Sweetest Taboo by Eva Márquez Page B

tenderness, and his touch. I needed to hear him again, as soon as possible. I mentally calculated the time difference and knew that it would be a good time to call him at home – it was Saturday morning and his wife was usually out with their daughters.
    I picked up the phone and began to dial. From inside the glass phone booth, I could see our group being guided by a tour leader through Geneva’s main park, near the colorful flower canter in the shape of giant clock on the central lawn. I listened to the ringing tone on the other end of the receiver and began to panic. What if he wasn’t home? Or worse, what if his wife had stayed home today and picked up the phone?
    “Hello?” came Tom’s deep voice. I felt a rush of relief.
    “Hi,” I whispered. “It’s me.”
    There was a beat of silence.
    “Isabel? Where are you?” Tom asked. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be back for another week. Oh my God, are you home?”
    “I’m in Switzerland right now,” I replied. “We just arrived this afternoon.”
    “You’re calling me from Switzerland? Are you crazy? How are you paying for this?”
    “Don’t worry about it, I’m at a payphone and I’ve got my mom’s calling card,” I said into the shiny black receiver. “I’ve only got a few minutes because Mrs. Drake will come looking for me any minute, but I had to call you. Tom, I miss you so much. I just wanted to hear your voice and to tell you that I’ve been missing you like crazy.”
    There was a pause, but I could hear the smile in Tom’s voice when he spoke. “I miss you too,” he answered. “I’ve been lonely without you. I keep thinking of the good time you must be having in Europe. You know that I always worry about some other guy showing up and sweeping you off your feet. I know it’s really none of my business, but I still can’t stop thinking about it.”
    “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I replied, keeping an eye on Mrs. Drake and my friends. They were still standing by the flower clock. “I just miss you so much, Tom, and I can’t wait until I’m back home with you. I have to go, but I’ll save some credit and try to call you again in a few days.”
    “I miss you too, Isabel. Be good, okay? I love you.”
    “I love you too. Bye for now.”
    “Bye, Isabel,” he said. I heard the final click on the other end of the line and closed my eyes against the tears.
    Mrs. Drake was already frowning at me when I stepped out of the phone booth at the edge of the park. I hurried back to join the rest of the students, who were still listening intently to the tour leader talk about the mechanics of the oversized flower clock on the perfectly mowed lawn.
    ***
    I would have preferred to share my time in Europe with Tom, but I didn’t have that opportunity, so I settled in with Ryan for the next few days, to have some innocent fun. We held hands and cuddled from park to park, we strolled through the cobblestone streets in Monaco, enjoying the mid-summer Mediterranean weather. Our last few days in Europe were spent in Northern France, in the coastal city of Normandy, where the gusty winds required us to wear light sweaters during the cloudless evenings.
    “So, have you thought about what will happen when we go back home tomorrow?” Ryan asked on our last night in Normandy, right before the sun touched the horizon on its way to setting on the English Channel.
    This was exactly where I did not want the conversation to go. I remained silent for a few moments before I finally spoke.
    “Well, I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but at the end of August I’m supposed to move back to Chile with my family,” I replied slowly. “We don’t have any plans to return. So, I really can’t get serious with anyone right now because after I get back, I’ve got only a month left.”
    “Oh,” Ryan said, fiddling with the vintage dog tags around his neck. “I didn’t know that you guys were moving back there permanently. I thought maybe it