Disclaimer: I forgot... I don't own Life with Derek. The places in Spain are real, but clearly, I don't own those either, and I don't know how accurate they are in terms of walking distances and such. The only thing I own (thus far) is the new character.
On that note, I really hope you enjoy the story! Please review if you can.
"Hola" Derek greeted a cab driver outside the Alicante airport. The man asked him something in spanish but Derek still didn't know enough spanish to respond. "Voy a, umm..." he paused and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, "voy a numero treinta y siete de calle del Pintor Lorenzo Cassanova" Derek said, with an almost questioning tone. "Por favor!" he added and mumbled, "What am I getting myself into?" to himself. Derek had managed to graduate high school, he took 2 years off school before deciding he needed a change. His mother, Abby, was working in Spain still, studying the aquatic life of the mediterranian off the coast of Alicante, Spain. Yes, Marti was muy upset Derek had decided to leave, but after a few years of having 2 new siblings she has been on her way to becoming less selfish.
The taxi sped out of the airport grounds and onto a freeway headed north-east. As soon as they hit the first turn, Derek gripped onto the inside door handle and his body lurched to one side, and then back upright. It was evident that the spanish did not have the same driving customs is the folks in London. Sure there were lines on the road but apparently that didn't matter to the drivers. He scanned the scenery and focused on anything other than the road. He shook his head and realized how lucky he was. His thoughts wandered to all the new possibilities this foreign country had to offer him, but realized he had already forgotten the translated pick-up lines he had tried to learn before leaving home. At some point between 'Chica caliente' and 'No hablo español' he had arrived (alive!) in front of a big, grey, intricately designed apartment building.
"Mom!" he exclaimed as soon as Abby got outside and the cab had already sped off to another unfortunate soul.
"Derek" Abby smiled and pulled her son into a hug. Derek had grown another foot since the last time she had seen him. His hair was still shaggy, and his eyes were bright as ever. "Welcome to Alicante"
"Thanks" he replied, peeling off his leather jacket. He began to wonder why he had brought it in the first place. "So, when's dinner?" Derek asked and looking at his watch. It was almost 5 pm, dinner time!
Abby looked at her own watch, "Oh, in another... 3 or 4 hours" she answered.
"What?" Derek gasped, "I'm so hungry!"
"Again, welcome to Spain" Abby grinned, "I suppose I could cook something, but if you were hoping to eat out, restaurants don't open until 8 at the earliest"
"No..." Derek grumbled and grabbed his suitcase to lug into the apartment. He flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes.
"Derek, why don't you go down to the beach for a bit?" Abby suggested, "I know jetlag is tough"
Derek sighed loudly, "Okay" he replied. He knew he was crabby... maybe these hot spanish girls would flock to him in all his pale, Canadian-in-winter glory.
The water was less than a 10 minute walk from the apartment. This was convenient for both Abby and Derek. He walked a little ways down the street before the sea came into view. He read signs he didn't understand, heard bits and pieces of conversations that made no sense to him. He started to think about just how lost he was going to be. How far he was from home. He just didn't realize it was the lack of sleep talking. Derek inhaled deeply as his feet finally touched the sand.
"It's going to be fine" he told himself as a group of people passed by. He tried to pick familiar words out of the conversation but failed miserably. Derek made his way to the water, kicked off his shoes and let the waves wash over his toes. He looked around as people started to leave, and then he spotted a girl. A 'chica', he attempted to 'think spanish'. Derek being Derek strode over to her and he noticed the book she held was in english. "Thank goodness" he muttered under his breath as he sat down abruptly next to her.
"Buenas tardes" she said with a bit of hesitation as she glanced at him.
"Uh, hola" Derek replied with a smirk as he deliberately pronounced the 'h'. She smiled, and a smile to Derek is equal to 'green light'. "I'm Derek" he said and put out his hand.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you can, be it positive or negative. I would really appreciate it.