I sat on the couch of our room, ancient yet beautiful, in our dormitory overlooking the center of the breathtaking city of Barcelona, Spain. As usual, I had no idea where Michael could be found. Out of ideas to keep myself occupied, I decided to look through the colorful, full-of-life images of my time studying abroad with Michael. Our excited faces flashed across the camera screen, pressed close together when we waited for our plane to take off from Chicago to Barcelona, Spain. My light brown hair was a mess from the chaotic dash through the airport when we almost missed our flight, but my mossy green eyes shined with anticipation. How I wish I could go back to this day and start over. I continued to flip through the pictures I had taken through the window of the plane. The setting sun painted the clouds pink and purple. Finally, I reached the pictures of the beginning of our time in Barcelona. The first week here we sat through numerous, seemingly endless orientation lectures. Exploring the beautiful city we found ourselves in consumed all of our thoughts. Between lectures, Michael and I discovered the city by foot, admiring the street performers, breathtaking cathedrals, and the Spanish culture as a whole. I flipped through hundreds of pictures of these attractions. Once wondrous and exciting, these fascinations had become a part of my everyday scenery.

I had always dreamed of traveling to Barcelona, but my adoptive parents never had the money or time to take my sister, brother, and me anywhere outside of our home city of Chicago. I know they would have loved to explore the world with us; it just wasn’t possible. I always knew I had to take my financial future in my own hands, so I spent most of high school working and studying in order to receive a college scholarship. I had plenty of friends, but I always prioritized school. Fortunately, my hard work and dedication paid off and I received a full ride scholarship to the prestigious University of Chicago. The money I worked for could be spent on extra expenditures. My parents could not have felt more proud, and finally after working even harder throughout college, the university granted me a scholarship to spend my junior year abroad in Barcelona, Spain, the city where I was born. To my delight, Michael O’Neill, one of my life-long best friends, would study in the same program as me. My parents adopted me before I could talk, so I didn’t grow up with my native language of Spanish, but I quickly picked up on the language when I began learning it in middle school. Now, I’m studying as a Spanish major and a Business minor. Because of the amazing opportunity to study in Spain, I felt that all my dreams were coming true.

I focused back on my camera full of rich memories. I reached the images of our impromptu trip to Paris for the night. I smiled as I recalled the night. We had just gotten out of our Macroeconomics class when Michael brought up the idea. We originally had plans to go to a club called La Terrazzo with friends we had met throughout our time here, but Michael clearly had other ideas on his mind. He stopped me as we walked down the busy La Rambla, “Let’s go to Paris tonight.”

I stifled a chuckle. “And do what?”

“Spend the night. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Whatever you want.” He answered.

“We’ll never find a place to stay with such short notice. Paris is packed with tourists this time of the year.” I said.

“I already booked a room.” He pulled out two plane tickets.

I grinned, “What if I say no?”

He pretended to think for a second. “Then I’ll invite another girl.”

I gently shoved him and said, “Fine. I guess I will go to Paris with you.” He laughed and we rushed back to our dorm rooms, anxious to get to the city of light.

Bringing myself back to the present, it shocked me to see how much time had passed. My watch read 3:56 PM and Michael and I had plans to meet for a late lunch at Café Rosado at 4:00 PM. Lately, I wanted to do anything to prevent an outburst from him. It didn’t take much to cause one. I shoved my camera full of memories of the better times into the desk drawer. I quickly slipped on a pair of sandals and hurried outside, while hailing a cab. I handed my driver a twenty-dollar bill to make it clear I was in a hurry, and the car lurched as it accelerated. I leaned back in the faux leather seats. Either the cab that smelled like burning plastic or the thought of making Michael even more upset gave me a headache. Finally, I arrived to the cute, Spanish café we planned to meet at. Luckily, I didn’t see him through the welcoming glass window, which left me time to gather myself. I sat down in the booth, rested my head back on the maroon wall, and await his arrival.

How could I have messed this up so badly, I thought. I thought back to our wonderful trip to Paris. As soon as we arrived, I fell in love with Paris.

“Let’s quickly put our bags in the room so we can get explore the city before it gets dark.” Michael suggested. I nodded my head, barely paying attention, as I looked around the city in wonder. Michael laughed and said, “You have the same look in your eyes as you had when we first arrived in Barcelona.”

“It’s just so beautiful.” I said

“You’re beautiful.” He responded. I blushed. Michael and I grew up together, and although we had been seriously dating almost the entire semester, I still had moments of shyness.

After practically throwing our luggage in the room, we dashed outside to the narrow street outside our hotel. “Can we walk to the Eiffel Tower? That way we can see the city on the way. By the time we make it there it will be dark, and we can have dinner in the tower.” I asked.

“Sounds perfect to me.” He responded.

When we finally reached the restaurant in the tower, I felt exhausted. Dinner could not have come at a more perfect time. We were seated right next to a window that overlooked the twinkling, lively city of Paris. I stared in amazement. The city was alive below us, but life never felt more quiet and peaceful up high in the tower.

Michael reached for my hand. “I’m so glad to have spent this semester with you.”

“Me too.” I smiled, staring into his tropical blue eyes.

“Who knew I would go from building sandcastles with you on Oak Street Beach to falling in love with you in Europe?” He said with a lazy smile.

“Falling in love?” I asked.

“Don’t act stupid, Isabel.”

“I love you, too.” I responded slowly. We stared at each other, and I felt the need to say it a second time. I was sure of it now. “I love you, too.”

He grinned and pulled me in for a kiss. My heart soared even higher than the Eiffel Tower I found myself kissing the man I loved in.

Michael’s presence snapped me out of my trip to the past. I seemed to spend a lot of time there lately. His tall, tanned figure walked through the entrance. He scanned the room with his sparkling blue eyes until he found me, and he slowly strode towards our table. I searched for any hint of excitement to see me, but I found none. I thought back to the days when his face glowed at the sight of me, but seeing an emotionless Michael outweighed not seeing Michael at all. He tiredly plopped down on the booth across from me. “What did you want to talk about, Isabel?” He asked disinterestedly.

“Do I really need to spell it out for you?” I responded. A look of annoyance immediately crossed his face so I quickly began talking. “You have avoided me for the past week. You can’t avoid this issue. It won’t go away.”

He leaned forward, staring straight at me with his emotionless, icy blue eyes. “You refuse to even consider the only thing that’ll make it go away.”

I instinctively covered my stomach with my hand. My voice shook as I spoke. “How could you ask me to do that?”

His eyes darted away. We sat in silence for what felt like hours until he finally spoke, “How could you do this to me?”

I hesitantly reached for his hands. For once, he didn’t immediately pull away. I even felt him holding back. “I love you Michael. I never meant to hurt you.” I said.

He snatched his hands away and looked at me with those empty eyes again. “This is a conversation you should be having with the father. You lost my love, trust, and respect for you when you slept with another during our relationship. If he’s not helping you out, then you’re on your own with his child.” He said, and he immediately walked away.