words hitting a little too close to home.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to him yet.”

“Alright, then don’t,” she says with a shrug, as if it’s the easiest, most simplest thing in the world. “Not until you’re ready. But you do have to figure out what you want, Liv. Because, let’s be real - running away is not a long-term plan. Trust me, I tried it once in uni when I couldn’t handle my exams. Spoiler alert: the exams were still there when I came back.”

I laugh, the sound shaky but genuine. “What did you do?”

“I cried into a tub of Ben & Jerry’s, obviously,” she says,deadpan. “And then I pulled myself together, passed my exams, and became the chaos-ridden adult you see before you today.”

“You’re such an inspiration,” I say dryly, rolling my eyes.

“I know,” she replies, tossing a prawn cracker at me.

The rest of the evening feels lighter, like a weight has been temporarily lifted from my chest. It’s easy to forget about everything else when I’m with Laura, and I’m truly so grateful to have a best friend like her.

Our conversation shifts away from recent dramas to old memories of our school days, back when we’d pull all-nighters fueled by instant noodles and questionable amounts of caffeine, or that time we took a spontaneous weekend trip to Edinburgh and got hopelessly lost because neither of us bothered to bring a map.

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