Sumario

33. THE SECOND ESCAPADE

Nina feared that if she didn't calm down, that unplanned trip could end in tragedy. She had not stopped sobbing silently since her departure, and tears blurred her vision, making driving difficult. In those distressing moments, she could not understand how she had let them manipulate her until she made her a stranger to herself.

She was driving on the same southern highway that she used to do five years ago in the company of her mother, but now she was traveling alone and driving her own car. She had no intention of enjoying a relaxing vacation in the same picturesque seaside town of such fond memories because she had no specific plan. She fled, orienting herself in the direction her heart was pointing. She hadn't even booked a room in the only hotel in the insignificant town.

She had decided that trip in an outburst of his deep depression and the longing for those days lived with the disappeared Nano. Composing beautiful songs was as simple as breathing because they enjoyed generous freedom and lived still preserving innocence. Now everyone had treated her like she was the innocent teenager of five or six years ago.

“Well, yes, I am the same teenager!” she murmured in anguish, and I run away again, like then, but not from my mother, but from my father! Only Nano would have respected and understood me! How I miss you, Nano! Where are you?”

The time accompanied neither. Incomprehensibly, the second half of August had started with a leaden sky and strong gusty winds, the least suitable for a fun vacation.

Nina was aware of her deplorable condition and was traveling at an excessively slow speed for a highway to the vehicles' exasperation that preceded her. She had taken this unexpected trip in the late afternoon, and it was already dark, which made driving more difficult. The air's humidity foreshadowed rain, and tiny drops of water crashed on the windshield, which became more intense until they became the expected rain, practically losing the asphalt's visibility. She activated the windshield wiper and regained visibility, but could not continue in those miserable conditions and left the highway at the next exit, a place to relax and decide if that wild ride would be of any use worth the risk.

A few kilometers later, she finally found an exit to an unknown population, but no city light showed, and she felt desolate and disoriented in the oppressive darkness. Only a few dim lights suggested the existence of a fuel pump, in which perhaps there was a bar where to stop that distressing race towards a past that was already dead and forgotten.

Fortunately, next to the pump was a roadside hotel, one of those establishments in the middle of nowhere. Only the employees stay over 24 hours; clients with tired expressions and slow movements, with muscles still numb from long hours of inactivity, stay only for the night.

Nina was relieved, parked as close as she could to the providential hotel entrance, and when she turned off the engine, all movement ceased. There was absolute silence, only broken by the hit of a weakened rain on the roof and the sporadic step from a vehicle on some secondary road near the hotel; she fell down on the steering wheel as if she were the only survivor of a shipwreck.

Gentle knocks on the misted glass of her car ended her dejection.

“Ma'am, is something wrong? Are you ok?”

Nina reacted, tried to calm down, and appear normal. She got out of the car and reassured the man who must be the parking attendant.

“Yes, I'm fine, thanks.” She replied, annoyed because she considered it an intolerable intrusion on her privacy.

“Do you come from far away? You seem to be exhausted!”

Nina had no desire to continue this conversation and went to the hotel entrance without responding to the angry guard, who believed to take revenge with news that could upset her.

“If you are looking for a room, you will have to go to another hotel because this one is full. But I doubt that you will find a free room in the area because I do not know if you will know, but in this town, we are celebrating local festivities.”

Nina understood the vengeful intention of his warning and ignored him. She did not want to be recognized, and before entering, she covered her eyes with exaggerated sunglasses that assured her anonymity and entered the hotel reception room.

On one side was the restaurant, from which came the familiar sounds of silverware and the sound of cross talk. She was hungry and would have entered the restaurant, but she would feel violent dining alone, so she opted for a small bar on the opposite side of the room. She ordered a well-loaded coffee because she was determined to continue that nostalgic journey and help keep her awake. She sat down next to a gigantic window from where the parking lot could be seen, and she thought with less passion about the usefulness of that unexpected trip.

She slowly sipped his coffee with a strong bitter taste, as the barroom filled with customers who had finished dinner. She felt uncomfortable and unable to focus on her distressing thoughts. There she had no chance to reflect on her confused situation and continued the journey because she was sure that she did not want to return. It had stopped raining, and the gloomy clouds were withdrawing, revealing a bright Moon among wisps of clouds with little humidity, that moved quickly pushed by the wind.

She was about to leave when a poster attached to the hotel's glass door caught his attention. It announced the performance of the provincial Symphony Orchestra that would perform the “Adagio” of the famous “Aranjuez Concert.” But what caused him intense emotion was the name of the guitar soloist: “Fernando M.” because her intuition told her that the guitarist could be Nano.

“Yes, it is him; I'm sure. My heart tells me! It's Nano!” She said to herself, overwhelmed by the emotion of that amazing discovery.

It was scheduled the performance for that same day, and it was barely more than an hour before the concert began. She rushed out of the hotel and found himself in the entrance hall with the disgruntled security guard in the parking lot, who upon seeing her again, made the move to get away, but Nina stopped him:

“Wait, don't go! I apologize for my behavior! How far is the capital?”

The surprised vigilante accepted their excuses because, after all, she was a customer, and it was his duty to help them.

“Ten kilometers, following this same road.”

“Do you know the city well?”

“Like the back of my hand! I was born there.”

“Could you tell me where the Auditorium is?”

“The Auditorio? What is that?”

“It's ... a place where music concerts are offered.”

“Ah, you must refer to the strange house that the Town Hall has built, where the municipal band is now because before it was in my neighborhood, two steps from my house.”

Nina was about to lose her nerve.

“Yes, yes; that must be it!”

