One more week and he would leave the university.
Diego looked thoughtfully out of the window. He had conflicting feelings about leaving.
He had been away from Los Angeles for many years, perhaps a few too many. In his letters, Don Alejandro had repeatedly discouraged him from returning too soon. His father felt that a good education was extremely important. After all, he would be in Los Angeles long enough.
Diego suspected that Alejandro's main concern was the training sessions with Kendall. Sir Edmond had recognized his talent early on and encouraged him accordingly. This included not only the constant practice and repetition of attacks, counter attacks, feints and parries, but also the rehearsal of the corresponding movements until Diego was finally able to execute complicated combinations without having to think about them. Weight shifts, counter angles and lunges were things that had become second nature to him.
His father, of course, was aware of his progress, even though Diego had written about it rather cautiously. However, the victory over his fencing teacher had shown him that he would not be able to improve his skills any further here in Spain.
The question was whether it was really worth it - because he would only make real progress if he had to fight for life instead of just practicing.
A short break was not the worst solution. Don Rafael not only supported him financially, but also the university - so Diego had enough tailwind to interrupt his studies for a short time and check out things in Los Angeles.
It would have been much easier if he had known that Alejandro was doing well and that everything was okay with him. But this way he would leave with a bad feeling.
Maybe he was just seeing ghosts?
After a long talk with Ramon, he had decided not to write back to his father. At best, he would be wrong, surprise Alejandro and they would have an unexpected reunion; at worst, no one would be prepared for him, so he could better intervene.
But there was another reason he wanted to return to Los Angeles - Victoria. They had known each other since childhood and had practically grown up together. Even before he left for Europe, Diego had noticed that his feelings for her had changed. However, he had never revealed himself to her, although he suspected that she was not indifferent to him either. But the prospect of leaving Los Angeles for several years and leaving her lonely and alone had made him keep quiet.
A mistake, he knew now. As long as Victoria was still unattached, he would confess his feelings to her and ask her to court him.
.
.
On the other hand, he had to say goodbye to the university. He would miss his classmates and teachers-not to mention his friends, including Don Rafael and Felipe.
His best friend Ramon, however, would stay with him, as he had already announced that he would accompany him.
"My parents want me to come home and won't pay for another semester. And I certainly won't let you pay for me. So, I'm coming with you. I've been dying to meet your father, who you told me so much about."
Those were his words.
Of course, Felipe wasn't exactly thrilled about these plans either. The boy had urged both Don Rafael and Don Diego to come with him.
The young de la Vega had refused, of course - but he couldn't shake the feeling that the last word had not yet been spoken.