Rosa had insisted. “You work too much, Robert. You need someone to share your time with, not just your hikes and your food experiments.”
Reluctantly, I had agreed, and now here I was, sitting at a small café in Orgiva, waiting for a blind date set up by my well-meaning cooking mentor. I adjusted my collar and glanced at my watch, wondering what I had gotten myself into.
The café door jingled, and in walked Carmen. She had dark, wavy hair that fell just below her shoulders and a confident stride that seemed to fill the room. She paused, scanning the tables, and when our eyes met, she smiled—not shyly, but warmly, like she already knew me.
“Robert?” she asked, approaching my table.
“Yes, that’s me,” I said, standing to shake her hand. “Carmen, right?”
“That’s right. Rosa has told me so much about you. I feel like I’m meeting a local celebrity,” she said, her tone teasing.
I laughed, gesturing for her to sit. “Celebrity? Hardly. She’s probably just tired of me pestering her for cooking advice.”
“Oh, she’s definitely tired,” Carmen quipped, her eyes sparkling. “But I think she also admires your determination.”
As we settled into our seats, the waiter brought over two glasses of wine—a rich red from a nearby vineyard. “I hope you like wine,” I said, raising my glass.
“I love it,” she replied, clinking her glass against mine. “And this is one of my favourites. You have good taste already.”
We sipped in companionable silence for a moment before Carmen spoke again. “So, tell me, Robert. What brought you to La Alpujarra?”
“Ah, the million-dollar question,” I said, leaning back slightly. “The short version is, I needed a fresh start. London was… suffocating after my divorce. I wanted something quieter, more grounded. And you? Have you always lived here?”
“Not always,” Carmen said, swirling her wine thoughtfully. “I grew up in Granada, but after university, I felt restless. I traveled for a while, lived in Madrid, even spent a year in Italy. But eventually, I came back. There’s something about these mountains… they pull you in and remind you of who you are.”
I nodded, understanding the sentiment more than I expected to. “What do you do here now?”
“I’m an artist,” she said. “Mostly painting. Landscapes, abstracts, whatever the mood calls for. But I also teach art classes at the community center in Pampaneira.”
“An artist,” I said, impressed. “That explains the confidence.”
She raised an eyebrow, amused. “Confidence?”
“It’s in the way you carry yourself. Like you see the world a little differently,” I said. “It’s intriguing.”
She smiled, her expression softening. “Thank you. And you… you’re a bit of a mystery. Rosa said you were in IT, but now you’re hiking, renovating, and learning to cook? That’s quite the transformation.”
“It’s been an adjustment,” I admitted. “But a good one. Life here has a way of teaching you to slow down, to appreciate what’s in front of you. Like this wine,” I added, raising my glass again.
Carmen laughed. “You’re learning fast.”
The conversation flowed easily from there. We talked about our favourite places in La Alpujarra, her favourite hiking trails, and the quirks of small-village life. At one point, Carmen leaned forward, her expression turning more serious.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Of course.”
“Do you think you’ll stay? Here in La Alpujarra?”
I hesitated, caught off guard by the question. “I… don’t know yet. I’ve thought about it. This place feels like home in a way London never did, but it’s still new.”
She nodded, her gaze steady. “I ask because it’s not always easy here. The beauty and the simplicity are real, but so are the challenges. It’s not for everyone.”
“I can see that,” I said. “But I think the challenges are part of what makes it meaningful.”
Carmen smiled again, her earlier seriousness lifting. “Good answer. Maybe Rosa was right about you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said, feeling a warmth that had little to do with the wine.
The evening stretched on, the café’s hum growing quieter as the tables around us emptied. By the time we stepped outside into the cool night air, I realized I didn’t want the night to end.
“Thank you for this,” I said as we stood by the door. “For… being open to Rosa’s matchmaking.”
Carmen laughed. “Thank Rosa. But yes, this has been… nice.”
“More than nice,” I said, surprising myself with my honesty. “I’d like to see you again.”
She tilted her head, considering me for a moment before smiling. “I think I’d like that too.”
As we said goodnight and parted ways, I felt a sense of possibility I hadn’t felt in a long time. Maybe, just maybe, La Alpujarra had more to offer than I ever expected. To be continued…