The Last Night in LisbonChapter 2: The balcony

The rented apartment had a balcony of blue tiles overlooking the Tagus. Tiago opened the door and stood still, as if asking permission to walk back into her life.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, quietly.

Marina answered by pulling him in by the collar. The kiss was slow at first, retracing an old path, then urgent, as if the ten years had been a single night of waiting.

Between whispers and nervous laughter they rediscovered what time had changed and what had stayed exactly the same. When the sun rose over the rooftops of Alfama, she lay on his chest, drawing circles on his skin with her fingertips.

“I could change my flight,” she said.

He smiled, and this time there was no hurry at all.