Broken Hearts On Boulevard Unirii novel Chapter 53

The atmosphere and ambience were not exactly romantic. The beds were old iron-post beds and each room had an old wardrobe into which we decided not to put our clothes. The linens on the beds were clean and smelled fresh. We shook out the old bed cover and put a sheet over it. Since it was warm, we didn't need more.

Elia and I went for a walk to see the surrounding area and perhaps enjoy the scenery. Just a hundred meters ahead of us, right on the beach, there were still many noticeable remnants from the Second World War. There were huge concrete blocks with holes in them for firing heavy artillery against vessels at sea or at those trying to come to shore. We didn't know why the concrete blocks were never removed, and there was nobody around to ask.

While walking along the beach, I asked Elia if he was really in love with Silvia. He assured me that he didn't love her and that he had absolutely no intention of staying in Romania. He planned to return home to Matilda and his four children to whom he was very attached and spend time with his elderly mother who lived with them. He told me that he was planning to retire shortly and close his garage permanently. Perhaps he will then help Matilda in her lingerie store on Corso Italia.

"I have a lot of plans for the future, and Silvia is not in any of them," he told me.

He then turned the conversation away from himself and towards Fabrizio. He said, "It's time Fabrizio abandoned his affairs here in Romania and returned home. I have no doubt that Giulia will forgive him and have him back. Let's talk to him."

"I think you're right. Let's talk to him," I said.

Then turning to me he asked, "And what are your plans with all your girls?"

"Elia," I began. "You and I have been friends for many years and you know me quite well. Do you think I am going to give up everything I have worked for all my life? True, there are exciting challenges here, romances and feelings that I had long forgotten, but that is where it ends. Everything will be forgotten the minute I leave Romania."

"It seems to me that you're fooling yourself. Sex with young women is addictive like opium. Once you've tried it, it is not easy to wean yourself from it," he said.

"Speaking of opium, what are all these poppy plants all around us? Does it look like they are being grown intentionally?" Elia asked.

I looked around me, and lo and behold we were standing in the middle of a vast poppy field with beautiful erect plants, all of uniform height. I could not believe my eyes. Such fields are only seen in the movies. Immediately my thoughts returned to Bulgaria and its notorious Mafiosi, and this field's close proximity to the Bulgarian border. Who knows to whom these fields really belonged.

The thought sent a shiver down my spine and we immediately decided to return to our hotel.

We settled in our rooms. When I went up to my room, Mirella was not there but her clothes were arranged, and her night gown folded, on one side of the bed.

A short while later I had left my room to go downstairs, when I met Claudio in the hall.

"Angelo," we called out to him. "How many rooms have you reserved?"

"Five," he responded. "Why do you ask?"

"What about Fabrizio and Luciana? We are six couples. If you can't count in Romanian, try counting in Italian," I said.

"It doesn't matter, we'll manage. I will ask the manager if there is an empty room in the hotel. If not, I will tell him to put some more beds into my apartment," Angelo answered.

We laughed, and sat down on the sand. "Angelo the scatter-brain," I thought to myself. "After living in Romania for several years, he has become one of them."

At noon we went for a walk around the fishermen's huts. Since the area didn't attract tourists, it had become neglected and over the years had been taken over by the local fishermen who had set up huts there.

The area attracted all kinds of young people who set up tents on the beach and held parties all day long. Since hardly any tourists came there, the women allowed themselves to swim and sun-bathe in the nude. Thus, the beach became known as a nudists' beach.