went. My brother
Hey! She's smiling at
Dave saw her,
you . . . and you re all red
and he laughed
in the face - you're in love!
quietly at my
Hey, man! You're in love!
red face.
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I wanted to see her again, perhaps in the cafe at lunch-time, or perhaps in the cinema in the afternoon.
But she wasn't there and I don't remember the film.
In the evening we had a drink with Old Webb and Lovely Lucrezia (that's our name for Mrs Webb). After that Dave and Harry went to the disco — they wanted to meet some girls. I don't like dancing, but I went to the disco later: I wanted to see her again, the lovely girl with the dancing brown eyes and the nice smile.
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It was dark in the disco, and I stood near the door and watched the dancers. T h e n I saw her on the dance-floor . . . and she was with Dave! With my brother, Dave! She smiled at him, too, a lovely smile.
I didn't want to watch; I walked out. I went and looked at the sea and thought about things quietly. I thought about her, her and Dave.
Oh no! She's with Dave!
21
I was up early in the morning, before six o'clock. I went out again and watched the early morning sun and the sea. There was only one old man and the sea birds there with me. The old man smiled at me, but we didn't talk. I liked being quiet.
I went in and had a coffee in the cafe, but I didn't want to eat. All the time I wanted to see her. I wanted her to walk into the cafe and come across to my table and sit down with me and tell me her name and talk to me. But she didn't come. I waited and waited, but she didn't come.
22
At eight o'clock I went to find Nick and Dave.
Dave was very quiet all day, and he was really nice to me. And I didn't see her again before we arrived in Santander at eleven.
She wasn't there.
Will she come?
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The town's story
Comillas is a small town fifty kilometres from Santander, near the sea. In the town there are quiet streets of old buildings and there is a small square.
There are small shops and cafes with tables and chairs in the square, under the trees. A lot of people from Madrid come to Comillas for their holidays, and a lot of people from England stay in the town too. In the evenings in June and July and August people like to walk in the streets of Comillas. They stop in the square and stand and talk together; their children play together. Some people sit at the cafe tables and have a drink and watch
the children or read their
newspapers or talk.
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