“Well, you will easily find it because it is in a wealthy neighborhood. When you reach the city, you will find a traffic light. No, that's not it, it's the third one. At the third turn right, and you will find it there. But pay close attention to the level crossing that will not happen when a train arrives, because sometimes the barrier breaks down. We've had over one misfortune in that damn level crossing!”

Nina was already starting the car's engine when the security guard finished giving her detailed information. She opened the window, offered the guard a five-euro bill, and started with such power that the car's wheels skidded on the damp asphalt. Moments later, she disappeared along the road that the employee had shown.

“What a crazy woman!” Exclaimed the surprised watchman with the five-euro bill still in his hand.

Nina was traveling at top speed on a fortunately deserted road and hoped to arrive in time to attend that concert, where she was sure Nano was performing.

She tried to imagine him five years later, turned into a star, dressed in an elegant black tailcoat widely applauded by an audience on his feet and inflamed by his masterful performance;

Nina acknowledged with a gesture of sad resignation that perhaps Nano had already forgotten her, but she did not understand why, because between them, nothing had justified her forgetfulness.

“Why hasn't Nano sent me a simple email telling me where he is and what he's doing? Nina wondered when she was already spotting the first light, as the watchman had told her. But she justified his absence because he had to be concentrated on his guitar studies, which had led him to be the solo guitar of a symphony orchestra. There was no other explanation! Her heart fluttered violently because she was already so close to Nano!

A few meters from the third traffic light, Nina found the level crossing, as the guard had warned her, but with the barriers down! On the other side of the obstacles, she saw what must have been the Auditorium, an avant-garde building, “rare” as the hotel employee had described it. Under its large canopy was a group of people who were preparing to enter the concert hall. Nina looked anxiously at her watch. It was only ten minutes before the concert started!

“Open up; open up once, damn barrier!” She murmured angrily. A few distressing moments later, there was no one under the large canopy. Nina was desperate, and for a moment, she thought to park the car and continue on foot to the nearby Auditorium, but moments later, the train arrived that had caused the untimely closing of the barriers. To add to his despair, she could not find where to park and left it in a prohibited area. At last, he reached the Auditorium and could confirm that her hunch was not deceiving him: on another poster announcing the evening was the photograph of Nano.

“I knew it, it's Nano; yes, my dear friend Nano! ”

She entered the Auditorium's deserted hall and went, as if possessed by a supernatural force, to the local ticket window.

“Sorry, but all the tickets are sold!”

The unexpected news plunged her into deep dismay. Everything seemed to go against her desire to meet Nano.

“Please,” Nina insisted, “there has to be some cancelation. I need to attend this concert... There must be a location still available; I don't care about the price!”

“No, I have already told you that there are no tickets left. They were sold out a week ago. We really are sorry!”

Nina did not insist. She was deeply heartbroken. She seemed to be the victim of a spell that prevented her from meeting her friend and, for her, savior. But she was determined to meet Nano and would wait for the concert to end, hoping she wouldn't leave the building for some other way out and they couldn't meet.

When she was resigned and was about to leave, a bizarre-looking couple entered, quarreling.

“I knew I would late,” the man said. “An hour to get ready, not even that we would visit the king!”

“If that car pot of yours hadn't broken down, we would have been on time. I can't walk faster with these heels!”

“Why did you have to wear those shoes with a high heel?”

“You will always be a buff who knows nothing of life. Come to a concert elegant!”

“You have as elegant as I of the priest!”

“Rude! What do you know what elegance is!”

Nina thought they might want to sell her seats, and she approached the angry woman to ask her.

“Forgive me for meddling in your family conversations, but since the concert has already started, sell me your ticket.”

“Sell my ticket after what it cost to me get ready, not pretty, not for sale!”

But the man seemed interested in Nina's offer.

“If you buy both, they are yours! With this relative, I cannot go to a concert; she can argue with the conductor of the orchestra!”

“None way, sweety! I have dressed for this concert, and I am not going back home without having seen it! ”

“You shut up and do what I tell you! Do you agree, miss?”

Nina bought the tickets for them and recover her spirits for the renewed hope of meeting Nano. But it seemed as if the spell continued to leave its negative influence. The clarinet's melancholic introduction was already heard when they reached the concert hall entrance, but the door was closed. An employee in charge of the entrance explained the reason:

“Sorry, miss, you are very late! I can't open the door until the concert ends.”

Nina was devastated again, but at that moment she heard the first guitar arpeggios played by Nano and, shaken by the magic of the melody and the strength of Nano's performance, she could not help but make a confidential comment to the employee:

“Do you know? The guitarist is my best friend!”

The caretaker at the door did not seem to have heard Nina's confidence because she seemed focused on some doubt.

“Maybe I screw up, but aren't you Nina, the singer?”

Nina nodded with a slight nod and a friendly smile.

“My two twin daughters adore you, they have the room practically wallpapered with photos of your performances, and they never tire of listening to your songs! What news when I tell them I have met you in person! But they won't believe me without proof! May I have your picture taken with my mobile?”

“We will do something better: we will photograph the two together, so their twins will believe it.”

The two women took a snapshot, and the excited manager of the entrance to the concert hall understood that she had to do something in return.

“If you don't mind standing in the hallway, I'll make an exception for you and let you in. I hope my bosses don't hang around here!”

“You can't imagine how much I appreciate it!” Nina said, unable to hide her emotion.

The woman quietly opened the door, and Nina finally entered the concert hall. And there was Nano, surrounded by the musicians of the symphony orchestra, together with the conductor, performing one of the most beautiful classical songs written for guitar!

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